Cover Image: Only Human

Only Human

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The Themis files are such awesome science fiction stories; they capture the awe of technology and aliens and other worlds, but they also have such big focus on people and their relationships. My favorite thing about this series is that even when the world is falling apart, family always looks out for each other. The friendships and bonds and complicated ties that tie different characters together are truly the stars of the show.



After the end of Waking Gods, I was really about the scope of book 3 because a door had been opened to new worlds. The interesting thing about Only Human is that it takes place after a large time lapse after the events of book 2, and it brings the focus of the story back to earth. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get more time in the new worlds, but we did get a lot of flashbacks into the time between books 2 and 3. Eva is a willful teenager now, and sometimes she and Vincent don't see eye to eye. The epic stakes of everything in this book make the usual rebellious teenager phase so much more intense and terrifying; just imagine trying to talk down a teenager who has access to a giant world-destroying robot!



One thing I love about science fiction is how the crazy scenarios and how people react to them can actually reflect on our world today. As we found out in Sleeping Giants, nearly everyone on earth has some alien DNA in them. In Only Human, we see how far people's paranoia goes, and how much we fear those who we perceive as different from us. People's social status and standard of living are dictated by how "human" they are, even when the fraction of alien DNA we are talking about is less than 1%. It's a thinly veiled criticism of how quick we are to erect barriers between people of different backgrounds and find scapegoats in a crisis.



Waking Gods has to be my favorite book in the series (I don't think any book in the series could come close to topping the emotional impact of two heart-wrenching scenes in there), but Only Human was a strong conclusion to an excellent series. I highly recommend it!

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Not my favorite Themis Files book, but a good (and socially conscious) conclusion to an awesome sci-fi trilogy.

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This was a great conclusion to an awesome series! I really liked getting to hear more about the alien's home planet (where our main characters become the ones who are alien) and the social commentary on how the world reacts is very timely and well-done. People seem to be quick to give up freedom for a sense of a security.

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New Release Tuesday!

Only Human is the stellar conclusion to the Themis Files Trilogy. (Book one was Sleeping Giants, book two was Waking Gods.) And WHOOO BOY. What a roller coaster of emotions!

If you haven’t started the trilogy, read my review of Sleeping Giants here. Basically, without spoiling too much, a young girl stumbles upon a giant metal hand, and this sparks a world of scientists to figure out what it is. The book is told in letters, transcripts, interviews, diary entries, etc., much like the Illuminae series I so adore.

Spoilers for the first two books lurk below!

Only Human is told in past and present pieces. Rose, Vincent, and Eva were whisked to another planet inside the alien robot they had just successfully disabled. The humans have to navigate a world full of aliens, class systems, and rebellion for many years, until one day they finally find a way to escape back to Earth. Upon landing on Earth, they are immediately taken captive by the Russian Government, who take ownership of the robot and interrogate the travelers for details of the foreign planet. These two separate timelines are interwoven, showing the humans on both Earth and their temporary home.

This is an incredibly complex, out-of-this-world story, from the very beginning of the trilogy. I finished the book on the train home, and I’m pretty sure my seatmate thought I was a lunatic with the range of emotions I experienced as I finished the series. So bittersweet, to finally finish a series you’ve been reading for 3 years. I can’t wait to see what Sylvain Neuvel comes up with next.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Links in post are affiliate links whose proceeds go toward the maintenance of this blog.

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Awesome ending to a great trilogy. I really enjoyed these books I am sorry they are over but I really liked the ending.

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4.5 stars. Only Human wraps up Sylvain Neuvel’s excellent THEMIS FILES science fiction trilogy with some surprising plot turns. *Expect some spoilers for the first two books, Sleeping Giants and Waking Gods*

At the end of Waking Gods, the robot called Themis was suddenly transported back home to her original planet by remote command of her alien makers, accidentally carrying along four people who happened to be inside of her: Vincent Couture, the only human capable of piloting Themis; his 10 year old daughter Eva; Dr. Rose Franklin, the brilliant and compassionate scientist who first discovered the immense, buried hand of Themis as a child; and General Eugene Govender, commander of the newly formed Earth Defense Corps. After nine years on the planet Esat Ekt, Vincent, Eva and Rose, together with one of the natives of Esat Ekt, commandeer Themis and travel back to Earth.

