Book: Only Human (Themis Files #3)
Rating: ****
Source: NetGalley

Only Human takes place 10 years after the events of Waking Gods.

There is excellent character development in this series. Several of the characters, such as Rose and Vincent, are not the same person they were in Book 1 (Sleeping Giants). They have been shaped, beaten and molded by the harsh waves of physical and emotional trauma.

There are common themes of war, along with others: Racism, separation, loss, grief, and a struggle to find one's purpose.

There is a lot of philosophy inter-woven into the novel:
"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?"

THE ENDING WILL BLOW YOU AWAY!!!

This was one of the best, maybe the best, ending to any trilogy I have ever read. It was so well crafted, artistic and original.

I would highly recommend this series for fans of Sci-fi.

The latest part from the trilogy starts pretty well, but later it just becomes a long and boring moral lesson about racism.

The beginning of the book is pretty funny: four people passed nine years on the alien planet. Now three of them arrived back to Earth in Themis, actually landed in Russia, where a funny agent makes interviews with them.

There are two story-lines in the book: one about their present in Russia and one about their past on the alien planet. In the present, there are serious problems in Earth: USA became a conquering and oppressive power using Lapetus (the remaining robot in Earth), so it could be real turn when Russia takes his hands to Themis… But who will drive Themis for them? Would they force Vincent to fight for Russia, against the diabolical Americans?

Another serious issue that humanity as a whole started to fear the aliens. As we learned, some people have alien DNA, so countries lock them up in camps, which is a clear reference to the holocaust (except they didn’t kill these people – yet).

The other storyline is about the alien planet, where the aliens does not have hair on their body, but except this, they are essentially the same as humans. They have shops, they have an empress, and they have different kind of people too… As the parallel story goes, we see that their society is very similar to ours: they are racist, they are corrupt… So the four people faces similar problems that on Earth. They have many, actually too many “personal log entries” in the book about their thoughts on racism – the book is full of boring, moralizing monologues.

There’s another storyline between dad and daughter as well, but that’s also not too interesting: it’s always hard to be with teenagers. So instead of an exciting sci-fi based on alien mysteries, we have a boring, moralizing book with an unrealistic story. How the Russians just leave Rose to go home? How can the most important prisoner of the world just escape from the prison? There’s no mystery, there’s no interesting technology, the aliens’s morality is the same as ours, the only exciting character died in the second part, so what remained for the readers are the many long monologues about racism – I hoped for a more exciting end for the trilogy.

The first two books were great science fiction. The conclusion is a little disappointing. I never really liked her to begin with, but now Eva has grown up to become a selfish, spoiled character so it was hard to care about her. The story is still very interesting, showing what happens when you give humans unlimited power (spoiler alert: nothing good) and boils down the conflict when it uses Themis and another robot as tools in a family squabble. Its vision of human nature if very grim. Not that I don't agree with this, but comparing the whole human race to children in need of a father figure to tell them what to do and then following through on it was a let-down. My favorite part was the flashbacks to the alien planet, especially their cultural and political structures, and even their language. This is not a bad book, I just liked the story up to that point so much that maybe my expectations were too high.

I requested this on accident and can't give this book the quality of review it deserves since I have not read the previous installments in the series.

Sleeping Giants, the first book in this series, is still my favorite, but Only Human is a close second.   This is a dual timeline novel - events that occurred during the nine years spent on an alien planet, and what happens after returning to Earth.  

Vincent, with his snark and intelligence, is undoubtedly my favorite character and he has some incredible moments in this book.  His struggles to protect his daughter while also giving her space to become her own person are both heartwarming and humorous.  Although as strong, determined, and principled as her mother, to me, Eva's rants seemed more along the lines of a spoiled brat teenager to the point that it was somewhat distracting.   

The world-building on the alien planet isn't explored in depth.  It's interesting and somewhat similar to Earth, but what I enjoyed most is that it's also flawed.  Their world is just as imperfect as ours, many of their struggles the same.

