3.5 of 5 stars

What a crazy ride it’s been. Only Human is the third book of the Themis Files trilogy, bringing an end to a saga that first began in Sleeping Giants, where as a child, protagonist Rose Franklin quite literally stumbled upon a discovery of a lifetime. While exploring the woods near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, she accidentally fell into a square hole in the ground containing what was later identified as the hand of a giant metal robot. Fast forward many years, and the world has now become a very different place, with humanity hovering on the brink of war against an unstoppable alien threat. A lot has clearly happened, and if you’re not caught up on the series yet, be aware that this review will contain plot details from the first two books.

First of all, it has been nine years since the end of the second volume, Waking Gods, which left us with one hell of cliffhanger as the giant robot Themis (carrying Rose Franklin, Vincent Couture, his 10-year-old daughter Eva, and General Eugene Govender inside at the time) was suddenly and inexplicably transported to another world. In Only Human, we find out exactly where they went, as well as what exactly happened in the intervening years.

Once again, the story is presented as a collection of mostly journal entries, transcribed interviews or recordings, letters and other forms of personal communication, etc. so by now the format feels very familiar. The greatest challenge the author had to overcome in this book, however, was the establishing of two timelines—one taking in the present, the other filling in the events of the last nine years—and there’s even the problem of a language barrier to consider this time. The book begins with the return of Rose, Vincent, Eva, and a fourth mysterious passenger, as Themis suddenly shows up again on Earth following its almost decade-long disappearance. Many of us had guesses as to where Themis ended up, I think, and sure enough, we soon get confirmation that the characters had been transported the giant robot’s homeworld, Esat Ekt.

As you would imagine though, spending nine years anywhere, let alone on an alien planet, would be enough to change anyone. Upon their return, both Rose and Vincent are shocked at what life has become on Earth, and Eva, now nineteen years old and who had spent most of her formative years living among the Ekt, is having a particularly hard time adjusting. They’re also being detained by the Russian government (because Themis reappeared in Russian territory), who are pressuring them to give up all the deets: Are the aliens coming back? Do they still want war with Earth? How do we fight them?

Except, of course, the aliens aren’t at all what we’ve been led to believe. They’re actually kind of a mess. In some ways, they’re even more clueless than humans, despite being lightyears ahead of us in technology. It made this somewhat of a dreary read because I spent most of it feeling pissed off at everyone, Ekt and human alike. The universe is apparently full of jerks. And if an advanced alien race capable of creating gargantuan robots that can disintegrate mountains in an eyeblink can’t even get it together, then what chance do we have? I also found myself annoyed with the characters, many of whom came across as sanctimonious, selfish, and careless. In a world where conditions have devolved so far, pitting countryman against countryman, friend against friend, daughter against father…at one point I asked myself if I would even care how this ended. It was just too depressing.

Thankfully, the plot took a turn for the better in the second half. It made me see how things were meant to fit together. I now understand that much of the conflict was meant to set up the events of the last hundred pages or so, in order to have the ending feel that much more satisfying and emotionally impactful.

That said, there were still a few things I wished this final novel did differently. For one, I wanted a lot more about the aliens. The limited information we received about the Ekt was sorely disappointing, considering our protagonists were on their planet and stayed among them for nine whopping years. Also, there were a couple downsides to the epistolary format that I confess still sort of bug me even after three books. It’s just hard to buy into the whole oral dictation angle when so many scenes in the story that are not conducive to carrying a recorder around, conveniently capturing all our characters’ conversations about their thoughts and reporting exactly what they are doing. There are still plenty of these awkward moments, with the trade-off being realism and immersion.

I don’t want to sound too negative, however. I did have a lot of fun with this book—with all three books, in fact. Given the complex nature of this series, Sylvain Neuvel had his work cut out for him, and that’s on top of dealing with obstacles that challenge all new authors. A few minor hiccups notwithstanding, I have to say he managed to pull off his debut trilogy marvelously, sparking imaginations and offering action-packed entertainment along the way. The Themis Files is a masterful storytelling experience, one I will not soon forget.

*4 stars plus! I've enjoyed this scifi trilogy and am so sorry to see it end! Very inventive and fun!

This book concludes the tale that began with the discovery of pieces of a giant robot named Themis which was brought to Earth by aliens thousands of years ago. The story is told through recorded files, going back and forth through time.

