This was not exactly my comfort zone when it comes to sci fi, and for that I think it was more of a reader problem than a book problem. I would try this author again.

I selected the wrong title when I submitted a review for another book.

I still need to read and review this book. I apologize for this error.

The plot started fun, but kind of fell apart for the second half. The first half was very action heavy but shifted to more philosophical musing on the universe for the second half. The characters wanted to sound deep but really weren’t, and it made that half and the final resolution just feel slow and often obvious.

Also, the use of flashback for much of the character development between Sarya and Shenya the Widow meant that there was a one sided adjustment of the past relationship instead of having to actually deal with the truth in the relationship itself. All and all, the action puttered out fairly quickly, and I wish, especially considering the conclusion, that more time was spent on relationship development. The entire world ended up feeling incomplete.

The Last Human by Zach Jordan is a space opera type story with a focus on a singular character and her 'adventures.' Like other reviewers, I felt the pacing was off and it was difficult to stay engaged. I think what was particularly challenging for me was that being the last human sounds like a really emotional situation, and that aspect was not woven well into the story.

The Last Human by Zack Jordan is a science fiction fantasy or space opera. This one is set in the distant future and being someone who usually enjoys space scifi stories I was excited to read it but unfortunately that excitement didn’t last long.

Sarya is the last of the human race as human were long ago considered dangerous and evil beings by all of the other races and slowly eradicated. Sarya has been living with her adoptive mother hiding somewhat in plain sight from all the other alien species. However, one day as Sarya is planning her future she is found out and sent on the run to survive.

The first thing I found with The Last Human by Zack Jordan was it fell on the overly wordy and slow pace side which is a huge turn off for me. Just as I was getting to know the main character and plot I found myself already losing interest. The story was one that felt mostly original as it went on although I did see glimpses of popular tropes buried within. Overall though this one just wasn’t for me as I had to keep pushing myself to finish it when I was reading.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

Sadly, this book wasn't for me. It never really managed to grab my attention and I was bored and confused as to what was the plot, leaving me confused and not enjoying the experience.

The last human follows a young human called Sarya who was raised by "the widow", one of the many aliens present in this world. Sarya believes to be the last human and she tries to hide her species by pretending to be someone else until she gets caught.

Overall, I didn't like this book. I felt like there wasn't a plot and that it never went anywhere. Utlimately, I felt like I was wasting my time on a book I didn't connect with.

(Thank you for letting me read and review an arc via Netgalley)

Half Full or Half Empty?

This book is blurbed as space opera. "Space opera" usually brings to mind blasters, narrow escapes, spaceships, romance, exotic locales, aliens, maybe palace intrigue, and, if you're lucky, lots of wisecracks. In other words it can be anything you want it to be. Well, this book is on the little bit of everything side of the scale. And it's all fresh, imaginative, and entertaining, except when it isn't. This is one of those first half/second half books that shifts gears half way through. Almost everyone will really enjoy the first half; the second half is a toss-up that depends on how much philosophy, (free will, social contract, chaos v. conformity, why is humanity so darn exceptional), you're willing to soldier through.

Our heroine Sarya is pretty confused. She's the last "human", but she's disguised with a phony registration as a different species because apparently humans are extinct and everyone hated and feared them. Why? Well you have to figure that out as the book progresses, but right from the getgo the author drops loads of clues, hints, foreshadowing, and sneaky asides. In fact the entire book is mostly the hero journey by which Sarya figures out who she is, what's going on, and where the fits in. Sort of a humanity coming-of-age tale on a cosmic scale. (Actually the first half is Sarya and the second half is humanity-writ-large, which is where the divide comes in.)

That's the gist of the plot, but of course that can be written any way you want. In the beginning everything is just a bit twisted and quirky, and played for a few more laughs than expected. We start out with the fact that Sarya is raised as an orphan by a foster Mom. Fair enough. But Mom is a Widow - a spider shaped, psychotic, killing machine covered with razor sharp blades and a berserker approach to every issue. This is a hilarious take on Mother/Daughter conflict, but the author manages to sell it as funny, suspenseful, and touching - sometimes all at once. That's exactly what I mean about the first part of this book being twisted in the best ways.

And so it goes. Everybody is obsessed with everyone's level of intelligence; in a "you have to be this tall to be a citizen" sort of way. Sarya spends lots of time with sub-intelligences and is like the horse whisperer of lower intelligence AI's. The author puts great humor, kindness, and humanity into Sarya's interactions with such constructs/beings, and that becomes a powerful distinctive element of the tale.

