Only Human

By: Sylvain Neuvel

Narrated by: William Hope, Charlie Anson, Laurence Bouvard, Adna Sablylich, full cast

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

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 10 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?

Read by William Hope, Charlie Anson, Laurence Bouvard, Adna Sablylich, Laura Kirman, Aaron Vodovoz, Julie Rogers, Christopher Ragland, Patricia Rodrigues, Jennifer Woodward, Karina Fernandez, Eric Meyers, Madeleine Rose, Lance C. Fuller, and the author, Sylvain Neuvel.

"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)

©2018 Sylvain Neuvel (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic 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 [Sylvian] Neuvel's ever-so-satisfying conclusion to his rip-roaring science-fiction adventure tale." (Booklist)

Only Human

Loved this third installment of the series. looking forward to reading the next book of the series! Well read by characters. Good story line. I got a real kick out of Mr. Burns!

Changes confusing and disconcerting...

Good action, finally! But it's not "Lapetus", it's "Iapetus", with a capital "I"! Dumb mistake.

Not bad, but definitely the worst of the trilogy

First off, I’m not a native English speaker, so I wasn’t really bothered by Eva’s new accent. That being said, listening to the aliens was hideous.

The story feels a bit short. Is fails to deliver a great interplanetary adventure, or even a real adventure in Themis’ planet. The action on earth isn’t something either. To me it felt like the book was written on a rush.

It is not bad, but it is far from being good. I think the story deserved a more elaborate closure.

Different Readers...

I wish they had kept the same cast as the previous two books. Some characters remained the same, but Eva and Rose were different and their characters seemed different as a result. I did enjoy Mr. Burns and Vincent and the story itself was a lot of fun! Great Sci-Fi fun! I enjoyed the fact that the “aliens” were not what you’d initially expect. Fun new take on life outside our planet. I enjoyed the Themis files thoroughly! I listened to the whole series in just a couple of weeks!

A fitting end but not quite there.

I loved the series overall. As a stand alone this one wasn't great but it did do well as an ending and filling in the worlds.

great story, satisfying conclusion

I loved the story, great ending. The actor voicing Eva was terrible, horrible stereotypical accent.

Eva took me out of the story

they changed the voice actress so drastically for Eva from book 2 to book 3 that though her performance was good her accent made me hate her. From the lovely Spanish accent in book 2 to a strange Harley Quinn sounding accent in book 3. I understand 9 years pass from 2 to 3 but that accent makes no sense and everytime she spoke it took me out of the story.

Meh

As with this entire series the voice cast was phenomenal. The new voice actress for Eva I felt was better and at least sounded age-appropriate. This full cast was largely the reason I picked up the final book in a series.
My issues with this book though fall mainly in the story. The whole choppy jumping between timelines just didn't work for me. It had disastrous results on how the character of Eva's portrayed. It made the whole ark feel like riding a roller coaster going backwards.
I wouldn't say this was a bad time but it is by far the weakest of the trilogy.

Narration almost ruined it

The narration on the first two were fine but this one had a scene where Vincent was fighting his daughter and the narrators' fake screams and renditions of their emotional exchanges were cringy. I stopped listening months ago because of that scene and only just finished now. The rest of the book is good, first half is best.

character voice change awful

I agree with all the reviews the weird change in Eva's voice is awful. How does a Puerto Rican girl end up with a vague New England accent. They should re-record it like when James Marsters re-recorded Ghost Story.