Only Human

By Sylvain Neuvel

Pacific Rim meets The Martian in the explosive follow-up to Sleeping Giants (“One of the most promising series kickoffs in recent memory.”—NPR) and Waking Gods (“Pure, unadulterated literary escapism.”—Kirkus Reviews).
 
Brilliant scientist Rose Franklin has devoted her adult life to solving the mystery she accidentally stumbled upon as a child: a huge metal hand buried beneath the ground outside Deadwood, South Dakota. The discovery set in motion a cataclysmic chain of events with geopolitical ramifications. Rose and the Earth Defense Corps raced to master the enigmatic technology, as giant robots suddenly descended on Earth’s most populous cities, killing one hundred million people in the process. Though Rose and her team were able to fend off the attack, their victory was short-lived. The mysterious invaders retreated, disappearing from the shattered planet . . . but they took the scientist and her crew with them.
 
Now, after nearly ten years on another world, Rose returns to find a devastating new war—this time between humans. America and Russia are locked in combat, fighting to fill the power vacuum left behind after the invasion. Families are torn apart, friends become bitter enemies, and countries collapse in the wake of the battling superpowers. It appears the aliens left behind their titanic death machines so humankind will obliterate itself. Rose is determined to find a solution, whatever it takes. But will she become a pawn in a doomsday game no one can win?

Praise for Only Human
 
“Packing a surprisingly powerful thematic punch, this novel is an addictive blend of science fiction, apocalyptic thriller, and chillingly timely cautionary tale. Two (giant, robotic) thumbs up!”—Kirkus Reviews

“Boasting a winning combination of briskly paced action and futuristic dystopia tempered by cautious optimism, Only Human brings a fitting, satisfying end to the Themis Files series.”—RT Book Reviews

“This action-packed tale with apocalyptic stakes is a fitting finale to this wonderfully cinematic series.”—Publishers Weekly

“Series fans will be eager for Neuvel’s ever-so-satisfying conclusion to his rip-roaring science-fiction adventure tale.”—Booklist

Don’t miss any of The Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel:
SLEEPING GIANTS | WAKING GODS | ONLY HUMAN

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Worlds
• Release date: May 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9780399180125

Sylvain Neuvel

Sylvain Neuvel has taught linguistics in India and worked as a software engineer in Montreal. He is also a certified translator, though he wishes he were an astronaut. His girlfriend would have him believe that he has too many toys, so he writes about aliens and giant robots as a blatant excuse to build action figures (for his son, of course). His debut, Sleeping Giants, was described by NPR as “one of the most promising series kickoffs in recent memory.”

Book preview

PART ONE

WHEN IN ROME

FILE NO. EE955—PERSONAL FILE FROM ESAT EKT

Personal Journal Entry—Dr. Rose Franklin

Be careful what you wish for.

About ten years ago—I was thirty-seven at the time—a giant robot from another planet visited Earth and decimated part of London. We succeeded in destroying it, but thirteen more appeared and dispersed a genetically engineered gaseous weapon in two dozen of our most populous cities. One hundred million people died in the process. Among them, this mysterious man whose name I never learned, who steered our every move ever since I was put in charge of studying that giant hand at the University of Chicago, and Kara Resnik, my best friend, who was also Vincent’s wife, and Eva’s biological mother.

With some help, I found a way to alter the metal these robots were made of at the molecular level and disabled one of them. That was enough to convince the aliens to leave.

I can’t say that I knew that was going to happen, that millions would die because I had discovered Themis and brought attention to our planet, but I was afraid it would. I was afraid ever since I was brought back to life. I felt…out of place, and I wished that whoever built Themis would come back and take her away. I also said I hoped they would take me with them.

They did. After the alien robots left Earth, General Eugene Govender, head of the EDC, Vincent, Eva, and I went aboard Themis to celebrate our—I was going to say victory, but that’s not what it was—survival. While we were there, the Council of Akitast—the group of aliens who decide how their world deals with others—had Themis brought back. She dematerialized on Earth and reappeared on Themis’s home planet, with the four of us inside.

They call it Esat Ekt—Home of the Ekt, their people. In some small way, they’re also our people. The Ekt first came to Earth some five thousand years ago—twenty-four of them or so. They were among us for a couple of millennia. They were ordered never to interfere, to stay out of history’s way, but over time, some of them frayed and joined the natives. They had children—half-human, half-alien—who in turn had children—three-quarter human—and so on, until their descendants, indistinguishable from humans, had but a tiny bit of alien genetics left in them. Three thousand years later, there was nothing left to distinguish them from. All of us, every single person on Earth, were related, however remotely, with the handful of aliens who chose love over duty, back when the Titans walked the Earth.

We have been living here on Esat Ekt for nine years now, but we are still very much outsiders. Their entire society is built on the idea that different species shouldn’t interact in ways that can affect them, that each should be left to evolve according to its own set of values. Centuries ago, their kind was nearly decimated by the inhabitants of a planet their emperor had displaced, exiled for personal or political reasons. After that, they replaced their monarchy with a very complex democracy, and took their noninterference policy to a whole new level. To the Ekt, polluting an entire species with their genetics means robbing them of the future they should have. They view this as we would genocide. What happened on Earth was a tragedy for them as much as it was for us. They came to exterminate what they thought were a handful of Ekt descendants before they could contaminate all of us. When they realized they were too late, they had already killed millions. We are living reminders of what they consider a stain on their history, like the Holocaust Memorial, or a monument to the victims of slavery.