With its action-packed robot fights to its social commentary, this series has been an epic and thought-provoking ride from beginning to end and one I highly recommend to sci-fi fans.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

The first and second books in this series were truly epic, fun, charming and action packed. The third book was a slight disappointment, too talky with the middle sort of a slog but the ending was rip snorting great. This was a great series and I sure hope there are more stories to come in the Themis universe.

The third and final(?) book in the Themis Files series. At the end of the second book, Victor, Eva, Rose, and General Govender were in Themis enroute to Themis's homeworld. The third book, like the other two, tells the story in a series of reports and transcripts, which works really well for this story. We get to see the alien society up close, and there's lots of suspense as Neuvel keeps setting up situations that seem impossible to overcome. A satisfying ending to the trilogy, though I would not object to other stories set in this universe. Highly recommended.

For the first time the dialogue only format didn't work. The interpersonal conflict fell flat. Also, I know humans are horrible. I don't need a book to remind me. At least the ending of the series was satisfying.

This series was fantastic and I tore through the first two books like there was no tomorrow. But this book really didn't catch my interest until about 80% of the way through the book. Once the conflict started the action made the read worthwhile.

After the first book, you know that Rose, Eugene, Vincent, and Eva ended up on another planet. This book highlights the time there and what happens afterward. What really irked me about this book was the fact that the story bounced back and forth from the time on the planet to the time afterward. I would have preferred that it stay in one time frame and give us all of the story chunks at a time. I would have understood if they were talking about the time in the book as a flashback, but they weren't.

Storyline plot: 3 stars
Action scenes: 4 stars

Though this gives it a 3.5 star rating and you should round up I just can't due to the bouncing around and the fact that it didn't get moving sooner.

I hope there are more books from this author as I would highly enjoy trying his work again.

When we last met our heroes, they were being whisked off to another planet by giant robots. Who wouldn’t anticipate the 3rd book in a series with a cliffhanger like that? The author opens by casually reminding the reader what happened in the first 2 books (which is always appreciated). Over the course of the book, we learn what happened on the planet--told through transcripts of recordings. In the last 2 books, these recorded interviews seemed organic enough. However, this time I had a hard time believing everyone was carrying around a recorder and recording every conversation that turned out to be important enough to provide a storyline for the novel. Out at the market? Carry a tape recorder. Running for your life? Be sure to carry a tape recorder along with the clothes on your back and record while running. In the middle of a robot battle? Don’t forget to record.

I was so excited for this book to come out. I really was. I don’t have a lot of series books for which I’m anticipating additional books, so I jumped right on this one. And it had its good parts and thoughts that were certainly inspired by the times in which we live. However, I wasn’t turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next. And, yes, I was a little disappointed about the scant information about the planet our heroes visit. We meet some of the natives, but I couldn’t tell one from another for lack of personality and similarity of name sounds. Fans of the series can rest assured that the series is over after this book. I didn’t dislike the book, but it just didn’t have the same punch and page-turning quality as the ones before. It’s a pleasant read nonetheless.

I was *so* looking forward to this after reading the previous titles in the series, but I couldn't get into it, mostly because the beginning was so confusing--like most people, a long time has passed since I read the last one, and I don't remember all of the characters. Also, the dialogue-heavy format made it really hard to follow. I was sad to have to set this one aside!

I happened upon the Themis Files by accident and was immediately sucked in. I received the sequel through Netgalley and was elated when I received an email that the conclusion was available for review. I am sad that the journey is over, however, I am looking forward to embarking again! The conclusion was very fitting.

Wow. This series has been absolutely mind blowing and Only Human does not disappoint. Actually, I am a little sad that it is over. I like the style of writing and the use of files as the medium for the narrative. It keeps the pace moving without being bogged down by too much detail. The addition of the two timelines was also fun. The parallels between the story and what is happening in our world right now really hit home for me, as a citizen of this world and as a social worker. The audiobook for Waking Gods was really something special and I am looking forward to listening to Only Human when it comes out. Read this series!

Full review will go live on my blog two weeks before the release date.

Excellent conclusion to an excellent trilogy. Unlike most series the books progress from a straightforward plot to a philosophical meditation. First rate intelligent science fiction.