As the story begins, three of the four Americans who were whisked to planet Esat Ekt have found a way to return to Earth but land in Estonia, where they are held and debriefed. The world as they know it has changed in the nine years, three months and six days they've been gone but not for the better. Did they make a mistake in coming back? And what is in store for the human race?

Sylvain Neuval explores the philosophy of an advanced alien society: Would there be racism against those not 'pure blooded?' Would they allow dissent of any kind? Seek peace at the price of individual liberty? Are there still power struggles? Then compare that with life on Earth! Do you believe in 'my country, right or wrong?'

Neuval also explores the relationship between father and daughter--how much should we protect our children, control their lives?

Interesting format, characters, situations delivers a satisfying read. I'm hoping this writer will deliver more stories of this kind in the future. Other worlds to explore?

I must also mention what beautiful all these books have. I was privileged to win a hardcover copy of Sleeping Gods in a goodreads giveaway and have read arcs of the others--many thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for providing me with copies for an honest review.

Another nine years have passed, and while Rose and Vincent and Eva have been stuck on an alien planet, Earthlings have been getting up to some pretty messed up shenanigans. Left in a state of terror and paranoia after being massacred by aliens, the world has gone to hell, categorizing people based on how much alien DNA they have and rounding them up into camps. But that’s not all; old human prejudices run rampant as well. Muslims are also being rounded up, for reasons that make little to no sense whatsoever. The only thing that is clear is that fear and ignorance reign supreme, and Rose and Vincent and Eva return to a world on the brink of nuclear extinction.

I breezed through this entire trilogy in less than two weeks because it was so addicting, but I’m not sure that it was a good idea. By the third book, the narrative style was seriously getting on my nerves. I was undecided about it while reading the first book, but now I’m sure – I would have preferred a traditional narrative with interviews/logs/etc. interspersed throughout. It felt so much less organic in this book; most of the “interviews” were just Rose and Vincent chatting. It felt less like an important conversation being recorded and more like a really bad play.

A lot of these conversations are just the characters moralizing on the state of things. It felt a lot like the author was using the story and characters as an intellectual exercise, a vehicle to talk out his thoughts on various issues like racism, Islamophobia, democracy, etc. It might have been easier to bear had this been written like a regular book, but as it was I felt like I was being preached at. It’s incredibly heavy-handed, like the author is delivering a philosophy lecture. And so much of this book is just that – Vincent and Rose and Eva talking about stuff. It was pretty boring. Little to nothing happens until the very end of the book, and even then what happens is still entirely centered on our three main characters. Which, okay, I get, but I would have liked to see more of the world rather than reading another chapter about Vincent’s parental drama with Eva.

Oh, also, I’ll say it: this book suffers deeply for the loss of our unnamed friend. He was the linchpin of the story; without him, it feels unmoored. Plus I miss his understated wit. Despite this loss, there were some great characters here. Rose remains a fascinating person and scientist; Vincent has become much more sarcastic in a way that feels very organic, considering he’s nine years older than the last time we saw him. Eva is a firecracker; I adored her. And Katherine; I looooooooooved Katherine. At times she felt a little bit like a caricature of a millennial, but I didn’t care, she was so entertaining and I loved every scene she was in. The short glimpse we got of Alyssa was great too.

Ultimately, I was unfortunately unsatisfied by the conclusion to the trilogy. This book had zero of the wonder and discovery of the first two installments. There was nothing here that was thrilling or interesting, there was no more mystery or twists. It was just bleakness, humans being terrible, and people going in circles having the same conversations. If it weren’t for the memory of the first two books, I would have rated this even lower, but as it stands, I did have fun reading this trilogy. So even though the conclusion isn’t that great, overall I would say that the Themis Files is a fun but wholly overrated series.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey books for review eARC of this book. I loved the first two books in this trilogy, and I was ecstatic to get a chance to read this one after the events of Waking Gods. This story begins 9 years after Waking Gods, and in it we see how both Earth and our heroes have changed in that time. It really looks at the question of what it means to be human vs. alien. I love that the unique formats have remained, and that it allows us to see much more than we would if there was a single narrator— it’s really effective. If you like science fiction, unique formats, and the fate of humanity, don’t miss this final installment in The Themis Files!

