A History of What Comes Next

A mother and daughter who are not quite human have been hiding among us for nearly a hundred generations. They call themselves the Kibsu, and they have one rule: take them to the stars. In 1945, as Operation Paperclip brings German rocket scientists to America, the latest pair of Kibsu infiltrate the fledgling space program to push humanity toward the stars, no matter the cost.

Why Consider This One

If you want to see Neuvel work outside the interview format, this is the place. A History of What Comes Next blends alternate history with science fiction, weaving real figures like Wernher von Braun into a story about immortal women who have secretly shaped human progress for millennia. The result is more conventional in structure than the Themis Files but no less inventive in concept.

Neuvel’s linguistic training shines in the dialogue, which shifts register convincingly as characters move between 1940s Germany and postwar America. The Kibsu themselves are fascinating: not heroes, not villains, but survivors following a directive they no longer fully understand. Their relationship to humanity is complex and uncomfortable, which gives the novel a moral weight that elevates it beyond its thriller mechanics.

What to Expect

A faster pace than the premise suggests. Neuvel intercuts the Kibsu storyline with excerpts from a mysterious text that provides context for their mission, but the core of the book is a tense espionage narrative set against the real history of the space race. At 304 pages, it covers enormous ground efficiently. The tone is darker than the Themis Files, and the stakes feel more personal.