Also, at least early on, every other single character is unpredictable, violence prone, and funny. Sometimes it feels like the entire book is built from deadpan banter, (when it isn't built on Sarya's repetitive teen angst), and lots of times it feels like you're in the Star Wars Cantina scene, if that had been written well. The problem, of course, is that with the second half of the book we switch into philosophical heavy lifting, and whether we're talking to Thomas Hobbes, a three-headed slime mold, or a hive-mind, I'm not sure this is where I want or need to be.

Bottom line? Whether you love the opera or not, this book has suspense, thrills, great humor, imaginative tech, intriguing world building, and an underlying current of human goodness. Even if you end up read/skimming the final half the first half is a winner.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I wasn't able to read the book but will be featuring in a series called "I Wish I'd Read That." Text below:

I’m a HUGE fan of space operas and it sounds like The Last Human fits squarely within this always entertaining sub-genre. I requested the book because it sounds hilarious, presenting a protagonist whose monstrosity is underwhelming amidst what I assume is hundreds of other more terrifying species. The summary reads like a classic space opera, complete with humor, accidents, and the potential for all out war due to a misunderstanding. I’d love to hear what you all think of this one, and I hope I can fit it into my reading schedule in the near future. Read more about the author and book below, or purchase a copy for yourself. And of course, a big thank you to Del Rey for the free review copy!

The Last Human is a very futuristic sci-fi novel revolving around the last human in the universe.

This novel was quite a bit longer than I feel was necessary, seeming to focus more on word count than on substance. I haven't been able to focus on reading much lately, which may have a lot to do with my brain feeling so overwhelmed by so many words and not enough succinct action. It was just a "meh" book for me.

While the premise of this book was very intriguing, I just found it a bit hard to follow. I really feel like Sarya was very interesting as a main character, and the world that Jordan has built for us is incredible. However, there were several points where I just found the story line to be slightly confusing and hard to follow. I’m definitely intrigued to see what this author will write in the future just based on what he’s done here.

I'm surprised how much I liked this book.
An excellent look at human nature, though I don't know if I agree with everyone's motivations.
Fun, different, and a mother willing to kill and die for her kid is always entertaining.

**I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Not exactly sure what I was thinking by requesting this title - not exactly my typical genre so I'm just going with a neutral rating.

This novel had me in the first half and then lost me. I loved the beginning and the setup and the potential was there. The summary was bomb: Sarya, a young human, is being raised by her adopted mother, a giant black widow spider-like alien thing. Sarya has to keep her identity a secret because she is the last human in a universe where humans are considered to be space's most dangerous species.

I immediately fell in like with Sarya and was enthralled with her scary mom. The social status based on tiered intelligence levels was interesting and so were all the species and machines.

The book started action-packed and interesting. But then started to fall flat. I loved discovering Saray's story. The action and trauma of how she was found and how she was made through memories and discovery. But the book soon begins to fall flat in a way that moved it from my read pile to the top of my did not finish pile.

New characters were messily introduced and just became confusing and disinteresting. I wanted to love the new character introduction but the heart of the book was compromised beyond repair for me.

Published by Del Rey on March 24, 2020

The Last Human tries to fit together a story of computer networks that interface with minds and a story of an organization of alien races that gives order to the galaxy. In a typical mind-network interface story, the minds are human, but in this one, only one human is known to exist. In most organization of species stories, humans are a significant part of the organization. In this one, the organization is more of a hierarchy, ranking species from smartest to dimmest. Humans would apparently be in the dim category if there were enough humans to count as part of the hierarchy. But humans have two qualities that set them apart — violence and selfishness.

For reasons that are eventually made clear (although not entirely clear), humans have disappeared from the future that is the novel’s setting. Countless other intelligent species inhabit the galaxy. More than a million of those have joined the Network, an association that allows member races to benefit from shared knowledge, but at the cost of obedience to certain rules. Humans, as we all know, are not good at obedience. Some will follow authoritarians but others reject authority on principle. Even when rules make sense — like wearing maks in a pandemic — a considerable number of humans will do as they please. Even if humans were still around, they would not be suited for the Network because following rules is not their best talent. The Network apparently learned this the hard way, although the details are again unclear.

Sarya the Daughter is a human who, for unconvincing reasons, is raised by Shenya the Widow, a member of a race whose children typically hatch and immediately battle each other to the death. Sarya is unhappy not to have a network implant — she uses an external device for connectivity — a fact that handicaps her almost as much as her Tier 1.8 intelligence. Sarya is also handicapped by being a human (everyone hates humans for reasons that are eventually revealed) although nobody recognizes her as one because nobody has ever seen a human. The only entity on Watertower Station that seems to know Sarya is human, apart from her mother, is a multi-bodied alien with hive intelligence called Observer.

