Review and Reflection: A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel

“Showing that truth is stranger than fiction, Sylvain Neuvel weaves a sci-fi thriller reminiscent of Blake Crouch and Andy Weir, blending a fast moving, darkly satirical look at 1940s rocketry with an exploration of the amorality of progress and the nature of violence in A History of What Comes Next.”

After reading the above blurb, there was no way I wasn’t picking up this book. Blake Crouch is one of my all-time faves and who doesn’t love The Martian. What really intrigued me though was the idea that Sylvain was exploring the true history surrounding Wernher von Braun. It was also described as a “conspiracy thriller” a sub-genre I’d never heard of, but I think will adopt as a favorite brand of sci-fi. For the record I think there should also be “conspiracy romance” “conspiracy literary fiction” and so on. 

Now, before I get into the book, I think it’s important to lay a little ground work. Before I went down the rabbit hole (years ago) from which there is no returning, the only context in which I had ever heard the name “Wernher von Braun”  was October Sky, the movie based on the memoir Rocket Boys. In it he was portrayed as the world’s greatest rocket scientist and nothing more.

After a very little bit of digging into WWII history, you will discover an uncomfortable fact about the post-Nazi world. Nazi scientists, Gestapo leaders, SS officers and all degrees of evil were allowed to disperse throughout the world via Operation Paperclip and other escapes. Including one Wernher von Braun who was brought to America and played a major role in founding of NASA. His V-2 and Saturn V rockets were foundational in the space race. (Saturn worship, the moon landing and all space travel conspiracy will have to be saved for another day.)

Not only was he a Nazi scientist, he was also an SS Officer. History has tried to be kinder to him than perhaps he deserves and, at first, I was afraid that was what was happening in A History of What Comes Next. 

The Book

In this story, a generation of women from another planet called the Kibsu, have an uncertain history, but a clear destination. Their goal is to “get them to the stars.” Humankind, we presume, is doomed and the Kibsu must get them off the planet through generational attempts to manipulate and drive science towards the goal of space travel. In the meantime, they are being mercilessly hunted by The Tracker and must live a life of anonymity in this pursuit. The story opens, more or less, in WWII, where getting von Braun out of Germany before the war ends so he could continue his advancements was priority number one. 

At first, I was concerned that this was giving our own government an alternate history hall pass for what they did, which is allow Nazi’s to escape justice for their own selfish desire for dominance. 

That being said, I think Neuvel does as much good work informing us of the very real history while inserting his own fantastical elements, so I was able to forgive the lack of condemnation that the U.S. government deserved for Operation Paperclip.

I enjoyed the interwoven history with the mystery of who this alien race was. I found the action to be well-paced and the intention an intriguing one. 

He brought very real (very evil) characters to light from Germany to Russia and went to great strides to inform the fictional musings with real-life events. The end of the book offers insight into his research that I think are fun rabbit holes for anyone to explore after reading the story.

He called this Book One in a To The Stars series, but I did find the ending a little flat. Whether another book is coming or not is TBD from what I understand, but just as the mystery starts to gain some clarity, the book ends. I would consider reading a second book though, if one should come and enjoyed the alternate history ride.  (Side note: Interesting series title if you’re familiar with Tom Delonge’s - yes, Blink-182 Tom Delonge - To the Stars Academy. If you’re not… look into it.)

Open Conspiracy and Climate Change

Operation Paperclip is the main conspiracy focused on in the book, but it’s just one of the many open conspiracies that surround WWII. The spread of Nazi leaders and the occult foundation on which NASA was built is one of the easier ones to get people on board with, but it’s small potatoes in comparison to other, more fringe ideas. For example, the skull that was said to be Hitler’s and touted around Russian museums was discovered to be that of a woman’s, opening up conversation around whether or not Hitler actually died. It’s open knowledge that many Nazi’s escaped to South America but what is often shocking to people is that only twelve Nazis were sentenced to death during the Nuremberg Trials.  Only 22 were tried there in total. And perhaps the most fascinating aspects of the era to examine are things like Operation Highjump where a U.S. military team was sent down to Antarctica to find Nazis who fled there on submarines and were allegedly met with UFOs that destroyed military ships and ended the operation months before it was scheduled to conclude. (Also, anything related to Antarctica should raise your brow. Shady AF.)

The Nazis and Hitler were deeply embedded in and invested in the occult. This point isn’t made in A History of What Comes Next, but perhaps exists as a tertiary point being made with the story fully focused on an alien race. It’s important to note though, that there were highly surreal and paranormal aspects intertwined with the horror of the Third Reich that transcend all modern interpretations of what we are made to believe is real. Psychics, ancient relics, alien technology and ritual occultism were a less reported, but omnipresent aspect of Hitler’s reign. 

The book also delves into the forming of the OSS during WWII which would one day become the CIA. An agency whose activities I think will come up again and again as we look at the science fiction lens for very real world operations and experiments conducted by this group. 

In addition to the WWII history, another element thrown into this novel is the implication that climate change is the demise of our world and the threat that the Kibsu are trying to save us from.  This topic has become inescapably synonymous with modern, traditionally published sci-fi. It has become a given trope that if the world is ending in the sci-fi universe that in all likelihood, climate change or disease due to overpopulation is the cause.

I think the subject is necessary to explore and our interaction with the Earth is one of the most important conversations for any generation to have. That being said, it is often explored in a surface-level, weaponized, mainstream way and not in the context that can actually lead to change. 

In essence, this constant insertion of climate change reeks of Agenda. The ever-looming threat and fear mongering is constantly thrust upon us and the government, think tanks, and corporations act as if they are the only hope when really, they are the leading cause. 

I don’t see that being said often enough in fiction. 

I like that Neuvel didn’t take the bait to go full blown corporate talking points on this subject, instead keeping it a steady, curious undertone of the book. I am however waiting for a sci-fi novel that truly honors the importance of the subject and explores it as more than this individual-manufactured threat that will choke us all out and looks at it from a place of empowerment and pointing the finger where the finger deserves pointing. I want to hear of permaculture and corrupt world leaders trying to monetize the threat and nature-based solutions versus tech takeovers. More on that subject another time, but suffice to say, I can’t help but notice it is a favorite touchpoint among the traditionally published sci-fi authors of the moment. In my opinion, we haven’t quite crossed the threshold where we’re really talking about ALL the factors that make up this controversial subject. 

It was a small part of an otherwise good book, I just keep noticing it as being a constant, but underexplored topic, which is more of a critique on the genre, than this book in particular.

I liked the book enough to go back and grab Sleeping Giants, his highly acclaimed first book in a series my husband and I are both reading. I loved that he wasn’t shy about naming the conspiracies he covered for what they were. I would love to see more of that across the genres. There is so much real world context for our “sci-fi” that gets swept under the rug and he wasn’t afraid to put it front and center. And the fact that he provided some of his research at the end just made it an even bigger open door to explore real world events.