This is a wonderfully entertaining series! I’m giving it 4 out of 5 partly because I’m stingy with 5 star reviews and partly because I listened to the audiobook of book 2 and it was so good that going back to the written word was a bit disappointing. In this final installment, Neuvel’s linguistics background is in evidence in the language of the Ekt, the alien species who slaughtered millions of humans in book 2. Eva, Rose, and Vincent have spent 9 years on Esat Ekt and are now back on Earth where they must face the consequences of the decisions they made before they left.

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The final book in the trilogy!

This one's a hard one to review only because it bucks expectations. Maybe only mine, but still.

Did I want answers and a big robot battle? Yes. Did I get answers and a big robot battle? Absolutely.

The direction of the storytelling will probably take you for a wild loop, however. It did for me. The cliffhanger had all my sights on the alien homeworld (or it's war-staging area) and I'm totally into the epistolary nature of these novels, so now I've got to reconcile myself to the fact that humanity is in WAY OVER ITS HEAD.

Derp. Fast forward another 10 years.

The aliens don't have their crap together. Haven't for a while. Oh, sure, they're technologically advanced and can still vaporize cities and teleport and do these nifty perfect atomic clones, but they're a pretty damn good mirror to our own messed-up selves. You know, US/Them crap about genetics. Purebloods and democracy skewed in favor of said Purebloods. Like I said, very familiar.

And our MCs live in this world for a decade, feeling the weight of the aliens' guilt and embarrassment until it all goes pear-shaped and we spend the rest of the novel back on Earth.

The characters really carry this novel, as they did the previous ones. Our fantastic rock-em-sock-em robot bash and the two battlers turned the scene into some really really tragic, heartwarming and rage-filled. The father/daughter dynamic was pretty brilliant.

I may have shed a few tears. The buildup was intense.

But the end? I really want to talk about the end but that's a spoiler too much. Suffice to say, I'm both conflicted and satisfied at the same time. Some pretty awesome humor and a lot of shame for being a member of this human race.

But then, what should we expect with a title that evokes a shrug? Oh, we're Only Human. Well, no excuses are going to cut this. You go, Rosa. :)

I'm already getting nostalgic. Action and pathos for the win. :)

Pub date: May 2018
3.5 I don't know why this was a slog for me. It was interesting to hear about what happened to Eva, Rose and Vincent, and what happens to the world after the robots leave, but I think the interview style of those stories put a barrier between me and the characters, which left me feel less invested. I'm sure it's just me, since I know my colleague will love it, as she did the last one. It could be the more I think about it, the better it will fare; if that happens I'll update this review. The whole series is definitely worth reading.

It's often said that the only thing that will end political strife on our planet is an alien invasion. Even Bill Clinton repeated that cliché. "Think of how all the difference among people on earth would seem small if we felt threatened by a space invader. Everybody gets together and makes nice."

That's not how things work out in Only Human, the third (and final?) book in Sylvain Neuvel's Themis Files series.

In the first book, Sleeping Giants, physicist Rose Franklin discovers pieces of a giant robot buried all around the planet and gathers them up to see what will happen when she puts them all together. In the sequel, Waking Gods, the original creators of the robot Themis return to Earth to attempt to fix the mistakes they made the last time they were here. But they accidentally take Rose and our other protagonists with them when they go home.

Now Rose, Vincent (linguist and Themis pilot,) and Eva ( Vincent's daughter) have returned home in Themis after living peacefully on the alien home planet for the past ten years. They naively expect to return to living normal, human life. But things have changed. The fear of a potential alien return has brought humanity's worst qualities to the surface. The U.S. has managed to reactivate a broken robots and have used its strength to align most of the world's countries into an uneasy, forced alliance. A test to determine genetic features thought to be dangerous has resulted in massive concentration camps and the threat of genocide. The world has degenerated into chaos and fascism. It's a pretty bad scene. In spite of President Clinton's predictions, proof of alien life has not brought humanity together. But now that our heroes have returned (and brought their own all-powerful robot with them,) maybe they can put things right.

