The Many

by Sylvain Neuvel

The minds of five normal people merge in a beautiful, unnerving first contact story where the strangest thing humanity has to face is each other, from the critically acclaimed author of Sleeping Giants.

“I’m you now. We all are.”

When advertising executive Carole Veilleux loses it at Booker’s donut shop and bites Booker on the arm, it’s about the most interesting thing to happen in the small city of Marquette, Michigan, in years.

But that’s only the beginning of the story. Carole and Booker find their minds merging, in a collective that extends to include Carole’s husband Shivansh and local doctor Evelyn Schlapp. The four of them become the beginning of something larger and stranger than they could ever have imagined.

Genres: Science Fiction, Adult, Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

Expected publication April 21, 2026

About the author

Sylvain Neuvel dropped out of high school at age 15. Along the way, he has been a journalist, worked in soil decontamination, sold ice cream in California, and peddled furniture across Canada. He received a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Chicago. He taught linguistics in India, and worked as a software engineer in Montreal. He is also a certified translator, though he wishes he were an astronaut. He likes to tinker, dabbles in robotics and is somewhat obsessed with Halloween. He absolutely loves toys; his girlfriend would have him believe that he has too many, so he writes about aliens and giant robots as a blatant excuse to build action figures (for his son, of course).

Reviews

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Many is a first contact science fiction story with an interesting twist. Based on the synopsis I was expecting something dark and very serious. While there are certainly serious parts, the novel was also a lot more fun to read than I expected! There was some humour and satire sprinkled throughout the plot that I really enjoyed.

The story follows a wide cast of characters, where we read their POVs both individually and together. All of them have serious issues and differences so seeing them come together and grow in some of their beliefs was really interesting. They were all distinct and well-developed and felt like realistic people that you could actually imagine meeting. My favourite part of the story was reading their interactions and all of their inner monologues.

Underneath the science fiction mind melding elements of the story there are also a lot of serious issues that are brought up. Things like wealth inequality, environmental issues, racism, sexism, trans rights, acceptance, and just the value of trying to be decent human beings. In some parts, the story felt like a bit of a critique or satire of our current society and all of the flaws within it, done in a very clever and subtle way. This is definitely a novel that can provoke a lot of thought and introspection if you look deeply into it while reading and reflect afterwards.

Overall, I found this to be a very enjoyable and unique science fiction novel with great and interesting characters. It was also very easy to get into, with good pacing, narrative structure, and writing. I would definitely recommend giving it a try if the synopsis calls to you.

Thank you to Rebellion Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC!

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Rebellion and Netgalley for the advance reader copy of this remarkable book!



When I was a teenager, I recall intense feelings of wanting to see myself and others through the eyes of other people, especially my family and friends. This remarkable novel explores that feeling. But not just one person, but a whole group of people, virtual strangers. What starts out as a melding of just two or three minds becomes something much greater, a hivemind. How would knowing and seeing and feeling everything through someone else's point of view affect your views, your mind, your beliefs?

Inside we all have beautiful parts and ugly parts: desperate, lonely, sad, angry feelings, things we dislike about ourselves; but we also have hope, kindness, love, generosity, the pride of doing something good for others, the self-worth that accompanies accomplishment. Now multiply that by 2, 3, 5, 15 thousand or maybe more. This story handles how some might handle such a load, what they would do. And it handles it with aplumb and a delightful sense of humor. Humor and the ability to not take ourselves too seriously truly helps us get through life. This book with woven with humor throughout which made it speed by so quickly for a book where we are trapped inside the brains of the main characters.

This is also the most unique first contact story I can recall reading. The contact serves as a tipping point once the story plays out its conceits to their logical end. It is most definitely the authors hilarious, bonkers journey to take the reader to a place where we all can try to see, not only ourselves, but everyone else too as a small but vital part in the large machine of the universe; and to make it a little bit better; to exercise understanding and empathy. Because skin color, language, culture, sex, or country of origin should not divide but be reasons for celebrating what makes us unique and wonderful. The story light-heartedly handles what a large united group can change about the world. And the quirks that would come along with all this too.

It was a fun, wild, sometimes violent, but caring experience.

[Tiegan Currie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Many is a hilarious, interesting, and fast-paced story about a growing hive mind, leaving you with a heartfelt message that will resonate with you for weeks to come.

The first impression I got from this book was how clear the contrast between people's perspectives of themselves and other people's perspectives of them was as the POV changed. You're introduced to characters both by their acquaintances and by themselves, until they join the hive mind and then their understanding of the individual and the whole changes entirely.

I loved how quickly the book turns to chaos. Initially, I truly believed it would be an isolated incident, and I was curious to see how it changed the original three's lives, but as everything spiralled out of hand, seeing how things spread and how the plans and thought processes of the collective changed with new additions is a wild and entertaining ride!

Although the ending surprised me, the message that we are all interconnected with everything in the universe, even as individuals, and therefore we should all try to make one thing a tiny bit better, was the perfect way to tie up this standalone and leave a lasting impression. I will most definitely be picking up Sleeping Giants soon. Neuvel has certainly piqued my interest.

[Jess Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this book sounded exactly like something I would really love, but it unfortunately didn’t quite work for me. I did however still find it enjoyable, so let’s start with the positives!

