Themis Files Trilogy (Sleeping Giants, Waking Gods, Only Human) by Sylvain Neuvel

Thousands of years ago, an advanced alien race arrived on our planet, disassembled a giant robot, and buried its pieces all over the globe. In our time, one day an 11-year-old girl wanders through some woods at night and falls in a pit–and into the palm of a huge metallic hand. For years the greatest minds in science and government can make no sense of it, until that same girl–now grown up–puts the clues together and oversees a global project to find and put together the robot.

What does it all mean? What is the robot capable of? Why was it left here? Who is the mysterious, anonymous intelligence official who seems to have unlimited government resources and the ability to start or prevent military operations? Why does a seemingly average, middle-aged private citizen have a detailed knowledge of the aliens who showed up thousands of years ago but haven’t been seen or heard from since?

Sylvain Neuvel’s trilogy The Themis Files is a gripping and intelligent exploration of very real and contemporary questions. It touches on genetics and race, politics, war, the moral quagmires of tribalism and xenophobia, intense and dysfunctional relationships both romantic and parental, the philosophy and real-world impact of interventionism and isolationism on a global and intergalactic scale, cloning, and more.

All three novels are presented in a format of log files–meeting transcripts and/or diary entries from a variety of characters. There is no third person narration. It takes a lot for me to overcome my dislike of this approach (I couldn’t get in to World War Z for that reason); it takes significant skill to advance a (very complicated) plot and develop one’s characters in this way, but Neuvel succeeds admirably and ably.

This tale has so many twists and turns; I seldom saw them coming, but looking back they all make sense. If you like sci-fi stories with real humanity and a thoughtful exploration of difficult but realistic issues, I highly recommend The Themis Files.

Content warning: a medium amount of language, but nothing else objectionable for adults.

Purchase them on Amazon.