The orbital Watertower Station is home to Shenya, Sarya, and 24,000 other entities from a multitude of species that have joined the Network. The Network invites species to join when they evolve sufficient (Tier 1.8) intelligence. Species with less intelligence are protected without being networked, although they sometimes provide useful services. The Network provides a common language and shared information that protects against disease, war, famine, “and other such inconveniences.”

It the Network a good thing? Order has value, but Observer views the Network as trading freedom for order. During the course of the novel, Sarya waffles between viewing the Network as good and viewing it as evil. Where she will come to rest in the end is the question that drives the plot after it is finally set in motion.

What does it mean to be human? Many believe that to be human is to be free, to make the choices that suit us. Humans believe that’s a good thing, but since humans often make harmful choices, nonhumans might disagree. The human tendency to choose conquest, to take what they want, to care about themselves and dislike anyone or anything different, makes humanity a species that doesn't play well with others. When Sarya journeys to something she perceives as a planet, she experiences being human on a primal level: walking on grass, breathing unrecycled air, seeing the sky instead of a ceiling, eating meat instead of bland but nutritious food bars, getting buzzed on alcohol, listening and dancing to music (which few Network species define as art).

It takes the plot some time to set up. Circumstances eventually take Sarya on a journey of discovery, which initially involves finding the surviving members of the human race and then forces her to decide whether she should kill them all.

How Sarya acquires and wields the vast power at her disposal near the novel’s end (can she really hold the universe in the palm of her hand?) is unclear, at least to me. In fact, I found it difficult to wrap my head around key plot points. I set aside confusion during much of the novel with the expectation that it would all be clarified at the end. Some things were made clear, some weren’t, and I was still mildly confused by the last page.

Maybe the confusion is my fault. With so many crises brewing in the world, I find myself easily distracted unless a book is particularly gripping. I wouldn’t put The Last Human in that category. There are times when the story zips along and times when it meanders, seemingly searching for a way to recover the plot. The novel has the sense of “I’m making this up as I go along.” Sometimes that works, but sometimes it’s helpful to start out with a map. The Last Human makes some detours that left me lost.

Was Zack Jordan trying to write a comedy or a serious story into which some laughs were injected? Again, I’m not sure that an overall vision existed for this book before it came into being. Chapters that present the Network as a user’s manual are clearly meant to be funny (and some of them are), but the story’s tone suddenly changes, without transition, from whimsical and silly to dark and apocalyptic.

This is Jordan’s first novel. His ambition may have exceeded his ability to deliver. Yet the characters of Sarya and Shenya are engaging, the background is interesting, and the book shows promise, even if it doesn’t fully succeed.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Well written and unique storytelling. Not my typical genre but I’m trying to broaden my literary horizons and this was a goos choice for that.

The Last Human is a futuristic sci-fi featuring Sarya, the last Human in the universe, and the adoptive daughter of a dangerous, aggressive, quick to destroy, Shenya the Widow, a giant beetle-ish creature. Sarya has been living under a false identity ever since she was found by Shenya but their luck has run out, as she has been discovered by a bounty hunter. All hell breaks out when Shenya puts an end to the bounty hunter's quest, and Sarya is on the run, with the help of a cast of characters that may or may not want to help her. My favorite character is Eleven, a sentient bodysuit, but I also enjoyed the arguing of a couple of her other mates. 

The book is clever, though too wordy, and at some point, pretty much lost me. I enjoyed the first part of the book and thought I was going to be there for the entire ride but at a certain point, my brain started taking vacations, especially during the philosophizing where things got too deep and boring for me to continue to make heads or tails of what was going on in the story. I did finish the story because I wanted to know Sarya's fate, but it was a long, long, journey to the end, for me.  

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC.

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC on this. I really think that I like my space operas to be visual experiences. I keep thinking I am going to love books that are space operas because I love movies and comics that are. This really dragged. I wanted to care, but I just couldn’t engage. There seemed to be a lot of secrets for the sake of secrets going on. That gets old. I am glad other people enjoy it.

This was interesting. I've never read something like this. I don't usually read this kind of books, but I liked. It's not the best book I've read, but I would read another book by this book. It was different, innovative and weird. And I like weird.

The story follows Sarya, the last human in the universe, as she navigates her life and her place in society. She goes on quite a few wild adventures, meets an varied cast of characters, and discovers a lot about herself. So your basic coming of age story, with a SciFi twist.

Sadly, I felt the book suffered from a serious case of overreaching. There were too many suppositions, too many convenient plot devices, and not enough connections between reader and main character. While and interesting and worthwhile premise, Last Human fell flat for me in quite a few areas, and didn’t live up to the standards of sci-fi it was proposed to stand alongside.

3 stars for interest and uniqueness.

Thanks to NetGalley, Zach Jordan, and Del Rey for a galley of this novel in exchange for an honest review.