The Last Human: A Novel
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The Last Human: A Novel Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Zack Jordan (Author), Bahni Turpin (Narrator), Random House Audio (Publisher)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 1,776 ratings
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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.

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  1. Listening Length
    17 hours and 19 minutes
  2. Author
    Zack Jordan
  3. Narrator
    Bahni Turpin
  4. Audible release date
    March 24, 2020
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Random House Audio
  7. ASIN
    B085SVSSXY
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 17 hours and 19 minutes
Author Zack Jordan
Narrator Bahni Turpin
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date March 24, 2020
Publisher Random House Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B085SVSSXY
Best Sellers Rank #42,554 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#909 in Classic Literature
#980 in Space Opera Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#1,396 in Adventure Science Fiction

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
1,776 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

S. H.
5.0 out of 5 stars Epic, touching, and more than a little mind-bending
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2020
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This book has got to be one of my favorite reads in recent memory. I love Sarya, and Shenya (her mother)--while yes, a terrifying giant bladed spider-like alien--perfectly personifies the struggles of raising a human.

The story takes twists and turns in ways I definitely wasn't expecting. It is somehow both light and deep, and made me think about the universe, intelligence, and "coincidence" in ways I had never considered before. It made me both laugh and cry (both of which I rarely do when reading).

In summary: I loved it.
10 people found this helpful
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Maria A Perez
4.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative and brilliant writing, but I have some issues
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2023
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This is a futuristic story of a human girl born on a planet outside of our solar system colonized by humans.
The girl, Sarya, was adopted by a giant alien spider who first disembodied her parents and I think the rest of the human colony.
The story starts out with Sarya as a teenager or young woman trying to figure out who she is and her place in life as the only human on the water collection station where she lives with her alien widow spider adoptive mom. The story takes the girl on an adventure where she is motivated to find her people.
I LOVED the characters in the story and the imaginative descriptions of what a distant future might look like with a network linking all beings and designating them according to their intelligence. The story also explores the choices between free will and chaos.
Some things I didn't like:
- I found some of the changes in POV and memory flashbacks jarring. They took me out of the story, at which time I had to convince myself not to DNF.
- Perhaps I am not enough of an intellectual to find the long, philosophical musings entertaining. Also, it was hard for me to follow some of the ethereal scenes.
- Finally, I found it hard to believe that humans would be the ONLY species out of the many described to exist to rebel against the network.

All in all, I was glad to have finished reading it and would recommend to all futuristic sci fi lovers to give it a try.
2 people found this helpful
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Steve W.
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the read
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2020
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I bought this book with the explicit intention of reading casually it over about two weeks around Christmas. It didn't last the day.

The book does not simply make use of deus ex machina as a convenient way to clear up any plot holes, instead it makes it a central theme throughout the whole book and builds off of it in a rather mythological way. The pacing is almost consistently frantic, but it works for the scale of the story. Honestly, the only negative thing I have to say about it is that it's written in present tense.
One person found this helpful
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Alexb
3.0 out of 5 stars I wanted to give a four actually
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2020
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It's a very good book, and the first part is highly entertaining. However, it gets complicated near the end, and honestly the one-up show of each higher intelligence, dumbed down enough for us level 1 tiers to comprehend, made the last bit a bit boring. Still a very good book, but the last part of the book became a bit of a slog.
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Asad
5.0 out of 5 stars A really fun read
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2021
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It's a story that picks up quickly, at first you think it's a typical science fiction story but the twists start early and don't stop until the last chapter. I picked up the book thinking it would be a slow read and I couldn't put it down. The only downside is there's only one book set in this universe so when you are done with the book you have to go to imgur and read the comic.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Quite good
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2021
Verified Purchase
I purchased this on a whim, partly based on the title combined with the blurb. It was quite good, and kept my interest despite not having the usual ploys of fiction. It’s a story about the scale of the universe, stability vs. freedom, free will and learning through maturity and experience and more such abstractions, all without being tedious, preachy or too obvious. I liked it and would try more from this author.
One person found this helpful
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Tommy
5.0 out of 5 stars Best sci-fi I've read in awhile
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2022
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The combination of great character development, serious storyline, deep themes, and whimsical universe make this some of the best sci-fi I've read in awhile. It's been awhile since I found a contemporary sci-fi author who made me think deeply about our way of life while drawing me in to a story. I hope Zack goes on to be a prolific writer.
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Rick Wochoski
4.0 out of 5 stars Writers should not use cannabis
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2022
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Back in the day, in college, it was a weekly habit for a bunch of us to smoke some cannabis or drink some alcohol and let our minds roam free as to the existence of the Universe. This book is filled with that kind of thinking. And now, I’m going to contact my old dorm mates and find out which one spilled the beans.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Maggie
5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 6, 2021
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Really enjoyed this book with a teenager as the main character. Living on an orbiting water collection satellite, her peers are all connected to ‘the network’ an all encompassing communication method tying billions of galactic citizens together. Looked after by her mother, Shenya the widow, a multi-bladed hard shelled insect-like warrior, Sarya has had an interesting upbringing, in that she has an old unit to connect to the network and so is mostly cut-off from all her friends. She is also the last of her species, (Humans) the most dangerous species in the galaxy who have had to be wiped out for their violent behaviour.
The complexity of the story builds up when other characters are introduced, with Sarya finally leaving her home and embarking on a quest for the network to try and stop an adversary from destroying every species. On the way will she resolve the mystery of how she was brought up by Shenyu and what happened to her parents? How can such a tiny human accomplish such a task? Can grit, determination and sheer terror help her to accomplish her task.
I really enjoyed this read, it has plenty of sci-fi and loads of aliens.
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qwertzuiop
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun read
Reviewed in Germany on August 3, 2020
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I found the first chapter the weakest part - reads like sf for adolescents, imho. But then it gets better and better. Lots of humor but not without depth. Some reminiscence to Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett. The end of the book turned out a little bit hasty and anti-climatic.

But alltogether a great read which I devoured in two days.
2 people found this helpful
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Leather DeBoeuf
5.0 out of 5 stars Les poupées russes de l'espace
Reviewed in France on May 4, 2020
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Ce livre a des défauts. Notamment une narration souvent frustrante, elliptique, brumeuse. Et surtout un abus de monologues, parfois bien trop longs.
Mais l'histoire est tellement inventive, tellement puissante, tellement intelligente, il y a un tel "sense of wonder" dans ce livre, tellement de passages étourdissants, qu'il est très difficile de ne pas considérer ce livre comme un chef d'oeuvre qui fera date.
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michael
5.0 out of 5 stars Mindboggling in it's depth and scope
Reviewed in Australia on August 19, 2021
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Very enjoyable romp through a weird and strange universe. Divergent, humorous and tragic. Unlike anything I have read in SciFi before in 5 decades. You cannot help but bond with the leading character right from the beginning and you travel a roller coaster from chapter to chapter. Loved it :)
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Craig McGill
4.0 out of 5 stars A mix of Iain Banks, Hitchhikers, Contact and some uneven plotting.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 10, 2020
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This is a good read, starts really well, runs along at a cracking pace with some nicely defined characters and then utterly judders to a halt to do backstory. It recovers mostly and throws in some nice red herrings.

It's a good read, an enjoyable read and highly entertaining but it's a tad over-hyped. I don't regret buying it but it could have done with a trim (even if I can see what the author was trying to do. It just wasn't to my tastes.)

If you like the idea of The Culture, you'll love it.
2 people found this helpful
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