Yokits!

(Full disclosure: This review contains spoilers for the previous two books in the trilogy.)

“You think the world ch … changed while you were gone? It hasn’t. This is who we are.”

“What does a man’s life amount to? What does the life of a thousand, a billion? What is an ant’s life worth? I see now that the answer is irrelevant. It’s the question that matters. Should the ant let itself die, crushed under the weight of its own insignificance? Or should it live, fight giants, and build magnificent cities underground? What do I choose?”

“It was always you, Rose. Just you. This is your movie. The rest of us are just extras in it.”

When last we visited the world of the Themis Files – a world in which the discovery of an alien robot/spaceship/war machine upended humanity, in ways both good and bad (but, let’s face it, mostly bad because humans gonna human) – physicist Rose Franklin, linguist-turned-pilot Vincent Couture, ten-year-old orphan Eva Reyes, and EDC head General Eugene Govender were on board Themis, celebrating their unlikely victory against alien invaders, when the ship powered up and transported them … somewhere else.

The quartet have spent the last nine years living in limbo on the alien planet Esat Ekt – “Home of the Ekt,” the builders of Themis and unfortunate contributors to humanity’s gene pool. Due to their strict moral philosophy of non-interference in the evolutionary paths of other species, and well as regional political BS, the Ekt cannot decide whether to send the accidental guests home, as aliens – or make them stay, as part-Ekt citizens.

It was this very philosophy of non-interference that led the Ekt to attack earth in WAKING GODS, releasing a toxic gas that killed millions. What the Ekt meant as a surgical strike against their own people quickly snowballed, since the original twenty-four Ekt visitors couldn’t keep it in their pants, so to speak. The mass casualties sent shock waves through both planets: the earth of today performs mandatory blood tests on its citizens; anyone deemed to have “too much” alien DNA is rounded up and put in camps, even executed. Meanwhile, the fiasco has led to civil unrest on Ekt, with the h. sapiens guests/prisoners serving as a constant, painful reminder of the Ekt’s epic fail. Something’s gotta give.

ONLY HUMAN is a pretty solid end to a series that I’ve really enjoyed. Like its predecessors, the story is told via a series of interviews, journal entries, and the like, in both flashbacks (to Rose et al.’s time on Ekt) and real-time. As you can probably gather from this sentence, Rose, Vincent, and Eva have managed to find their way back to Earth, which is now in possession of not one but two alien robots. In a post-9/11 climate of paranoia and fear, this is very much Not A Good Thing. The parallels Neuvel makes to our current political climate are inescapable, and I had to wonder how much of the story he wrote before/after the 2016 election (or if he altered the narrative at all later). The ultimate view he posits of humanity is both grim, but also cautiously hopeful.

I really enjoyed getting to know teenage Eva, and to see Vincent as a father. The father-daughter conflict seemed a little over the top at times, but Eva’s narrative is really compelling: a “freak” who saw visions on Earth, Eva is more or less “normal” – if a bit of an alien curiosity-slash-celebrity – on Ekt. Vincent is pretty insistent that he wants Eva to have a “normal” life – but to her, Ekt is it. So you can imagine her angst at being forced to leave by dear old dad. (I was pretty peeved with him until the final chapters.)
I also came to love Mr. Burns – something I wouldn’t have thought possible in books one or two – and kind of teared up at the surprise twist ending. Slow clap on that one.

Someone needs to stop giving these war criminals government jobs though, smh. #StillNotReadyForThemis

This last book was more interesting to read because of more robot action, and scenes on another planet, but there could have been fabulous descriptions of the alien setting to offset the bland dialogue (it is still bothering me that all of these highly educated, highly intelligent people only use basic vocabulary). The trees were described only as "weird looking" and a small animal as "cat like". Descriptions of the different races on the other planet were mostly limited to terms like "blue skinned". There was also the opportunity to describe an alien toilet in detail, and all I got was that it was very tall. I was so disappointed!

Yes, there was a lot of political shadowing of what is going on on our planet now, and sociopolitical statements being made in this book, but they were fragmented and scattered, and disconnected. Just when I thought the threads were all coming together and there was this big epiphany being made by the aliens, the author had them do something ridiculous just so he could bring this older forgotten element back in to do what? I don't know. The ending was a steaming hot mess that neutralized anything good that was accomplished beforehand.