They will not be reminded anymore. One way or another, our time here ends tonight. We’re going home.

FILE NO. EE961—PERSONAL FILE FROM ESAT EKT

Mission log—Vincent Couture and Rose Franklin

Location: Aboard Themis

[Dad, don’t do this!]

—It’s too late for that. Don’t come any closer, Eva. I don’t want to hurt him. Rose, can you hold her?

—Hold her? No, I don’t think I can hold her. Come here, Eva. Let’s not make this any harder than it already is. You don’t want anyone to get shot by accident. We’ll send him back, Eva. I promise. No one else has to get hurt.

[What do you mean, no one else? What happened? What’d you do, Dad?]

—Ekim, eyyots ant ipyosk insot. Ekim! Eyekant!

[Ekim, don’t do it. You know he’s bluffing. He won’t hurt you. Eyekant ops!]

You’re right, Eva. I don’t wanna hurt him, so don’t force me to.

{It’s OK, Eva. Eyekant aktept eps.}

[No! Don’t do it for me! I’ll stay! I’ll stay here with you.]

—You can’t stay, Eva. Not anymore. You don’t know what we…never mind. There’s no time for this. Ekim, you’re all strapped in? Here. Hold the gun, Rose. I need a minute to get into my harness, and we’re gone.

—They’re coming, Vincent, we need to go now.

—Dammit! I can’t get my arms through.

—You can do it. Just relax.

—I’m not sure I can. I’ve never piloted the upper body. Last time I saw someone put this on, Eva was like ten, I…

—Can’t you switch places with Ekim? He can guide you through the commands on the console.

—He said it’s complicated. He had me at orbital defense system. I don’t think I—Got it! But I’ll never be able to close the front. Let me put the helmet on, see if it works without the braces closed.

—Any minute now…We have to GO!

—Yes! She’s powering up. Go! Go! Ekim, punch it in. Eyyots!

—How long until…

—Whoa.

—What? Vincent, where are we?

—I don’t know. I think we’re…It’s nighttime. Trees all around us. Ekim, is this Earth? Akt eyet Eteyat?

{Ops eyoktiptet.}

—What did he say?

—Euh…It’s an expression. Beats me. Something like that.

—Look at the stars.

—What?

—Look at the stars. Do you recognize anything?

—I don’t see anything familiar…Yes! That’s…la grande ourse. I don’t know the constellation names. The big bear?

—The Great Bear. Ursa Major.

—Yeah, that. We’re here, Rose. This is Earth.

—Wow. I can’t believe we made it. Eva, say something.

[Dad, what did you do?]

—Not now, Eva.

[Tell me what you did!]

I said not now. It won’t be long before someone notices us. Let’s lay Themis down so we can get out.

[Just tell me?]

Eva, what do you think they’ll do to Ekim if they find him here? He needs to get back. Ekim, eyost yeskust ak eyyots esat.

{Eyekant ets ops. Ethemis eyet onsoks.}

—What did he say? Empty Themis?

—He said Themis is empty. Drained. She used up all her energy to get here. There’s enough left to power the helmets but I can’t move the arms anymore.

—How long do we have to wait, Vincent?

[Dad, I’ll kill you if anything happens to him.]

—Easy, Eva. When you and I drained her in New York, it took only a few minutes before she was able to move again. Looks like we’re in the middle of nowhere. With any luck, no one’s spotted us and we can get out before the sun comes up. Heck, it might take days before we’re found. Just like last time.

[Last time we almost died.]

Then not like last time. Look, there’s nothing I can do. If I knew how to speed this up, believe me I would.

—Go talk to Ekim, Eva. You have some time. You should talk to him. You might not see him again after he’s gone.

[I hate you, Dad. I really hate you.]

—I know.

—She’ll get over it, Vincent. Just give her time.

—I don’t know, Rose. What we did, it’s…Anyway, she’s home, that’s all that matters. Now we just need to get Ekim home safe.

—He could stay here.

—No, he couldn’t. They’d put him in a cage, stick needles in him all day. A hundred million of us died the last time his people were on Earth. It’s been a while, but I don’t think folks here would’ve forgotten.

—What will happen to him when he gets back home?

—Well, he’ll tell them we kidnapped him—we did. Hopefully, they’ll end it at that.

—Do you think they’ll believe him?

—I don’t know, Rose. What would you have me do? Write him a note?

—He looks scared.

—He’s a kid! He’s millions of miles away from home, and he may have just committed treason. I’d be scared too.

—You put a gun to his head.

—Like I said, I’d be scared too.

—We just traveled millions of miles ourselves, you know.

—Weird, isn’t it? We’ve waited all this time, then, boom. We’re here.

—Our…friend once told me it took ten days to get from there to here. It just feels instantaneous. I’m not sure how they’d know.

—Know what, Rose?

—How long it takes to get from there to here.

—They’d probably check the date?

—How? We can get the date here, but what we’d need to know is the date over there, now. How do you get that? You go back, divide by two?

—I have no idea. I…

—You did what you had to do, Vincent.

—Did I? Did I have to do this?

—Don’t go there, Vincent. Don’t.

—What’s worse is I don’t feel nearly as bad as I think I should. Shit.

—What?

—Can’t be. Not that soon.

—What’s happening?

—Lights. There are a bunch of vehicles coming our way. Trucks, maybe. Ekim, eket eyyots apt aks.

