Brainstorm 222: Last Humans

I’ve got a little dystopia/scifi for you today with books that feature humans who think they are some of the last of their kind. If you’re in for a little dystopian adventure, snatch up one of these.

Forgotten City (Forgotten City, #1) by Michael Ford

When the Waste came, it caused plants and animals to grow extra big. The spores wiped out most of humanity. Kobi thought for all his 13 years that he and his dad were the last survivors. But when he sets out to retrieve his dad from the lab across the city after he's been gone too long, Kobi stumbles across other humans. 3 human kids all about his age accompanied by a few adults. When the adults try to apprehend Kobi, a monstrous plant takes out most of the adults and Kobi has to help the kids survive. They say they came from a quarantined city and have never been outside before. He has to quickly give them a crash course on survival skills. While working on getting them to safety. Some of the kids want to go back to the quarantined city they came from, but one of them doesn't and Kobi doesn't trust the adults. Besides, he still needs to find his dad. But top priority is staying alive. Because in the world of the Waste, everything is out to get you.

Target Readers:

Lighter Dystopia Fans, Fans of Books with Big Twists, High Action Fans, Survival Story Fans, Thriller Fans, Middle Grade Readers

The Last Human by Lee Bacon

Life is routine and ordinary for XR_935 until the day he sees something that should be impossible. Humans were wiped from the Earth once the robots realized they were causing most of the problems. Life has been good and predictable for several decades now since their riddance. XR-935 has been around for 12 of those years. He works installing solar panels with two other robots every day and then returns to his family unit to recharge each night. But when he and his two co-workers discover a human girl in their solar field one day, their routine is upended. First of all, they thought humans were extinct. Second of all, they all know they should report her immediately but she doesn't seem to be the monster the data has painted humans to be. They decide to maybe just let her go. She says the people in her bunker were all sick and now she's looking for a place on a map her dad gave her before... Well, before she left. XR and the other robots calculate the success of her reaching this red dot on the map extremely slim, unless they protect her. Other robots might not take the time to realize she isn't a threat. So one girl and three robots make an unconventional alliance and set out on an adventure.

This has many similarities to WondLa below, so readers who like one will most likely enjoy the other.

Target Readers:

Light Dystopia Fans, Adventure Fans, Quest Story Fans, Robot Lovers, Fans of Books That Make You Think, Middle Grade Readers

 

Offworld by Robin Parrish

The astronauts on board the Ares, first manned mission to Mars, return to Earth only to find it completely deserted. Or at least so it seems. There are no people or animals anywhere, and it is obvious there hasn't been anyone around for a while. Now the termination of communication with Earth two months ago seems to make sense. Command stopped talking to them because they vanished. Chris, Trisha, Terry, and Owen do all they can in Florida to try and figure out what happened. Thanks to a working satellite, they do notice a strange, extremely bright light emanating from somewhere around Houston, Texas, so they grab some vehicles and start working their way to Texas. The road there is peppered with unexpected findings and numerous hazards. And the closer they get, the more they realize that they need to get to the bottom of this.

Target Readers:

Scifi Fans, Dystopia Fans, Mystery Fans, Thriller Fans, Adult Readers (though there’s nothing in here inappropriate for younger readers)

 

Zoid (Scavenger, #1) by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

As Earth was dying, humans created a huge biosphere that they launched into space with the survivors and helpful robots to keep the biosphere running. As the centuries progressed in the biosphere, something went horribly wrong and the robots started to change themselves and go on the attack against the humans. Now, humans like York, live in little settlements and are constantly wary of zoid attacks. The downloaded minds of ancestors, called Half-Lifes help to protect the humans, but after several centuries they are starting to fade and lose their ability to help. It is for this reason, York and his friends are caught unawares by a zoid attack. York is the only one able to escape. He must set off across unknown parts of the biosphere to try and track down where the zoids took his friends so he can rescue them. Along the way, York meets all sorts of new creatures, some friendly and some threatening.

Though this is part of a series, book one has enough resolution it can be read as a stand alone.

Target Readers:

Scifi Fans, Robots Gone Evil Story Fans, Adventure Fans, Middle Grade Readers

 

The Search for WondLa (WondLa, #1) by Tony DiTerlizzi

Eva Nine is our heroine. She is twelve, human, and has never been outside of her Sanctuary before. She lives with Muthr, her caretaker robot, and spends her time in holographic simulations preparing for the day when she will leave Sanctuary and venture out onto the surface of Earth. That day comes sooner than Muthr or Eva thought when Sanctuary is attacked and Eva must run for her life. When she does emerge on the surface, she finds it little like the holographs depicted, and there is no response from the other Sanctuaries and humans that are supposed to be out there. Eva does not get far before the creature who attacked her home captures her. He turns out to be a bounty hunter looking for rare life forms for Queen Ojo's museum, and Eva, to her shock, is as rare as they come. With the help of two fellow captive creatures, Rovender and Otto, Eva manages to escape, go back to get Muthr and then set out to find any other humans. Though Rovender has never heard of Earth or seen anyone else like Eva, a partially burnt photograph Eva found in Sanctuary shows another girl, a robot and an adult human and this gives her hope that there are others out there. On the photograph there are words but all but Wond and La have been destroyed. Eva calls it WondLa and thus the Search for WondLa means a search for others like her and answers to where she came from. As they search for Eva's WondLa, Muthr & Rovender & Otto have a number of adventures as they continue to try and evade the evil bounty hunter and other dangerous creatures that lurk about.

Target Readers:

Light Dystopia Fans, Scifi Fans, Fantastic World Building Fans, Quest Story Fans, Adventure Fans, Mystery Fans, Middle Grade Readers