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A Space Opera That Honors Humanity — And Thwarts Leftist Publishers

Isaac Young’s science fiction novel, ‘The Last Human,’ builds a fascinating new world that highlights what it means to be human.

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As with any other literary genre, good science fiction is mainly defined by its character development, plot progression, clear and expressive language, and a thoughtful treatment of universal themes. What makes it special is that it also exhibits a certain degree of prophecy. Far from making a few accurate predictions about technology or events in the future, the prophecy of science fiction requires constructing a whole universe based on countless predictions that all follow consistent logic — otherwise known as “worldbuilding.”

The Last Human by Isaac Young is good science fiction that succeeds in both crafting a compelling story with likable, interesting characters along with a world that is both unique yet familiar. More importantly, it does not resort to cheap gimmicks like incorporating overdone leftist narratives of racial oppression or cringe LGBT romances (like the execrable yet critically acclaimed The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin), nor does it indulge in shallow pulp escapism.

The first installment of a series, the book recounts the early life of the galactic warlord Vas du’Kaal. Vas is one of the last living human beings in the universe since most of the human race has since been wiped out by war and cultural decay. Until their collective demise, human beings had become a godlike race, capable extending their own lifespans past a thousand years, conducting interstellar travel and conquest, and even seeding intelligence in alien life across the cosmos. As humanity has dwindled, once colonized alien races have evolved to take over what has been left by their mythic progenitors.

At the beginning of the novel, 14-year-old Vas is living as a slave working for an insect-like alien race, the Mantza, who never realize that he is a human. Utterly neglected and poisoned by the toxic atmosphere of the planet, Vas is saved by a mysterious bounty hunter Amon Russ, another human who goes on to become a kind of father figure. Russ’s alien partner Ingrish, a telepathic fox-like alien, plays the role of mother and helps rehabilitate and educate Vas as........

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