[Who’s coming, Dad?]

I don’t know, but they seem to be in a hurry to get here.

[Yokits! Now what? We can’t do anything!]

Well, if it’s just trucks, neither can they. We’re fifteen floors high.

[They can bring a crane.]

It takes days to put together a crane this high. A crane isn’t what I’m worried about.

[What then?]

They might just be locals in some pickup trucks. If they are, we’re still good. We can just transport Themis when she’s charged and disembark somewhere else.

[And if they’re not?]

Well, if they’re military, they won’t just bring trucks. They’ll come with…

[With what?]

That.

[What?! We can’t see, remember?]

A helicopter.

—Is it military?

—It’s big, Rose. It’s not a TV helicopter. Nothing you fly tourists in either.

—What’s it doing?

—It’s coming…Hovering above us now…Side door is opening. Shit. Shit. Shit.

—They’re coming in?

—Two guys on ropes.

—Vincent, who are they?

—I don’t know, but they have guns. One’s at the hatch.

—They might be happy to see us.

—They might be ecstatic. Eva, you should stand in front of Ekim, just in case they’re not. Whoever this is, he’s in the shaft between the hatches.

—The inner hatch is opening.

<Derzhite ruki na vidu>

Vincent, what did he say?

—I have no idea, but I’m pretty sure he said it in Russian.

FILE NO. 2106

INTERVIEW BETWEEN MAJOR KATHERINE LEBEDEV, RUSSIAN MAIN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (GRU), AND DR. ROSE FRANKLIN, PH.D.

Location: GRU building, Saint Petersburg, Russia

—Good morning, Dr. Franklin. I trust you had a good night’s sleep. I’m sure you did. We have really good drugs…Don’t tell anyone, but I take some from time to time when I need the rest. I never thought I’d get to do this, but on behalf of the Russian Federation, and the entire planet, I suppose, welcome back! And welcome to Russia!

—We’re in Russia?

—Yeah! You are! Sit down, Dr. Franklin. You’re making me nervous.

—I’m sorry. I am a bit nervous. I don’t know what I’m doing here.

—Oh, you have every right to be nervous, Dr. Franklin. I said you were making me nervous. I’m supposed to look superconfident. That’s hard to do if I’m fidgeting in my seat. But this is so exciting! Please sit!

—I don’t suppose you’ll tell me who you are, or where I am.

—Who I am? Doesn’t it say on…Where is it? There’s a little plaque with my name on it…Oh, here it is. I’m Katherine Lebedev.

—You don’t sound Russian.

—I hope not. I spent most of my life in New Hampshire. I went to Brown. Law school.

—You were a spy.

—I wa…No! I was a kid. I was born there. I played with dolls. My parents were spies. I didn’t find out about any of it until it was time to leave. I moved back here eleven years ago, and here we are! I was saying something. Oh yes. I’m Katherine Lebedev. I’m a major in the GRU.

—…

—You don’t know what that is, do you? The Main Intelligence Agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Mouthful, I know.

—It sounds like the KGB.

—The KGB—it’s called the SVR nowadays, by the way—is for kids. Don’t tell them I said that. We’re ten times bigger than the SVR. OK, maybe not ten times, but we’re it. This is where the fun is. We have six times the numbers of agents, spy satellites, James Bond stuff. What else did you wanna know? Oh yes, you’re in—we’re in Saint Petersburg. Government office. Big grey building.

—Are you the head of this…GRU?

—Me? I wish. No, I’m a lowly major. I run a small—tiny, really—division focused on alien tech. We don’t have any, so, like I said, it’s small. Which is why you’ll understand how happy I was, how happy we all were, when you landed in Estonia. Only a few hours away, really. What are the odds?

—Estonia? You said we were in Russia?

—Right! You don’t know! I’m sorry. Where are my manners? You have a lot of catching up to do. What do you wanna know? Ask away.

—How long were we gone?

—Nine years, three months, six days—ninety-seven days—nine years and ninety-seven days. I’m sorry, I don’t know the scientific way…

—Nine years? We thought it was less than that.

—Oh! Our scientists talked about that. Something about time dilation when traveling at near-light speed. I don’t understand any of it, but they said you might come back a thousand years old. No, that can’t be. A thousand years would have passed here. Can you tell I’m not a scientist? So how long did you think you were gone for? A few seconds?

—Eight years, seven months, maybe eight.

—Oh…Wait? You don’t know exactly?

—We…Do you know where we were?

—I’m waiting for you to tell me, but everyone assumed you went to the planet where those robots are from.

—Right. It’s called…

—What? It’s called what? Oh, you don’t know if you should tell me…It’s really up to you. No, it’s not really up to you, but you know what I mean. It’s not like we’ll torture you on your first day. I’m kidding! GRU humor…I know. How about this? Do you think telling me the name of the place will forever upset the balance of power? Besides, you worked for the United Nations when you left. We’re in there. It’s your world!

—What?

—It’s your world. The motto of the United Nations.

—I didn’t know it had a motto.

—Awful, isn’t it? So, what do you say? Please! I’m dying here.

—It’s called Esat Ekt. It means Home of the Ekt. That’s what they call themselves. We couldn’t keep Earth time, but they…They use a unit of time that’s somewhere around a minute, so…

—You didn’t have a watch? Or a phone?

