Podium Publishing
The Afterlife Project
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Separated by ten thousand years, a team of scientists and their test subject must work together to save the human species--before it's too late . . .
With humanity facing imminent extinction, Centauri Project scientists use technology originally designed for interstellar travel to send a test subject ten millennia into Earth's future. Marooned in an uninhabited wilderness, microbiologist Nicholas Hindman searches for evidence of remnant populations. He has a protocol to follow and is determined to do so to the bitter end--though he knows he's probably searching in vain, stranded on an empty planet silently orbiting the sun.
Meanwhile, back in 2068 AD, a devastating hyperpandemic has quelled all talk of interstellar travel and thrown the future of humanity into grave doubt. Four surviving members of the Centauri team board a vintage solar-powered sailing yacht for a harrowing journey in search of a second test subject. Their destination is a small volcanic island north of Sicily rumored to harbor that rarest of creatures: a woman capable of getting pregnant, thereby ensuring this generation of Homo sapiens isn't the last. But first they must make it halfway across the post-apocalyptic globe, risking heatwaves, oceanic megastorms, murderous gangs, deranged cult leaders, a volcanic eruption, and the dangerous microbes that continue to circulate through the planet's atmosphere.
A finalist for the Prism Prize for Climate Literature, The Afterlife Project encompasses a desperate quest for the key to the future of humanity, an impossible love story, and a search for meaning across the inconceivable vastness of geological time.
"Smart, achingly beautiful, and (yes) important: a gripping novel of climate cataclysm with a cast of characters I cared about deeply." --Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Flight Attendant
"A super-smart, super-fun page-turner about a scientist trying to survive alone on Earth in the deep future--and the love of his life trying to travel through time to find him. I can't think of a single page that didn't make me pause to admire a sentence, an image, or a particularly fascinating idea. I loved this book." --Angie Kim, New York Times-bestselling author of Happiness Falls
"The Afterlife Project isn't just a story about the end of the world as we know it--it's an exploration of beauty, and love, and hope in the darkness. If you were a fan of Cloud Atlas, you won't want to miss this one." --Janelle Brown, New York Times-bestselling author of What Kind of Paradise
"This beautiful and heartbreaking book reminds us of what we have, and what we stand to lose. Unforgettable." --Danielle Trussoni, New York Times-bestselling author of The Puzzle Master
"A brave and brilliant imagining of Earth in the years just after a megapandemic has killed almost everyone, and ten thousand years hence, when a test subject emerges from suspension to explore a wilderness echoing with solitude. . . . Riveting and wrenching and suffused with beauty--the haunting and intimate beauty of the natural world rendered by a master." --Peter Heller, bestselling author of The Dog Stars
"Weed is a fabulous storyteller working at the top of his game. I predict this novel will become a classic." --Joseph Monninger, author of The World As We Know It
"It's a relatively simple idea, but Tim Weed makes it into something special with first-rate nature writing and a story that underlines how connected we all are to our human and physical environment--which can be a source of resilience even as everything falls apart." --The Toronto Star
"The writing . . . is as lush and beautiful as the far-future Earth itself . . . The Afterlife Project provides a thought-provoking look at how beautiful the world could be without anyone like us in it." --Washington Independent Review of Books
"Rousing seafaring adventure . . . contemplative musings on life . . . [and] a compelling romance make this a fascinating tale that is difficult to put down." --Library Journal, starred review
"A tale that feels wholly original and movingly conveys the full weight of the circumstances while providing a riveting read in the process." --BookLife by Publishers Weekly
"This engaging dystopian tale deftly blends enthralling fiction with real-life fears." --Kirkus Reviews
"The dangers [the characters] endure along the way are set against an unfolding and impossible love story across the vastness of geological time, as the scientists work to keep humans in existence. It may sound like an end-of-the-world tale, but it defines the strength and bravery of human beings and what they will do to preserve this precious thing we call life in the face of overwhelming odds." --Middlebury Magazine (Editors' Pick)
"A dark yet hopeful story that is engrossing enough to be a beach read . . . Weed reminds us why cli-fi matters." --Seven Days
"A dystopian masterwork." -- The Brattleboro Reformer
"This genre-defying novel blends literary fiction, climate science, and speculative imagination in a haunting narrative that spans millennia." -- The Vermont Journal
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Book Details
ISBN:
9781039480452
EAN:
9781039480452
Binding:
Paperback
Pages:
272
Authors:
Tim Weed
Publisher:
Podium Publishing
Published Date: 2025-03-06
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This story was a lot. Be prepared to work your way through the start. The author is very descriptive, which is good for building the story and a bit hard to keep track of at the same time.Worth the effort and time to dig into this one.I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This story really captured the impact that humans have had on the earth, while also telling a great story of hope and courage. A great environmental fiction story, something hard to find. And for invasive species nerds, props for the references to knotweed and European frog it, for they will outlast us all!
What if humanity gets things so wrong that, within the next 40 years or so, we destroy civilization and obliterate our species? What if we could send someone to see how the Earth's recovered 10,000 years from now, and whether, against all odds, some humans survived and built something new? The premise predicts just how dark the story will be; the bits of joy are small and emotional, like requited love and the pleasure of a cat's purr, plus the beauty of a natural world that thrives again, mostly, once freed from our destruction. But if you recall KSR's The Ministry for the Future, imagine the emotions you felt in the first section persisting chapter after chapter. I can see this as a Lars Von Trier film or an HBO series; it'll be gorgeous either way, and you'll want to drink yourself numb afterward.
Tim Weed’s The Afterlife Project is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It is a surprising blend of science fiction and nature writing, page turner and literary novel, plot-driven, but also character-focused, examining broad societal issues as well as intimate matters of the heart. It is a tragic love story, an exploration of what it means to be human, and an adventure story all in one.The way that the chapters alternate between the two time periods--2068, when civilization has collapsed, and 10,000 years in the future, helped the pacing of the story. Just when I began to feel weighed down by the bleak descriptions of the post-apocalyptic world of 2068, where the earth is ravaged and the remaining humans wage a barbaric fight for survival, I would come to another chapter 10,000 years in the future, full of fantastically lush descriptions of the natural world, where plants and animals are flourishing once again in the absence of human civilization. These chapters are like taking a peaceful walk in the woods after reading the calamitous news of the day. They are a breath of fresh air, despite the struggles Nick confronts surviving and finding meaning and purpose all alone in the world.Weed provides just enough scientific premise for time travel, the hyperpandemic, etc., to help readers suspend their disbelief without getting bogged down in jargon. But it is his deep knowledge and love of nature and his exquisite writing that makes this novel breathtaking. I could not put it down.
This was a book I could easily have read in a single sitting, but forced myself to spread over a few days so that I could prolong the enjoyment. I felt so invested in the people in this story and the world(s) they confront. The prose is exceptional. The world needs more fiction like this.
