Only Human

(Audiobook listener) This book took a pretty deep twist into the political and societal commentary and introduces a new language. It was enjoyable and wrapped up the story quite nicely but the bulk of the book seemed to be influenced by the political climate. The narration ov Eva sounded like she was raised in Brooklyn rather than Puerto Rico and had some issue with pronouncing ‘R' sounds (or maybe that was to leave the impression that she was still a kid?)

3.0 out of 5 stars

Having loved the first two books of the Themis Files trilogy, I was expecting a similarly excellent third entry. Unfortunately, Only Human strays from what made the first two books so great and left me disappointed by a much weaker conclusion to the story.

I had been hooked by the shadowy government agents and alien tech mysteries that filled the pages of the first two volumes, but most of that has been left by the wayside and this book deals mostly with the aftermath of previous events.

Although I struggled to stay invested in the overall story, I did continue to enjoy author Sylvain Neuvel's sharp wit and breezy writing style that he's honed over the course of the three books. I look forward to seeing what he works on next, as he clearly has a big imagination and a distinct voice.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

I burned through this whole series so fast. I think the limitations of the structure are a little more clear in this one because there is a lot less time spent in-robot where everything is being recorded and a lot of our great record-keepers are no longer with us. It's a little more like reading a movie script than a book at this point, but that didn't really bother me.

At the end of this series, I am left in rather profound pessimism for the state of our world. Neuvel paints a devastating picture of what first contact looks like without the aliens, and it's... just a little close to home. I can hear Fox News blaming the Muslims for it even before it happens. The ending isn't completely dark, but it does feel a little too little too late. At the end of the day, this seems to be a series about power and fear of losing that power. The things humans will do to maintain the illusion of control. It's a timely theme, and I recommend this series to people who want to explore it and also love giant robots.

Really 3.5 stars. I liked the overall story arc, but there were parts that seemed forced and some character bits seemed forgotten in order to tell the story. Like Dr. Franklin's issues with being a copy. There is less action and more philosophy and social commentary. I don't totally mind, but sometimes it seemed forced.
Overall, I liked the solution and the relationships. I liked the overall story arc. But parts of it felt rushed and forced. But if you read the other two, you really should read this one and wrap up the trilogy.

Terwijl ik in het eerste deel fan was van de weergave via logs en interviews, vond ik het in dit laatste deel totaal niet werken. Ik heb me echt door het verhaal moeten sleuren. Op zich nog steeds een goed verhaal, met een interessante visie en ideeën, maar door de schrijfstijl kon het me hier nog weinig boeien... Het einde was ook nogal een sisser. Jammer.

Only Human is the much-anticipated conclusion to the Themis Files trilogy. We discover what has been happening to Rose, Vincent, and Eva after their abrupt departure from Earth, as well as what has been happening on the planet they left behind. Offering a rather bleak, but sadly realistic, view of humanity, the story suggests just how close we are at any given time to WW3. I continued to enjoy the told-through-transcripts style, which keeps the story moving at a good pace. It was also fun getting to know the newly introduced characters and experiencing the alien planet. A satisfying end to the series!

What a massive disappointment.
The last book took a direction which I wish it hadn't. It became a sci-fi adjacent melodrama, where the focus is on, what I can only describe as navel gazing. The setting could've been so interesting, but all mystery, science and excitement were taken away and replaced with everyday minutia and a repetitive barrage of platitudes.
In combination with the deterioration of the characters, which were either useless or frustrating, or both, this book is a really disappointing ending to an otherwise amazing series.

The full review is available at The Gray Planet.

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel is the final installment of the Themis Files trilogy. The first book was Sleeping Giants, the second was Waking Gods.

In Only Human, Rose, Vincent, Eva (Vincent's ten year old daughter by Kara Resnick), and General Eugene Govender, have been transported to the home planet of the creators of the giant robots after the events of Waking Gods. As with the other two books of the trilogy, the book is epistolary—the story consists of a sequence of documents or interviews of the characters.

Only Human is a quick, breezy read. Chronologically, we skip back and forth between the time Rose, Vincent and Eva spend on Esat Ekt, the home planet of the Ekt, the builders of the robots, and the present time of the novel, which takes place on Earth, after the three have been transported back home in one of the giant robots, Themis.

Neuvel has a style that gives immediacy to his characters as the point of view switches frequently from document to document in the epistolary style. We slowly learn how Rose, Vincent and Eva end up back on Earth, and more details about the political situation on Earth. Neuvel occasionally dazzles with interesting perspectives on the cultural and political situations he has created on Esat Ekt and on Earth. But these deep insights are not enough to give the novel the depth necessary to make it significant. Neuvel attempts to define the driving cultural and political forces on Esat Ekt, but doesn't succeed. He doesn't quite make me believe in his world, particularly Esat Ekt, and the narrative becomes trivial.

Similarly, the events on Earth and Vincent's and Eva's actions within them are unrealistic and without sufficient motivation. Neuvel creates a complex situation in the conflict between Vincent and his now grown daughter Eva, which seems portentous and which is intertwined with the political rivalries of nations. But neither Vincent nor Eva has anything invested in the political sides they end up fighting for. Sides are chosen for them, or occur by happenstance—they are not the agents of their choices and again the resulting conflict becomes trivial.

Rose is not engaged in any of this—she is distant from it, and from most events in the novel. She longs to return to a normal life, to abdicate the pressure and responsibility of the position events and her own actions in the previous books have thrust upon her. But Neuvel ignores this and uses Rose as the agent who resolves the world's conflicts even though she has done her best to abdicate her responsibility and authority. Worse, the solution Rose implements is Machiavellian at best and cruel and inhuman at worst.

I enjoyed the book and wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it, but if you expect a satisfying resolution to the situation Neuvel has created in the first two books of the trilogy, I fear you will be disappointed like I was.

This was the final book in the Themis Files trilogy, a cool SF story that all began with finding a giant alien metal hand buried in the ground for thousands of years. (Eventually a huge alien robot is constructed and it gets crazier and bigger from there). I really enjoyed this story. It's told in a series of interviews, dialogue, and journal entries that just zips along. This may be the fastest I've zipped through a trilogy. And this last one was certainly interesting, but really it's the first two that are the most fun.