"The Last Human" is a philosophical space opera that is arranged in tiers of increasingly abstract action. It starts with an interesting premise: Our heroine, Sarya, is the adopted daughter of a ferocious creature of a species known as Widow. Sarya is very much the underdog when we first meet her--her technology is low-grade compared to the her peers, she's clearly distinct in her abilities (in an inferior sense) to her neighbors and classmates. Her future in their highly organized society, joined together by the Network, appears grim and boring.

But it isn't, as an outside force appears set on Sarya for some reason. This sets off a set of adventures in which Sarya has to fight for her life and escape danger in the nick of time. Along the way, she meets a variety of creatures and robots/androids, including some hilarious AI personalities that dwell in the on-body tech the different members of the Network wear. (Sarya's helper is just hysterical.)

What's good: The premise is interesting and it's fun to see a story about a young woman that is not in any way about romance. Bechdel test winner, right here! The relationship between Sarya and her mother in particular was surprisingly moving. And the humor, when applied, is spot-on.

What's iffier: As the book goes on, it loses steam. There's no character as sharply outlined as Sarya and her mom, and when we move past that story, some of the color fades from the page. The characters who end up on Sarya's adventure feel more like movie roles than characters--they're flat and they feel simple, even though the characters are given qualities that should stand out in theory. The plot as it progresses becomes more and more theoretical, with extensive exposition by the central characters.

In short: If you want a book first and foremost to think, you might like "The Last Human." But if you reach for fiction for emotional resonance and memorable characters, this book is weaker in those areas.

A fascinating and action packed story. I loved the diverse life-forms and the interesting take on our specie's future.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

Sarya is the last human, or so she supposes, and her true identity has been hidden. She was adopted by Shenya the Widow, a member of a particularly scary and ferocious species. The Widow is especially dangerous if you wake her up or try to harm her daughter. I liked the world that the author created in this book. Most species are linked into the Network that ensures tranquility among species. Each species is ranked by its intelligence. Sarya is ranked at a low level, but as her journey in the book takes her from Tier One to Tier Five she learns from, and is outsmarted by, species who outrank her.

In addition to the world building, I enjoyed the relationships in the book. Through flashbacks we learn how Sarya came to be adopted and how mother and daughter bonded, including through a really charming game of hide and seek. Sarya also forms friendships with a sentient bodysuit and the AI who lives in her mind. I preferred the first two-thirds of the book, before Sarya gained skills and the author started spending too much time philosophizing. Although Sarya is a teenager, the book was mostly free of YA tropes, other than a quest element. I would read more by this author. The narration by Bahni Turpin of the audiobook was excellent.

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

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and wish to thank them and also the author and publisher.
This was kind of two books in one. The upbringing and life of Sarya, thought to be the last living human, by her adoptive mom, the intelligent giant killer spider Widow and all her adventures made for great reading. The more philosophical parts about free will, do we really make our own choices or are we steered in that direction. Are humans really so self destructive they will resist any authority that restrains them from doing what they want? Well it all bears thinking about but the action parts certainty moved along a lot better. The characters were well thought out and the settings were interesting. The idea of tiers of intelligence would be unsettling. A very different book.

This is a difficult book for me to review because of my conflicting feelings about the experience of reading it. It is well-written, original and imaginative, a space opera about existence millions of years in the future where life is organized by The Network, where species apply for citizenship and are assigned a level in the 'tiers' by their intelligence.

Sarya the Daughter is supposedly the last human (a universally-hated species), but her adoptive mother, Shenya the Widow (think the Alien mother), hides her true identity. As the story opens, Sarya's biggest worry is which job she can qualifying for. But then she is 'recognized' by a being called The Observer and soon her life begins to unravel and billions of others will be forever changed.

Even though, as I said, the plot was original and inventive, it just didn't engage me and I was never so glad to finally finish a book. The only character with whom I found a connection was with the adoptive mother, all wicked blades and hard metal, who fell in love with a little girl and knew she'd risk her life to protect her.

I received an arc of this new space opera from the publisher via New Gallery in exchange for an honest review. I appreciate the opportunity.

In The Last Human, Zack Jordan created an extremely imaginative world. I read a decent amount of science fiction, but this book really made me realize just how little of those stories include alien species. This book definitely had those in abundance, and it’s one of the things I liked most. It made the story feel diverse, even though it wasn’t in a way we’re familiar with. And I really liked it.