They land in Estonia, where the Russian government (which controls Estonia again) is delighted to take possession of both the robot and them personally. In Waking Gods, Rose had disabled another of the giant robots that the aliens had sent to Earth, and it turns out that the U.S.A. has been ruthlessly using this other robot, called Lapetus, to take control of many other countries around the globe. (How the U.S. was able to solve the tricky robot piloting issue is disclosed later in the book.) Vincent, a Canadian, is not happy to learn that Canada is now subject to U.S. control. The Russians intend to use Themis, Vincent, Eva and Rose to combat the U.S. and Lapetus. It’s an understandable strategy, though their convincing methodology ― personified by the veiled threats of Katherine Lebedev, a major in Russia’s intelligence agency who is assigned as their prisoners’ handler ― is decidedly unpleasant.

Meanwhile, in a panicked overreaction to the events that occurred in Waking Gods, most countries around the globe have created internment camps for people whose genetic makeup includes more than a certain percentage of alien DNA … and even executing those with the highest levels. Our world is devolving into chaos and governmental oppression, with rampant mistrust. It’s not a happy or peaceful world to which Rose, Vincent and Eva have returned.

Neuvel includes a good amount of political and social commentary in Only Human. It occasionally gets a little clunky, but there are some incisive if rather pessimistic insights into human nature and our behavior when stressed … and the massive alien-caused deaths in Waking Gods have led to unprecedented levels of worldwide fear and uncertainty.

Only Human is a dual timeline novel: the current timeline describes what occurs after Rose, Vincent and Eva return to Earth, interspersed with flashback chapters that follow their lives during their nine years on Esat Ekt. I was delighted to see Sylvain Neuvel take on the challenge of creating an alien culture but, partly because Neuvel is still following the same file-based narrative structure as the first two books, we only get a limited look at the aliens’ world and its people. It’s mostly seen indirectly, through the discussions and journals of the four humans who are involuntarily being held there. The aliens’ world of Esat Ekt is, in many ways, a familiar one despite their vast technological superiority and unswerving dedication to non-interference with other cultures. But like humans, they also have political conspiring, large portions of the population who are dispossessed because of their race … and even soup kitchens. I would have liked to have sensed more alien-ness in their society, but it was interesting to compare and contrast the flaws in their world with those in ours.

Katherine Lebedev, the military officer in charge of Rose, Vincent and Eva during their time in Russia, is a quirky combination of threats and faux-friendly chirpiness who never quite feels real. As a handler, she was a distinctly unsatisfactory replacement for the nameless handler who was such an impressively dominant force in Sleeping Giants. However, the relationship between Vincent and his now nineteen year old daughter Eva makes up for this with its painful realism. Neuvel delves into the chaotic web of love, misunderstanding, anger and concern that can make up a relationship between parents and children … especially rebellious teenagers.

Only Human is an enjoyable, thoughtfully written conclusion to the THEMIS FILES trilogy. It’s one of my favorite recent science fiction series, deftly combining hard science with interesting characters and social commentary, not to mention the excitement of giant robot deathmatches. Overall I give it an enthusiastic recommendation!

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An amazing conclusion to the trilogy, and definitely worth picking up. I've been a fan of this trilogy since Sleeping Giants, and I am so glad that I discovered the Themis Files.

We see familiar characters who we have grown to care about, and meet new faces as well, both good and bad. The character development is clear, both from the first book to this one, and within this one alone.

This is definitely a book, and series, that I recommend to people. If you haven't picked it up yet, you should definitely give it a try!

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As a whole I really loved this series - it was so fresh and exciting and the first two were absolutely wonderful audiobooks. I enjoyed this last installment too, however since I read an advanced copy I didn’t get to listen and I’m wondering if that affected my experience. I found myself reading with the narrators’ voices in my mind (especially for Vincent and Rose), but something about reading the interviews on paper made this less exciting than the others. I think I’ll give this a listen at some point and reevaluate my rating then.

All that said, I found this to be a satisfying conclusion to the Themis files. We got to get glimpses of an alien planet! All while Earth is crumbling to pieces underneath the strain of knowing the truth about humanity’s DNA. I found Neuval’s decision to make countries lash out at each other rather than come together to be a realistic choice, knowing what our world is like even without the threat of alien attack.

The author mentions that maybe he will revisit the series someday...I certainly wouldn’t complain, but I also think this was an appropriate and fitting ending. All good things must come to an end.

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Although it had a bit of a slow start, this title picked up quickly and is a strong finish to an already-great trilogy. I look forward to seeing what else Neuvel has up his sleeve.

