Zack Jordan

The last human in the universe is on the run from a godlike intelligence in this rip-roaring debut. "A good old-fashioned space opera in a thoroughly fresh package . . . stuffed with aliens, adventure, mystery, and big ideas."--Andy Weir, author of The Martian Most days, Sarya doesn't feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Most days, she's got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn't casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again. And most days, she can almost accept that she'll never know the truth--that she'll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist. Or whether she really is--impossibly--the lone survivor of a species destroyed a millennium ago. That is, until an encounter with a bounty hunter and a miles-long kinetic projectile leaves her life and her perspective shattered. Thrown into the universe at the helm of a stolen ship--with the dubious assistance of a rebellious spacesuit, an android death enthusiast on his sixtieth lifetime, and a ball of fluff with an IQ in the thousands--Sarya begins to uncover an impossible truth. What if humanity's death and her own existence are simply two moves in a demented cosmic game, one played out by vast alien intellects? Stranger still, what if these mad gods are offering Sarya a seat at their table--and a second chance for humanity? The Last Human is a sneakily brilliant, gleefully oddball space-opera debut--a masterful play on perspective, intelligence, and free will, wrapped in a rollicking journey through a strange and crowded galaxy.

The Last Human

Sarya Vald is the galaxy's worst nightmare: a Human.Fortunately, she's the last one. Adopted and raised by the alien Senya, a terrifying sentient spider-like species known as a Widow, Sarya has lived on a space station her entire life, keeping her identity as a human secret even as she puzzles over the impossible questions behind her own existence.1) How it is that she, and she alone, is the sole survivor of a race that was supposedly wiped out centuries ago? 2)What mysterious force could wipe out four trillion people in a single Galactic year, while making each death look like an accident?3) What made the Humans so special - or so frightening - that they warranted such treatment?When the station's central intelligence, a grumpy AI named ELLIE, discovers the truth about Sarya's origins, she's forced to flee, a step ahead of rioting inhabitants and vicious enforcers. Together with a band of misfits and cutthroats, Sarya makes for the depths of space aboard a stolen ship, in desperate search of the truth behind her existence. What she discovers is that humanity's death was but one chess move in a war played out across light-years and centuries, by beings with minds so vast and alien that they might as well be gods. If Sarya is going to be more than just a pawn in their game and have a chance at saving humanity's future, she herself will have to become something greater, and more alien, than she ever imagined.

The Life Interstellar

The last human in the universe must battle unfathomable alien intelligences—and confront the truth about humanity—in this ambitious, galaxy-spanning debut “A good old-fashioned space opera in a thoroughly fresh package.”—Andy Weir, author of The Martian “Big ideas and believable science amid a roller-coaster ride of aliens, AI, superintelligence, and the future of humanity.”—Dennis E. Taylor, author of We Are Legion Most days, Sarya doesn’t feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Most days, she’s got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn’t casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again. And most days, she can almost accept that she’ll never know the truth—that she’ll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist. Or whether she really is—impossibly—the lone survivor of a species destroyed a millennium ago. That is, until an encounter with a bounty hunter and a miles-long kinetic projectile leaves her life and her perspective shattered. Thrown into the universe at the helm of a stolen ship—with the dubious assistance of a rebellious spacesuit, an android death enthusiast on his sixtieth lifetime, and a ball of fluff with an IQ in the thousands—Sarya begins to uncover an impossible truth. What if humanity’s death and her own existence are simply two moves in a demented cosmic game, one played out by vast alien intellects? Stranger still, what if these mad gods are offering Sarya a seat at their table—and a second chance for humanity? The Last Human is a sneakily brilliant, gleefully oddball space-opera debut—a masterful play on perspective, intelligence, and free will, wrapped in a rollicking journey through a strange and crowded galaxy.

A Novel

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Max Brooks

Micaiah Johnson

Peter F. Hamilton

Simon Jimenez

Kevin Hearne

Jenna Glass

Emily Skrutskie

Bob Proehl

Discover the best in science fiction, fantasy, and horror with the 2020 Del Rey ebook sampler! 2020 is a year of new chapters. Max Brooks, who helped us survive a zombie pandemic, now searches for a more elusive threat: Bigfoot. Kevin Hearne, the author of The Iron Druid Chronicles, takes us back to that beloved world with a new spin-off series—and dreams up a different epic fantasy series with an entirely new mythology. Peter F. Hamilton masterfully builds a blazing space opera series. Silvia Moreno-Garcia, who dazzled us with her vision of 1920s Mexico and the Mayan underworld, reimagines the classic gothic suspense novel with the story of an isolated mansion in the 1950s Mexican countryside. These eleven recent and upcoming works are full of action. A young space pilot tries to save his best friend—the heir to a galactic empire—from a ruthless rebellion. A girl whose interdimensional doppelgängers have died in 372 worlds discovers a secret that puts her life in jeopardy. A man whose daughter has newfound, terrifying powers must risk his life to save hers. The last human in the galaxy hides her identity while trying to discover the truth about humanity. A woman traveling through time finds a mysterious child with unimaginable power. A spell allows women to control their own fertility in an epic feminist fantasy. This captivating ebook sampler contains excerpts from: DEVOLUTION by Max Brooks THE WOMEN’S WAR by Jenna Glass SALVATION by Peter F. Hamilton INK & SIGIL by Kevin Hearne A PLAGUE OF GIANTS by Kevin Hearne THE VANISHED BIRDS by Simon Jimenez THE SPACE BETWEEN WORDS by Micaiah Johnson THE LAST HUMAN by Zack Jordan MEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia Moreno-Garcia THE NOBODY PEOPLE by Bob Proehl BONDS OF BRASS by Emily Skrutskie

Excerpts from 11 Upcoming and Current Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Titles

Del Rey's Next Reads Sampler 2020 Edition

Meistens fühlt sich Sarya ganz normal. Überhaupt nicht wie das furchterregendste Geschöpf im ganzen Kosmos. Meistens kommt sie auch ganz gut damit klar, dass sie der letzte Mensch im Universum ist, und dass sie wohl nie erfahren wird, warum die Menschheit eigentlich ausgerottet wurde. Denn meistens ist sie damit beschäftigt, ihre wahre Identität vor den Hunderten von Aliens, die Watertower Station bevölkern, zu verbergen. Oder ihre Adoptivmutter, eine riesige Alienspinne, daran zu hindern, die Nachbarn zu fressen. Doch als ein Kopfgeldjäger auf der Raumstation eintrifft und nach ihr sucht, muss Sarya fliehen. Alleine in der schwarzen Weite des Alls unterwegs, will sie herausfinden, warum die Menschen wirklich sterben mussten. Und kommt einer Verschwörung von wahrhaft kosmischen Ausmaßen auf die Spur ...

Zack Jordan

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