Been meaning to check out this guy for a while. Kind of mostly associate him with all the novelizations, but Foster is nothing if not productive, his body of work is genuinely ginormous and he’s been at it for considerably longer than I’ve been alive, so yeah…lots of books, mostly as mentioned novelizations and serials. I’m not interested in either, but when his latest standalone appeared on Netgalley, it was meant to be. And it was good. A sure sign of the book’s quality for me is whether it merits thought when I’m away from it (if I can’t managed my preferred one sitting reads) and this one certainly did. Took a while to get through (2 days, long sittings), the book was dense, but so well done, it was completely enjoyable, entertaining and fun. Relic refers to the last man in the universe, or so he and his minders believe him to be. Earthmen ambitiously colonized other words (from one of which he hails originally), but then orchestrated their own demise, leaving behind a lonely survivor. An intelligent alien race has adopted him sort of and has been taking care of him, sustaining his life beyond its natural bounds and studying him for decades, meeting almost every need but that of a genuine companionship of the same species. They wish to perpetuate his species (despite the implies violence with which they imploded) and they are not the only intelligent lifeforms after the same thing, their charge wishes to find another one of his kind and maybe even the world he’s never seen but instinctively longed for, Earth itself. Sounds like a quest. It is a quest. Intergalactic adventures ensue. But not the action propelled boombastic sort, more like a slow burning, character driven, world building kind. It’s quite leisurely paced, but it’s meticulously crafted, the planets and civilizations and their inhabitants and their actions and their motivations are well realized and vividly described, creating a very immersive reading experience straight down to the surprisingly happy ending or at least a very optimistic one. Even if some of the pacing may not be to your liking, you gotta admire Foster’s imagination, the aliens and their respective cultures and dialects alone are awesome. I enjoyed this book so much and would absolutely recommend it for science fiction fans. Thanks Netgalley.

Alan Dean Foster is an extraordinary writer who continues to surprise this reader after 25 years of reading his work. His imagination and research combined makes for interesting reading. I was happy to see his latest book #Relic available as an ARC on #NetGalley. What a satisfying story.

Imagine a virus that attacks only humans and every human it attacks it kills. You watch your family, your friends, your neighbors as they die from this virus. It is so lethal, it kills every human on earth and everywhere else they have colonized. There are still alien races flourishing on other planets. Earth is abandoned but not destroyed. This is what Ruslan experienced. He is the last human left, a living artifact, a relic. What happens to one who is immune to this virus?

We are taken many years into the future to read what happens to Ruslan when he is discovered by an alien race. I was hooked right from the beginning of this book. This story was a treat for my mind. I found myself wondering how can this story come to a satisfying conclusion? It was far better than anything I could have imagined. Look for this book that is scheduled for publication August 14, 2018.

As a long time fan of Mr Foster, my favorite books of his were always his stand alones, and this doesn't disappoint! Fabulous world building, intrigue and a touch of humor are his trademarks and I just loved this more than I've loved anything I've read in a LONG time! Thank you!!

Ruslan is the sole human survivor of a disease that claimed every human on every human settled planet. He is rescued by an alien race that assists him in a quest to find other survivors in exchange for his knowledge of the human species.

This was an innovative story line that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The Good:
-Meeting two interesting alien species and a few new worlds.
-New discoveries of other survivors (or maybe not), some tension between the alien races about the ownership of the human specimen.
-Fairly well paced story line (there were a few slowing paragraphs when depressed Ruslan was thinking to much, see “The Bad”).

The Bad:
- Ruslan was not described as an upbeat human being, but borderlined depressive most of the time.
- The Myssari, the alien race that rescued Ruslan, was, of course, interested in him in a scientific way. However, after having him live among them for decades one would think they quit calling him (in his presence) a “specimen” – this detachment was getting unbelievable and tiring.
- This book was filled with words that were either made up to explain an alien world, or ones the author seems to expect the average reader to know.