The last human in the universe must battle unfathomable alien intelligences—and confront the truth about humanity—in this ambitious, galaxy-spanning debut “A good old-fashioned space opera in a thoroughly fresh package.”—Andy Weir, author of The Martian
“Big ideas and believable science amid a roller-coaster ride of aliens, AI, superintelligence, and the future of humanity.”—Dennis E. Taylor, author of We Are Legion
Most days, Sarya doesn’t feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Most days, she’s got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn’t casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again.
And most days, she can almost accept that she’ll never know the truth—that she’ll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist. Or whether she really is—impossibly—the lone survivor of a species destroyed a millennium ago. That is, until an encounter with a bounty hunter and a miles-long kinetic projectile leaves her life and her perspective shattered.
Thrown into the universe at the helm of a stolen ship—with the dubious assistance of a rebellious spacesuit, an android death enthusiast on his sixtieth lifetime, and a ball of fluff with an IQ in the thousands—Sarya begins to uncover an impossible truth. What if humanity’s death and her own existence are simply two moves in a demented cosmic game, one played out by vast alien intellects? Stranger still, what if these mad gods are offering Sarya a seat at their table—and a second chance for humanity? The Last Human is a sneakily brilliant, gleefully oddball space-opera debut—a masterful play on perspective, intelligence, and free will, wrapped in a rollicking journey through a strange and crowded galaxy.
The Last Human is a difficult-to-classify work of speculative fiction by Zack Jordan. Released 24th March 2020 by Penguin Random House on their Del Rey imprint, it's 448 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
This is a difficult book for me to review. It starts out like a coming of age adventure quest novel with alien life-forms, rebellious teenager, spaceships, quirky sidekicks and all, and then it shifts major gears a couple of times and left me scratching my head by the end. One thing through all the tiers/cycles of the book though, this author can write very very well. There are a number of technically demanding constructions in the book including what is, effectively, telepathic communication on a huge scale, and the author handles it deftly and understandably.
There was a moderate amount of humor included in the dialogue and plot and a majority of it fell flat for me. Some of it was situational (the last human, an angsty teenager whose mother is a giant vicious spider alien called appropriately enough, The Widow, having typical mother daughter issues), some of it was just too vague to strike me as funny/humorous. I do understand that humor is darned difficult under the best of circumstances and this book had so much going on that it's no wonder it didn't always work.
I left this review for more than a week and it has grown on me, but it wasn't a book which grabbed me by the face and wouldn't let go. The author is quite devastatingly capable however, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future works.
Three and a half stars (rounded up for quality writing).
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
