Only Human: Themis Files Book 3 Paperback – 1 May 2018

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?

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series. The third book has been great fun, and certainly needed, however, for some reason, I find it less memorable than the first two. It was the most epic one in the series, however, I feel it dragged a little in the middle.

A massive disappointment. I raced through the first two, @nd could only get 3/4 through this one before giving up.Why?- old characters have completely different personalities (and not for the better) and new ones are boring and unlikeable- pacing slows to a crawl- as others have said, focus is far more political, and loses all magic of the first- all the drama is people emotionally shouting at each other, and Sylvain can't write that well. All the intrigue and intellect is gone:(

It was always going to be difficult to close this trilogy, and I must admit, the book is a little heavy on the dialogue... perhaps a little light on the suspense. But I enjoyed it, particularly the final few yokits chapters.