Seveneves

Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite science fiction authors, but his books are very long so you have to be committed. This book spans 5,000 years as the earth is first destroyed and then rebuilt. In this version, humans are not actually responsible for the destruction. Rather, something--perhaps a black hole--strikes the moon breaking it into several large chunks. They continue to orbit the earth as a cluster of giant rocks, causing minimal disturbance on earth. When two of the chunks strike each other, scientists realize that it is only a matter of time--approximately 2 years by best estimates--before the rate of collision and breakup will cause untold numbers of rocks to fall to earth, setting off fires that will annihilate all life. The earth will not be habitable for several thousand years thereafter. Frantic efforts are made to expand the space station and bring genetic materials for safekeeping and future regeneration. A few people on earth make other plans, such as creating huge caves under mountains in Alaska or taking people in submarines under the ocean. Politics, led in large part by a ruthlessly ambitious U.S. president, cause several of the space pods to break away from the main constellation of habitats, initiating a chain of events that leaves only 7 fertile women alive, hiding in a deep valley of the largest remaining moon fragment--these are the 7 Eves.
Fast forward to 5,000 years later as the descendants of these women have repopulated the space above the earth, using new technologies and yet somehow lacking many of the old ones. The society is tribal, based on the original Eve's genetics. Scouting parties periodically go down to the surface in an effort to reintroduce various animal species, and occasionally some of these scouts choose not to return to their homes in the sky. But what is really a game changer is when two other species surface on the planet, independent of those introduced by the space survivors. As always, a compelling job of examining human relationships, creating new worlds, and stretching our thinking about "what-if" scenarios. Highly recommended. Read his Seveneves website page to learn how the idea for this novel evolved. Great review from The NYTimes, with more from The Guardian, the LATimes, and The Boston Globe.