The Last Human by Lee Bacon
Science Fiction, Adventure
ages - 9-12
grade 4-7
269 pages, hardcover
c. 2019
The Last
Human is about a
robot civilization thirty years after the last humans have been exterminated. Therefore,
robot XR_935 is so surprised when he encounters 12-year-old Emma, a human. The
story is told from his point of view. He has been programmed to believe that
all humans were dangerous, wasteful and the cause of many of the problems on
earth due to their greed and violence. However, Emma is not at all like that.
This causes XR_935 and his two coworkers, SkD_988 and Ceeron_902, to consider
helping Emma reach the red dot on her map. Doing so goes against all that they
know to be true and puts them in danger as well.
This is an engaging, often humorous
story, as the robots and Emma seek to understand each other. XR_935 has been
designed with a complete data base of history and the information to do his
job, which is solar installation. Ceeron_902 also works on solar installation
but was designed to be super strong and do heavy lifting. SkD_988 works on
solar installation as well but is a small robot who can move very quickly and communicates
through emojis.
Besides being an adventure story, The Last Human is ultimately
a story about friendship, technology, and the need to sometimes challenge the
status quo, no matter the consequences. It raises many thought provoking
questions about the nature of humanity, the danger of partial truths and the control
of information in society, and what happens when one generalizes about a group
of people. This is all done in a delightful, humorous way. Ceeron_902 has a
great interest in human jokes and idioms which drives literal minded XR_935
crazy. In the beginning when Emma asks XR_935 if the other robots are his
friends, he finds the concept incomprehensible, they are coworkers. By the end
of the story there is no questions they are all, including Emma, real friends.
