The Kikiloa Chronicles
A Literary Speculative Novel of Time Travel and an Irrepressible Mitochondrial Eve
You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Jul 16 2026 | Archive Date Oct 31 2026
Talking about this book? Use #thekikiloachronicles #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
Kikiloa is Mitochondrial Eve, the 200,000-year-old mother of humanity and our lyrical first storyteller.
"Moving, surprising time-travel story of the fight against entropy. Sharp prose, warm characterization, and the literary chops to make the heady ideas resonate at a human level."
⚡ Editor's Pick — BookLife Reviews (Publishers Weekly)
"An engaging time-travel romp that mashes up Jung and Doctor Who to masterful effect."
OUR VERDICT: ✓ GET IT — Kirkus Reviews
“Imaginative, sincere, and bigger on the inside than it first appears."
★★★★★ — Literary Titan
As a time surfer flickering across a trillion universes, Kiki is determined to discover an antidote to entropy before all meaning is lost.
And now she’s a freckled fourteen-year-old trickster bounding across a San Francisco park to meet her kind, grounded friend Hazel, who Kiki believes can cause even death to pass people by. Probably.
When a cliff collapses beneath them and Kiki vanishes mid-fall, Hazel is left alone with their attacker to begin her own coming-of-age, while Kiki’s hopes unravel back to the trauma of her bleak beginnings as outcast and slave in a dying prehistoric world.
But Kiki never lets up, whether lamenting a Hawaiian tsunami, alchemizing sniper attacks, weaving through highway pileups, going Jungian, or baking perfectly average cookies. And throughout, she spars with her infuriating, enigmatic mentor Paha, who believes surfing is elegy: all waves break, and fighting the end only creates suffering.
The Kikiloa Chronicles is Erik D. Larson’s vast, tender, and philosophically ambitious debut, carried by Kiki’s unmistakable voice from the devastating loneliness of her first life to the hard wisdom of friendship. Hopeful and imperfect, she wrestles with love — a force like gravity, alive at the core of a universe destined for darkness.
Circe meets The Midnight Library by way of Ursula K. Le Guin.
A Note From the Publisher
While the story involves teenage characters and strong adventure plotting, it is a character-driven adult literary novel and only suitable for sophisticated YA readers.
Advance Praise
Trade Reviews:
BookLife Reviews (Publishers Weekly): ⚡ Editor's Pick
"Moving, surprising time travel story of the fight against entropy. This assured and surprising sci-fi debut... bursts with memorable invention. With sharp prose, warm characterization, and the literary chops to make the heady ideas resonate at a human level, Larson spins a deep, winding epic about hope, empathy, and living in the moment. The storytelling demands and rewards patient attention, but lovers of humane SF will find much to relish."
Kirkus Reviews: Our Verdict: ✓ Get It.
"An engaging time-travel romp that mashes up Jung and Doctor Who to masterful effect. Like Jasper Fforde or Douglas Adams, Larson is one of a true minority of writers who can make cerebral science fiction both lucid and entertaining. This philosophical depth anchors the multiverse shenanigans in a tangible, and very human, reality."
Literary Titan: ★★★★★
"Larson gives the book a quick, bright pulse. The book takes big swings, moving from playful banter to deep reflection very quickly. For me, that ambition was part of the appeal. It’s imaginative, sincere, and bigger on the inside than it first appears."
The International Review of Books: Highly Recommended.
"An ambitious and deeply imaginative exploration of time, destiny, and the choices that shape our existence. Thought-provoking, emotionally resonant, and a refreshing new take. Its unexpected conclusion lingers in the mind."
The Wishing Shelf UK: ★★★★★
"Wildly imaginative, surprisingly moving, and unlike anything else I've read—Kiki's voice stays with you long after the final page. Most of all, The Kikiloa Chronicles succeeds because it has a personality all its own. It's funny, strange, imaginative, heartfelt, and unapologetically ambitious."
Reader Reviews
"I don't think I've ever read anything quite like this, not in scope or execution. It's emotionally rich, and that's in large part because the characters feel like distinct, real people." — Ruchi, early reader
"I was immediately gripped and fully immersed from the first couple of pages. The twists and turns kept the story moving, and vivid imagery carried me through the key dramatic moments — the tsunamis, the iceberg ride, the dream of the many-trunked tree. I didn't want to put this book down." — Jess, early reader
"There was never a place where I didn't want to keep reading. In a way, it was like riding a wave. All I had to do was ride and let the water take me. I didn't want it to end." — Leo, early reader
"Kikiloa is painfully human — messy and emotional and reactive. She makes mistakes and holds grudges. But mostly, she loves fiercely. You don't expect to connect with a 200,000-year-old being who has seen and experienced so much, but this story does that for you at every turn." — Kaycee, early reader
"Science in fiction in the spirit of Madeleine L'Engle — folding in both the fantastical and the philosophical. Defies genres beautifully." — Caroline, early reader
Average rating from 2 members
Views expressed in promotions/advertisements do not necessarily reflect those of NetGalley or its affiliates.
© 2026 NetGalley LLC
• All Rights Reserved
Views expressed in promotions/advertisements do not necessarily reflect those of NetGalley or its affiliates.