6 /10 1 Votes
Country United States Originally published 2014 | 3/5 Goodreads Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ISBN 978-1497476752 (2014 edition) Genre Utopian and dystopian fiction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Last Human is a dystopian novel by Ink Pieper published in 2014 which details the coming end of near present-day society. The story follows the narrator, Clay, as he struggles for his own survival and traverses the United States as it collapses around him
Contents
Writing and development
The Last Human developed out of a series of ideas Pieper had due to the Existentialism and Ancient Greek courses he was taking in college. However, the main influence came from the film ""V For Vendetta"". The first chapter was turned in as a short story for his Existentialism class.
Themes
The story presents a highly realistic view of the near future and is told in a way where it feels like you know the narrator on a personal level. The book deals heavily with philosophical concepts, primarily those of freedom, empathy, morality, and power. These themes are prevalent throughout the story as choices have to be made, freedom must be chased and death must be thwarted as unchecked power devours the world.
Predictions for the future
The most frightening aspect of the story is that it is very relevant to today's world and the things occurring in it. Many of the horrible things that the story presents are currently happening in the world today. Examples include droughts, Russia and the United States playing games with Central Asia, flooding, and the rise of terrorism and biological warfare. One reviewer described it as "a horrific representation of what our reality may actually look like."