- The book was fairly fast paced, and I never found any of it boring. There was no time wasted in getting the plot moving, and I never felt lost as to what was going on.
- The way that the hive mind works was really interesting. I liked seeing how it adapted with each new person that was added to the collective.
- The cast was such a vast, diverse array of characters which I feel for the most part were represented very well

As for the negatives:
- I didn’t love how the dialogue was done in this book. All dialogue was written as a bullet point list, with no indication as to who is speaking, and any sort of emotion or inflection they had in their words. It made it feel a bit disconnected and rushed, especially during conversations where people changed their view points by the end. You never knew what they were thinking and how the conversation was effecting them, they just suddenly were on board.
- The hive mind was talked about as a very intense, highly sexual thing, and the introduction of an 11 year old into the mix made it all a little uncomfortable. One of the reasons she wants to join is to have all her fathers memories from when he was in the hive mind, but a lot of what he was doing (that we were told about, at least) was having sex with people in his kitchen, so his child then having all those memories feels a bit wrong
- The ending also felt really rushed to me, I didn’t love how everything resolved. We had all this buildup to the entire world being part of the hive and then it just… ended. Other than Carole, I also found each characters final chapter really unsatisfying. It sort of made the whole book feel a little pointless.

Overall, while not my favourite, I did still like the book, and I do think I would still recommend it to the right person!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Many was a fun sci-fi read with an uplifting message and a nice touch of humour to counter-balance some of the horror (ish, it's not a scary book at all, just the odd bit of gore) elements.

A virus from outer space infects first a tick, which bites a human. That human bites another human and yeah, so far, so zombie, right? Well, no. There are parallels with undead tales but in this one the key conceit is that the individuals who are infected share a 'hive mind' - they literally become 'the many', sharing each other's minds, memories and very essence.

This leads to some weird stuff, like them having a lot of sex (or is it masturbation, because the other person is also them?), some funny stuff, some tragic stuff and some through-provoking stuff. Neuvel fleshes out the idea well and the small-town America portrayed is a fun lens for the outbreak.

The book isn't overtly political but Neuvel's personal politics do come through strongly. Not an issue for me, but if you're the type of gets in a rage about 'woke' stuff, this may not be for you.

Overall, a fun read, with some nice ideas and it sticks the landing pretty well.

PS. Shout-out to the recurring joke about the cat, that was great. :-)

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

[julia ｡･:*˚:✧｡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC!

“I’m you now. We all are.”

When advertising executive Carole Veilleux loses it at Booker’s donut shop and bites Booker on the arm, it’s about the most interesting thing to happen in the small city of Marquette, Michigan, in years.

But that’s only the beginning of the story. Carole and Booker find their minds merging, in a collective that extends to include Carole’s husband Shivansh and local doctor Evelyn Schlapp. The four of them become the beginning of something larger and stranger than they could ever have imagined.

I really think this had just the right amount of silly Scooby-Doo-esque plot but also serious points to make it really good.

I genuinely liked the characters we spend the most time with.

The point of this whole thing about tolerance and empathy is admittedly a little "uh, yeah, duh?" (no, I can't express that more eloquently) but I mean, basic empathy is still somehow a difficult concept for people. So I'd argue books like this are still needed.

All in all, fun!

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most optimistic hive mind story I’ve consumed in an era where hive minds seem to be an increasingly common theme.

A tick bites a human, the human bites another human, a fight ensues, and so begins the start of a merging of consciousness throughout a town in Michigan. The afflicted share a collective mind, while still retaining one’s individuality, newly shaped by the experience and knowledge of others within the Many.

This book was a quick, largely enjoyable read, but the story was somewhat surface-level. There are dark moments but they aren’t wielded well as plot devices, nor did they seem to be afforded the gravity they deserve or that the reader would expect.

My main takeaway - what I think the author was trying to communicate - is that we can make idealistic hopes for the world come to fruition if only we acted in the best interest of the collective, caring for our community and all who are in it.

The ending, in my opinion, is too optimistic, but my perspective is almost certainly impacted by current events and the reality we live in. Suspend disbelief, take the story for what it is - I think most readers who do will enjoy their time spent with this book.

Thanks to the publisher, Rebellion, for allowing me access to the ARC.

[Brandi Smallwood Uncaged Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sylvain Neuvel’s The Many is less a conventional novel and more a challenging thought experiment, attempting to chart the tumultuous birth of a post-human collective consciousness in a deeply entrenched world. The central message—that true empathy and global equality are only achievable through the radical, painful destruction of existing systems and individual identities is profound and ultimately beautiful. However, the novel's structure often obscures this utopian ideal, making the journey to the final revelation a struggle marked by tonal dissonance and moral ambiguity.
The most significant structural hurdle lies in the book's pacing and focus. For much of the narrative, the reader wrestles with the story's purpose, a confusion that suggests the narrative's chosen ambiguity of perspective was ultimately detrimental to engagement. The inclusion of chapters, such as the widely noted giraffe sequence, reinforces this sense of a chaos. While perhaps intended to demonstrate the collective's expanding, playful, and omnivorous nature, these interludes feel like unnecessary narrative fluff that dilute the central conflict and disrupt the overall flow.
More challenging for many readers is the intimate and boundary-eroding evolution of the collective itself. What begins as a deeply personal merger between the original three characters accelerates into a problematic scenario following the introduction of Layla, an 11 yo child of one of the original merged that passed on. The narrative's explicit focus on shared intimacy and pleasure within a collective mind, particularly when children are later drawn into this consciousness, introduces a significant element of reader discomfort and ethical questioning. This narrative choice-the complete erosion of traditional age and relational boundaries sets a difficult, even disturbing, tone that undercuts the power of the book’s otherwise positive philosophical conclusion.
Ultimately, The Many is a work of high ambition that demands the reader navigate uncomfortable territory and structural unevenness to appreciate its core morality. While the novel delivers a powerful, hopeful message about what humanity could become, the abrasive and chaotic lead-up means this book will appeal primarily to a niche audience willing to grapple with difficult subject matter that is morally difficult to digest and highly experimental narrative angles in service of a potentially intellectual reward.

