Only Human (The Themis Files)

I enjoyed the first two books. Some very cool ideas and concepts with some cheesy dialogue, but definitely enjoyable reads. This last one was so disappointing. It was cheap and seemed rushed to make a buck or close out the trilogy while there was still interest. Absolutely nothing new conceptually. There was no science fiction discussion on how/why the aliens were so advanced and their factious squabbling (to parallel our world I guess?) was awful. Where he could have made them interesting, he made them into caricatures of elite human stereotypes. The story is a preteen story of daughter hates dad, they fight and make up while tying in the time-honored, overly-written about story of elitiscm/fascism/rascism in a world of fear. Hmmm. I skimmed 50% of the book because it was that bad. I’m a little mad I spent $15 on this. I’m not trying to slam the author because he gave me two enjoyable reads, but from my perspective, save your money. This one is inexplicably that bad.

It was tough to finish this book. It bounced around from hard sci fi to philosophy to being a treatise against the Trump Administration (which I can get onboard with just not in a fiction book). The first book in the series was good, the second ok, and this one terrible and it totally ruins the series.

[SPOILERS] This is the third and final volume in the Themis series about a giant alien robot left on Earth. The first volume, Sleeping Giants, covered the discovery of the robot and human attempts to operate it. The robot requires both a pilot and gunnery officer -- the Jaegers from the Pacific Rim movie seem similar. But not just any operator will do; they have to have a specific heredity.What could be better than a giant robot? Why a second giant robot which suddenly appears and destroys a good portion of the populace (ala The Day The Earth Stood Still) before duking it out with the original. This is the story line of the second volume, Waking Gods.Not content with only a pair of robots? How about a couple thousand of these saviors from on high? That forms the basis of Only Human, the final volume.I had issues with the format of these stories. There is no third person omniscient viewpoint as with most novels-- an occasional on-the-scene news report is the closest thing. Instead, the story unfolds through a series of "interviews" and event logs or reports. Midway through the first novel these interviews became tedious. By the third volume they were positively annoying. Often it was difficult to determine even who was speaking.As for content, there is one theme prevalent throughout the series but especially in the finale: humans are bad; we can't be trusted; we do terrible things to each other. While that may be true, the portrayal here was very heavy handed and repetitious. So how do we save ourselves from being ourselves? Cue the aforementioned two thousand robots, literal dei ex machinis, to impose peace and harmony. Even in the time of Aristotle this type of plot resolution was considered trite and unconvincing. Transporting it to the twenty-first century and calling it science fiction doesn't change that assessment one bit.There's the essence of a good plot in the series -- that's what kept me reading until the end -- but it could have been so much more. The scene shifts to the aliens' planet several times, but the aliens are downright boring. Their motivations are nebulous, and they can't be convinced to *do* anything (Congress, anyone?). The author (a linguist) seems to use these episodes more as an excuse to display his invented alien language than to enhance the plot.All in all this is not a bad series but not a great one either. Some judicious skimming over the sermonizing is advisable.

Of the three books in this trilogy, the first (Sleeping Giants) was the best and the second not quite as good and this was not an adequate conclusion. I want to commend the author for his ingenuity in this trilogy, beginning with evidence of extra-terrestrial visitation to our planet earth. The first book began with everything being notes of meetings or even private diaries. It worked in the first and the second books, but in this volume there was, and needed to be, lots of plain old dialogue between characters. So, the construct for the story just didn't work as well in this concluding volume.There was too much teenage angst on the part of one character and finally a denouement that really didn't solve anything. We humans will apparently always be children who have to be rescued from the worst part of our nature. I was expecting more. But, then, it was foreshadowed in the second novel and I didn't see it coming.

What a great ending to what has been a most enjoyable trilogy. I’m going to be especially vague in this review as I don’t want to spoil anything in this novel or in the previous two – the Themis Files takes you on a journey spanning decades and planets! My one piece of advice: read the trilogy in order, it’s a continuous story, and you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you read them out of order.One of the really good things about this novel is the character development. When we first met Eva in book two, I wasn’t a huge fan, by the end of this novel she was my favourite character, she filled the space of a character that was sorely missed in this instalment, and through Eva, a little bit of this character lived on. Once you read the trilogy, that’ll make perfect sense, but I don’t even want to stand on the edge of spoilers, because there’s so many emotional moments between the characters surrounding Eva, and I want you to discover them all for yourself – genuine heartfelt moments of affection and humour.Not only do you get to see great character development, but you see plot development too, which is important, Neuvel doesn’t rely on the readers love of the characters to drive this novel forward, instead he plotted an adventure you’re eager to undertake.“If you see something wrong with the world, fix it. But what if it’s the whole world that needs fixing?”In this novel, we get to see life on an alien planet, and while UK politics may make you want to tear your hair out as you weep for the stupidity of some politicians, politics on an alien planet, on the other hand, is a joy to read about, and so interesting!As I’m sure I’ve mentioned in my reviews for the previous two books in this trilogy, it’s fantastic to see women in skilled, and powerful, professions; whether these females are on the side of good or not, they are strong characters who evoke a reaction in the reader.Again, the formatting is the same as in the previous two books, this novel is a series of interviews, journal articles, missions logs and so on. For the story told, this is the perfect format, it builds suspense and allows you to fly through the pages because you keep ‘squeezing in’ one more chapter, and before you know it, you’re finished the book! But what an amazing journey this book, and trilogy, takes you on, I highly recommend it!So, where does Only Human rank in this trilogy? Well, it’s right up there with my love of book one, Sleeping Giants; in fact, I think I enjoyed it that little bit more because having gotten to know the characters over the course of the trilogy made me all the more invested in their fates.

Having loved Sleeping Giants and thoroughly enjoyed Waking Gods but felt the final part of this interesting trilogy was just okay. Totally get the message about the self destructive nature of mankind however it felt a bit flat in Only Human. I suspect we haven't heard the end of this saga and can only hope that Sylvain Neuvel comes back with a book four.Ray Smillie

Very disappointing . Generally boring with no cliff hangers or any exciting passages. I quite enjoyed the first of the trilogy but sadly the story has gone steeply downhill thereafter; as if the author wrote the sequels in between holes on a golf course. Waste of money, sorry.

Poor in comparison to the other 2 books in the series characters that are new partially the Russian are actually stupid and annoying little effort was put Into them . Felt like a book the writer wanted to get out the way that they were done with this series but had to get it done

Call me a Themisphile. This triology is brilliant; written in a unique style that gives the story pace. Only Human shows the frailties of the human race, our cruel prejudices and how humanity can be found in the smallest acts. This instalment takes us to far away worlds and back to Earth with a bang. What would you do if the fate of humanity was in your hands?