On a wet Friday evening, Professor Andrew Martin of Cambridge University solves the world’s greatest outstanding mathematical puzzle – and then he disappears. He is found the next morning, wandering naked at a motorway service station. What accounts for his startling behaviour, and the radical change in his personality?
As we find out before long, Professor Martin’s solving of the equation – which would lead to huge advances in technology and knowledge – alerts the residents of the distant planet of Vonnodoria, who decide that the human race is far too violent, greedy and unpleasant to use such knowledge wisely. They therefore kill him and replace him with one of their own - a vastly intelligent but somehow rather hapless Vonnodorian, whose life as a human starts when he is deposited, identical to the Professor in every way, but stark naked, near to the service station. His learning curve (or should that be learning cliff?) starts from there, as he negotiates the hazards of being a member of this highly unstable and emotional species, and tries to fit in - not helped by the fact that all his initial data on how to be human is gleaned from the pages of a Cosmopolitan glanced at in the service station shop.
If all this sounds like a tenuous start to a fantastic novel, do not be fooled! This is a story that could have turned tragic if poorly handled, but Matt Haig's fantastic writing and gentle evocation of our friend the Vonnodorian makes for a warm, funny, suprising, sometimes dark but ultimately redemptive read. Haig's skill is to see the human race as an outsider would, if starting from scratch. We are definitely a strange lot, particularly if seen from the point of view of a species that knows no suffering, sadness or violence, but no love, affection or family either. As the novel progresses, our alien friend, at first frightened, puzzled and revolted by humans and their emotions, begins to understand and then empathise and even to feel affection for them – particulary for ‘his’ (Professor Martin’s) wife and son – which is a bit of a problem as the second part of his mission is to destroy them.
In the acknowledgements Haig reveals that the idea for the book came to him some years back when he was in the throes of a panic disorder, a sort of a breakdown, and so the source of his deep understanding of what it means and feels like to be ‘alien’ is revealed. That hell he went through has done him, and us, a great service. This is a novel that resonates and stays with the reader for a long time – you too will ponder the meaning of life and the nature of humanity – and will enjoy a lot of laughter along the way.
Find out more about The Humans.