Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free of charge for review purposes only. Receipt of a book does not guarantee a review or endorsement. My reviews are my honest opinion and are not biased for the purpose of personal gain.

Until the Last of Me is the sequel to A History of What Comes Next and therefore this review may contain spoilers for the previous book.

Mia and Lola are the One Hundred. Their ancestors have spent 3000 years steering humans to the stars, to protect us from what will surely come to destroy us.

Knowledge is like spring. It arrives in its own time.

Until the Last of Me takes a slightly different turn from its predecessor. In A History of What Comes Next, Mia’s story closely follows that of the space race, but now, with her mother dead, she has less influence. That’s fine, she’s pointed them in a direction and the Voyager project is launched to explore further planets. In the meantime, she’s got a daughter to raise.

The story follows the timeline of Voyager 2’s primary mission. Mia may not be involved with it, but through the years the story diverts to follow the probe’s path through space. I liked that this kept the book aligned with the history of space exploration, even if that wasn’t what Mia and Lola were up to.

There can never be three for too long, but there should have been three for a little while.

Back on Earth, Mia is trying to translate the writing on a bow once owned by their ancestors. It’s something she can do with Lola, who resists being the same as her mother, just as Mia did with Sarah. Lola just wants a normal life, she doesn’t want the responsibility of the human race on her shoulders, yet they will always be at risk from the Trackers. As will humankind if the Kibsu don’t help them leave this planet.

At the same time the Trackers are trying to find the sphere that they know the traitors hid. The tool to call home and start what the Kibsu fear. If they find that, why do they need to bother hunting them down? In the previous book, we learnt that these Trackers were ruthless killers, stopping at nothing to take out the Kibsu. Samael isn’t quite the same as the rest of his kind, he cares about his mother for starters.

Don’t draw attention to yourself. I wish. My whole life I don’t think anyone’s really noticed me. I might as well not exist at that school. Preserve the knowledge. What knowledge? I don’t know shit! I have no clue. Those rules, they’re for her, not me. I’m not her. I have absolutely no idea who I am, but I’m not her. I’m something else.

This has much more of a treasure hunting vibe than space travel but I enjoyed their travels around the world looking for clues, and interacting with history as we know it. As well as segues to visit Voyager 2, there are chapters following female astronomers throughout history, real women who here are depicted as Mia’s ancestors. The Kibsu.

Until the Last of Me is published by Michael Joseph, and is out now in hardback, ebook and audiobook editions. Thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy for review.

Goodreads | Amazon* | Waterstones* | Hive | Wordery | Blackwell’s* | Bookshop.org*

*indicates an affiliate link