Only Human, Book 3 of the Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel

Only Human, written by Sylvain Neuvel and published by Del Rey books, is the breathtaking conclusion to the Themis Files series and one of the finest science fiction reading experiences I’ve ever had.

At the end of Waking Gods, Rose, Eva, Vincent and Eugene had all been whisked back to the alien planet after a poisonous gas wiped out millions of innocent civilians. Only Human tells the story of their time on that planet, their return, what they find in terms of the state of humanity and how they as individuals deal with the incredible changes in their circumstances moment to moment. The planet they have been living on has an extreme policy of isolation and forbids itself from involving itself in the lifecycle of any other race. They previous trip to earth in which they unwittingly wiped out millions of people was actually an attempt to redress a previous incursion and now they don’t know what to do. It is so damn good. It’s also so damn relevant.

I winced as I read about people turning on each other, placing each other in camps according to the amount of Alien DNA in their blood, killing each other over every slight difference. I’m literally watching the war zone that is the Gaza strip as people are shot by snipers and bombed by for getting to close to a wall that has been built around them. The parallels could not be more obvious and it is horrific. There are some fabulous sections of dialogue that suggest Sylvain’s characters are not that happy with the current state of politics in this world as well as the one he has created.

Eva, who has essentially grown up on an alien planet on life on Earth - “I hate this world. People are small. They’re ignorant, and they’re happy to stay that way. They make an effort to. They’ll spend time and energy finding ways not to learn things just to feel comfortable with their beliefs……They ate it all, and they asked for seconds”

Rose our protagonist - “Irrational? We’ve lost our collective mind! Scientists are ignoring their own findings. People are denying even the most basic scientific facts because it makes them feel better about hurting each other. Do you realize how horrifying that is? We’re talking 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 Idiocy. There’s not even an attempt to rationalise things. Muslims are bad because they are, that’s all. Why would you need a reason? It’s one thing to let you 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 lobotomise itself, it’s as moronic and repulsive as someone cutting off their own legs”

So I’m guessing Sylvain is not a fan of Fox and Friends.

Only Human has the least action of all the books in the series but the stakes are they highest. The writing is sharp and intelligent and the format ensures everything is stripped back to the basics with not a single word being wasted. The characters are realistic and edgy, they grow and develop and it is impossible not to get caught up in the personal journeys. Both the US and Uk covers are beautifull and pieces of art by themselves and some of the swag they've produced is simply exceptional. I highly recommend this series, from start to finish it is an absolute triumph.