+++I have received this eARC in an exchange for an honest review+++

I want to thank @netgalley and @rebellionpublishing for allowing me to read this eARC.

[Chewable Orb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Many by Sylvain Neuvel
3.85 rounded up to 4🔮 orbs
Est. Pub. Date: Apr. 21, 2026
Rebellion/Solaris

Emerging from the branches…

💡 Orbs Prologue: A rather difficult day has supplanted my monotonous existence. The egg-yolked sun bears down on the crown of my sparse head of hair. I find shade underneath my favorite maple tree and begin to snack on a chocolate éclair that I purchased from Booker’s bakery down the street. The light, fluffy pastry gives way as my taste buds howl in delight as the rich, textured chocolate satisfies my craving. Gazing out upon the neighboring street, the warm breeze tickles the back of my neck hair in a tickling manner as if the wind itself had its own set of slender fingers. Unbeknownst to me, a nasty tick had settled within the wrinkles of my leathery skin and was in the midst of finishing off its own sort of culinary delight. Finished with my doughy delight, I stand and begin my journey to the local library in hopes of unearthing a dusty gem hidden among the rows of books. Along my walk, my mind starts to wander, slowly at first, but enough to jar me from people-watching. My smile recedes, overtaken by an insatiable lust for something…

🧐 A small glimpse: You might ask what donuts have to do with a science-fiction story. This is the scene of the crime, so to speak, the beginning of time, where humanity is converted into something like-minded. Ixodida, better known as the tick, has gnawed its way into the flesh of Carol Veilleux. Carol, an average woman in every sense of the word, seeks love from a husband unwilling to reciprocate. Meandering through love in a bit of a comfortable stupor, Carol remains unfulfilled, yet not enough to cause her to abandon her life raft. Upon this fateful day, author Sylvain Neuvel decides to spice Carol’s life up. As the blood is sucked up from the tick, Carol's fluid transfusion is replaced with an otherworldly ability. Within her blood, something percolates, a need to feed. Booker’s donuts stare at Carol from the window, and as she enters the confines of sweet confections, Carol’s palate turns towards a treat with more iron flavoring. What begins as a rather vicious attack on Booker, filled with a chomping of his limb, ends with a hive-mind sense. Within the community of Marquette, a melding of the minds becomes conveniently pleasurable as others are brought into Carol and Booker’s fold. Through sheer coincidence or calculated means, people begin to enter into the hazy fray of like-mindedness. This novel shows the benefits of self-examination through others’ eyes, demolishing societal discrimination and injecting mankind with a harmonious peace.

👍 Orbs Pros: A poignant message! Beneath the surface lies a message of putting oneself in another person's shoes. Understanding fellow man, instead of berating those who wish to live in a manner unlike our own. If, for only a second, we were able to share the same heartbeat, follow the same wavelength, use others' skills as our own, and delight in this newfound knowledge. Our lives would be inherently enriched, and subsequently, we might be happier. Interesting premise! Creative! Bites containing the ability to enhance our lives instead of the standard zombie-turning trope. It flipped the script on the terrible narrative and instead shed a spotlight on what could be done if people were more tolerant, with the same goals and aspirations. A real assessment! With everyone thinking as one, some of our uniqueness would diminish, and therefore, we might become stagnant as a society. Some of our most brilliant thinkers have gone against the proverbial grain of popular thought. Often regarded as crazy, they trudged on with a sick passion, often hailed as brilliance by future generations. Would these minds be allowed to flourish in a like-minded society? Would these inventors even have the same desires anymore?

👎 Orbs Cons: Without a doubt, the number one question I had is, who runs the hive? Whose agenda shall we follow? Which ideas are seen as positive or negative? Is this a plot hole? In the story, the changes are mostly for the overall positive acceptance of others, and while valiant, I might ask how the selection of those came to fruition. How are any one person’s ideals more important in this type of society?

Recommended! A book that has much to say. It certainly left me wondering if this type of ideology could actually function, and yet I remained baffled. From a sheer entertainment standpoint, this SF novel was fun to read. There are plenty of storylines to delve into, and all of them begin to meet in the center of the proverbial spiderweb, so to speak. Not an overly complex undertaking, this will provide readers with a sense of wonder.

