The Last Human
A Novel
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- 9,99 €
Description de l’éditeur
The last human in the universe must battle unfathomable alien intelligences—and confront the truth about humanity—in this ambitious, galaxy-spanning debut
“A good old-fashioned space opera in a thoroughly fresh package.”—Andy Weir, author of The Martian
“Big ideas and believable science amid a roller-coaster ride of aliens, AI, superintelligence, and the future of humanity.”—Dennis E. Taylor, author of We Are Legion
Most days, Sarya doesn’t feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Most days, she’s got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn’t casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again.
And most days, she can almost accept that she’ll never know the truth—that she’ll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist. Or whether she really is—impossibly—the lone survivor of a species destroyed a millennium ago. That is, until an encounter with a bounty hunter and a miles-long kinetic projectile leaves her life and her perspective shattered.
Thrown into the universe at the helm of a stolen ship—with the dubious assistance of a rebellious spacesuit, an android death enthusiast on his sixtieth lifetime, and a ball of fluff with an IQ in the thousands—Sarya begins to uncover an impossible truth. What if humanity’s death and her own existence are simply two moves in a demented cosmic game, one played out by vast alien intellects? Stranger still, what if these mad gods are offering Sarya a seat at their table—and a second chance for humanity?
The Last Human is a sneakily brilliant, gleefully oddball space-opera debut—a masterful play on perspective, intelligence, and free will, wrapped in a rollicking journey through a strange and crowded galaxy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jodan's rollicking debut starts slowly but then quickly builds toward mind-boggling revelations about order, chaos, and the vastness of the universe. Sarya, the last of the human species, is a moody teenager with no idea why she exists when the rest of humanity was destroyed centuries ago, kept alive by her adoptive mother, Shenya the Widow, a fearsome arachnoid alien who has concealed Sarya's true identity to protect her from the fear and hatred of a galaxy that remembers little about human beings. When a school field trip goes horribly wrong, Shenya sacrifices herself so that Sarya can escape a doomed space station. Sarya sets off in search of answers, seeking an entity called Observer, who claims to know her origin story. The pace lulls a bit as Sarya recovers Shenya's memories over the course of her journey, but picks up again once she arrives at Blackstar, the hub of the galactic hive mind. Throughout, Jordan plays with the concept of choice, leaving both Sarya and the reader questioning whether the decisions she makes are truly her own or whether some other entity is pulling the strings. Jordan's deeply considered treatment of various levels of extraterrestrial intelligence will put readers in mind of the work of Neal Asher and appeal to fans of big-idea science fiction.