Wayward and The Last Town ― Blake Crouch ― “I think I finally understand why God went away and left the world to destroy itself.”

After a few months of reading and stopping of postponing and getting excited, I finally finished the trilogy of Pines. I guess you have already read my review of the first book, but if not, you have to do it right here. Here I will share the review of the second the third book.

While reading, I started to wonder: Is Crouch retaking the Victorian fear initiated by Darwin? The theory that humankind can evolve and de-evolve. We will need to define if in this books, humanity is going backwards or forward.

It might not have the same effect it had had in the past, but the dangers are still present in the human gen. Save the human race, is that really needed? Isn’t humanity trying to destroy itself since the very beginning of time? Isn’t humanity the only reason why the world is dying?

Are these intelligent monsters just a representation of the decay of humankind? Pines, Wayward, and Last Town include the same elements that Gothic literature had back in the late 1800s. The scientist that plays god and we can clearly see that on the quote that I selected for this entry. Humanity is just going back to its roots. The horrors of the Victorians include the fear of going savage and lose their civilization and civilized status. Multiple works have address this issue like “The Island of Dr Moreau” and others.

I am a new era romantic, and I love the fact that nature always takes over whatever humanity has done, and I see the point of going back to nature and the importance of preservation. On this books, Crouch show us how humanity move into a savage state. For me, humanity is going back to where it came from, nature. Throughout the novels, we can see how nature has overtaken all the world and nature becomes the predominant specie present in the world. However, the questions is still there: did humanity evolve? or did it de-evolve?

Crouch not only shows this part of humanity, but also incurs on one of the most horrible actions of humanity: war. With the main character, Crouch shows the audile, the horrible repercussions of warfare and its psychological damage. Even though those skills become a nice set of assets for the main character, but aren’t those skills a mere representation of savagery? Aren’t we already de-evolved?

So, the kingdom’s council has given this book:

5 coronas