The Afterlife Project - Paperback

by Tim Weed (Author)

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

"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