💡 Orbs Epilogue: Blood! Sustenance… As I paw my way through the aisles, the hazel-colored eyes radiating through the horn-rimmed glasses of the librarian bore holes into my dopamineless shell of a body. Survival tactics grip the librarian as she grabs a hardback copy of Alchemised by SenLin Yu and heaves it at my angry face. Like a ten-pound weight, it smacks my jaw and halts my forward progress. Disturbed and unrelenting, I leap on top of the countertop, my mind on one thing only. The warm taste of metallic redness. In a final-ditch effort, the librarian picks up a ruler and a roll of cloth tape. Clutched firmly in both her hands, this would appear a comedic skit to an innocent onlooker, some sort of medieval battle with library supplies, and yet I was not in a humorous mood. I slap the wooden ruler out of her hand and watch it slide down the marble floor in amusing slow motion. She immediately begins to attempt to tape closed the hardened jaws of my open maw, attempting to seal the crazy peeking out from within. Too late…. I bite down hard on her wrist, extracting her lifeblood. To bide my time, I pick up a magazine, cross my legs, and drink a cup of coffee. Soon, changes become imminent… and I find myself on the floor… Adjusting my dress, seeing through horn-rimmed glasses, I spy my other self sitting, enjoying a magazine. Indeed, what a crazy day it has been. I say to both versions of myself.

Many thanks to Rebellion/Solaris for the ARC through NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion.

[Emily May · Rating 2 out of 5]

Imagine a world where the person you were… doesn’t disappear, but is replaced by something larger than you, a collective mind made up of everyone’s uniqueness, but always thinking as one. In that world, you would share everyone’s knowledge, but also their strengths, their aspirations, because you would become everyone.

I loved the Sleeping Giants trilogy and Neuvel's novella The Test, but this book about the human race joining together to become a hive mind just... wasn't my cup of tea. I will do my best to explain why.

The truth is there were a number of reasons why, and I'm not sure which was the most significant contributor to my overall dislike. I have broken it down into points to try to make sense of it.

» I did not love the goofy humour that sucked all gravitas out of serious issues like police brutality against black men, sexual assault and gender dysphoria; I don't personally think it worked.

» I struggled to truly buy into the idea that everyone suddenly becoming privy to everyone else's thoughts would make them feel more peaceful towards each other. There seemed to be a whole conversation about uncovered affairs and dark thoughts that was missing. It is nice to think that we would all be kinder if we got a glimpse of each other's minds and memories, but would we though? I'm not convinced. Especially as the people here may "become one" in a fashion, but they still retain a sense of their individuality.

» To be fair, I recently watched Pluribus, which has a similar premise, so I will allow that maybe I've hit my limit for alien hive mind plots.

» I found it all a bit pointless in the end. They merged, they parted, and people were a bit nicer, I guess?

» I also felt— and if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say this was my biggest issue —that the book really lacked nuance. The characters were either wholly good, or else hat-wearing racist MAGA conservative murderers. The way the story handled themes like racial profiling and violence against black men, and kids going on puberty blockers, was dissatisfying, almost flippant.

The book opens with a black man getting pulled over by a racist “troglodyte” cop, which he seems to note is basically a tautology. Then immediately into his 11 year old begging for puberty blockers, followed by a woman being catcalled by road workers, which, she notes, is about power and nothing to do with attraction. Then comes Lana, victim of sexual assault and misogyny in the workplace. Then:

His mother had taught him to hate the Jews, the Blacks and the gays, and the rest he’d learned to hate all on his own. He hated them personally, one by one. They were to blame for absolutely everything, including the weather. His life sucked not because of the system, but because of that guy, and that one, and her, and him, and them…

I'm pretty sure myself and Neuvel are politically on the same page, but even I felt this was too on the nose to be taken seriously. The issues are so surface-level and almost checklist that they honestly read like a neocon parody of liberals.

It is also unclear to what extent, if at all, Neuvel is joking. The tone of the book is casual and goofy, which makes me wonder if passages like the one above are just poking fun at racists and are intentionally over the top, but many of the book's themes and plot points are categorically unfunny Like a black man being beaten to death at the roadside by a cop.

I felt mostly dissatisfaction at the end. The book never goes deep enough into either the characters or the ideas. It offers up characters that fall neatly into good vs evil, and solutions to human vice that feel far too simplistic.

[Shell Latter · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Review – 4⭐

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

*SPOILERS*

I went into The Many by Sylvain Neuvel with extremely high expectations. His The Themis Files series is one of my all-time favourite sci-fi series, so when I saw the premise for this book I was immediately excited. It actually reminded me of the first sci-fi novel that really pulled me into the genre, Join by Steve Toutonghi—a story exploring identity, consciousness, and the boundaries between individuals.

Neuvel’s writing style is just as strong here as ever. His prose is incredibly readable, immersive, and addictive—the kind of writing that keeps you turning pages without even realising it. The multiple points of view were particularly effective. I also loved how clearly Neuvel showed the way each character experienced the shared consciousness, especially how someone would essentially “vanish” from the group when they were unconscious.

The premise itself is fascinating: a sci-fi exploration of the human condition, identity, and what it means to be human when consciousness becomes shared. The atmosphere felt chaotic, tense, and strangely intimate at the same time.

However, despite loving the concept and the writing, I found myself a bit disappointed with the story itself.

The novel is much shorter than I expected, and while a lot happens, it also felt like the narrative didn’t go quite as deep as it could have. I kept wanting more exploration—more conflict, more implications for the wider world, and more insight into the universe beyond. The global takeover happened very quickly, and I would have loved more time with the world before everything escalated.