The story started off really great. It begins with a human girl being raised by her adoptive mother. Who is a Widow, aka an enormous spider. (Full disclosure, I hate spiders with every fiber of my being and definitely had a moment where I didn’t think I could continue after realizing this book was about giant alien spiders. But I got over it, and it didn’t freak me out as much as I thought it would. No spider nightmares for me.) I really enjoyed how relatable the characters were, especially in the beginning, since it set the tone for the rest of the book. Even though the vast majority of characters belong to species we’ve never heard of (because they don’t exist), the author made it easy for the reader to empathize with them.

I really enjoyed the story and the writing. I liked how creative it was, and how interesting the world in this novel was. It definitely made me want to keep reading. Which brings me to my one complaint: this book felt SO LONG. I think the author did such a fantastic job setting everything up in the beginning, that the length was not really necessary. This book has a log of action, but the farther I got into it, the more it felt like it was dragging. It was one of those weird cases where I was super into it after the first chapter, and my interest gradually declined from there.

That said, it could just be my personal preferences and expectations. I can definitely see people loving this book, especially if they enjoy unusual sci-fi. Personally, I think I would have absolutely loved this if it had been a hundred pages shorter. I have nothing against long books (some of my all-time favorites have quadruple-digit page counts), I just think this might have been a more impactful story if it had been pared down a bit.

I know this book has received a lot of buzz but frankly I found it disappointing and gave up near the end. The beginning was awesome: Sarya, a human teen raised by a voraciously violent, gigantic spider-with-razor-legs, lives on a space station with many other species, all joined by the Network, a galaxy-wide AI that offers communications and diplomatic services to those species who join, and ruthless segregation to those who refuse. Humankind is not among them; in fact, humans are considered to be extinct, so Sarya disguises her species. Various events catapult Sarya from her disadvantaged and frustrated life, variously aided and threatened by an array of fascinating aliens, and Sarya’s history – and the fate of humankind -- begins to be revealed.

That’s the story I was led to expect. But when Sarya is killed and her consciousness restored by the AI of all godlike AIs, I felt as if I had inadvertently stumbled into a cross between a New Age pseudoreligious tract and The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I wasn’t nearly as interested in the new story, and I found the switch from coming-of-age and girl-finds-herself to tongue-in-cheek super-cosmic saving-the-universe a definite let-down.

I also confess to a personal animus against the idea of species exceptionalism. I disagreed with the idea that humans were too dangerous a species to be allowed to exist (and that this specialness was admirable). If anything, our understanding of our place in the natural world demonstrates that our destructiveness is a bad thing, detrimental to our own survival, and that our saving grace is our capacity for compassion, not ruthlessness.

I really liked this book and thought the characters and story were compelling. However, it ended up not exactly going in a direction I enjoyed, so that made it hard for me to sustain my interest.

The pitch and opening for this book are certainly a winner. I thought Sarya (and her fantastic mom, Shenya, whom we sadly don't get to spend much time with) were amazing characters. Every part of Sarya's hero's journey is well mapped out. We get a great understanding of her place in this galaxy, how The Network functions, Sarya's hopes and dreams to finally find her place in the universe, the promise of something more from a mysterious character called "The Observer."

Then things get even MORE interesting--Sarya is introduced to a space suit with rogue AI called Eleven and a motley "Scooby Crew" of new friends she meets on a space cruiser, just as she's realizing her mission in life. At this point, I was PUMPED and loving everything about this book, ready to go on any adventure Sarya and friends wanted to take.

However, then we hit the 50% mark and the book...just...hit...a...wall (for me personally.) Sarya has lengthy adventures (not in the real world, but in her mind) with both Network and The Observer. Placed back-to-back these long passages of her consciousness exploring a whole galaxy's history and human's role in it from both one perspective and then the other made the book start to drag for me.

After that, Sarya's off on more adventures, but it's telling that when she runs into her crew toward the end of the book they literally say, "Hey, remember us? You basically ditched us." The STORY ditched them, and I didn't love that.

Basically, when I hear "space opera" I'm expecting action and adventures with a colorful cast of characters. This book is instead FAR more cerebral. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It does take you on an interesting journey. It's just not the journey I maybe expected or wanted to go on.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of the best science fiction stories I’ve read in a long time. I love Shenya the Widow, even though she totally shouldn’t be my influence for motherhood. Even though her presence in the book is relatively short, her influence for Sharya serves to show how impactful some of her lessons remain. Shenya’s Widowhood helped Sarya to understand survival in a tough and merciless world, even among high intelligences, and that makes all the difference when deciding the fate of future species.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Good story! I loved how real it felt during these uncertain times. The writing style was great and I enjoyed the plot a lot.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

I really enjoyed this story. It reminds me of a reverse E.T. in a way. Interesting premise and good for fans of fun science fiction!

