The History Within Us

By Matthew Kressel

From multiple Nebula Award finalist Matthew Kressel comes this haunting science fiction tale. In a galaxy obliterated by war Betsy Haadama is the last human alive. She sits aboard an Eluder Ship waiting with many different species of aliens who all hope to flee the dying galaxy by escaping through a collapsing star into a new universe. But what she uncovers there might affect not just her future but the entire history of the human race.

"'The History Within Us' by Matthew Kressel is one of the most powerful stories I've read in a long time. I am deeply moved by it. Go read." — Rachel Swirsky, Nebula Award winning author.

Honorable Mention in The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2011 Edition, edited by Rich Horton.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Matthew Kressel
• Release date: Jan 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386016793

Book preview

Praise for The History Within Us

Accolades

Honorable Mention in The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2011 Edition, Ed. Rich Horton.

Reviews

‘The History Within Us’ by Matthew Kressel is one of the most powerful stories I’ve read in a long time. I am deeply moved by it. Go read. — Rachel Swirsky

So the other day I listened to Kate Baker reading Matthew Kresse’s ‘The History Within Us’, which was published in March 2010. Obviously the sensible thing for you to do is to leave Best SF (what, a website encouraging you to leave it?) and either listen to the podcast here or read the story here. You’ll be reading it one of the Year’s Best Anthologies next year. –Mark Watson, Best SF

Other strong stories included..’The History Within Us’, by Matthew Kressel (March), set in a very far future, with a human on a mostly alien habitat trying to maintain memories of human history. — Rich Horton in his 2010 Year-End Summary

This stunning story is told from the perspective of Betsy and flows along with her thoughts…Matthew Kressel’s smooth, imaginative but compelling writing style allows you to feel the deep emotional lethargy and turmoil that is going on in Betsy’s mind…The History Within Us is a story that will twist and burrow itself among your thoughts with its richly imagined and written world and characters. Its richly filled plot contains love, lost, genocide, revenge, and war among its emotionally filled pages. Head on over to Clarkesworld Magazine and read ‘The History Within Us’ today, it will be sure to haunt your thoughts for many hours if not days to come. — Novel Musings

I especially want to direct your attention to Matthew Kressel’s The History Within Us": it’s a particularly striking, dark far-future story about, well, a nightmare from which we cannot wake — though maybe we can find a reason to live on within it.