Sylvain Neuvel is an engaging and atypical writer. Like the rest of the series, Only Human is told entirely in transcripts of conversations, interviews and news reports, and Neuvel handles this challenging storytelling medium extremely well. The story he tells is interesting and compelling, in large part due to the complexity of the supporting cast ... The familiarity of that plot at times makes Only Human the literary equivalent of a cover band of a cover band composed of better musicians than the groups they mimic ... Its plot may cover previously trodden ground, but its narrative technique and character depth make it worth the reader’s time.
While not flawless—some major characters, such as the Russian intelligence agent Katherine Lebedev, come across as unrealistic, and the worldbuilding on the alien planet could have been much stronger—this is an utterly readable story powered by nonstop action and, more importantly, thought-provoking social commentary ... Two (giant, robotic) thumbs up!
...[an] exciting conclusion to Neuvel’s Themis Files ... This action-packed tale with apocalyptic stakes is a fitting finale to this wonderfully cinematic series.
Katherine is a grating addition to the core cast of Neuvel’s novels, but given her role in the whole, I gave her irritating characterisation the benefit of the doubt in the beginning. Unfortunately, she might be the most memorable thing about Only Human ... [The other characters], for their part, spend the vast majority of Only Human waiting, exasperatingly passively, for something to happen, and as readers, we do too ... It’s a case of too little, too late when the plot eventually picks up the pace, though I will say that the last act is positively action-packed ... the state of the world is resolved, albeit rather cheaply; and there’s a momentarily impactful sacrifice—undermined, admittedly, by a last-minute twist that robs Only Human of what little emotional weight it wields.
Boasting a winning combination of briskly paced action and futuristic dystopia tempered by cautious optimism, Only Human brings a fitting, satisfying end to the Themis Files series ... But what’s truly interesting is the new perspective we get of the Ekt and their (mostly) peaceful approach of non-interference ... Neuvel’s trilogy closer challenges us to consider the vast gulf between between being a human and being a humanist.
