Readers unfamiliar with the science of fusion reactions can either wait, as this fast-developing field of energy production already dominates many discussions around climate change and the future of our planet, or read Joe Mungo Reed's moving and intelligent novel Terrestrial History, which places at its center the work of fusion scientist Hannah and the generations to follow her. No prior expertise in nuclear physics is needed, but neither does Reed (We Begin Our Ascent) dumb down the details in this richly drawn family history.
Reed uses the multivocal structure to great effect, with each chapter devoted to one of four characters living at a different point in time (and space). In 2076, Hannah's son, Andrew, an optimistic politician who believes in the power of humanity to unite behind a common goal, and granddaughter Kenzie, also a fusion scientist, offer competing visions for how to save the planet--or at least its people--from the certain devastations of climate change. The final member of the quartet is Roban, Kenzie's son and one of the First Gens born of the "Homers" who established the first colony on Mars. It is 2025 when Hannah encounters the young man from the future, the one who changes everything for her.
The novel is a triumph of the climate fiction genre, asking readers where they would invest their hope: on a failing Earth or a fragile Mars. Terrestrial History offers no easy solutions, however, choosing the certainty of countless uncertainties. Perhaps readers must resign themselves to not knowing, as Andrew recognizes, "What could we have done but what we thought best at the time?"--Sara Beth West, freelance reviewer and librarian