Last

by James Matlack Raney

Young Win grows up knowing only the small farm where he lives with his mother and father. He has no other neighbors. No other friends. No other people. The world beyond is a mystery. A world of of danger. A world of robots.

When tragedy strikes the farm, Win is at last left completely alone. Forced to leave the safety of home, he sets out toward the distant robot city on a quest to find the legendary AIs, picking up a pair of companions along the an orphaned wild dog and an irrepressibly optimistic robotic signpost. But when the three of them become prisoners in the robot city, Win will not only seek to escape, but also to find the answer to the world's final are there any humans like him left, or is he truly the Last?

Filled with hardship and hope, darkness and light, despair and victory, LAST is the story of a boy learning what it means to live as flesh and blood in a world of steel and circuits, to break through barriers built around us and those we build for ourselves, to know the frailty and wonder it is to be human.

302 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 22, 2025

About the author

James Matlack Raney grew up all over the world, in Europe, Latin America, and Africa. Now he calls Southern California home, writing adventures and occasionally living a few of his own.

Reviews

[Jim Sibigtroth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story but really needs a good editor and proofreader

Not especially good at scientific or engineering accuracy, but it does challenge the reader to think about the contrasts between human vs artificial intelligence. It was especially distracting that the writer failed to perform the important final steps of editing and proofreading. This was particularly bad near the end of the book.

[Frederic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was one of the best books about the end of the human world that I've read. It does get a bit metaphysical at points, but the world-building is wonderful as are the characters. Since no one else has written a more detailed review yet, I'll do more of that than I normally do: The book is broken into sections around where Win is and what the nature of his life is, from the family farm to the robot city to exile in the robot junkyard and attempts to get out (not really spoilers there, as this is more or less how the sections are titled). Along the way Win meets a few interesting people (and animals), and several different sorts of robots (some more helpful, others more aggressively antagonistic), and explores several very interesting aspects/parts of the almost-post-human world. Along the way there's joy and sadness, and even desperation, from these relationships. The ending is where it gets a little metaphysical, but I'm OK with how that was presented.

There are echoes of many previous works to be found – probably inevitable in the genre – but overall I found it rather original and quite engaging. (Perhaps most prominent among the echoes, for me, were A Boy and His Dog, and especially Wall-E, but there are others too.) I loved the writing, and especially a big twist along the way. As a retired anthropologist who had interest in storytelling (among other things), I particularly appreciated the significances and discussions of storytelling and how it fits in with what Win experiences.

Although Win starts out as a young boy and ages to near adulthood, the primary audiences I think would be teens (maybe younger teens?) and adults. I hope that audience is or becomes larger than the lack of reviews here suggests, I really liked this one!

[Kathleen E · Rating 5 out of 5]

great fun read

Had me from page one. Enjoy the characters they are jumping off the page to you from the beginning. Awesome