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After spending almost a decade on another planet, two scientists and a teenager come back to Earth only to find that the problems they thought they helped solve have gotten worse. Now they must fight time, opposing forces, and even one another to prevent another world war. Author Sylvain Neuvel brings his trilogy, The Themis Files, to an elegant, albeit bittersweet, end in the third book Only Human.

When Dr. Rose Franklin discovered a giant metal hand buried underground nearly 20 years ago, it led her to the discovery and assembly of Themis, a robot sent by an alien race. After some serious miscommunication with the aliens, about 100 million people across the globe died from a biological weapon released into the atmosphere. Soon after Rose found herself inside Themis with linguist Vincent Couture, his daughter, Eva Reyes, and General Eugene Govender, head of the Earth Defense Corps, traveling through space against their will.

The aliens wanted to bring Themis home.

Now, after nine years, Rose has returned to Earth. She and the others spent that entire time on Esat Ekt, a planet in other galaxy and possibly another time, trying to convince the Ekt people to let them leave. Rose is torn at first about this decision. In some ways, the Ekt represent the ideal; what humans should aspire to. As Rose and Vincent learn, however, the Ekt aren’t perfect. They have their own problems with politics and opposing parties.

Rose and the others come back to the planet of their birth, but it’s no longer a place they recognize. The United States government has appropriated one of the robots the Ekt left behind and is using it as a way to force other countries to submit. Internment camps abound across the world where people who don’t quite fit in now have to live. Another world war seems imminent, and Eva just really wants to go back to Ekt. When she arrived there, she was 10 years old. She considers Ekt home.

What’s worse, the Russians hold Vincent in a benign hostage situation. As long as he cooperates with them, they won’t hurt him. Eva unleashes her fury at coming back to Earth by disappearing. Now Rose will have to find a way to resolve the original problem posed by the alien invaders while trying to help Vincent find Eva and make sure father and daughter don’t end up killing each other—literally.

In what has become his trademark style, Sylvain Neuvel rounds out the Themis trilogy with wit and stark truths about our times. The charm of the Themis books certainly hasn’t worn off; Only Human, like its two predecessors, is told through a series of interviews and journal entries. The writing style is at once disarming and informative, and with this book Neuvel really slides into the right groove for the world of Themis and alien robots.

Some authors might feel tempted to rush the ending, but Neuvel takes his time. After the death of a key character in the previous book, Neuvel manages to find another character with just as much pluck and dry wit. He doesn’t tie up all the loose ends, but he does provide a satisfactory ending to the book and the series. He also lets Rose and the others present some basic life truths, a message that many readers will appreciate in today’s world.

Scientists have often speculated about alien races and what they might think of Earth and its inhabitants. Neuvel’s works fall squarely in the arena of science fiction, and they do full justice to the genre while staying away from its tropes all at the same time. Yet there’s also a universality about the Themis books that emphasizes what the best writing can be: intensely personal to the author while universal in its applicability to readers.

I recommend readers Binge Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel.

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Loved It. Love the whole series. Would be great to read more in this universe. Would love to know why the Ekt went to Earth in the first place or just a book about Mr. Burns. All that to say it was so good that I'm having a touch a withdrawal that usaully accompanies a book break up.

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In the conclusion of Sylvain Neuvel's action-packed Themis Files trilogy we jump forward in time, almost ten years after the conclusion of Waking Gods, when Dr. Rose Franklin, Vincent Couture, his daughter Eva, and General Eugene Govender were abruptly whisked away on Themis, while celebrating aboard Themis, after seemingly stopping the alien annihilation of the citizens of earth who possessed alien blood. The book opens with a prologue shock. Two American pilots are controlling an abandoned giant, named Lapetus and they are using it to take control of Libya. This, as it turns out, has been status quo. America now controls North America and various other locations around the world. As we will later see, some other countries have gone the land-grab route, too. In Chapter 1, Rose, Vincent, and Eva are returning to earth from the alien planet Esat Ekt (the Home of the Ekt) with the aid of a young alien named Ekim. As we will later find out, in order to return his daughter to earth, Vincent has made terrible moral decisions. And as a result, Eva is not happy.

