Fiction Review: Only Human

Book By Book

I recently read – and loved – Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel, the third book in The Themis Files trilogy, a unique sci fi thriller series about alien interaction with humans on Earth. This is a tricky one to review because I can’t even say much about book 1 without giving away spoilers, but I will do my best to tiptoe around those plot points because I hate spoilers myself. If you haven’t read any of this series yet, I recommend you click over to my review of book 1 and get yourself a copy (and avoid reading the synopsis and cover of book 2 because it contains spoilers). Only Human was a wonderful and satisfying conclusion to an excellent trilogy that my husband and I have both enjoyed immensely.

The story begins in book 1, Sleeping Giants, when a young girl named Rose Franklin is riding her bike in South Dakota’s Black Hills, falls in a huge hole, and discovers a giant robot hand buried there. Rose grows up to be a scientist on the team investigating the hand, and it is clear from the beginning that they are not dealing with anything that originated on Earth. In book 2, Waking Gods, things on Earth go from bad to worse in relation to Rose’s discovery and the events following it, as more is learned about this technology from another world. This final book, Only Human, begins with a first contact situation on another planet with Rose and her colleagues. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the situation has rapidly deteriorated in a post-apocalyptic world, as fear rules over logic and certain nations attempt to control as many countries as possible. The book – and the trilogy – ends with the perfect way to stop humans from destroying each other (if only).

Sorry, that’s all the detail you’re getting! It’s a completely original plot with lots of surprising twists and turns that keep you guessing and gasping from beginning to end. As with the first two books, Only Human is an epistolary novel, here told through journal entries, voice recordings, interviews, and an occasional news report, with entries from the years spent on another planet interspersed with entries from the present back on Earth so that the full story slowly comes together. In this way, the reader gets the perspectives of many different characters. Part of the fun of this third book is in learning about the alien planet, people, and culture. In that way, it reminded me a bit of the lighter sections of The Sparrow (without the horrific violence, though this planet has its own problems). Neuvel has an amazing imagination, on display through all three books, that make the series huge fun to read. At the same time, he frames this unique aliens-from-outer-space story around the real-life problems and issues on Earth today so that these are also very thought-provoking novels, making you think, “What if…?” I always enjoy books that make me think. All in all, my husband and I both enjoyed this third novel and the entire trilogy very much. These were Sylvain Neuvel’s first novels, and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!

334 pages, Del Rey
 Random House Audio

NOTE: Movie rights to Sleeping Giants were sold even BEFORE the book was sold to a publisher, in 2014! This trilogy would make some great movies, but it doesn’t sound like film development is very far along yet – hurry up, Hollywood!

Listen to a sample of the audio book of Only Human, from the start of the book, BUT ONLY IF YOU’VE ALREADY READ BOOKS 1 AND 2! Spoiler alert, since book 3 begins with Rose recapping previous events.

If you haven’t read any of the series yet, try this audio sample from the beginning of book 1, Sleeping Giants.