An engaging, fablelike warning about climate change with a gentler approach than most eco–SF.
A family’s new home comes with an uncanny book apparently from the future, a memoir of sorts that tells of a coming environmental cataclysm and the peaceful world built by the few survivors.
Kellner, an artist, illustrates as well as annotates her debut SF novel, yet another cautionary tale in the cli-fi category. The Denzells purchase a vanished person’s furnished home on the condition that they retain its contents—resident cat, Plato; many books; and “unusual collections and strange artifacts left behind by the old man.” One book begins to reappear around the house with strange, insistent regularity, a bound volume supposedly from the future called The History of the World, bearing a publication date of 2200. Various family members in turn are caught up in reading the oddity, which claims to be the transcribed memories of surviving individuals starting in “The Time Before”—that is, before mid-21st-century global warming wiped out millions of species, eliminated crops, and turned Earth into myriad storm-wracked, overheated wastelands. In the Pacific, one little girl watches as everyone around her succumbs to blight and starvation. Her sole-survivor tale intertwines with the odyssey of Gabriel Thomason and Mia Lu, a presumably North American young couple who, as modern civilization collapses, take their chances at sea in a sailboat. Poetic imagery and song rather than disaster-movie violent mayhem move the engrossing narrative along with a sometimes-idyllic tone poignantly in contrast to the background of apocalyptic events. Hanging over the whole thing is the question mark (the customary shape in which Plato holds his tail) of whether the future really has to be this way. The intriguing story is not as shrill and angry as like-minded narratives in this alarm-bell genre (though it still makes its points) and is pitched to readers of a YA and older demographic. Kellner follows the loosely plotted book with considerable aftermatter documents bearing out her philosophies—everything from a wishful “Imagined Universal Bill of Rights and Responsibilities” to the United States Constitution (in total, even the part about guns), the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and a little-remembered “Treaty for the Renunciation of War” from 1928 (“Oops,” readers will be tempted to say).
An engaging, fablelike warning about climate change with a gentler approach than most eco–SF. ("Imagined Universal Bill of Rights and Responsibilities", discussion questions, Appendix of Documents (United States Constitution, US Constitution Bill of Rights, Amendments to the US Constitution, Treaty for the Renunciation of War, United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Parliament of World's Religions "Commitment to the Sustainability and Care of the Earth"), Acknowledgments, interview with the author, other books from the same imprint, About the publisher) (science fiction)Pub Date: April 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68463-123-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: SparkPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
A tender reminder that gratitude is a path we choose, one conversation at a time.
In Green’s inspirational novel, a journalist boarding the wrong train discovers the right moment to speak the words that matter.
Daniel arrives at the Beacon station carrying a leather notebook filled with an unfinished eulogy for his still-living grandfather, only to be swept onto the mysterious 5:07 Gratitude Express, a steam locomotive that appears “for those who want to express gratitude.” His uncanny journey sends him through vividly rendered moments from his own life, where he witnesses the ripple effects of kindnesses he has offered and reunites—sometimes for the first time—with people who were permanently shaped by those actions. Each stop brings a new encounter: A childhood classmate says, “That morning, you altered the course of my life”; an elderly woman confesses, “Your simple act of kindness saved me that day”; a mentor tells him, “You need to figure out what you’re good at and what you like to do. Because when you do that, your potential is limitless.” By the time Daniel reaches Cedarville, intent on seeing his grandfather—the person who most profoundly shaped him—his reflections echo the conductor’s warning that “Time is unpredictable, and unsaid words bring pain and regret.” What follows is a moving affirmation of connection that honors the story’s central message: Appreciation should be expressed to the living. Green structures the narrative as a fable, with emotional clarity and cinematic pacing. The train’s dissolving walls, the recurring whistle rising “high into the dark sky,” and the symbolic briefcase filled with long-kept letters lend the tale a gentle magical-realist texture. While the storyline remains linear and accessible for all ages, the themes—regret, legacy, and intergenerational love—invite adult reflection. The prose is simple, intentionally so, grounding the fantastical elements in an earnest emotional register. This is not a plot-twist-driven story; it’s a quiet parable urging readers to act before time steals their chances. Readers who appreciate heartfelt, uplifting narrative journeys will find resonance in Green’s message.
A tender reminder that gratitude is a path we choose, one conversation at a time.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9798891385252
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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