—We did before the batteries ran out. So like I said, we counted our heartbeats during that unit of time—Vincent and I know our normal heart rate—and we did the math. Obviously, we were a bit off. It’s possible the air was different. More oxygen, maybe.

—Oh, like when you’re on a mountain.

—Well, that would be the opposite. But yes, that’s the idea.

—Sorry. Law school, remember? Oh, before I forget. When you left, General Govender was with you. Now he’s not, unless he somehow got transformed into an alien teenager. What happened to him?

—He died.

—I’m sorry…How? Did they kill him?

—He died of natural causes.

—So sad…SO, the people on that planet are called the Ekt. That’s what he is, your friend that came with you? He’s an…Ekt?

—I thought you wanted to answer my questions.

—I did it again, didn’t I? I’m so sorry. I get too excited. I am! I am so thrilled! But I do that. I steal the conversation, and I don’t even notice it until I’ve offended someone. Please forgive me? I swear—No, I won’t, because then I’ll do it again five minutes from now, and I’ll feel even worse. Stop talking Katherine. PLEASE! Dr. Franklin. What do you wanna know?

—I’m sorry, Ms. Lebedev, I—

—Did you just call me Ms. Lebedev? It’s the office, it does that. I don’t even know what it’s called. Victorian gothic? Ms. Lebedev is my mom. I’m Katherine. Call me Katherine.

—OK. Katherine. I don’t know if it’s the traveling or if the drugs you gave me are still working, but I’m exhausted. Would it be possible to continue this conversation tomorrow?

—Of course! You traveled, I don’t know, millions of miles, and here I am asking you all these questions. You get some rest. We’ll talk when you feel you’re ready.

—Thank you.

—Don’t even mention it. I want you to know that we’re doing everything we can to help your friend, even if you’re being less than forthcoming with us, being exhausted and all.

—My friend?

—Yes, your friend. The young Ekt—I love saying that—who came with you. He’s a bit sick, I’m afraid. Don’t worry, though, you need to rest. I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s got the best doctors with him.

—What did you do to him?

—What did I—? What makes you think I would hurt him?

—There was a scientist working for you before we left, she…

—You mean Dr. Papantoniou. What about her?

—She had no problem submitting people to very invasive procedures to get what she wanted.

—That was before my time. I did hear some pretty nasty things about her, though, but she works for the Americans, now.

—Alyssa does? What does she do?

—Oh, we can talk about that tomorrow. You need rest, remember?

—Please.

—She finds pilots for them. Some kind of blood test.

—Pilots for what?

—For their robot. Giant one, like Themis. I told you you had a lot of catching up to do.

—What robot? Where did they find it?

—Well, you gave it to them.

—Me?

—Yeah, you. Nine years ago, you disabled one of them in New York. It fell to the ground in pieces, remember? How long do you think it took for the US military to grab it?

—But it didn’t work.

—Well, it does now!

—How do they even pilot it? Do they have someone with legs like Vincent?

—I have no idea. But that geneticist finds pilots for them. I hope you don’t think I’m anything like her! I seriously hope you don’t, because…woooo…crazy. I mean, sure! I like to get what I want—I usually do get it—but I don’t want anything bad to happen to your friend. I really don’t.

—What do you want?

—From him? I want him to get better. I really want him to pilot that big robot for us, but he can’t do that if he’s sick, now, can he? So I want him to get better. He seems nice. A nice Ekt.

—…

—That’s a lot to take in all at once, I know. Go get some rest. We’ll talk later.

—Am I a prisoner?

—What? Of course not! You’re free to leave whenever you want, go wherever you want.

—I could leave this building and no one would stop me?

—Your escort will take you anywhere you want to go. Take in the city! It’s beautiful. It’s a lot better than Moscow, if you wanna know what I think. See the cathedrals. Walk along Nevsky Prospect. If you want to visit the Hermitage, I’d love to go with you. I haven’t been in years.

—Can I see my friends?

—That’s a great idea! Why don’t we all have dinner together? After you get some rest, of course.

FILE NO. 2108

INTERVIEW BETWEEN MAJOR KATHERINE LEBEDEV, RUSSIAN MAIN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (GRU), AND VINCENT COUTURE

Location: GRU building, Saint Petersburg, Russia

—How are you feeling, Vincent? I can call you Vincent, right? You had a lot of wine last night. Wish I could have. Appearances. You know how it is.

—I’m fine. Thank you.

—You barely touched your plate, though. Rose and Eva didn’t eat either. Should I tell them to fire the chef?

—It’s not him. On…Where we were, the people have more sensitive taste buds than we do. The flavors there are a lot more subtle.

—Bland.

—Yeah, that’s how it feels at first. I guess we’ve gotten used to it. I’m sure the food was great. Thank you for dinner.

—You’re welcome! I knew you and I would get along! So glad, especially after meeting your daughter. She’s soooo confrontational! Wow! I don’t think she and I’ll be BFFs.

—You never met her mom.

—I wish I had. I know I’m a few years late, but I’m terribly sorry for your loss. I meant that in a good way, about your daughter, you know. She has character. I like that. How old is she now? Nineteen?

—Yes she is. How’s our friend?

—You mean Ekim? Eva told me. Oh, don’t make that face. What difference does it make if I know his name? He’s not well.

—Do you know what’s wrong with him?

—A lot of things. He’s got the flu, for starters. His immune system is completely out of whack, and he’s infected with toxoplasmosis.

—What?

