Nicole Wagner's Reviews > The Last Human: A Novel

A very wholesome younger middle grade dystopian novel in which robots have gained true AI, taken over and eliminated humanity from the surface of the world.

...or so THEY think! One twelve year old girl is discovered by a worker drone robot (who is also twelve...cute, right?) and proves to be less of an evil entity than the daily robot propaganda has led it to believe. Robot and human gain rapport, human is on a perilous mission, robot breaks robot protocol to help human.

Sweet themes of overcoming biases toward others, appreciating friendships, and maintaining courage when resisting unjust authority make this a really heartwarming story.

Binary is used as a fun literary device here, and I imagine quite a few kids will end up finding themselves with an interest in it. Cool! Still, I think more precocious, less sentimental kids may lose patience at just how boyish and twee are the thoughts of the robot protagonist. There's nothing robotic in this novel, ultimately.

I received a free advance copy of this from the publisher, which I appreciate, and there's a badge on the cover saying that this will be made into a motion picture. I imagine if done the right way it'll be a delight. Iron Giant and Wall-E come to mind.