Book Review (Canon): The Humans

The Humans

Written by Matt Haig in 2013

The Raccoon: After Professor Andrew Martin solves the Riemann Hypothesis, he is immediately killed by aliens, who send one of their own to Earth to ensure that no evidence of his research survives.  However, once the alien narrator settles into impersonating Martin and living among the strange humans, he finds himself unwilling to complete his mission.

UNMASKED: Perhaps the reader would more easily comprehend the novel (and this review) if the narrator of The Humans had a name.  We know only that he, like all beings from his home planet, is immortal, the product of an advanced civilization where “minds, bodies, technologies all come together in a quite beautiful convergence.”  The highlight of his life is a speech he delivered at the Museum of Quadratic Equations, a detail which effectively summarizes the entire culture and philosophy of the planet Vonnadoria.

After this shocking, witty opening, The Humans is quite predictable.  The novel follows a progression as old as time:

1. An alien comes to Earth planning to harm our society and/or specific people due to his belief that doing so is the right action to take on a much wider scale.
2. A series of humorous mishaps occurs as the alien tries to pass as human.
3. Through art, laughing and crying, and finally love, the alien realizes that humanity is not as evil as he originally thought.
4. A happy compromise is reached between the alien’s original goals and his desire to protect the very people he was sent to hurt.  Ideally, the resolution follows an exciting battle of both ideology and physical survival as the alien, now a changed man, must face another member of his species.

For this reason, you are not missing out if you decide not to read The Humans.

Nevertheless, Haig’s short novel is an effective fun-sized package for anyone looking for a heartwarming story about love, humanity, and peanut butter.

Strengths:

• Andrew Martin’s arrogant personality and negative history provide a much more interesting setup and lead to more ironic, entertaining conversations than if the narrator’s disguise was morally upright.
• The narrator’s relationship and conversations with the family dog make The Humans the best dog book I have ever read.
• The ending is surprisingly realistic and satisfying.

Weaknesses:

• At a few points in the story, the narrator fails to such a great extent to pass as human that no sane person would ignore it.

Rating: 17/20 /23/29/31/37/41/43/47/53

Ideal Setting: Read this before announcing your next major discovery or invention, just in case it might give a hyper-advanced species a reason to murder you and your family.