Y: The Last Man

Having recently been gifted the last book that I needed to complete the story, I figured it was time to start fresh at book one. And yes, that does mean that this is a re-read; I'm not sure what happened to the original read through that I did, or why it wasn't tracked, but ah well, my thoughts have changed little.

Y: The Last Man has a premise that was either going to be great or really, really dumb. Whilst the first book is predominantly focused on world-building and character introductions, rather than trying to explain how we've arrived at where we're at (indeed, I really like the fact that the "plague" is left as a purposeful mystery, with everything from genetic experimentation to ancient curses to New Age cult ideology to government conspiracy all being equally plausible right now), so far it lands firmly in the former camp.

Particularly by the latter half of the book, the series is clearly going to take some interesting twists and turns in showing how society copes when roughly half of all people (and an entire gender) are entirely eradicated over night. From a societal perspective, I think they've already explored some interesting ground, from the question mark of how gender dynamics in traditional (and particularly, though not solely, US-centric) politics could have some intriguing ramifications (chiefly: very few Republican leaders are women, so if the all the men disappear, then the remaining political body will find itself heavily skewed towards one political ideology), to the excellent look at a utopian society made by female ex-cons let out of their prison. My hope if that the remaining books continue to dive into the broader impacts in these ways, rather than solely focusing on the ever-growing cast of main characters and factions.

Partly because the core main character ‒ our titular "last man", Yorick ‒ isn't all that likeable. In fact, he's a bit of a smarmy ass-hat so far, and hopefully gets some growth (quickly) in book two. At the very least, I'm glad that they've not made him clearly abusive or anything, but let's just say if we were to meet IRL, our politics wouldn't gel that well. Thankfully, the rest of the focus has been a bit more intriguing, and nicely nuanced. I feel like there's plenty of explore in each of our core cast, and lots of room to grow.

Still, they are going to have to address a couple of things fairly quickly. One aspect that has yet to be touched on (at all) is that the plague appears to target Y chromosomes, but not all species have gendered chromosomal make-up that contains Y. A lot of species use ZW, so are they all completely fine? That would help plug a major hole in the plot, which is insects. We're being led to believe that several months have passed since the "gendercide", which would have led to complete ecosystem collapse if insects weren't still reproducing. I realise that I'm massively overthinking this, but given that they've made a clear plot point out of the "not just humans are affected" bit of the curse or whatever it was, I don't think its ridiculous to point out how genuinely catastrophic this would be. It's absurd enough that the rest of society isn't overwhelmed by the sheer level of decay occurring, but there should be some much larger ramifications visible beyond the end of the energy grid.

That said, between the cult-conditioning shown via the Amazons, to the Republican/Democrat stand-offs, to the general shape of society, the story is clearly more focused on the societal and psychological impact of the mitigating event, and rightfully so. There's a lot to be explored there, and some interesting characters to explore it with ‒ once Yorick pulls his head out his ass! 😂

It feels like Y has really begun to find its feet in book two. The story hits the ground running, with some excellent character development and general progression. We get plenty more insight into how different parts of the US ‒ and, to some degree, the rest of the world ‒ are coping in this new world. Several "mysteries" are beginning to unwind, including what the hell is going to happen with the astronauts (honestly, a little bit of a shame that both men had to die in the crash; I would have liked them to survive, and then one to have died immediately on contact with the air, thus proving that whatever caused the "gendercide" is still active, somehow) and why the Israeli's are involved. I also liked that, once again, we see the paranoid and power-hungry fail, replaced with more reasonable leadership.

Then the story takes a turn for the... weird. Look, the second half is equally strong (if not stronger) and continues to world-build and advance the plot nicely. But can we take a second to just appreciate the inanity and meta-humour of the whole "play about the last man on earth"? And why exactly are we introducing a ninja into the mix? Not sure I love the direction that's going...

On the other hand, meeting 711 and the subsequent, shall we say X-rated, sequence of events, was another curveball, but one which held some intriguing and nuanced character moments for Yorick, who is (thankfully!) acting like less of a dick this time around. He's still not a particularly likeable character, but giving him a crash course in psychological revelations to help him get over a combo of survivor's guilt and suicidal ideation did lead to some useful and interesting character development, and helps reframe some of his prior outbursts.

Plus, the whole "Red state militia has become feudal overlords" feels like a solid concept to explore, putting the story back on a solid track, and finally revealing a little more about Yorick's various travelling companions. It sets up book three nicely, gives us a solid "cliffhanger", and generally improves on book one in every way.

If the second outing found its feet, the third is where Y: The Last Man learns how to run!

Honestly, I'm not sure there's much of a bad note to make here. We get plenty more character arcs and solid world-building; we've now officially gone international, which has opened up a lot more plot possibilities; and we've even managed to get some more idea of what's going on with Beth (as well as opening up a legitimate way to get a message through to her; I sincerely hope Yorick has thought of that as well!).

