THE LAST HUMAN

The Life Interstellar by Zack Jordan is a rip-roaring, unapologetic space opera set in a crowded galaxy where Humans, a restricted species, are extinct (and in some records, exterminated). The novel, the first in a planned series, was the winner of The Nerdist’s space opera contest on InkShares, and there already is film interest.

Sarya Vald is the galaxy’s worst nightmare: a Human. Fortunately, she’s the last one. Adopted and raised by her bondmother Senya, a terrifying sentient spider-like species known as a Widow, Sarya has lived on a space station her entire life. When Senya returns home from work to find her daughter in tears – teased again because she lacks a biological connection to the Network - she surprises her with an augmented reality connection prosthetic so she can communicate non-verbally with her classmates and she is overjoyed. But her joy doesn’t last for long—the station’s central intelligence ELLIE, a 1,500 year-old AI, instantly hones in on her and identifies her as a restricted species—and threatens to throw her out the nearest airlock. Forced to flee as the station’s inhabitants begin to riot, Sarya commandeers a ship and heads for the edge of civilization. Years later, ships have returned from the less-traveled tradeways of the Rim, missing cargo and crew members but bearing tales of a new band of smugglers and pirates, headed by a captain who looks a lot like the galaxy’s worst nightmare: a real-live Human. Sarya. A living legend. She will terrorize the tradeways of a galaxy that doesn’t want her to even exist, come to grips with Humanity, and even meet God Itself in her quest to restart the Human species. Zack Jordan is a game designer, professional musician and programmer from Chicago, Illinois. He is planning to Kickstart a board game set in The Life Interstellar universe later this year. This is his first novel.