Another element that didn’t work as well for me was how strongly the narrative focused on themes like sexuality, racism, and identity. These are important topics and absolutely belong in science fiction, but at times they felt so front-and-centre that the story itself took a back seat, making the themes feel a bit forced rather than naturally woven into the narrative.

Character-wise, I liked the core group—Carole, Booker, Shivansh, Layla, Evelyn, and Lana—but I wanted more depth from them overall. They did grow over the course of the story, but often in predictable ways. Lana was my favourite character from very early on, and I actually wish the book had spent more time exploring her story and perspective.

The pacing was also very fast, which contributed to that feeling of wanting more depth. There were several fascinating ideas and characters that I wished had been given more space to breathe.

That said, there were still moments that really worked for me. The scene where Evelyn joins the group was probably my favourite—it was immersive, surprising, and emotionally interesting. The Frank twist was also intriguing and added another layer to the story. His ability to maintain more of his individuality than the others was fascinating. Ultimately, his decision to end his own life because he couldn’t live with who he had been before was a dark but thought-provoking moment.

I also liked the concept of everyone eventually returning to being individuals again. In many ways, the ending felt like a compressed version of real life—people confronted their flaws, learned from the experience, and attempted to grow. At the same time, although the story does reach a conclusion, I found myself wishing the book had taken more time to explore the larger phenomenon and develop its ideas and conflicts more fully.

Overall, The Many is a very unique sci-fi novel with a compelling concept and Neuvel’s signature readable writing, but for me it felt like it needed just a bit more depth and exploration to truly reach its potential.

Three words:
Human condition • Chaos • Sci-fi

[Rustic Red Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

thanks to Netgalley and Solaris for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 2.5

I'm really conflicted whether to round up or down my rating. It's an interesting book but the middle is the least interesting part. I also need to see more of the ending. It's really hard to pinpoint what without spoiling but I'll try.

It feels like an interconnected short story with more or less the same cast of characters. Five to be exact. The Individuals. The Few. The Many. something. The End.

The Individuals
This is where we meet the main cast. We have a diverse cast with different races, problems, feelings, etc. It also sets some expectations snd plant some ideas, when they'll later merge. We also meet some characters not mentioned on the blurb with their own ideals, problems, gender identities. (One of the characters is thinking of transitioning).

The Few
This is where things got a little bit interesting. What does it feel to merged. How can they live, etc. It stills feel a little bit personal. But there's one incident here that I really don't get, it seems just a way to move the plot forward.

The Many, Part I
The first part despite multiple merged characters after some plot point still feels interesting. Personally I feel it weird that a certain character was merged with them, with the age and the stuff they previously did. It should be a hard talk, I'm waiting for it to be brought up or see the consequence or something but nothing really came. Part I is also a bit funny on how they're the Many.

The Many, Part II & something
This is probably the most spoiler heavy, so I'm gonna be more broader.

The Many Part II, got a bit ridiculous. It feels less personal since they need to know how to manage something as The Many. I feel this need to be explored more, especially with the different characteristics/beliefs etc. I'm a bit disappointed how The Many created or how they wanted things. I'm also a bit pessimistic, realistic? But this feels a little or too much of the optimistic side.

Then something. It's fine.

the end
I'm fine with how it ended. But I need more fallout of their decisions.

Dropped my current reads, glad that Netgalley approved this after edelweiss decline it. I think I'll place this in the middle with Neuvel's 7 novels so far.

[Kenzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75⭐️ This was a very unique read and it was my first book that explored “hive mentality”. Based off of the synopsis and the stunning cover I was beyond intrigued and excited to start this book!

I finished the first 40% of this book in one sitting! The initial infecting of the first 3 had me absolutely hooked! The “hive” started out almost felt like case of multiple personality disorder when it was the initial 3 individuals.

The ending of the book (chapter 50+) I also enjoyed. That is when the ideologies were really explored. I truly wish the whole book was along these lines. Chapter 50+ vibe completely changed from the middle of the book and was very thought provoking.

I had many issues with this book. The first being the extensive amount of racism. There were three overly racist characters and honestly zero reason for it. I expected that once they became apart of the hive it would explore how their racist ideologies changed. However, it didn’t dive deeper into this at all. As well as the white supremacist character didn’t even merge. So there was truly zero reason for him being a N*zi sympathizer.

Along that same line, when a member died due to a racist act none of the initial members were very outraged. You’d assume that if a fourth of their “being” died in a brutal manner they’d be more heartbroken. However, they carried on quite quickly. It took a child’s merging with them to finally produce an emotional response.

There’s also a semi-significant focus on intercourse and intimacy which in itself was a bit bizarre. It leads to quite a bit of discomfort though when an 11 year old merges essentially a chapter after raving about how euphoric this intimacy is.

I found the book to be quite repetitive when the author goes over the same event as a different character. There were also quite a bit of plot holes.

I truly wish the book had the vibe of the ending through its entirety. I would have enjoyed it so much more. I would like to thank NetGalley and Rebellion for this eARC!

[CadmanReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sylvain Neuvel has been on my must-read list since Sleeping Giants. With The Many, he once again delivers something bold and thought-provoking, though this time with a surprisingly lighter touch. It's more heartfelt than his previous works, even as it wrestles with weighty ideas. It has the warmth and emotional resonance of a sci-fi story by T.J. Klune or Fredrik Backman, showing that Neuvel can blend compassion with cosmic wonder.