—I know. The Marine—yes, they’re called marines here too—who got you out of the robot has cats. They tell me about half the world’s population is infected with toxoplasmosis—did you know?—almost everyone in some places. Most people don’t show any symptoms, apparently, but your friend does, a lot of them. And he’s not responding to antibiotics, antimalarials, nothing. To be honest, we’re afraid the meds will kill him if the disease doesn’t.

—Please save him. I’m begging you, find a way to save him.

—You really care about him.

—He’s my friend.

—Are you sure that’s all he is? I thought maybe…

—Yes…

—Nah. You’ll think it’s silly. Ah, what the hell! I like to listen to people, in restaurants, everywhere. My parents were spies, you know, or maybe you don’t know. Well, now you do. Anyway, maybe eavesdropping is a genetic thing. It’s like a game. I try to guess things about people. Sometimes I even think I’m good at it. So yesterday at dinner, I couldn’t help noticing a bit of tension between you and your daughter. I didn’t make anything of it at first, but come dessert I’m thinking Eva’s mad at Daddy for something. What if she’s mad because Ekim got sick? What if Ekim’s the boyfriend? Maybe she blames Dad for what’s happening. Now Dad, he loves his daughter, he really doesn’t want anything to happen to the boyfriend because he feels responsible and he’s afraid his daughter won’t forgive him…That’s it. That’s all I got. Am I close?

—I’m afraid not.

—I told you you’d think it was silly. Are you

Reviews for Only Human

[rena613 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this book we learn about the aliens and their way of life.
The secondary characters were great and the dialogue was funny.
The author proposed a scary social commentary on the situation on Earth, but it's not far from what we've seen in history (and not so long in the past, really).
Great ending and it feels like a complete story.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Somehow I managed to read book 3 before book 2 and I'm still not sold on the story told as documents and transcripts. This is the story of Rose and her crew and what happens when they return from the planet that sent robots that killed a lot of people. How they find, after ten years that there have been changes and reactions to what happened from humanity and how the US is using the last remaining robot.
It's interesting and I am going to read book 2 to see more about that happening but it's not really going on the top of my tbr pile.

[iira_24 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I listened to this part as an audiobook, and boy was it a bad idea. I really hate voice acting in audiobooks, and this one certainly went over the top. Not only are the readers putting their heart and soul into reading, there’s something like 10 different people doing the reading. Sorry, but that’s just TOO MUCH.

So plotwise, I couldn’t focus much but I’m happy the series is now over.

[tuusannuuska-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3,9 stars

It took me surprisingly long to finish this book, considering how eagerly I anticipated its release.

Sadly, this was a much slower paced read than books one and two, and the plot didn't really hold my interest as tightly, either. The second half was better, but over all I have to admit to being a little disappointed. I don't know what exactly I expected, but it was more than I got.

However, four stars is by far not a bad rating, and as a standalone I wouldn't have minded as much, I'm sure. I'm happy I finished the series, though.

[thewallflower-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

To be honest, I only finished it just to complete the series, and that’s a terrible reason to read a book (but a great way to hook you into buying it–why do you think there are so many series?) I just stopped caring about the characters after the midpoint of book two. Everyone I had cared about was gone by that point.

For the first two books, we’ve been trying to figure out who these aliens are. Then they actually got to go to the alien planet to meet them… and no one cared. I mean both the Earthlings and the aliens. They’re accidentally summoned to the origin planet of the giant robots and no one knows what to do with them. They make decisions like Ents. All these big revelations about advanced science and our evolution and where the war comes from and cures for cancer and “To Serve Man” and what happens? They get put in a home in the suburbs.

They live there for twelve years and just kinda exist. Like Alf or The Munsters. All these questions linger–what do they do all day? How do they brush their teeth? What do they do all day? Do they get jobs? How do they get money? Where’s the alien Walmart? How is learning the language so easy? There are still languages on Earth we haven’t totally deciphered. But it’s more about father and daughter bickering.

I felt the same in Book 2, where they find enemy aliens in a robot and we never hear a thing about it. No one figures out their biology or culture. No anthropology or forensics on them. I would think we’d have an Independence Day or Watchmen situation, but nope, we just care about the robots. That jars me out of the story because it seems cognitively dissonant (i.e. “I don’t think this would happen in this situation”).

[tbrown3131949 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this book, like its two predecessors, far more engaging than I expected. I'm not typically a fan of science fiction involving aliens, alien technology, and world conflicts, but there's something about this series that just works and is compelling in a way few others are. The characters are distinctive and real, and over the course of these books, I became genuinely interested in what was happening to them, as if they were my own friends. Overall, this book is a great conclusion to a great series and I hope to read more from this author.

[elam11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Both a satisfying end and a dissatisfying one, mainly for a reason the author called out himself: there's no big heroics in the end, just effectively calling in the police to make everyone shut up and go back inside. I'm not even sure how well that would really work, ultimately, especially not without active supervision. And recovering from where society ended up... And do people even really snap out of it with feelings of shame and guilt? Or do they secretly feel put-upon, and resentments will just quietly fester? Is this rehabilitated Nazi Germany, or is this the American South after the Civil War?

I'll also say it got a little author tract-y in here. It felt very much like a response to the current world (and understandably so). I agree with the message, it just gets a little monologuey sometimes. Otoh I appreciated Eva's lament about not evil but stupidity being just extra galling. I know that feel.