There were two big questions that were never answered, and a bunch of smaller plot holes that were never filled. The science wasn't very science-y, and as a huge SciFi fan this series failed me in many ways. The writing style was amateurish, and it couldn't be covered up with the interview/journal type of narrative.

A solid 4 stars for the full trilogy. Only Human comes to a logical, satisfying conclusion. Recommended.

I think I was always going to find reading this book bittersweet, as I knew that it would serve as the conclusion to an epic tale that I have been so delighted to visit over the years.

In the reviews of the previous books I've talked about how much I enjoyed the blending of science, imagination, and humanity, and while this book still delivers all three, there's a much deeper exploration of identity and humanity.

While I blazed through the first two books, eagerly devouring every new detail, this was a slower read (which isn't a bad thing) for a few reasons:
First, The Interviewer is gone and within a few chapters I discovered just how much I miss his brand of humor and his breadth of knowledge. Maybe born out of the habit of having his tone so present in the first two books I found my self subconsciously searching for it in this one.
Second, all science fiction aside, the book is dealing with very real issues that for me felt like repeatedly prodding a bruise. Like Rose I keep hoping for the best in humanity, keep celebrating the people who strive to make a difference, but the myriad of ways that fear has made people narrow in their world view and quick to blame anyone different from themselves becomes more and more apparent everyday, and we won't get the kind of resolution that Rose does, which feeds an appreciation for the escapism of the book to some degree, while wondering what the hell it will take for the real humans of our earth to find unity.
Thirdly, this book is primarily about the relationship between a father and daughter, between Vincent and Eva and it was a shift of focus I wasn't expecting.

Overall I feel like I'm sad to see this story come to a close, but this was an ending that delivered a surprising amount of hope. I will miss Rose most of all and the sense of adventure that came from the first book in particular, but then that's what rereads are for.

This was a nice finish to the trilogy. If you have not read the first two novels, it will not make sense. It had perhaps a too clean ending. I can see this series as being a crossover to YA sci fi fans.

It's finally here, and Only Human, the third book of the Themis Files is worth the wait. In a fitting conclusion to the series we once again jump forward in time by almost a decade,but we also jump to a new planet, Esat Ekt, the home world of the people who created Themis and the other giant robots. Fear not however, through the by now familiar use of diary entries and reports we do learn what our band of reluctant explorers got up to, and how they eventually made their way back to earth. As you might imagine there have been many changes in the decade of their absence and in some ways it is almost as difficult for Vincent, Rose and especially Eva to adjust to these changes as it was for them when they first arrived on Esat Ekt.
There is a lot of interesting and relevant social commentary woven into the story, and this weaving is very deftly handled, making the book more thought provoking than either of the previous ones., but equally as entertaining. I feel that there is a real maturity to it, and I think some of the questions it poses will stay with me for some time to come. Speaking of maturity, I must also compliment the author on his character development, not just in this book but in the series as a whole, and a stand out example of this is Vincent, who has grown from a brash, almost obnoxious young man, to a determined and devoted father, with a well developed sarcastic streak.
I loved the book, my only complaint is that it's the last, or so it seems for now.

Review will not be posted until April 24

Prior to the release of Only Human, the final entry in the Themis Files trilogy by Sylvain Neuvel, I did a little research. I wanted to see how many Sci-Fi titles include the word human. It seemed like there should be a fair few, since most SF is painstakingly concerned with the human condition, but I couldn’t find that many. Human isn’t a terribly interesting word when you could go with things like robot or mars or horrendous space kablooie. Among the only titles I did recall or discover was Theodore Sturgeon’s classic More Than Human. It’s always less or more: even in books without indicative titles, nobody is super jazzed to talk about humans as they are.

Only Human, as the title implies, isn’t thrilled about us either. In this third installment, human nature has caught up to scientific progress and made a mess of things. But perhaps it would be helpful to remind you what things are afoot.

