Until the Last of Me (Take Them to the Stars, 2)
This is the second volume of a trilogy, “Take Them to the Stars,” with a fascinating premise: all of the scientific discoveries in human history were inspired by generations of women working behind the scenes. These women are the Kibsu, each one a genetic clone of her mother, outwardly human but possessed of heightened intelligence and physical strength, whose origin remains mysterious but likely extraterrestrial.
At the beginning of the first volume, A History of What Comes Next, we are introduced to Mia, the Ninety-Ninth of her line, as she infiltrates Nazi Germany at the close of WWII to spirit away Werner von Braun and ensure that the U.S. begins the process of bringing humanity into space. Shortly thereafter, she is forced to escape to the Soviet Union to help their space program (competition, she realizes, is the only way to ensure forward progress). She and her mother, Sarah, are also desperately trying to evade a clan of murderous “Trackers” sworn to destroy her line, and probably come from the same otherworldly source. Like the Kibsu, they are male generational clones single-mindedly bent on recovering a mysterious “sphere” that will allow them to signal their home planet to invade the oblivious Earth. Until the Last of Me continues the quest into the 1980s, with Mia’s daughter Lola picking up the action.
If this sounds complicated, it is, and Neuvel challenges the reader with quickly shifting points of view, flashbacks to earlier Kibsu scientists, and a particularly tedious habit of slipping into first-person stream-of-consciousness during the many gruesome fight scenes. But he provides deep research into the history of planetary exploration from ancient times to today, and his historical notes in many ways are more entertaining than the novel itself. A third volume will complete the trilogy next year.