I appreciated the discussions of cynicism and pessimism and optimism and the hope of cultivating a legacy (the word legacy isn't used but the metaphor of growing a forest made me think of Hamilton lyrics: planting seeds in a garden you never get to see). I wish it'd been employed with a subtler hand though. (However, not nearly as obnoxious as Libba Bray's Before the Devil Breaks You!)

I still don't really like epistolary novels, but I got sucked in and read this entire trilogy. I won't say that I don't think it wouldn't have better with conventional storytelling, at least for some parts, but *shrug* it worked pretty well. I could easily see a movie adaptation of this.

[phyllis.mann · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent! Yokits amazing!

Do yourself a favor and have all three Themis Files books on hand when you begin the first: "Sleeping Giants," "Waking Gods," and "Only Human." They read super-fast and you'll be kicking yourself when you finish one if you don't have the next to start right away.

[funkyplaid · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The Themis Files, as a whole and individually, struck me overall as a regrettable waste of science-fiction potential. Navigating repeated waves of frustration and even embarrassment at the quality and content of Neuvel's writing, I had to push myself through all three books from a sense of commitment alone. The point of no return, for me, came about halfway through the second one, Waking Gods. From there it was a real slog, but I eventually made it to the end.

Virtually no character has any likable qualities, all of them being selfish, bratty, condescending, self-referentially clever, or otherwise devoid of depth. All are bubbly-sarcastic and arrogant to the teeth, and their dialogue is filled with inane quips and needless exclamation points that collectively function as a stand-in for the author's obviously high opinion of his own wit. More so, all of the characters sound the same, making it immensely difficult in an epistolary format to follow who is talking to whom at any given time – unless their names are used in the conversation, which occurs so often that it might as well have been written as a screenplay. Furthermore, all of the characters, whether geneticists, army soldiers, government agents, foreign leaders, or half-alien sleepers, use "gonna" and "wanna" so often in their speech that it might cause one to wonder how the author ever obtained a doctorate in linguistics.

Speaking of the epistolary format, which felt forced throughout the lineage of three full books, that structural choice left me with the distinct impression that Neuvel didn't want to bother with the trouble of writing a descriptive account, instead using pure dialogue to narrate an entire sci-fi/action trilogy. The story suffers for it. Character development and their conversations are neither deft nor interesting enough to carry the plot, leaving long stretches of stiff and telegraphed scenes anemically conveyed in documents, journals, and reports (the files) which are devoid of realistic context. Where were these files stored? Who has collected them? How have we come to read or hear them? None of these questions are answered or even considered.

By the time we reach the third installment, Neuvel has given up on telling a story or drawing the reader deeper in to his world. Instead, Only Human spends inordinate amounts of space either showing off the author's ability to create a perfunctory alien language or sheepishly attempting to comment upon the degraded state of human ethics and morals. But this is no Star Trek; there is neither hope nor other remedial trajectories for us to evolve into. In between these clumsy poles are disconnected references to modern geek-culture memes and icons, serving no other purpose than to flag up Neuvel's awareness of them.

Deus Ex Machina resolutions are introduced for both minor and major plot points, including the finale of the full series – a maddening practice that ignores any precarious conditions which were invested into the plot along the way. Characters turn on a dime and demonstrate no consistency of personality whatsoever, which simply absolves them of any care or interest from the audience; these are tropes more than living creatures, and whether human, alien, or somewhere in between, it just doesn't matter. By the end of the last novel, everyone is deeply in love with each other and there has been no evidence whatsoever of the interpersonal bonds that have formed along the way. Motivations are superficial and can only be described in a vacuum, and it doesn't appear that Neuvel has any sense of how governments and societies actually work, which I would consider to be fairly important for a writer of near-future fiction.

The Themis Files feels a little bit like Ted Chiang's Story of Your Life and a little bit like Robert Charles Wilson's The Chronoliths, but there is far more content, wonder, mystery, and craft in each of those single short books than in the collected trilogy being reviewed here. I tend to look for realism, sophistication, and subtlety in my sci-fi, but I didn't find any of these things in Neuvel's series. Your mileage may vary, but do what you wanna do.

[kinwolf · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Hmm, ok, this thirs episode started weak. I mean, one critical plot line happens because they can't get Themis door open at all and their are stuck inside, and the other plot line happens because some Russains soldiers simply drop on Themis from an helicopter, open the hatch, and capture them. Really? The writer went from "nobody can open this hatch so you'll all die inside" to " it's a simple door with no lock that anyone can open"??????

He also wrote many new characters like old ones. I dare you to read a paragraph from Katherina talking and not think it is Mr. Burns talking instead. They are "talking" exactly the same.

All the bantering btw Eva and Vincent also gets mindlessly boring.

Maybe this third book should have been left unwritten.

[ray_-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I LOVED this book.
I really enjoyed reading all those files and following the crazy events that happened throughout it especially since it was told by not one nor two nor three people, but even more than that.
The format of those books is really fun to go through.

I loved and cared about the characters deeply, and enjoyed knowing more about each and every one of them.

I really didn't see a LOT of things coming in this book which is a really good thing.

All in all it was a really good finale to the trilogy, though I'd love to see more of these characters and their world.

[indygo88 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In this, book #3 of the Themis Files, another almost ten years have passed since the events of the last book. Rose, Vincent, & Eva disappeared within the body of the alien robot, appearing suddenly on the robot's host planet. Now, 9+ years later, they're back on earth, but it isn't quite the earth that they remember.

