Leanne Olson

Until the Last of Me by Sylvain Neuvel
Book 2 in the Take Them to the Stars Series
Releasing March 29, 2022 from Tordotcom

I am such a dork for Sylvain Neuvel’s Take Them to the Stars series.  Until the Last of Me, book 2, is fantastic.  

Until the Last of Me follows up with Mia and her daughter Lola from A History of What Comes Next.  Mia and Lola are alien clones, descendants of women who for 100 generates have been working on helping humanity reach space. At the same time, they’re being hunted by Trackers — other aliens, possibly from their own species.

This sounds like a sci-fi action thriller, but what I love about these books is that they have action, but they’re not about action.  They’re about characters, and a love of science, and a debate about what someone owes their family, their ancestors, and their descendants.  The main action is set from the 1960s to 1980s, and there are scenes in between the acts that flash back to women astronomers over thousands of years.  I loved these inter-act scenes.

Neuvel’s writing style is dialogue-heavy, written like a combination of diary entry and screenplay in a way that’s oddly immersive and distancing at the same time.

I found the end of this one completely unpredictable, and I have absolutely no idea where Book 3 will go next.  

I also adore the way Neuvel includes so many geeky, awesome science history stories at the end of his books.  

If you enjoy unpredictable space history with strong female characters and thoughtful philosophy, check out this series — but read the first book (A History of What Comes Next) first.  This is not a series to jump into out of order.

Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for my review copy of this book.