Cutting rapidly back and forth between their logs of life on Esat Ekt and dealing with the seeming mindboggling bureaucracy of the Ekt people, over the course of the book, although we seem to learn relatively little about the Ekt in a snazzy "let's show aliens!" kind of way, we learn a lot about their way of life and their tendencies, just like their earth relatives, toward discrimination and prejudice. In a seeming democracy, which Rose doesn't initially assess as clearly as Vincent and Eva, some people on Esat Ekt are disenfranchised due to lack of racial purity. It sounds all too familiar... But in spite of this, when Rose, Eva, and Vincent return to earth they are taken aback to find that a decade has wrought horrible changes on our planet. As Rose says, people are being "willfully stupid," ignoring scientific findings for the sake of comfort when marginalizing and doing active harm to a fraction of the population deemed unfit. "Our entire race is trying to lobotomize itself." These perceptions of Earth come deep in the book, and are discussed with a character that I had wrongly assumed died in Waking Gods but who, it turns out, survived, has been interred, and is then saved by none other than the dreadful Alyssa Papantoniou. Yes, I used the word interred. Earth has become a very frightened and frightening place after the alien attack. And as a result, your perceptions of someone like Alyssa may change, as well.

The battle that at the core of Only Human deals with the battle to (re?)gain some sense of an evolved human zeitgeist. While there are things I can quibble with in this book, such as the sketchy business of how Ekim is handled as a character, and the Ekt ultimate solution, which is little better than what's been going on, this is still, an interesting conclusion to the Themis trilogy.

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I received a free Kindle copy of Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel courtesy of Net Galley  and Random House, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as have read the first two books (Sleeping Giants and Waking Gods) in the Themis Files trilogy and found both of those interesting and engaging.

This book wraps up the Themis files which involves Rose Franklin, Vincent Couture and Eva Couture and giant robots from another star system. This book follows the same format as the previous two in the series in that it presented in an interview file format. The plot line addresses what can go wrong when a robot is left behind and used by one country to dominate the rest of the world until another reappears. This book is meant as a conclusion to the storyline, but it can easily be reopened later if the author so wishes.

This is not meant to be a stand alone novel, so I strongly recommend that you read the first two in the series before tackling this one. I found this to be an engaging series that I strongly recommend to anyone looking for a new science fiction author.

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While this wasn't my favorite book in the series it still was a satisfying conclusion to a wonderful trilogy. It had me on the edge of my seat and the pacing and suspense were good. I found myself telling myself 'Just one more chapter..." And reading about five to ten more. Absolutely riveting. Character driven. I would recommend this book and series. 5 out of 5 stars.

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From the publisher: In her childhood, Rose Franklin accidentally discovered a giant metal hand buried beneath the ground outside Deadwood, South Dakota. As an adult, Dr. Rose Franklin led the team that uncovered the rest of the body parts which together form Themis: a powerful robot of mysterious alien origin. She, along with linguist Vincent, pilot Kara, and the unnamed Interviewer, protected the Earth from geopolitical conflict and alien invasion alike. Now, after nearly ten years on another world, Rose returns to find her old alliances forfeit and the planet in shambles. And she must pick up the pieces of the Earth Defense Corps as her own friends turn against each other.

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel is the final book in the Themis Files trilogy, which includes Sleeping Giants and Waking Gods. Neuvel is tasked with wrapping up the story of Vincent Couture, his daughter Eva, and his former boss-turned-friend Rose Franklin as they find themselves transported to Esat Ekt, the home planet of Themis, the giant robot Rose discovered as a child. Neuvel accomplishes this using a storytelling style that relies on interviews, emails, and radio (or some sort of similar communication) conversations.

Sleeping Giants introduced Dr. Rose Franklin, Kara, Vincent, the Earth Defense Corps, and Themis (a giant robot left by an alien race). Waking Gods then tracked varying countries trying to take control of Themis. Only Human picks up ten years after the end of Waking Gods, and tells the story of the race that created Themis and what happens when our heroes want to return home.

It's really hard to summarize much Only Human, because I don't want to accidentally spoil anything. Neuvel uses his epistolary style to show what Rose, Vincent, Eva, and the General have been up to on Esat Ekt, which is where they were taken at the (cliffhanger) end of Waking Gods. The story is told with flashbacks interspersed with current events to create a full picture of the previous ten years. Suddenly, Vincent is finds he wants to try to return to Earth so his teenage daughter Eva can have a "normal" life. This idea sets off a series of events that brings the story of Themis to a fulfilling conclusion and quite capably brings the Themis Files to an end.