The format of this book is similar to the previous two, alternating between journal entries, interviews, recorded dialogues, etc. Although in this one, the time line flip flops back and forth between the time the three individuals spent on the alien planet and the events taking place in "present" day, after their return to earth. The earth now has in its possession two robots. Countries are at war or nearly at war, and people are power hungry and quick to judge those unlike themselves. Even Rose, Vincent, and Eva are at odds and end up taking sides.

While I enjoyed this series for the most part as a whole, I didn't enjoy this last book as much as the first two. To his credit, it's obvious the author was trying to make a statement about the state of the world today, which in many ways is similar to what was happening in this book. There were some notable quotes I wish I would've highlighted. Overall, I enjoyed & appreciated the underlying theme that was being presented. What I didn't enjoy was the "trying-too-hard-to-be-funny" banter between the characters, which was present in the first two books also, but which was a little too over the top in this one. By the time I reached the end of the book, I was ready for it all to be done. As I've stated in previous reviews of this series, I do think I missed out on something by not being able to read these on audio. I think I may have enjoyed them more in that format.

[aliceap-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Believe it or not, this is my second time writing this particular post. The first one which was ready for publishing was accidentally deleted in its entirety by yours truly. Well, I guess after this many years I was due a massively huge screw up. IT WAS SUCH A LONG POST, GUYS. I'm afraid this is going to be missing some essential points as a consequence but I'll do my best to recreate what I hardly recall writing (even though it was earlier this week).

Today I'm going to be reviewing Only Human which is the third and final book in The Themis Files trilogy by Sylvain Neuvel. If you've forgotten (or never knew in the first place) this series began with Dr. Rose Franklin who found a giant robot hand when she was a little girl and from that moment a series of events led to a giant robot (definitely of alien origins) being pieced together. Things spiraled out of control pretty quickly after that especially once other governments outside of the U.S. discovered that this behemoth could be piloted and used as a weapon. Moreover, raising this robot from the depths of the earth alerted the alien race which left it here and prompted their return to reclaim their property with mass genocide being the result. Cut to Only Human which opens years after the conclusion of Waking Gods with 2 pilots inside huge robots killing civilians in a war being waged between the U.S. and Russia while thousands of others are being held in interment camps because of impure bloodlines (sound familiar?). (This is where the dystopian tag on this post comes in by the way.) Meanwhile on a distant planet called Ekt, Rose and her team (Vincent, Eva, & the General) are trying to acclimate/come up with an escape plan back to earth. They are essentially refugees on this world which is wildly different from anything they've ever known. The parts where Neuvel focused on describing the planet, its people, and their customs were by far my favorites of this book, ya'll. So original and engrossing. The most distinguishing factor of the Ekt (besides their backwards facing legs) is that they have a strict policy of governmental non-interference which forbids them from any further action against or for the people of planet earth (even though they were the cause of its current state of awful). This is sci-fi political angst at its finest.

If I had to rank the books in this series it would be 1, 3, and then 2. A lot of the magic from the first book came from the total originality of the plotline and Neuvel's descriptive capabilities. A lot of that was lost in the second book which in my opinion was super dry. He got a lot of that oomph back with this book though. Taken as a whole, it's an excellent series and I wouldn't say no to checking out more of his work in the future. 7/10 for Only Human.

[montzaleew · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Only Human
By: Sylvain Neuvel
Narrated by: William Hope, Charlie Anson, Laurence Bouvard, Adna Sablylich, full cast
I have lived this whole series! The other books I have 5stars but this only four, it was wonderful but just lacked...something...I don't know what, but I enjoyed it! It was very deep and hit on social issues facing our country but on a different world. It addressed other issues on our world. Maybe that was it, I just wanted to escape! Lol! I like how things were resolved and I feel good about the end of the trilogy which I don't often feel after reading a series. I will miss the characters but can't wait to see what the author comes up with next!
The narration complemented the book perfectly...a FULL cast! How cool is that!

[guide2_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ok conclusion to the series. Non-linear narrative this time helped a bit, but the story is a bit too short and simple really.

[quondame · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a rather rough read, Almost no straight narrative it is somewhat implausibly presented as transcripts of dialog of different character pairs interspersed between present earth and near past planet of the giant bots. Very reflective of modern political nastiness, the solution, while established in the bot planet portions, is still dues-ex-machina. And the add on bit makes it a little too feel goody.

[jfe16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rose Franklin discovered the buried metal hand when she was a child; as an adult, she led the team that found the remaining parts and assembled Themis, a powerful robot from another world. After protecting Earth from conflict and alien invasion, Themis transported Rose, Vincent, and Eva to an alien world where they remained for nearly ten years.

They return, only to find Earth in a shambles. Can Rose find a way to save Earth when friend turns against friend?

Told in a mixture of interview transcripts and diary entries, the story alternates between the return of Themis, Rose, Vincent and Eve to Earth and their time spent on the alien world. Readers will find themselves on mostly familiar ground, both with the continuing story and the characters although Katherine Lebedev, mostly unlikeable and somewhat of a caricature, strains credibility. Nevertheless, the saga of Rose and Themis continues to unfold with plot twists and unexpected reveals. By turns dark, gloomy, and funny, this mixture of action and social commentary brings the Themis Files to a close.

Highly recommended.

[narilka · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After the cliffhanger ending of Waking Gods, I couldn't wait for Only Human to release to see how The Themis Files wraps up. It's a mixed bag. Spoilers for the previous two books will not be marked. Spoilers for this book will be tagged.