Recap (spoilers, obviously): Themis, the robot painstakingly assembled and awoken in book one, Sleeping Giants, had some dramatic adventures in book two, Waking Gods. The aliens who created her returned and tried to scrub their "interference" from humanity, since they believe in the self-determination of species (anyone familiar with Star Trek will understand when I say it's essentially the Prime Directive). However, in attempting to remove the results of genetic interference—aka, interbreeding between their species and ours—they misjudge the extent to which our DNA has mingled and end up killing millions and millions of people. Through scientific cleverness and the judicious use of force (read: Themis fights another robot), they persuade the aliens to leave.

Unfortunately, the aliens take Themis when they go. With all our favorite characters stuck inside.

So now it's nine years later, and linguist Vincent, his daughter Eva, and physicist Rose have returned with Themis, along with a single alien named Ekim. They have left under dramatic circumstances, and they return to dire ones. Earth, it seems, has not fared well in the interim. In fact, everything has pretty much gone straight to hell.

The UN and the fictitious Earth Defense Council have failed. In an anti-Watchmen move, humanity didn't band together once they knew there were aliens. They panicked and reacted with violence, which made things worse, and then when the aliens disappeared the collective "fight or flight" response didn't switch off. Because the aliens might come back. Because action feels better than admitting ignorance. Because—Neuvel wonders—it's human nature?

Early on, a character describes human nature as wanting to punch someone who just punched you. Not aggression, necessarily; just this unrestrained ability to react with a combination of fear and aggression. Humanity is good at reaction. Action, less so. This is one of the most insightful comments I've heard in a long while, and it encapsulates Only Human fairly well. No longer optimistic, but not quite ready to despair, the reality dogs each character: human nature is petty, venal, and insecure. How can you save a species so capable of greatness, yet so mired in its baser instincts?

These books are one of the clearest, most devastating and yet most subtle indictments of the Trump era that I've seen. The first book was published and clearly also written in a time of guarded optimism, and the second follows suit. But I'm going to guess that this third book was primarily written—and definitely finished—after the 2016 election. Because it's brutally, unflinchingly pessimistic about how humans and governments would act. Gone is the scientific hope for solutions; now we use DNA tests to put the "wrong sort" of people in labor and execution camps. Gone is the collaboration of academic inquiry, military effort, and bureaucratic efficiency. Now, America has annexed Canada, dissolved democracy, and enforced its fascist rule over everyone that doesn't have a nuclear arsenal capable of promising mutually assured destruction. It's the Cold War Part II.

Obviously I'm inferring some things about Neuvel's politics, but it's really not much of a leap if you've read the books. I had to put this one down several times; it was just too bleak. Not just in its take on earth politics, but also on Ekt politics. The hyper-evolved, technologically advanced aliens are in just as much of a political maelstrom as we are, and fall victim to many of the same prejudices and fears. Xenophobia, terrorism, and bigotry are just as rampant. Even fake news makes an appearance, a bold-faced lie that nonetheless embroils Eva, Vincent, and Rose in Ekt conflict while as they are still trying to untangle Terran issues. Namely, a very familiar tension with Russia, which makes this a timely book. The inclusion of a Chinese/Russian/North Korean/South Korean/American drama plays out with some nail-biting tension due to its real-life parallels as well.*

All of this seems incredibly complicated, but it's actually quite straightforward in presentation. Neuvel does an excellent job parceling out information so as to maintain a sense of mystery and discovery without being obscure. He also has a knack for providing context without reams and reams of infodumps. Even the philosophizing, which might have been preachy or dull, is full of emotional resonance and urgency, like his tragic reflection on the ills of the Prime Directive.

The dialogue (which comprises 99% of the book, as this is all "found" documents of conversations and personal logs) is as snappy as ever. These books are basically Aaron Sorkin doing sci-fi. I would love to see them adapted, actually, because they don't just walk the line between awesome sci-fi action and complex politics and intimate character development, they strut it. And even though Neuvel is mostly reflecting on humanity, he also gives a fairly complete and accurate picture of an alien civilization. Despite being all dialogue, this is a highly evocative and visual book. So much so that I also had to put it down before the epilogue, because despite the bleakness, I was very reluctant to have it end.

The epilogue seems so entirely out of character for one of our exhausted heroes that it’s a clear authorial wish-fulfillment scenario. I don’t doubt the author has justifications but I did have to roll my eyes a tiny bit. Other than that, though, I found the conclusion both fitting and satisfying, not easy in a book that took such a grim turn. I think there is a chance that others will criticize the rather deus ex machina solution to a large issue, but I actually found it appropriate and surprisingly complex. No great force saves humanity. Neuvel is clear that such a thing does not actually exist. A series of compromises and sleights-of-hand just give us another chance to save ourselves—or not.


