Sylvain Neuvel Is Only Human, Concludes The Themis Files

Giant robots in science fiction are cool. But it’s the human story that matters.

That’s why Sylvain Neuvel’s trilogy The Themis Files is so damn good. Coupled with interview transcripts and documents, it takes the cool elements of giant robots, aliens, and clashing cultures and grounds them in humanity and complex characters. The first book, Sleeping Giants, hit the industry big and reviewers glowed about the high concepts that are still grounded in a page-turning thriller. The same is true of the sequel, Waking Gods. And now we have the finale, Only Human.

I really like what the Chicago Review of Books had to say about Sleeping Giants: “Neuvel weaves a complex tapestry with ancient machinery buried in the Earth, shadow governments, and geopolitical conflicts. But the most surprising thing about the book may just be how compelling the central characters are in the midst of these larger-than-life concepts. . . . I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Below is an interview with Neuvel, where he talks about the Themis Files and the new book, Only Human.

Enjoy!

Unbound Worlds: Only Human is in fine bookstores now! Tell readers about the Themis Files and how your trilogy began with Sleeping Giants?

Sylvain Neuvel: The Themis Files are written mostly as interview transcripts and collected documents. They chronicle the discovery of alien artifacts left on Earth thousands of years ago by an unknown civilization and our first contact with people from another world. It all begins with Rose, an eleven-year-old girl who falls through the ground and finds herself lying in the palm of a giant metal hand. Despite the alien theme, these books are very much about us, what it means to be human, to be you and not me or someone else. It’s a story about our strengths and our often very obvious limits.

UW: What made you want to write giant robots? And how are they a great counterpart to the humanity of Rose?

SN: I grew up a fan of Japanese mecha anime. Giant robots are awesome, because they’re GIANT ROBOTS! The cool factor is just off the chart. They’re also insanely impractical. I wanted to play with the idea, to have fun showing how it might be like to try and use these things in real life. Since these books are also my way of exploring human nature, they also serve as a metaphor for anything bigger than us, the power to kill millions, all sorts of things we shouldn’t have. And you’re right, Rose brings balance to it all. She’s not perfect, far from it, but she’s trying really hard to be a good person, which is much harder than it sounds in the midst of everything that our encounter with alien life has brought us.

UW: Only Human concludes the Themis Files trilogy. How many of the events in this book did you know when you began writing the first book?

SN: About halfway through Sleeping Giants, I had the plot for Waking Gods laid out in detail. Writing book two felt like I was typing up a story I knew by heart. I had the basic idea behind Only Human in my head by the time I was done, but I hadn’t fully realized I was going to have to say goodbye to these characters in that third book. I started writing it, and I wasn’t entirely satisfied with what I had. I wanted to center everything around the characters, their relationships. I kept the plot intact, but I changed the perspective and the timing. I’m very happy with how it turned out.

UW: How much of our current world politics — specifically, large superpowers setting up a new Cold War of sorts — informed your decisions in writing Only Human and the war between Russia and America?

SN: I already had Russia and the US pinned against each other in Sleeping Giants. That said, the current sociopolitical climate definitely had some influence on the tone of Only Human. There’s been so much fear and hate on display, everywhere. We’ve been bathing in it for a long time and there were things I just couldn’t keep in.

UW: What is next for you? What are you working on? Got any titles? Let us know!

SN: I have a short story, slightly on the horror side but with an alien theme, in the latest issue of Dark Discoveries magazine. I wrote a novella. That should be announced soon. And I’m working on a new project, but it’s at a very early stage. I’m very excited about that. I can’t wait to share.

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel is in fine bookstores now!