I guess I'm still not entirely thrilled about the ninja, though the revelations around Ampersand neatly close off some of the whackier conspiracy theories (something this book does quite a bit, actually) whilst also providing yet more reasons for them to continue exploring. It's nice that Yorick's having to deal with his insignificance as well, even if the Aboroginal dream-walking stuff with Beth seems to still be hinting at something distinctly supernatural about either him or his immediate surroundings.

Hero also gets a much needed update, and I love that she hasn't just joined the team, but is sent off to help with the other living male on the planet, now that we do have an extra one knocking around. We also finally get some solid glimpses around why she was quite so susceptible to the Amazon's ethos, which helps humanise her yet further.

All-in-all, a really fun arc, with lots of useful stuff. I'm happy that the "splinter group of the covert splinter group" seems to be wrapped up as well, and we seem to be increasingly heading towards a more grounded narrative, with more likeable, more nuanced characters. Solid stuff!

Another solid sequence of plot developments, small titbits of background information, and continued world-building makes this arguably the strongest outing yet (though it's hard to truly say there's much between it and the third book).

I particularly like that the (still living) broader cast is increasingly tied together, and that we've firmly moved past the question of whether the plague is permanent or not. Weirdly, that actually feels like it increases the stakes. Yorick is no longer the only male human left, and both can now walk around outside. And there's always the small possibility that they aren't even the last two; after all, it's becoming increasingly obvious that at least one researcher had predicted the gendercide, and created Ampersand as a means to survive it. Whether or not they ultimately caused the plague, or merely got wind of it early, this still leaves the interesting idea that there could be more men, inoculated in the same way Yorick was (only via a more sanitary means).

I'm also glad to see 355 and Yorick begin to bury the hatchet, and equally glad to see that Rose is beginning to come around from her spy-at-all-costs mission focus; Lord knows that the Doc could use a break for once! (Especially now we've finally delved a bit deeper into her back story.)

On the other hand, following the Beth-centric set up of the previous outing, I'm not sure we get a single update on her through this entire book. She's probably gone to Paris, but who knows if she made it or not. I guess, whilst we tied up a lot of loose ends and further grounded the story towards a seemingly more scientific overall explanation, they had to keep a few mysteries in reserve for the final chapter. Now they just have to stick the landing!

(Also, I'm not sure that making the ninja Chinese (or at least, that's what it seems) is strictly better, but it was at least a nice curveball.)

Alas poor Yorick, we knew him well. Perhaps I should have seen the less-than-entirely-happy ending coming, given the extremely unsubtle name choice and the frequent meta jokes within previous arcs, but I was still a little shocked about how the story wraps up.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's done solidly. I'm not even mad that the gendercide is never truly explained, with a last-minute curveball thrown into the mix that is absolutely not necessary from a plot perspective, but does mean that the more sci-fi explanation we had otherwise been left with remains nothing more than a possibility. And I think it actually makes quite a lot of sense that Beth and Yorick don't end up together, and that he does the "right" thing by Other Beth. Honestly, it ties things up in a much more realistic way than the alternative. But man, you've gotta feel for 355. Her death is handled particularly well, and the art here is beautifully done to really hammer home the impact, but still... 😔

I also quite enjoyed the callbacks to several of the other small characters that we'd bumped into along the way. It definitely wasn't a necessary addition, and did at times feel a little like padding, but the book is a good chunk longer than any of the others, and Y continues to do world-building particularly well, all of which adds to the general feeling of a chapter, a story, coming to an end, and doing so with its head held high.

Are there things I dislike about Y: The Last Man? Sure! It does still get a little too involved in the smaller narrative flourishes whilst missing out on answering some of the bigger questions; a few of the "happy (ish) ever afters" seemed a little odd; the whole finale conversation between Yorick and his clone worked well, but I do wish they would have done it in some kind of chronological sequence, because it became very confusing to track at points; and, above all else, I really wish they would cut back on tossing "retard" (and a few other words) around with such little care. (To be clear: I don't mind the language over all, and in most cases I think it's used very effectively. F-bombs and even the n-word are treated as you'd expect, used with character or narrative purpose, and work well. But the flippant use of the r-word, and to a lesser degree the f-slur, both dates the book and feels incredible cringey, distracting from the story rather than emphasising it.)

But those are minor nitpicks. Overall, the story is engaging, the characters are solid, the art and writing are A-grade, and the pacing is spot on. Taken as a whole, my earlier annoyances with Yorick become, well, an acceptable frustration with a protagonist who genuinely grows, evolves, and becomes something far more likeable than he would have been had he started out as a perfect "hero". And the rest of the cast, of whom there are a great and well-balanced diversity, in every sense, all build nicely alongside, becoming nuanced, intricate, and much loved in the process. I love that the books are scattered with real examples of sexism, both historic and current, and particularly how well it shines a light on societies back sliding e.g. when they comment on how Australia was one of the first countries to accept female politicians, but then barely elects any each year. It's a story as much about people as it is about its own cast.

In other words: this is a great idea, well executed, and I will be shocked if I don't return to it many more times in the future.