Over the course of three books, Neuvel has done a great job creating well-rounded and interesting characters, which to me is all the more impressive considering the style he chose to tell the story. Vincent and Rose had already been given terrific characterization, and in Only Human, Eva is given the same treatment. This characters feel very real, which is a testament to Neuvel's skill. Additionally, in Only Human, our characters find themselves on an alien world living in a culture that's a little similar to ours, but also has some fundamental differences. He does a wonderful job of fleshing out this alien world.

Of course, a giant robot story wouldn't be complete without some giant robot fights, and Only Human does not let the reader down. There are several of these conflicts (just like in the previous books) and the action and conspiracies keep the story flowing quickly.

My only real complaint (and it is minor) is that at times the moralizing seemed a little heavy-handed, something that did not really stand out in the two previous books. However, that did not prevent me from enjoying the book.

I highly recommend Only Human, the final book in the Themis Files trilogy, by Sylvain Neuvel. It is a fun and exciting conclusion to the story begun in Sleeping Giants. While the story can be read without reading the previous books, I definitely wouldn't recommend it, as readers may find themselves lacking some of the prior knowledge that would make Only Human much more enjoyable.

I received a preview copy of this book from Del Ray and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Ah, I love when a series ends well! Seriously, it is one of the most happy-making bookish things ever. And it so happens to be the case with Only Human, which ends the Themis Files on a very high note. While slightly less action-packed than its predecessors, it delivers with some incredibly thought provoking plot points and characters. Let’s talk about these, while keeping it spoiler-free, shall we?

♦The humor is fabulous. Look, some dark shit happens in this series. Like, dark. But the humor lightens things up a bit, kind of retains the characters’ humanity. And frankly, just makes for an enjoyable read.

♦There’s a time jump that puts even The 100’s to shame, yet… it works just as well. I was shocked that there was a jump from book one to two, and I didn’t necessarily expect it this time, but it happened and it worked. I think it was a good way to be able to tell the whole story without adding a lot of unnecessary information.

♦Lots of great social and political commentary and discussion fodder. Seriously, the thing I have enjoyed most about this series is that it made me ponder the “what-ifs” a lot. Could this situation happen for real? How would we react? In truth, I think the author sadly nailed how human beings would react to such adversity, and it isn’t awesome.

♦Do not fret, there was still giant robot fighting! And plenty of action.

♦Our characters often had to make some tough calls, both in the past and present time, and I found that very compelling. Of course, their own needs and wants drive their decision making, just as it does for all of us, and I loved how the author highlighted that.

Bottom Line: A very solid conclusion to an overall high quality sci-fi series. If you’ve been interested, I can confidently recommend diving in!

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Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel is the recommended third book in the Themis series. This is not a stand-alone novel and the three book series has to be read in the order they are written.

Since this is the last book in the series, I don't want to give away too much of the plot. Basically a giant robot was found buried in pieces around the Earth. It is put together and we are trying to master the technology, when more fully operational robots are sent to Earth and begin attacking. The attack is stopped, but all the robots, including Themis, the robot that was put together here, disappear from Earth. The human crew inside Themis, Dr. Rose Franklin, linguist Vincent Couture, his 10-year-old daughter Eve Reyes, and Gen. Eugene Govender, are stranded on the robots home planet, Esat Ekt. After being stranded on Esat Ekt for nine years, they return back to Earth, but the geo-political climate has changed. The group lands in Russia, become prisoners, and discover that America and Russia are battling for the supreme control of the planet. Those in charge seem to be suffering from some kind of collective insanity and rule by violence and fear, including vast numbers of people sent to work camps and internment camps.

As in the previous two books, the story unfolds using interviews, diary entries, mission logs, and covert recordings. The narrative jumps back and forth between the time spent on Esat Ekt and after the group returns to Earth. Most of the main characters were already fully fleshed out in the first two books and are further developed here, while new characters are a bit lacking in development. Russian intelligence officer Katherine Lebedev comes across as an unrealistic cartoonish caricature especially with the "jokey" dialogue she takes part in. There isn't a lot of in-depth worldbuilding on Esat Ekt, and what is presented doesn't seem alien. The political climate on Earth is examined, but

Taken as a whole I'd give the series 4 stars, but, for me, this was a weak ending. I'm not entirely thrilled with Neuval's choice to make the plot so political. I get it; the current polarized political climate is disturbing. For me, however, all this did was make the presentation a bit too preachy in this final installment of the series and I didn't get as much of the science fiction, and robots, I craved. Additionally, I can't help it, but I missed the unnamed narrator from the first two books.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the Random House Publishing Group.
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This book was probably my least favorite of the trilogy. There were lots of slow parts. It got really exciting near the end and was a good wrap up.

