Book Review
Title: Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel (Themis Files Book 3)
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 5 Stars
The opening to Only Human was really interesting with many things going on, it seems that America got the robot that Rose damaged to work again and they have been slowly taking over as many countries as they can as well as disbanding the EDC and the UN to prevent them being stopped. Meanwhile, Rose, Vincent, Eva and the General have been on Esat Ekt, the planet of the Ekt people and after nearly nine years they convince Ekim to help them get back to Earth. Their plan works and drops them int he middle of the Russian Federation where they are rescued and learn of what America has been doing and the new Russia is the only thing standing between them. Shortly after arriving on Earth, Ekim gets sick and they have no idea how to help him and Katherine begins briefing Rose and Vincent on what has happened while they were away and it seems this is going to spark another war but this time between humans. Neuvel’s opening was amazing but I am hoping to learn more about their time on the alien planet and how they interpreted there for nine years before coming home. We do have a little information like the General died there of natural causes and after arriving they were stuck inside Themis for several days since no one seemed aware that they were there.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, it seems that Earth has gone to hell and there is nothing they can do about short of piloting Themis for the Russians but they have no desire to be involved in another war so soon. Rose is of the opinion they should have just stayed where they were and despite Vincent wanting to give Eva a normal life I think she sees Ekim’s home as her home and he’s the only one she is concerned about right now. Through the journal entries we learn that Rose was in love with Esat Ekt from the moment they saw it properly while the Eugene was suspicious and Vincent just wanted to get his daughter home. Being the first humans to set foot on another planet is an amazing thing for Rose especially when she understands there is far less alien in her than in the others which Katherine echoes labelled Eva as an A5, someone with a lot of alien DNA, Vincent is an A4 and Katherine herself is an A1, the least alien apart from pure humans. Esat Ekt is remarkably similar to Earth although everything is just slightly different and it reduces the four to children again having to discover everything for the first time and learn how to do basic task like shower and cook for themselves all over again but this time there is no guiding hand like there was in the majority of the first two books, they are well and truly on their own. The relationship between Eva and Ekim is also very interesting and I hope we get to see more of that as the novel progresses.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, we learn more about Esat Ekt and how Eva came to truly feel at home there working and becoming part of the society but she and Vincent see the problems in the system which Rose doesn’t. Rose thinks it’s wonderful and fantastic but Vincent and Eva especially understand that the Ekt people when they adopted their policy of non-interference basically kicked everyone that wasn’t Ekt off their planet but they didn’t account for the many half-Ekt that basically have no place in their society and don’t have any say in it. Eva believes that the Council needs to change for harmony to be brought to their society but including those with Ekt blood as a true part of society rather than something shoved to the side-lines because they don’t know what to do with them. Back on Earth, Ekim has died and Eva has escaped the facility leaving a letter behind for Vincent. In it she explains to him that Esat Ekt was her home not Earth and there are only bad memories here, she is now taking her life into her own hands and wherever she ends up it will be her choice but if she did have true choice she wouldn’t have left in the first place. This is going to be a huge blow to Vincent much like Kara’s death as he is going to feel like he failed Eva and in a way he has because he couldn’t get past what he wanted disguising it as what was best for his daughter when he never truly consulted her in the matter at all but she is an adult now at 19.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, the US is aware that Themis is back as well as the people that disappeared with her and they are prepared to declare war on the Russian Federation to get them back but this is where the group fractures entirely. It actually started before they left Esat Ekt when Eugene got cancer, the Ekt refuses to heal him due to their policy of not interfering even though Rose disagreed with this and asked them to heal him because it was part Ekt like Vincent and Eva. However, Eugene is happy to die if he can’t go back to Earth and tells Vincent that Eva is spending a lot of time with the Ekim who is training in the military and she shows an aptitude for combat and that he needs to get her home before they begin using her. In Russia, Rose willingly goes back to the US to try and understand where the science is now since the broken robot that they are now using shouldn’t work by everything she knows and there are things she wants to