*Although the geopolitics are scary in their plausibility, the most unrealistic part is that Finland is Russian-occupied but Sweden has maintained neutral independence. And if you don't think that's true, I encourage you to meet a Finnish person.

The third and final book in the Themis Files, Only Human is a fitting end to an exciting science fiction trilogy. Full of action and emotion, the characters in this third book feel more fleshed out and three-dimensional than they have in the previous installments, and the characters of Eva and Vincent are especially rounded out this time. The description of the planet where Themis hails from is vivid despite only being described by the characters, and I found myself wishing that more of the book took place there. Altogether, I highly recommend this to anyone who has read the previous books in the trilogy. To anyone who has yet to pick up Sleeping Giants because they are waiting to find out if the series is worth reading in its entirety, I definitely recommend it. Science fiction at its most readable and enjoyable.

I’m a little sad to have this trilogy come to an end! It was a great ride!

Overall I really liked this book and it was a very satisfying end. It does have a bit of a different feel than the first two books, which is to be expected. It took me a bit longer to read this book than the first two because of this. Personally I prefer sci-fi where we don’t see the aliens on page which is where the first two books really appealed to me. However the aliens in this last book were interesting and well developed.

I loved following our remaining characters while still missing the ones that were gone. The ending especially really tugged on my heartstrings. I’d highly recommend this series to anyone.

Ohmygosh... The FEELS at the end! Neuvel rocked it once again with his series finale to the Themis Files.

In Only Human, Vincent, his daughter Eva, Dr. Rose Franklin, and the General had been whisked off to the aliens' planet of Esat Ekt as the 4 were celebrating their victory while inside Themis. 10 years have passed and our crew finally manage to make their way back to Earth with Themis.

Once again, the story is told in interviews, personal logs, and transcriptions and this time bounces between being back on Earth and those years spent on Esat Ekt. And once again, I was glued to my ereader throughout!

I did miss Kara and the nameless interviewer throughout this entire book. Russian Katherine just didn't appeal to me at all. If she was meant to take the nameless interviewer's place, it didn't work for me. I still enjoyed the heck out of everyone else though!

Although there wasn't as much action as the first 2 books, I still thought it was an amazing ending to the series. My favorite of the series will always be Waking Gods!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey Publishing for the advanced copy!*

This novel left me feeling bittersweet for all the right reasons.

The story takes place 9 years after the previous book, but there is the expectation that the reader still remembers what happened from before. So if you haven't read the previous books or you don't remember what happened, READ THEM FIRST!

This story is once again told in a series of case files and interviews. This is a format that some may not like but I actually love it. It is just such a unique way to tell the story and it is surprising how it conveys a lot of emotion and allows the reader to connect and understand the characters. The writing style has always been one of my favourite things with this series and it continues to be so in this book, as well.

The plot for this story is slower than in the first book, but it is more than made up for by the depth of the story and all of the different connections that are made. There is so much that goes on in the story that there really is no need for a ton of action. I love the idea of the aliens, how the story mixes in politics and philosophy with science fiction, and the way the characters have grown and developed.

The only thing I didn't like about the story was the introduction of a new character: Katherine. Now, the author has created some pretty zany characters who seem to lack depth at face value but are a lot more calculating or deep underneath. However, Katherine's character was just too wacky for me and there wasn't enough time in this one novel to give her any depth.

But overall, I loved this novel. I don't want to give too much away because anything I say will be a spoiler. But this is a series worth reading. If you like science fiction and are looking for an interesting spin on a classic alien/robot story, this is one you don't want to miss out on! I'm giving this a solid 4/5 stars!

What a perfect end Only Human was to an incredible trilogy. It was emotional, deep and satisfying. Despite the first book being far from perfect, The Themis Files has gone from strength to strength, culminating in a brilliant ending that had so much to say about humanity in the form of absolutely spot-on social commentary.

