Review ~The Humans by Matt Haig

Canongate Books
May 9 2013

There's No Place Like Home

I have a fridge magnet which reads “I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe” and this is exactly how I felt whilst reading this latest offering from the pen of talented author, Matt Haig. There is no doubt that he is the master of the slightly quirky story, and effortlessly creates a whole set of scenarios which in reality shouldn't work, but which invariably do work very well.

In The Humans he has created a brave new world which is seen through the eyes of an unnamed alien who has been sent to earth to take over the persona of Cambridge mathematical genius Professor Andrew Martin, who has recently cracked the elusive Riemann Hypothesis, the outcome of which will change the human race forever.

As always, the story draws you in from the beginning, and before long you are laughing out loud at some of the one liners, most of which are inspired - there’s are so many to choose from, but my favourite has to be:

A cow is an Earth-dwelling animal...which humans treat as a one-stop shop for food, liquid refreshment, fertiliser and designer footwear.

To write any more about the story would be to do the book a great disservice. It’s one of those books which deserves to be read in one sitting with no misconceptions. It will make you laugh, it will make you smile, and ultimately it will make you feel good.

Read it.

More about Matt Haig