discuss with Alyssa although getting close to her is going to be a challenge. Eva escaped thanks to Mr. Burns only to end up in an internment camps with the others who have large amount of alien DNA and she is appalled by the treatment these people are receiving and knows that the humans reacted in completely the wrong way to the attack and they are doing more harm than good. Vincent is staying in Russia because they are helping to track down Eva and hopefully bring her back alive and in return he is training someone to pilot Themis with him to protect Russia from the Americans since he isn’t American himself. It honestly seems that the peace they fought so hard for in the first two books is truly gone and there might not be anyway to bring it back without wiping out the human race and starting over just like they thought the aliens were going to do before they knew better.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, things are going very poorly on Earth since our heroes from the previous books all have different ideas on how to save what remains of their race and their humanity. Eva now she has been rescued/captured by the Americans is agreeing to work with them since it is better than being stuck in a camp or lab to be experimented on and then killed when they feel she isn’t needed anymore. Vincent is staying in Russia because he feels it balances the scales between Russia and American since both have a functional robot and his co-pilot, Alexander understand how dangerous Themis is and the war that could come if things really come to blows. Rose meanwhile has turned down research opportunities and tried appealing to Alyssa conscious although I personally don’t think she has one especially after she denies Rose’s request and bars her from the facility since she doesn’t want a job there. No matter how many times that Rose explains that the Ekt aren’t coming back anytime soon no one wants to listen to her. She seems to be the only one that truly understands that they have to fix this mess on Earth before looking to fight elsewhere but she is blind to the fact things like this have happened throughout history just on a smaller scale and that is never going to change because it is human nature and that isn’t something that can be changed overnight even when aliens invade your planet and wipe out millions.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Alyssa does come through on Rose’s request and gets arrested for it herself but Mr. Burns is free and Rose has a realisation that the human race are babies compared to the Ekt and they need to be supervised in order to set things right. I have a feeling she is going to contact the Ekt to convince them to come back and babysit them so everything can be set right. However, Vincent piloting Themis and Eva piloting the American robot are facing off and he explains that she was made the poster child of the rebellion on Esat Ekt and he brought her back to Earth and got Ekim killed to protect her from all that forgetting it might have been her choice to part of that rebellion the same way it was his choice to pilot Themis and fight against the Ekt. Now there is going to be fight between father and daughter and it is heart-breaking especially after Kara died bringing together and Vincent has never wanted anything more than a normal life for Eva but he forgets her life was never normal form the moment she was born. It seems just like in Waking Gods that everything is going to hell again and I don’t know if they will be able to prevent the destruction of the human race a second time even if it is their own hands that deal the final blow.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, we see Rose put together a plan that could potentially right all the wrong of the human race and along with their two robots there are sending nearly two thousand people to Esat Ekt that are the closest to them including Mr. Burns to show there will be no more interference from either side until the human race is ready to handle it. One of the Ekt reads a statement that Rose wrote naming her the Ekt ambassador that to remind them that the Ekt will be checking in from time to time even though they won’t in reality it is just the threat of that potential violence that the humans need to keep them on track. Seeing the after was full of good and bad, good because Rose, Vincent and Eva get to continue living their lives even though it was without many of the people they loved but bad because there are still some like Alyssa and Katherine to push a more violent agenda that no one wants right now. While this is the last book in the series it feels a little open ended like there could be another war or fight in the future and knowing humans there probably will be. Neuvel crafted a unique and realistic cast of characters that I came to love Vincent especially, he was my favourite from beginning to end and he matured and changed so much along the way. I honestly can’t wait to read his new trilogy if it is anything like this one. If you haven’t read the Themis Files yet I highly recommend it especially the audiobooks since the author himself is reading them, if I had to guess I’d want to imagine that he reads Vincent’s parts. A stunning conclusion to a stunning trilogy.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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