Name: Elizabeth Jones's review of The Last Human by Zack Jordan
Item: The Last Human
Rating: 5
Author: Elizabeth Jones

Zack Jordan

'Aliens, adventure, mystery, and big ideas in a thoroughly fresh package' Andy Weir, author of The Martian Sarya is the galaxy's worst nightmare: a Human. But most days, she doesn't feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. No, 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 about why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist, or whether she really is - impossibly - the lone survivors of a species destroyed a millennium ago. That is, until an encounter with a bounty hunter leaves her life and her perspective shattered. Thrown into the universe at the helm of a stolen ship, Sarya begins to uncover an impossible truth. Humanity's death and her own existence might simply be two moves in a demented cosmic game, one that might offer the thing she wants most in the universe - a second chance for herself, and one for humanity. 'Easily the most fun read I've had all year' Clint McElroy, co-author of The Adventure Zone

The Last Human

Elizabeth Jones

The last human in the universe is on the run from a godlike intelligence in this rip-roaring debut. "A good old-fashioned space opera in a thoroughly fresh package . . . stuffed with aliens, adventure, mystery, and big ideas."--Andy Weir, author of The Martian 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.

Colleen

2 Stars
 
*A SciFi debut that is a bit too quirky and self-aware*


SciFi has been a neglected genre on my reading list. So in an effort to read more of it as well as knock down my TBR backlog, I read The Last Human. While the story had a decent skeleton, I did not find anything dynamic about it.

Unfortunately, the story is written in present tense – which I hate. I truly have been making an effort to check the tense of books before adding them to my TBR list, buuuut that does nothing for the four-hundred-plus books already sitting on that list. And I have no doubt that there are many more present tense bombs waiting in the wings.

As much as I dislike novels in present tense, that along is not usually enough to sink my rating. But the bottom line is that I didn’t particularly enough reading The Last Human. I try to go easy on debuts, but as I’ve sat here thinking what to include in this review, I could not recall anything I truly enjoyed about this book.

There were too many annoying, quirky side characters. And they all started to feel the same pretty quickly. Even more unfortunate was the fact that it felt like the core personality for most of the side characters was the Microsoft Paperclip – chipper, eager to help, and spawning the constant urge to throw something. I never engaged with the main character, Sarya, either. The plot was interesting enough to keep me from abandoning the book but also not memorable. And it yo-yoed around a lot towards the end in a manner that was disorienting rather than twisty. Things felt over the top. And too self-aware about humans being such a horrible species destined to destroy everything.


  “Order is unnatural," it says. "It costs energy to maintain. Disorder, on the other hand, happens all by itself.”

Something about the delivery felt like this was supposed to be a humorous novel. But this is no The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, that’s for sure. If there was humor, then the jokes didn’t land for me. Or maybe I was too annoyed with the characters to be amused by them.

There wasn’t anything terrible about this book. But on the other hand, there was not a single element that sparked my interest. Because of that, all those little, minor annoyances had nothing to counterbalance them, and it tipped the scale onto the wrong side of three stars. Sadly, this was a big swing-and-a-miss for me.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 2 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 2 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 2 Stars
Originality: 2 Stars


RECOMMENDATIONS
If you like humorous SciFi, try Year Zero

First read in 2020.
Reread in 2022.

I recommended this novel to my mother-in-law to read together in 2020. She doesn't read science fiction, but joined me. We both enjoyed the novel and got to talk with one another through the journey and it was cool to hear what she thought about the same scenes I had read.

As fantastic as it was the first time I read it. A fun read. Follows the last human, exactly as the title states, who has been raised by Shenya the Widow. She finds herself on the run and surrounded by "greater intelligences" that are out for themselves. 

Micchi von Cross

This book was an incredible journey to read. It didn't go near anywhere I expected, although in hindsight I can absolutely see the threads and foreshadowing that were lain down. The characters feel very real and unique, with the protagonist, Sarya the Daughter, being both familiar and alien in her words and actions - which is perfect for her. I 100% recommend this book for anyone looking for a fun, but emotional, journey through the galaxy!

Kerri McDonald

“In My galaxy, there is order and there is chaos. You Humans are always dreaming of the first, but your pitiful attempts to create it always result in the second.”

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Though I am a lover of sci-fi, I had noticed recently that the genre was woefully underrepresented on my shelves, both read and unread. I think this is because a lot of the sci-fi that catches my eye also happens to be chonky.

Looking at you, Leviathan Wakes…

And big books are intimidating, y’all! I decided that I need to face my fears, though, and have actively been seeking out more sci-fi recently. So when I came across this book on Netgalley and read the synopsis, I decided to request it. This is the story of the last surviving human stumbling into something so mind-bending it threatens the entire galaxy! The whole vibe made me think of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which is one of my favorite sci-fi novels of all time, so that maaaay have influenced my decision 😁

Either way, I’m happy that I decided to give this a shot! The Last Human has that special mix of humor and convoluted philosophical questions that I honestly appreciate in my science fiction. Not only did this book make me laugh out loud multiple times, it really made me think about concepts like free will and community and belonging. It had my emotions bouncing all over the place! I would be rooting for Sarya, then wondering what the hell she was doing! It was complex, but fascinating all at the same time.