The premise hooked me immediately. First contact that involves minds merging feels like both a philosophical thought experiment and a Twilight Zone episode. It reminded me of Andy Weir's short story The Egg in how it explores connection, empathy, and what it means to be human. The characters are written with such sincerity that you feel their confusion, fear, and hope as their world changes around them.

As the story unfolds, it becomes reminiscent of many things: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a zombie story without zombies, a meditation on shared consciousness. Does it go too far at times? Maybe. Did I love it? Absolutely. When the actual cause is revealed, it reframes everything that came before and poses a beautiful, unsettling question: could a utopia actually be possible under these circumstances?

Neuvel's affection for David Bowie is hard to miss; you half expect a character to start quoting "Ground Control to Major Tom" before the final chapter. That same Bowie spirit of curiosity, transformation, and hope permeates the book. Beneath the sci-fi weirdness lies a simple and powerful message: that even when faced with the unknown, we can choose empathy and connection.

Despite the alien premise, The Many ultimately asks us to do what we can, to make the one thing just a little bit better. And in today's world, that feels like exactly the story we need.

[Annette Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Many by Sylvain Neuvel is a unique piece of mind bending or should I say mind melding science fiction that I devoured in a single sitting. Having loved his previous series, the Themis Files, I was excited to pick this one up, and the stunning cover art made me even more eager to get my hands on a copy.
Thankfully the book did not disappoint and I was quickly hooked on this unique first contact tale. This is absolutely a character driven story with the premise being that the minds of five people in a small town merge, so that each experiences the thoughts, emotions memories and even sensations of the others. If you are not invested in each of the characters as individuals, the impact of the merging is of course lessened so it was important to establish the characters quickly and effectively, something that the author did with ease. From baker and single father to a teen questioning their gender identity, to a mild mannered tax accountant and an acerbic doctor, the characters immediately made me interested in how the merging would impact not only their relationships but also how they see themselves through the eyes of the other members of the hive mind. In fact I think personally this was the most interesting aspect of the story for me. There is quite a bit of social commentary woven into the storytelling, some of it is more deftly handled with a lighter touch (my preference) while other "lessons" feel a little more shoehorned in and hammered home. I called this book science fiction earlier, but it does have some horror overtones with the loss of autonomy and of course the spreading of the hive mind through biting , giving the story a hint of zombie and vampire fiction too.
A clever, thought provoking and entertaining read, I was delighted to receive an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

[Ava · Rating 4 out of 5]

For one : I can't wait to get my physical copy and anotate it. I think there's so much to be studied and quoted in this book.
For two (lol) : this book is a zombie story without zombies and an alien story with very little aliens at the same time. This is sci-fi because of the "what ifs" and the rest is just our world if a IF coming from space changes how we think being Earthlings is. This is my type of sci-fi (thank you Sylvain Neuvel for doing it again!)
I was so excited about this upcoming story because I love Sylvain Neuvel's books and I wasn't disappointed. This is a fun story but also a very humane one. It touched upon so many subjects from racism to classism to eco-awareness in a very unexpected but not any-less fun way. I loved Layla's perspective and Sylvain Neuvel really is amazing at multiple-povs. It was such an intricate story and it worked for me !
However. I feel like it was a good thing the book was not any longer. There were moments when I felt like it was a little too wordy (long lists and comparison) without needing to (or at least I didn't understand why it was like that) and the rhythm was losing me sometimes. Thankfully there were many comedic moments that caught my attention again. I think it would've been better not to spell out the stories' lessons learned. I wish it was less telling and more showing.
I highly recommend giving it a go if you want to laugh and grow a certain sense of wanting community. This book really was a fun read for that !
Thank to Netgalley and Solaris Books for this ARC in exchanging for an honest review.
thank you to the author for yet another entertaining book!

[Dima · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exploration of a classic science fiction premise: what happens when human consciousness becomes interconnected, functioning as a single organism? It brought to mind Asimov’s Nemesis for me. The story unfolds in a small town on the shores of one of North America’s Great Lakes, following several protagonists—very different from one another, each flawed and unhappy in their own ways. Their discontent stems largely from a lack of self-acceptance, self-understanding, and meaningful connection with others. All of this changes when an unexplained event binds their minds together. Naturally, things spiral, and compelling ethical questions emerge.

I read the book in a single sitting and enjoyed it immensely. The author is a skilled storyteller: the characters feel real and well-rounded, the dialogue is sharp and natural, and the events unfold with genuine tension and momentum. The pacing is energetic, making it difficult to put down.

That said, it’s not especially memorable. There’s nothing here that lingers or truly surprises—more like watching a very satisfying film that doesn’t leave a lasting impression. I’d readily recommend it to science-fiction fans as a strong pick for a flight or a beach read, but if you’re seeking something deeper or more ambitious, this isn’t quite that.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

My second book from this author and they really do have a lovely writing style. Some beautifully created descriptions and engaging characters. And an ability to make complex ideas accessible to the reader. My only minor issue was the lack of speech marks, hyphens were used for speech instead. While I was able to follow still (much better than using no indication of speech at all) I still wasn’t sure why this was used instead of speech marks and I did find I was tripping up over who was speaking at times. My guess was the author chose this approach because of the hive mind concept in the book.