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This was so good! The whole trilogy is really amazing. I actually remember reading the first book in the trilogy, Sleeping Giants, and thinking that it was just okay. Everything changed when I decided to try the audiobook for the story. I was really able to appreciate the story much more with the help of the narrators. When I picked up the second book, Waking Gods, I was worried that I wouldn't be as impressed by the book in print after my experience with this previous book but I liked that book right from the start. The same can be said for this book. I thought that Waking Gods ended with just a bit of a cliffhanger and I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen to these characters. This was one of my most anticipated reads for the year and I was not disappointed.

This review will contain spoilers for the previous two books in the trilogy.

I went into this book expecting it to pick up right where the last book ended and it did to a point. The first part of the book goes back and forth between a time 9 years after the previous book and various points during those 9 years. I had so many questions about what had happened to everyone during those 9 years and I am glad that we got to see some of the more important events. We do learn more from the characters as they are being interviewed about their lives during those lost years as well.

So Vincent, Eva, and Rose have spent a significant amount of time living on an alien planet. You would think that they would have changed a lot during those years. They did experience some changes but the most dramatic changes happened here on Earth. Our planet has not done well during those years. Things are bad. Countries are power hungry and using the robots to intimidate other nations while their people are being treated poorly.

I loved the characters in this book. I really feel like I have got the chance to really know Rose and Vincent during the course of the trilogy. Eva is much older and I liked her character more in this book. Many of the key players from previous books show up in this installment as well. I was always thrilled to get to see these familiar characters play a part in the story even when they were a character that I loved to hate. There were a couple of new characters that seemed to fit into the story quite flawlessly as well.

This story was just as exciting as I had anticipated. How could a book about giant alien robots be anything but exciting? Anyway, this book had all of the action scenes that I had hoped to see. There were quite a few surprises along the way and I found myself turning pages as fast as I could just to see what would happen next. I was somewhat surprised by how things worked out in this one and it really was a good surprise. I was very satisfied by how everything ended.

I would highly recommend this series to others. This is an exciting and highly imaginative trilogy that has been a whole lot of fun. I do plan to purchase a copy of the audiobook of this one for a re-read in the near future. I can't wait to see what Sylvain Neuvel comes up with next!

I received a digital review copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine via NetGalley.

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Sylvain Neuvel manages to continue his unique brand of universe-building in the third installment of the Themis Files: Only Human. As with his first two books, the story weaves in-between recorded diary entries/logs in juxtaposition of the current story line. Fraught with last minute suspense, the second book Waking Gods left readers wondering what will happen to Themis and all of those aboard?

Continuing to surprise readers with his take on a ‘first-contact’ phenomena, Neuvel spins his brand of spunky humor into a surreal story of humans stranded for ten years on an alien planet and what happens when they are jettisoned back home to a Battle Royale, Risk-esque style World War. Neuvel casts a deluge of characters that you love to love and hate to hate. What I love most about this series has been the mystery surrounding Themis, learning about the Ekt, and what it means for the people of Earth.

Unsurprisingly, the main theme of this book seems to coincide with real world issues in mainstream culture and society. When the Ekt landed and millions of people were nerve-gas annihilated, the real villains of the story (yokits! surprise, it’s the humans) divide and sort the population of people with the highest levels of alien DNA into camps. Trying to protect the human race from those that are different (wait, does this sound familiar?), humans systematically seclude and terminate those that are most alien while knowing that we ALL have alien DNA.

The only criticism I have for this book is that Lebedev’s character is fairly unbelievable and distracts readers from her interviews. While her over the top personality pulls away from the story at times, Neuvel still manages to entice the readers back with his narratives of Ekt society and customs while illustrating that in reality, humans are simply kids that never grew up who still need inter cosmic babysitters.

This book does not read as a stand alone and is really for those who want to know what happened to Earth, Themis and that ragtag gang of giant robot pilots that we have grown to love in the previous two books. This is a quick and engaging read for anyone who loves sci-fi, giant robots, and a story about humans losing their marbles when they learn they are not the biggest kid at the intergalactic playground.

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