“You build a revolution on ideas. If the population doesn’t buy your ideas, it means they’re not ready, or you’re wrong…If you’re using bombs instead of words, that means you’re banking on people giving you what you want out of fear instead of reason. That’s never a good sign”

The characters of Vincent and Eva got a lot of love in this instalments. They were fleshed out, and their relationship developed in believable ways. They were individuals, and with the epistolary style giving equal weight to both their thoughts and motivations it was both beautiful and frustrating to see how they interpreted the same events so very differently, neither of them wholly wrong and yet neither of them entirely right, either. Dr. Rose Franklin wasn’t quite as fleshed out in this one, but we already had a great sense of her as a character from the previous instalment, and she served as a great way to bring Only Human full circle. Some of the villainous characters once again felt a little contrived and unbelievable, but the rest of the book was strong enough that I could forgive Neuvel for that one, tiny element.

“We’re talking about human beings making a conscious effort…to be ignorant. Willfully stupid. They’re proud of it. They take pride in idiocy. There’s not even an attempt to rationalize things anymore….Our entire race is trying to lobotomize itself.”

The narrative of Only Human exists in two timelines. At the end of Waking Gods Vincent, Eva, Rose and General Eugene Govender find themselves transported to Themis’ home planet. Half the book takes place on Esat Ekt, the alien’s home planet, and the other half takes place on our protagonists’ return to Earth. We see parallels between the political situation of the Ekt, and the state of war Earth finds itself in after the elimination of so many people in Waking Gods. The pacing is perfect, interspersing just enough action with discussions on the nature of democracy and the ‘human’ condition. We see the parent/child dynamic of Vincent and Eva mirrored in the parent/child dynamic of the Human race and the Ekt.

Only Human was dark and deeply emotional, but still managed to have a sense of humour that made it an absolute joy to read. This will be a story that lingers, and one that really made me think about my place in the world, and what it means to be human.

The final installment in Sylvain Neuvel's Themis Files trilogy. It's definitely not quite what I expected, but the ending is ultimately satisfying - even if it comes about as the result of a little trickery. Neuvel's commentary on the human condition is a bit bleak, but at present? It's probably accurate. Now if only some alien overlords would show up to take care of our current situation...

I received access to this title via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel

It’s been nine years since Eva, Vincent, Dr. Rose Franklin and General Govender disappeared in the alien robot Themis, and a lot has changed since. Unbeknownst to the people left behind on Earth, the four of them had been taken back to Esat Ekt, the alien planet where those responsible for the robot and for the destruction of one hundred million humans on Earth live. The Ekt were just trying to correct an error in their own judgement. Thousands of years ago, Ekts had come to Earth and quite a few bred with the humans, leaving traces of their DNA in part of the population. The Ekts were trying to eradicate those with their DNA. They were leaving Earth after realizing how much damage they had done and were trying to take Themis with them, unaware of the four human stowaways inside. The humans weren’t allowed to leave, and three of them ended up escaping back in Themis to Earth to find a world still in chaos. The United States has a robot and they’ve been using it to intimidate and conquer the countries around them. People around the world are put into internment camps based on the amount of alien DNA they have in their genes. Eva, Vincent and Rose have left one world on the brink of war for another.

So that was a wild ride. Neuvel starts guns blazing, well lasers blazing. Before we even find out what happened to those in Themis, we learn of the state the world is in. Chaos. And things continue to unravel from there. One thing I’ve always loved about these books are the way they are told. Neuvel uses interview transcripts, news broadcast, personal letters and mission logs to tell the story. It is surprisingly effective and doesn’t take away from the character development at all. Because large portions of this novel take place on a different planet, I could have enjoyed more world development. I wasn’t sure if readers are ever given a clear idea of exactly what Esat Ekt was supposed to look like but my imagination was in overdrive the entire time trying to create a world similar to ours but different.

What I found interesting about this novel, that separates it from the other two previous novels, were the issues regarding civil rights and the way Neuvel chose to discuss them. Each planet is having its own existential crisis when it comes to how much Ekt blood the society has. In Esat Ekt it determines your voting power and the influence you have on decisions that affect the populace. On Earth the amount of alien (Ekt) blood you have, could force you into an internment camp, cost you your livelihood and possibly your life. The conversations that took place around these issues were interesting, especially when the four humans attempted to compare what was going on in Esat Ekt with the events they remembered on Earth. It was intriguing to read Neuvel’s attempts to show the sides of both the oppressed and the oppressors.