Just like the first two books, Only Human is told through a series of transcripts, interviews, and news reports, rather than a straight narrative. If you read Robopocalypse or World War Z, you get the idea. This time though, it seems like Neuvel want to tell a cautionary tale. The commentary on current political events is very thinly veiled. Only Human isn't quite as fun as the earlier books, but it's still a fitting conclusion to the trilogy.

Only Human was a great finale to The Themis Files. I was really anticipating this novel, and it did not disappoint. It was great seeing the characters ten years into the future as they made their way back to Earth. The interaction/conflict between Vincent and Eva was at times true to life, if you live with a teenager. I have always enjoyed the author’s writing style and it works well in Only Human.

My only criticism is I would have liked Neuvel to have spent more time describing the life and people of Esat Ekt. We only catch glimpse from the journals of Vincent, Rose, and Eva. I had a lot of questions about their time on the strange planet that are glossed over.

It was a great read, and I would recommend it to my advanced reading students.

Thank you for the advanced copy.

Thanks to Netgalley & Neuvel for the ability to screen this title.

I think I had a logarithmic star rating. over the course of the read: 4*-3*-4*

Themis file #3. What a trip we have been on. In the first novel, I had some issues with the total file construct. It was novel but it wore on me over time. The second book really had a good blend of elements and the balance of the world and it's ultimate showdown (if one could call it that) was well put together. With the third and perhaps final installment we are given the archetype of files/interviews but it reads far more normal than anecdotal files from vol1. Let that be worth what it is worth, I'm not terribly sure if it plays into or out of the overall flow from volume to volume.

Pros or cons first... Let's hit my sticking points.

What this volume does produce is a deep interpersonal relationship building (or destroying) story. As we know I have issues with characters who do not grow properly and Vincent in the early parts of this book really drove me nuts. I'm a father and as such, I reflect what would I do in a lot of his situations. I won't spoil the off-world elements but I feel that if a near decade of time rolls by we all change far more than less--especially if we are on another planet. I didn't see him change but his reasoning was a fairly large plot element so either it had to be, or there was just not enough other plot elements in the imagination to drive the levers forward to the outcome Neuvel wanted.

My other sticking point is while they have this decade of development there just doesn't seem to be much of it. A scientist who can't learn a language, a linguist who barely gets a language, and again a near 10 years and I just don't feel anyone but Eva develops. Again maybe in some ways, this was necessary but it feels like such deeply lost opportunity that I find it really hard to relate.

Relationship and growth plot devices aside we have a lot of intelligence in here. The geopolitical climate of Earth in absence has turned south in a big way. Governments full of the power hungry and a scared population creates populism that we can almost extrapolate from our current day affairs. Vincent has this diatribe on patriotism I'll excise once the book is published that I read like 10x for it's dead on nature. This is where I know Neuvel has a really keen eye on how systems operate (which is why I get irked when we don't see it consistently.) Interpersonal discussions between teams within the robots showcase so much humanity and how fast we can slip down a slope we potentially won't recover from.

We are children and like children with big toys, we like to bang them together. What's mine is mine, what's yours is mine. Luckily we do have some intelligence, compassion, empathy, a bit of sympathy, and maybe with that, the world will find its way. I'm certainly not going to spoil it for you. The build-up and culmination of this chaortic moment in time play out very well. I couldn't have guessed it and am glad to see how everything resolved. Fun times!

As I pause to re-read--I ponder. This book could have realistically been split into two books. One would have been just off-world and then the followup on return. Or maybe just a few foreshadows of files interspersed. The more I reflect on what happens off-world and how shallow it plays out it could have had a dedicated moment there where it was deeper and more meaningful. Ah well. A boy with an imagination can dream.

Oh.. and I'll always have a sweet spot for Mr. Burns. I'd invite him to lunch any day of the week to hear one of his stories!

It's a quality conclusion to the series and there's a crack in the door to the universe which has a lot of room for exploration in the future. I like where Neuvel's mind wanders and since there are other projects in the works I look forward to where his mind travels next.