Terrestrial History

British writer Reed (Hammer) delivers a satisfying work of climate fiction involving interplanetary time travel. On the present-day Scottish coast, Hannah encounters a nameless young man who claims to have arrived from a Martian colony, which will be settled decades in the future. The man aims to teach Hannah everything he knows about nuclear fusion, hoping to save Earth from a looming climate crisis that will make the planet uninhabitable. From there, the story unfolds from the viewpoints of Hannah’s progeny: her politician son, Andrew, who has designs on becoming Scotland’s First Minister; her granddaughter Kenzie, a lesbian and the eventual builder of the first working fusion reactor (based on knowledge passed down from Hannah); and her great-grandson Roban, who has suffered the loss of his mentor, a mining spaceship commander named Vishay. Reed puts his science fiction concepts in the service of intriguing philosophical questions (“What if time doesn’t move so cleanly forward, but jumps and jerks, blooms and shudders?”), and the conclusion packs an emotional wallop. Readers of slipstream fiction like Cloud Atlas will find a great deal to enjoy here. (Apr.)