Nine years have passed since the Ekt visited earth and wiped out millions with their biological weapon. Nine years since Rose, Vincent and Eva were accidentally transported to Ekt's home planet, Esat Ekt. Now they've managed to make it home and humanity has gone to hell in a hand basket. The heroes are just as shocked as us readers are.

"We’ve lost our collective mind! Scientists are ignoring their own findings. People are denying even the most basic … facts because it makes them feel better about hurting each other. Do you realize how horrifying that is? We’re talking about human beings making a conscious effort, going out of their way, to be ignorant. Willfully stupid. They’re proud of it. They take pride in their idiocy. There’s not even an attempt to rationalize things anymore. Muslims are bad because they are, that’s all. Why would you need a reason? It’s one thing to let your child go blind because you read on Facebook that the measles vaccine would make him autistic, it’s another to ship him off to a work camp because he inherited his Grandmother’s genes instead of Grandpa’s. Our entire race is trying to lobotomize itself. It’s as moronic and repulsive as someone cutting off their own legs."

The story is told in two timelines, one detailing the time spent on Esat Ekt and modern day happenings on Earth. Of the two I slightly preferred the story of Esat Ekt. Both story lines end up in a social commentary and prove that where there are intelligent beings there will be politics. And there is a LOT of political and social commentary in both stories. It is a very pessimistic view of humanity and perhaps an accurate view of human nature under extreme stress.

I am keenly missing the Mystery Man. His replacement of sorts is the new interviewer Captain Katherine Lebedev, Russian Intelligence. Her character grates. Her false cheerfulness, thinly veiled threats and attempts to be "friends" with everyone just got on my nerves. Rose, Vincent and Eva's relationships are all messy, as you'd expect given all that's happened and their sittuation. Eva is firmly in angsty teen territory and it shows. I continue to love Vincent as the fierce, goofball father so I'm glad that things generally work out for his and Eva's relationship in the end.

I listened to the audio book performed by a full cast. Someone made the decision to change Eva's voice and I don't like the change. Eva grew up in Puerto Rico and had a nice Spanish accent in the previous installment. This time around the voice actor gave her a Bronx accent that just did not make sense considering the character had never been to New York and spent half her life on an alien planet speaking a whole other language. That issue aside, the cast did an amazing job with the material.

The Themis Files was a fun series from the beginning, lots of mystery and action. This finale is dark with a pessimistic view of humanity, a reminder of better times in the past and a more political than my current preference. Perhaps it is that I am still worn down by the current political environment in our country that I did not enjoy this story as much as I may have at a different time. The last couple chapters were quite touching. Kara's note to her daughter and Mr. Berns added back a half star for me. I'm glad I read the series but I don't think it's one I'll revisit any time soon.

[carolesrandomlife · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was so good! The whole trilogy is really amazing. I actually remember reading the first book in the trilogy, Sleeping Giants, and thinking that it was just okay. Everything changed when I decided to try the audiobook for the story. I was really able to appreciate the story much more with the help of the narrators. When I picked up the second book, Waking Gods, I was worried that I wouldn't be as impressed by the book in print after my experience with this previous book but I liked that book right from the start. The same can be said for this book. I thought that Waking Gods ended with just a bit of a cliffhanger and I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen to these characters. This was one of my most anticipated reads for the year and I was not disappointed.

This review will contain spoilers for the previous two books in the trilogy.

I went into this book expecting it to pick up right where the last book ended and it did to a point. The first part of the book goes back and forth between a time 9 years after the previous book and various points during those 9 years. I had so many questions about what had happened to everyone during those 9 years and I am glad that we got to see some of the more important events. We do learn more from the characters as they are being interviewed about their lives during those lost years as well.

So Vincent, Eva, and Rose have spent a significant amount of time living on an alien planet. You would think that they would have changed a lot during those years. They did experience some changes but the most dramatic changes happened here on Earth. Our planet has not done well during those years. Things are bad. Countries are power hungry and using the robots to intimidate other nations while their people are being treated poorly.

I loved the characters in this book. I really feel like I have got the chance to really know Rose and Vincent during the course of the trilogy. Eva is much older and I liked her character more in this book. Many of the key players from previous books show up in this installment as well. I was always thrilled to get to see these familiar characters play a part in the story even when they were a character that I loved to hate. There were a couple of new characters that seemed to fit into the story quite flawlessly as well.

This story was just as exciting as I had anticipated. How could a book about giant alien robots be anything but exciting? Anyway, this book had all of the action scenes that I had hoped to see. There were quite a few surprises along the way and I found myself turning pages as fast as I could just to see what would happen next. I was somewhat surprised by how things worked out in this one and it really was a good surprise. I was very satisfied by how everything ended.

I would highly recommend this series to others. This is an exciting and highly imaginative trilogy that has been a whole lot of fun. I do plan to purchase a copy of the audiobook of this one for a re-read in the near future. I can't wait to see what Sylvain Neuvel comes up with next!

I received a digital review copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine via NetGalley.

[jaredorlando-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Themis Files trilogy is an outlier, as it seems to get better from book to book (I’m looking at you, Hunger Games). Only Human is the best of the bunch. It has extreme heart, and it unlocks a wider world for the reader to explore. Engrossing, funny, and warm, the Themis Files trilogy is one that even the novice sci-fi fan can enjoy.