The Last Gods

De: Adam Brownlie

Narrado por: Jennifer Jill Araya

What if you could live forever? What if you could become a god?

These are the questions Elodie Black faces in this gripping sci-fi drama, where cutting-edge brain science and the mysteries of the universe collide.

Elodie and Markus Black seem like an ordinary couple, but when Markus dies in a tragic accident, their lives take an extraordinary turn. Driven by love and desperation, Elodie hopes that Markus's groundbreaking research can bring him back to life. Instead, Elodie herself becomes the first to benefit from his work, launching her on a journey that transcends time, love, and even death.

As the world around her evolves at a breakneck pace, Elodie must navigate the complexities of immortality. She grapples with the grief of losing her husband, the allure of new love with her longtime friend Archer, and the heartache of losing her daughter Elexus. As Elodie transitions from human to Homo deus—a godlike being with limitless access to the universe—she discovers that even in a state of pure data and infinite pleasure, moral dilemmas and existential questions persist. When faced with the ultimate task of saving civilization from the impending end of the universe, Elodie must work with an AI named Coby, who is so powerful he could destroy civilization, but also holds the key to its future—and to her past.

Lose yourself in a thought-provoking story that blends science fiction with deep philosophical questions about life, love, and what it means to be human. Don't miss out on a story that's as engaging as it is enlightening—where the future of civilization, and perhaps your own beliefs, hang in the balance.

©2024 Adam Brownlie (P)2025 Adam Brownlie

I really enjoyed listening to this!

I really enjoyed listening to the Last Gods by Adam Brownlie. Usually I struggle with
audiobooks but the story had me hooked right away and I couldn't stop listening. I
was almost immediately attached to Marcus and Elodie as characters, I could sense
the love that they shared with one another and I could feel how their conflict was
affecting the both of them in different ways. The descriptions of emotions is also
amazing, like in the first chapter when Marcus was feeling nauseous about the
thought of losing Elodie, now or in the future.

I love sci-fi stories that explore the big what-ifs of the future, things that have you
question your own morals and ethics. Exploring the politics of the future is a talent
that not many people possess. I also loved the way their relationship transcended
the very concept of life and death.

A Rare Sci-Fi Gem That Stays With You

The Last Gods offers a compelling and thoughtful exploration of humanity’s future at the crossroads of technology, faith, and identity. Following Elodie Black’s journey through grief, love, and transformation, the story thoughtfully blends science fiction with philosophical and religious questions, making it feel both deeply personal and intellectually provocative.

Jennifer Jill Araya’s narration enhances the experience, skillfully bringing the characters to life with emotional nuance and clarity, which makes this relatively short audiobook a powerful listen. The pacing balances quieter, introspective moments with significant leaps forward in time, effectively showing the vast societal changes while maintaining a strong emotional core.

While Elodie’s character can at times feel static or frustratingly self-centered, this flaw adds to the realism of her struggle as she grapples with the implications of immortality and evolving humanity. The story raises important questions about what it means to be human when consciousness can be digitized, and how loss, faith, and free will fit into this new paradigm.

Though some plot threads could have been developed further, the thought-provoking worldbuilding and ethical dilemmas more than make up for these gaps. For listeners who enjoy sci-fi that challenges the mind while also touching the heart, The Last Gods is a unique and rewarding experience that lingers long after the last chapter.

Is this book worth listening to?

Absolutely! I finished listening to this book in a day. For a story under six hours, it told quite a lot and was enjoyable from start to finish. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Each character in this book was so human. So REAL. They were so three dimensional, no, four dimensional characters. They were flawed, relatable, like-able, and even dislike-able in their own unique ways.
Elodie Black was a fantastic protagonist who was both endearing and incredibly frustrating. Her love for her family was never a doubt. Her self awareness as the story goes was a breath of fresh air. All of her choices seemed so natural and understandable. Whether emotional and illogical, or logical and thought out. Elodie felt very human, even when she no longer was human.
The entire premise of the story with such advances in technology and human civilization poses so many questions I have and my brain is buzzing with curiosity from how thought provoking this story is.
I cannot give enough praise to the narrator Jennifer Jill Araya. You could hear the emotion being expressed from every character. When they were happy, sad, bitter, frustrated, or anything. You could hear it.
This was a short book, but it had such an impact on me. I cannot recommend this book enough and hope more like this will be written.

Original and engaging story

This book was very thought-provoking and kept getting more and more interesting as it went on. I think the book is commenting on the extremes of advancing AI and the moral/religious questions it poses which was certainly interesting to read about and think about. The narrator did an excellent job as well; I found the narration to be particularly enjoyable.

Thought-provoking sci-fi

I really enjoyed this audiobook! As a fan of sci-fi, I'm always looking for new takes on futuristic concepts. With the recent advancements in AI, this story seems like something out of a realistic future timeline if things continue to progress as exponentially as they have been. It made me question what I would do if faced with this reality, as a creative person who tries to embrace the excitement of technology and tries not to fear it.

The first thing I paid attention to here was the narration. Jennifer Jill Araya's voice was clear, and she was believable as she switched between character dialogue lines. It was a pleasant listen overall. If the narration isn't good, I usually tend to reach for a paper copy of the book instead to create them myself, in my head, as I read through. In this case, the narration made the story much easier to follow and listen to throughout the day.

The character building was thorough and solid as well! Each character had an individual personality, and I could tell a lot of time went into creating their backstories, which drove their moral decisions. Elodie was a likeable character, conflicted in her relationship with her husband, Marcus, as they had a difference of opinion when it came to religion. This was a realistic and deep conflict that laid the foundation for the events to come.

Marcus, on the other hand, was an interesting character on a separate path. His life ends abruptly, but his story is carried through Elodie and the difficult moral dilemma she faces. She believes in God, but does she want to become one? She is faced with grief, and decides to embrace Neural's technology, potentially at the expense of her relationship with her daughter and the God she believes in, as well as humanity as a whole.

The story's world is tangible and interesting. Set in the near future, it's a relatable place, but technology is further advanced and uploading your brain to a network is possible. This leaves people wondering about life and its purpose. Coby the AI, who is part of the network, could be viewed as a future, enhanced version of our everyday Alexa or Siri. Here, we feel a kind of urgency to protect what we believe to be life as a human, and human consciousness.

There are many deep implications in this story, with ethical, philosophical, and theological themes. It leaves you thinking long after about what you would decide to do if given the chance to live on in digital form beyond your physical body. Would it be a lonely place without physical touch and the simple things we love about life on Earth? This book elicits a timely debate as we face the growth of AI and decide whether to embrace it or stop it in its tracks before it takes over every aspect of our lives—work, relationships, and most surprisingly for me, personally: the arts.