The whole concept of this book was absolutely fascinating. I was engrossed by this story of a tick that causes a snowballing change through a community. The early parts of the book where we see the one by one build up of the effect was brilliant and I thought the author did well to keep the concept understandable. I did thing it got a bit more confusing towards the end but that might just be because the pace ramped up a lot. The first 2/3 of the novel were really well explored and such an interesting idea. I loved the connections in the community and how everything rippled through. I also loved the choice of characters the author used to highlight different and then joined up experience.

Overall a really engrossing story.

[Vivek Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Many follows a first-contact scenario where an alien presence connects humanity into a shared consciousness - essentially a hive mind where people can access each other’s thoughts, memories, and emotions. Through multiple POVs, the story explores how different individuals react to this sudden, intimate connection and what it might mean for society.

This was a trippy book to start with, and I was genuinely intrigued by the whole hive mind concept and the multiple POVs. It felt very character oriented early on, with distinct voices. There's also an attempt to weave in social commentary - on race, identity, inequality, and human behaviour. For a while, it seemed like it was building toward something thoughtful and layered. But the promise didn't hold.

Despite being character driven, the story somehow loses grip on its own characters. They start to blur together, their arcs feel thin, and the emotional investment just drops off. The pacing doesn’t help either; it drifts instead of building.

The biggest issue, though, is that there’s no real endgame. People gain this shared consciousness, become more peaceful and understanding, and then lose it… only to be slightly nicer? That’s it. It leaves you wondering what the actual idea or takeaway was supposed to be. Interesting premise, uneven execution.

In the end, The Many has an intriguing concept and moments of insight, but it never quite comes together.

[Aimee (Book It Forward) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Many is a very interesting book with a premise that immediately reminded me of the show Pluribus. If you are watching that series, be warned that this story feels eerily similar in concept, right down to the coincidence of characters named Carol. Even so, the book stands on its own with a fascinating first-contact twist centered on minds merging and identities blending.

I really liked this story overall. The idea of multiple people slipping into a shared consciousness is unsettling in the best way, and the author explores it with imagination and tension. Watching these ordinary characters forced to navigate something extraordinary kept me engaged from the start.

That said, I did have some issues with the book. There were moments where the social-justice commentary felt a bit heavy-handed, with several “of course this happened” scenes used to reinforce the eventual “we are one” theme. Those beats pulled me out of the story at times. Still, they didn’t fully diminish how compelling the core idea is.

One element I found surprisingly thought-provoking was the character exploring their gender. Normally, singular they/them pronouns trip my brain a bit while reading, but when the characters begin to merge and become a collective, suddenly the plural pronouns made perfect sense. It even made me wonder if the author intended to highlight the strangeness of using plural terminology for a single person, or if it was a happy thematic coincidence.

In the end, The Many delivers a unique mix of psychological tension, sci-fi mystery, and human connection. Despite a few bumps along the way, it was a genuinely intriguing read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 rounded up!

This is my first Neuvel book (I say as Sleeping Giants stares at me, untouched, from my bookshelf) and my first mass scale hive mind read. I liked it! Maybe I’ll officially crack open Sleeping Giants now.

Thanks to Netgalley and Rebellion for my ARC. I really enjoyed this alien sci-fi, zombie without zombies, cozy-adjacent book. We aren’t just melding minds here, folks, we’re melding genres!

I walked into this one expecting dark and terrifying, and while there are elements of terror, it doesn't read as a horror book. It stays grounded in character work with a throughline of hope and belief in humans. I found myself able to relate to several characters here, even with them being from different walks of life. I only had a slight issue with the novel just blatantly stating its theme or “takeaway” that the reader is supposed to have. It also addresses some hot button topics in a broad manner with a non-groundbreaking solution. It's honestly the most obvious solution, just think of the golden rule, but I can also see readers being unsatisfied with it being an oversimplification.

Overall, I think it's a good read and it's something that blends tidbits from my favorite genres. It doesn't offer a new message for humanity but it does deliver it in a memorable way.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion | Solaris for providing me with arc.
Pub Date Apr 21 2026
I can’t stop thinking how this is very similar to the show Pluribus. The similarities are many /pun not intended/ but the depiction of the collective here is quite unique. This works great as an idea, but I find the conflict of the story missing. The main characters are weak and probably the most uninteresting people ever. The narrative has a lot of repetitiveness and I find the dialog quite awkward and not very realistic. The are some elements that could be developed more, like the way the conscience is spreading. It was too fast and too cliché. But my main dislike comes from the characters we’re following. The lady officer is said to be autistic at the beginning, but honestly if I wasn’t told she is, I wouldn’t come to this conclusion.
Honestly I couldn’t care less, even when animals got involved, which was pretty ridiculous. There was some humor to the story, I can appreciate that and it actually made the book more enjoyable.
This is my second book by this author; the first one I’ve read was The Test. I liked it way more than this one, but it’s not the books fault. Maybe I wasn’t in the right set of mind. I loved similar books before, this one was just too vegan for me.

[Agatha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! 3.5

To start, I don't like the idea of a white Canadian man writing about anti-Black police brutality, it is just simply not your place to do so. The rising action of the story could've been something else, some other form of injustice and still has the same effect.

