Sapiens is a biological, historical, psychological, cultural, and even financial look at the journey humans have made from the beginning of time to now.
While Homo Deus takes the trajectory we've been on from the beginning of time to now to speculate about our future in those same areas (biological, psychological, cultural, and even financial).
I absolutely loved that it's written in simple, basic English. This book was much easier to read and comprehend than even April's current 10th grade science books. You do not need a scientific, intellectual mind to appreciate it.
(Although, because I have friends who let their kids read books based on my reviews, let me add that while I'd consider this to be a middle school level book as far as reading & comprehension goes, it does touch on more mature content - I personally would recommend waiting until post-high school to read it).
I also loved that the author openly admits that the explanations of our past given in Sapiens specifically are merely theories. There is no evidence to confirm these ideas, they are just some of the plausible possibilities.
And similarly, he stresses that the speculation about our future is only a possibility based on the information we have currently and what the science has shown thus far. Science is always changing and we're always learning more. Absolutely none of this should be taken as fact. It's just for fun based on what we currently know.
It drives me bonkers when people try to pass ideas off as fact. This author does not do that. He's very transparent the whole time that all of this is only a possibility on how things did or might happen.
And I loved the narrator's voice for the audiobooks. He gave off real David Attenborough vibes and I felt like I was watching a beloved nature special on the Discovery Channel.
I walked away with some nuggets I'd never given thought to before. Like, have you ever realized that in the middle ages when the average life expectancy was around 40 years of age wasn't because people were dying at 40 - but because babies were dying at birth! In fact, most people that managed to survive the first 3 years of life often went on to live 60-70, and even 80, years 🤯
Although, there were a handful of times that he'd repeat himself from chapter to chapter and book to book. That nugget I just shared was mentioned 3 times in Sapiens and again in Homo Deus. There were many others that were brought up at least twice over the course of the 2 books.
But if you'd like to tickle your brain with some light speculative non-fiction, I wholeheartedly recommend giving these a solid read.
There's a third one, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, that I've added to my list and currently have it on hold in my library app. As Sapiens covers the past and Homo Deus looks to the future, "21 Lessons" applies to the present. Yes, please! We need all the help we can get in these "unprecedented times"