Some of the historical figures included in the book are German and Soviet rocket scientists Wernher von Braun and Sergei Korolev.

Kirkus Reviews described A History of What Comes Next as "similar in tone to an X-Files episode, replete with arcane secrets, conspiracy theories, and the possibility of aliens living among us.

[3] It said "[t]he balance of wry narration, wired action, and delicate worldbuilding" will appeal to "[f]ans of alternate history and intelligent sci-fi.

[3] Mark Yon wrote in SFFWorld that A History of What Comes Next "takes the tropes of the past and reuses them in an engagingly contemporary style story".

[5] Jones said she learnt "a lot" from the book, but found her "interest flagged after a while" because of its focus on history rather than the science fiction side of the story.

Jones wrote that she was "deeply disappointed" with the ending, stating that it leaves "the overall plot entirely unresolved", but acknowledged that this could be addressed in the subsequent books in the Take Them to the Stars series.