Only Human ends this trilogy well. The flow of the novel and this style of storytelling was really enjoyable. I liked the fact that there was such a long passage of time between the events of the second and third novels. I had no idea what was going to happen after finishing the second book so finding our humans on another planet was fun and terrifying at the same. Neuvel has created a really enjoyable series and this fits as a great end piece. I definitely recommend this entire series.

This is the final book of the Themis trilogy and I don't think it would work as a standalone. The giant robots that visited Earth in the last book have returned to their home planet, Esat Ekt. Unfortunately, Dr. Rose Franklin, Eva Reyes, her father Vincent Couture and General Eugene Govender were celebrating aboard Themis when the Council of Akitast (aliens who decide how their world deals with others) caused Themis to travel back to Esat Ekt. The Council refused to return their accidental visitors to Earth, but after 10 years they are finally back. The book is a combination of flashbacks to their time on Esat Ekt and their lives after their return. Earth has undergone a lot of political changes during those 10 years. As in the first two books, the story is told entirely in the form of journal or log entries and transcribed interviews. It's not my favorite writing style and I really missed the unnamed interviewer from the first two books. His replacement is Russian intelligence officer Katherine Lebedev. I thought that her dialogue was very jokey and awkward.

I loved the first two books, but I wasn't that crazy about this one. It had none of the charm or imagination of the prior books. I found it to be preachy and there was too much politics (on both Earth and Esat Ekt) and not enough science or robots. Even though I agree with the author's point of view, I don't really want to be preached to in my scifi. There are internment camps on Earth for those people who have the most alien DNA. Muslims are particularly singled out for internment. (Really, the author is pretty ham-handed with his social commentary throughout this book.)

The planet was not thoroughly described but what description there was made it sound too much like Earth. The Ekt had very similar names (and were given no personalities) so it was difficult to tell them apart. Eva was an annoying, self centered teenager. Finally, the interviews and log records kept going around in circles rehashing the same arguments over and over again. Although I was disappointed by this conclusion to the trilogy, I wouldn't mind reading more about Themis.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Sylvain Neuvel returns to his world of giant robots in the third and final of the Themis Files series Only Human. Like the second book in the series, Waking Gods, this volume jumps forward ten years from the cliffhanger ending at the end of the previous entry. That cliffhanger saw the giant robot Themis and the four people inside whisked away to the planet of the robot builders. This volume starts with their return to a very changed Earth but also, in flashbacks charts their ten year stay on an alien planet.

Following the massive destruction of Waking Gods, the Earth is a changed place. America has managed to restore the last remaining giant robot and uses it as a tool of aggressive expansion. During the events of Waking Gods, the world learned that many people were genetic descendants of aliens who arrived thousands of years ago. Those with high levels of genetic traces of alien DNA are being persecuted and put in camps. Many of those persecuted are Muslim, although the connection between the alien DNA and Muslims feels like a stretch by Neuvel put in to bring his allegory home to readers who do not do allegory well. Similar themes of tolerance, interference and the corruption of democratic ideals are explored in the flashback sections.

The travellers return with giant robot Themis to Russian territory and in doing so create a situation which allows for some robot v robot action. Although, unlike previous books the robots really only feature in one climactic scene. That scene is itself thematic, building on the relationship of Victor and his daughter Eva.

Only Human is told in the same style as its predecessors – as the record of a series of conversations between characters and occasional diary entries and letters. This has always limited Neuvel in the portrayal of action sequences. And in this entry particularly, with its more philosophical approach to current issues, tends to makes the narrative a little preachy at times.

One thing Neuvel cannot be accused of is repeating himself. He has used his giant robot scenario to tell three very different tales and explore three different sets of themes. While Only Human is not the best of the three, it is definitely worth visiting for those who are keen to find out the fates of Rose Franklin, Victor and Eva and Neuvel gives each of them a satisfying narrative arc. And while there may not be much giant robot action, those scenes involving these behemoths are handled with great surety and demonstrate Neuvel’s love for this sub-genre. All in all, Only Human provides a satisfying ending to this series and with the trilogy having been picked up for a potential film, there is hope for some giant robot movies that are more thoughtful and thought provoking than Transformers or Pacific Rim.