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I thought this book sounded like fun, but I went into it knowing little more than that. Sarya is the last human in the galaxy and her existence has been hidden, since humans are notorious as one of the most dangerous species in the universe. Her “mother” (as far as she knows) is one of a violent protective insectile species and has kept the secret of Sarya’s true nature.

One day, trouble comes looking for Sarya, and she must flee this unknown hunter while trying to hide her true identity. She ends up on a renegade ship with strange aliens and searches through her mother’s memories for clues about her past.

I wanted to like this book, but I struggled to maintain my interest, giving up about a third of the way through. The protagonist, Sarya, was engaging and appealing, but then the point of view of the story changed and I couldn’t connect to the rest of what was going on at that point. While I may have been able to push on and get back to Sarya, I was having such a hard time getting through this one that I gave up.

The writing was clear and easy to follow, and the society in which Sarya lives was inventive and amusing. So this book may appeal to many, it just didn’t work for me.

THE LAST HUMAN is the first book that I have read by Zach Jordon; I love the writing and the main character, Sarya The Daughter, following her journey as she looks for answers about the galaxy and her species while navigating who to believe in her search for the truth.

Jordan's writing pulled me in right away to the point I didn't want to put the book down; however, some parts felt weighted down, specifically towards the end.

THE LAST HUMAN - A funny, heartbreaking, Science Fiction story that I recommend - I can't wait to see what Jordon comes up with next!


Thank you, NetGalley and Del Rey Books, for providing me with an advance eBook of THE LAST HUMAN in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free advance copy from NetGalley for review.

So this is sci-fi set in the far future where humans caused a bunch of trouble for all the other known alien worlds, and after being driven to the brink of extinction they are still the most hated and feared species in the galaxy.

I can’t fault that story logic.

Sarya is the last known human living under a false identity with the protection of her adoptive mother, Shenya the Widow. (It’s kind of like having the queen from Aliens as a parent.) They live on a space station that is part of the vast Network which connects every alien and AI as well as organizing the structure of every facet of everyday life as well as providing the faster than light travel that connects them all.

When a stranger approaches Sarya with the knowledge that she is actually Human she soon finds herself on the run as she discovers just how big and terrifying the Network really is.

This is one of more unique and well thought set-ups for a future space civilization I’ve read, and it’s filled with interesting concepts. Most intriguing to me was how there are various levels of intelligence for Network users so manipulating lesser rated beings is a key point. I also admired how the story embraces the scale of it all because space is so freaking big that the Network can be enormous beyond all human comprehension and yet still be a tiny part of the galaxy.

However, that also turned out to be a stumbling block because at one point the story shifts away from trying to get us to really empathize with Sarya and instead tries to blow the reader’s mind. Which it does pretty well, but I think some of the emotions of the story got lost will all the effort to impress with the vastness of it all.

The Last Human
by Zack Jordan 

Hardcover, 448 pages
Published March 24th 2020 by Del Rey Books (first published March 22nd 2020)





Goodreads synopsis:
The last human in the universe is on the run from a godlike intelligence in this rip-roaring debut space opera.

Sarya is the civilized galaxy's worst nightmare: a Human.

Most days, Sarya doesn't feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy.

Most days, she's got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn't casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again.

And most days, she can almost accept that she'll never know the truth--that she'll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist. Or whether she really is--impossibly--the lone survivor of a species destroyed a millennium ago.

That is, until an encounter with a bounty hunter and a miles-long kinetic projectile leaves her life and her perspective shattered.

Thrown into the universe at the helm of a stolen ship--with the dubious assistance of a rebellious spacesuit, an android death enthusiast on his sixtieth lifetime, and a ball of fluff with an IQ in the thousands--Sarya begins to uncover an impossible truth.

What if humanity's death and her own existence are simply two moves in a demented cosmic game, one played out by vast alien intellects? Stranger still, what if these mad gods are offering Sarya a seat at their table--and a second chance for humanity?

The Last Human is a sneakily brilliant, gleefully oddball space-opera debut--a masterful play on perspective, intelligence, and free will, wrapped in a rollicking journey through a strange and crowded galaxy.


***

2 Stars

This is basically a galactic soap opera. And if you like that sort of thing and can wrap your mind around all the complexities in this, I think you will love this.

Basically, Sarya is the last human… maybe. She might be their only savior or the downfall of it all.

Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t able to wrap my mind around what was going on. It never felt like their was a “main” character I could latch onto and follow around. I usually am all in with a science fiction story but this one was too way out left field for me.

I considered DNF-ing it after a few chapters but I soldiered on and was left still feeling like I did in the beginning. I guess I just didn’t get it. And that’s okay. We all aren’t supposed to love everything we read. This book has mixed reviews. Some have loved it. And if you think you are in that camp, go for it! I think I had to use too much brain power to read this and I usually go for the reads that are relaxing and fun.

Definitely not my favorite but not awful either. Give it a go and decide for yourself.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

Not sure what I was thinking when I requested this one. I am not a sci-fi fan and this one just proved my point. I couldn't get into the premise or the characters.

Pleasingly convoluted

Sarya is a low intelligence being. Her ID says so. Her adopted mom, a ferocious spider warrior says so. But a bunch of robots, androids, and other peculiar beings of various intelligence ratings say she is a human, the last, maybe, survivor of the most hated race in the universe. OK. So where does that take us?

Sarya's story is well thought out and suitably twisty turny. I wasn't enthralled though. This is a book where personal preferences for style play a huge part in enjoyment. I don't care for this style – all sorts of action leading to somewhere not defined. But you might like it.

I liked The Last Human, but I think I burned a few brain cells trying to get through it. It was a good story but way to long. Just trying to understand some things was difficult to me. I liked Sarya and Shenya. I found the story interesting, the plot complex and the characters original.
#TheLastHuman #NetGalley

Kind of dragged in some big chunks and then picked back up for awhile. I don't think the aliens were described well enough for me to visualize them and some parts don't seem to transition naturally into the story at all. There is a lot of humor in this book that got me reading again after the long parts. Definitely a unique take on space opera for sure.

I recommend to those who enjoyed Children of Time and the Bobiverse series.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc

The Last Human is an intriguing sci-fi debut that has a serious case of over-reach. When I began it, I knew nothing except the blurb and that it knocked my friend Geoff’s mind sideways, and I looked forward to the experience. I would agree in that the first third was riveting, the second third interesting, although completely different, and the remaining section a bit too esoteric for my tastes.

One of the initial catchy concepts is the interplay of adopted culture between Shenya the Widow, “a void-cold killer,” and Sarya, the Daughter. The opening scene of Sarya essentially throwing a temper tantrum before a tour is perfection, conveying the species differences, introducing the reader to the pervasive Network, and anchoring it in very familiar emotion.

“Her daughter glares at the floor without answering. Shenya the Widow narrowly restrains a click of approval. On the one blade, this is a Widow rage–a towering and explosive wrath–and it is beautiful. One spends so much energy attempting to install traditional values in a young and coalescing mind, and it is always rewarding to see effort yield results. But on another blade, well… insolence is insolence, is it not?”

As the book progresses, Sarya becomes obsessed with finding the last members of Humanity, and takes a number of twists in that journey. I would say philosophically, it remains the journey of a young/new adult person; a quest that is understood only in terms that are limited by learning and experience.

The book is divided into five ‘tiers,’ each following a different development in her journey. However, the idea of the tier designation paralleling her personal growth doesn’t fit well, and it feels contrived to forcing a philosophical plot. To elaborate without spoilers, tiers are supposed to be tied to intelligence, though there isn’t always great consensus on what ‘intelligence’ is. For the story purpose, “just remember that each tier multiplies the previous by twelve. For example, a two is approximately twelve times as intelligent as a one, a three is one hundred-forty-times as a one, and so on.” Tiers are divided into 1 to 6, tier one being baseline ‘pre-culture sentient beings’ that are above wildlife but not citizens, and sixth tier being a semi-theoretical possibility. So Sarya’s growth/challenges in each section sort of follow the tier rankings, but only awkwardly, and at the expense of coherence in plot.

The first three tiers were amazing: I was astounded at the world-building, at the dark culture clash between Human and Widow, and at the ragtag crew escaping the Watchtower station. However, as the story segued into Tier Four, it veered out of control and felt like a different story altogether, one I was much less interested in. Side characters were abandoned. Concrete plot became about metaphysical battles.

It’s an amazing debut, but might be too inconsistent a story to find a fan niche. On the other hand, the big sci-fi greats do it all the time, so why shouldn’t Jordan? It might very well appeal to fans of Stephenson and Reynolds. Five stars for the beginning, two for the last third; we’ll average it out to three stars.



My thanks to Netgalley and Random House-Ballantine for an advance reader copy.