Speaking of Sarya, I don’t think I’ve ever empathized with a character so much who I also wanted to strangle. She was so frustrating! But in a realistic way, ya know? I mean, she is a teenager (I think?) who is thrown into an overwhelming series of circumstances without any kind of guidance. If I had to go through half the crap she does in this book as a teenager, the entire galaxy probably would have imploded. Seriously.

That didn’t stop the frustration, though 😂

And Sarya wasn’t the only character that has stuck in my mind. All of the characters in this book have a richness to them that I appreciated. It can be easy to let the secondary characters in a book like this be flat and only there as support for our main character’s story. Not so with these ones! Honestly, my favorite character is Sarya’s adoptive mother, Shenya the Widow. Trust me… she’s amazing! And the crew that end up in Sarya’s life all have layers and I loooove it. I wish we had actually spent more time with them. Especially when it came to developing the relationship between the crew and Sarya.

Hmm… here I was whining about the length of sci-fi books and I’m wishing this one had more!

I will say that some of the science talk got a bit convoluted. Not in a “I can’t understand this” kind of way. More of a “Let’s make this as mind-numbing and twisty as possible” kind of way. But those bits weren’t too overwhelming, so it was easy to move past it. Most of it was mind-bending in the best of ways! It was fast-paced and thought-provoking and, honestly, just a really fantastic read.

Final thoughts: This is a incredible romp through space that makes you think about a lot of big concepts. It’s a quick read that will have you rooting for Sarya at the same time that you’re questioning all her decisions. If you’re intimidated by science fiction or space operas, I think this would be a fantastic jumping-off point!

Jolie

I usually do not read science fiction for review. That doesn’t mean I don’t read that genre. I wouldn’t say I like do not like reviewing that genre. So how did I end up with The Last Human for review? Easy, I wished for it on NetGalley and the publisher granted my wish.

The Last Human is the story of Sarya. Sarya is the adopted daughter of Shenya the Widow and she lives on a space station. But, Sarya is also the last of her species, a Human. Sarya’s mother and herself have worked carefully to hide what Sarya is. Everything was okay until a bounty hunter showed up and everything went sideways. The result was Sarya on the run with a spacesuit who can think for itself, an android who is obsessed with death and a super-smart fluffball (think a Tribble) and her protector. When two gods approach Sarya with a chance to make right past wrongs, she has to make a choice. Does she accept what they individually offer? Or does she go her own way?

The plotline for The Last Human was well written and kept my attention. There was a little bit of lag (when Sarya was inside the Observer’s brain), but the author was able to pull past it. There was also no dropped storylines or characters, which was a massive plus for me.

Sarya was an awesome character. She knew that she was Human, and she knew that she needed to keep her Humanity secret. If she didn’t, she would have been killed on sight. She loved her mother, Shenya the Widow, and was devastated when Shenya gave her life to let Sarya escape. She did make some rash decisions, but that only highlighted her Humanity. Her actions at the end of the book were exciting and thought-provoking.

The science fiction angle of the book was wonderfully written. It has been a long while since I read a space opera that I enjoyed. The worlds, the technology, the other life forms were fantastically written. I loved that the author broke the book up into the tiers of intelligence. I also loved that he gave excerpts of the rules and a glimpse into why Humanity was wiped out.

The end of The Last Human was satisfying. It raised a lot of questions for me. Those questions weren’t to do with the book but with the question “Is there life out there.”

Alyssa Calo

Cindy Lieberman

Ian Marchant 

Mandi Jayne

The last human in the universe must battle unfathomable alien intelligences--and confront the truth about humanity--in this ambitious, galaxy-spanning debut "A good old-fashioned space opera in a thoroughly fresh package."--Andy Weir, author of The Martian "Big ideas and believable science amid a roller-coaster ride of aliens, AI, superintelligence, and the future of humanity."--Dennis E. Taylor, author of We Are Legion Most days, Sarya doesn't feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Most days, she's got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn't casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again. And most days, she can almost accept that she'll never know the truth--that she'll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist. Or whether she really is--impossibly--the lone survivor of a species destroyed a millennium ago. That is, until an encounter with a bounty hunter and a miles-long kinetic projectile leaves her life and her perspective shattered. Thrown into the universe at the helm of a stolen ship--with the dubious assistance of a rebellious spacesuit, an android death enthusiast on his sixtieth lifetime, and a ball of fluff with an IQ in the thousands--Sarya begins to uncover an impossible truth. What if humanity's death and her own existence are simply two moves in a demented cosmic game, one played out by vast alien intellects? Stranger still, what if these mad gods are offering Sarya a seat at their table--and a second chance for humanity? The Last Human is a sneakily brilliant, gleefully oddball space-opera debut--a masterful play on perspective, intelligence, and free will, wrapped in a rollicking journey through a strange and crowded galaxy.

Elizabeth Jones &
The Last Human by Zack Jordan

Reviews

Join the club

Elizabeth Jones &The Last Human by Zack Jordan

Reviews

Join the club

Elizabeth Jones &
The Last Human by Zack Jordan