At first I did think this book would be boring especially because I watched a couple episodes of Pluribus at the same time while reading this, but the reason for the many ended up being very interesting to me and pretty fun! Im not usually a fan of hive mind stories because I don't really see where they can really end up but this one was enjoyable. It wrapped up neatly and had a sweet ending (it was almost like an allegory to me).

Sometimes the representation and diversity of the characters felt cool but then i would swing back to it feeling like this guy was rolling dice to create characters that force as much diversity as possible. An autistic female cop, a Black trans child, a 60 year old racist Jewish woman who's a doctor all in a tiny UP Michigan town, is it realistic or excessive??

[Sylvi Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What would it be like to be everyone? To have every part of you splayed open for all to see?

This was the thought that infectiously spread through my neural pathways as Carole infected Booker. The Many, took this normally terrifying concept and made it beautiful—while still a bit terrifying. Never, has the loss of autonomy piqued my interest in such a positive way.

The cast of characters providing POV perspectives are as impeccably diverse as the floating rock we inhabit. Sylvain Neuvel does not shy from showcasing the very extremes in polarity of human nature. While some characters are infuriating, they provided realistic foils that make the ending feel truly earned.

I found this book to be a refreshing new take on so many critical themes of modern society. I cannot say that it is for everyone, but it is an easy read that will stick with you long after it is closed. If you love the idea of zombies but want a fresh new take on them championing social reform, this is your book.

Thank you to Rebellion | Solaris and NetGalley for the eARC.

4.25 / 5 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this one…. The premise is genuinely intriguing, and I was so curious to see how it would all play out. On paper, this is exactly the kind of story that should work for me.

Unfortunately, the execution didn’t land. The story felt extremely confusing and chaotic, to the point where I often found myself wondering what I was actually reading. Instead of feeling intentionally complex, it felt overwhelming and hard to connect to. The characters also didn’t work for me. They felt flat early on, and even before certain developments in the story, they already blurred together, which made it harder to care about what was happening to them.

That said, the idea behind the book is strong, and I can see what it was trying to do. I kept pushing because I wanted it to come together, but it never fully did for me. I can absolutely see why this would work for some readers, and I respect that, even if it wasn’t for me.

I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humour, fast-paced and thought-provoking

Thank you, NetGalley and Solaris Books, for providing me with an ARC of Sylvain Neuvel ’s, The Many .

The hive mind trope lends itself to go disastrously wrong, but with The Many, Sylvain Neuvel nails it.
It’s pacey and full of humour without reverting to slapstick. It is also thought-provoking and warm.
POV changes feel natural and are perfectly timed. Characters are well rounded, recognisable and interesting – ordinary and unique.
To be everyone, or to be unique? That is the question that lingers after THE END.

Five stars for Sylvain Neuvel’s, The Many – I’ll be reading more from this writer.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Advance copy provided by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.*

I like the concept very much. What would it be like if suddenly our minds merged into one? And it was a surprising twist how he decided the merging would spread from one person to another.

However, I felt the execution of it was less good. and I think I figured out why I didn't enjoy this novel as much as his previous ones. The Themis Files series is based on tell-don't-show, the books are based on interviews and the characters tell the interviewer - and the reader - what happened and how they feel about it. This is exactly the same way Neuvel tells this story, which doesn't work at all. If you are exploring the theme of merging thought and emotion between humans, the reader need to really feel how the characters feel. But they just kept telling me, and it didn't hit me as a reader.

I wonder if this wouldn't have been better as a short story.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is for an ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley.
It starts with a minuscule piece of a celestial object lands on Earth. A forest tick encounters it, then bites a woman. She begins acting erratic and bites someone else, who then follows suit. But after the bites the people find their minds merging, feeling and seeing what each other thinks and sees and realizing how fantastic it is to be merged. While the local police and doctor try to figure out what's behind the biting, the new collective comes up with an idea to share their new understanding.
This was quite different from Neuvel's previous works. While he has mainly written Sci-Fi, The Many swerves into horror territory reminiscent of Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Dawn of the Dead. The story comes back around to a lighter Sci-Fi tale, but ends up weaker than it began. - 3.5/5*

[Fenella McAndrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fun and unique read.

Our story is set in the quaint town of Marquette. Where people are going about living their independent lives. Until one day, they're not.

This book covers the classic sci-fi concept of a hive mind, which is always freaky. Sylvain Neuvel put together some beautiful prose in this book, especially for the chapters from the perspective of the merged characters. However, at a few points, the writing felt a bit verbose, and the hive mind chapters became harder to follow.

Overall, this was a truly unique and engaging read, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a quirky sci-fi!

Thank you NetGalley and Solaris for allowing me to read an ARC of this book!

[Chrys · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️
Absolutely bonkers and yet, it made so much sense at the same time.
The introduction and the first chapter only take two pages, but I knew from just reading them, that this was going to be fun. The author imbues the whole story with an irreverent sense of humour, and a deep understanding of the human condition. There’s a sublime sense of ridiculousness and I think it goes a long way to stop this from being terrifying.
Infection and connection are only an hour apart, and I think in the beginning there’s a really interesting “would I?” But as things progress, I think it could be completely overwhelming.
This is probably going to stay in my head for a long time, and I’ll be recommending it the entire time.