Last and First Men

By: Olaf Stapledon

Narrated by: Stephen Greif

One of the most extraordinary, imaginative and ambitious novels of the century: a history of the evolution of humankind over the next 2 billion years. Among all science fiction writers Olaf Stapledon stands alone for the sheer scope and ambition of his work. First published in 1930, Last and First Men is full of pioneering speculations about evolution, terraforming, genetic engineering and many other subjects.

©1930 Olaf Stapledon (P)2012 Audible Ltd

i never read anything like this book.

try it if you're ready for something extraordinary. nothing like it.
try it if you're ready for something extraordinary. nothing like it.

Breathtaking scope and vision.

Truly one of the greatest books ever written. There's nothing else like Stapeldon. Make sure to read Starmaker after.

Nothing like thia

It's a little hard, but worth it. One would be hard-pressed to find another work of this kind of imagination, scope, and vision.

Fantastic. Ahead of its time.

Listening to this book, one would expect the story was written relatively recently, maybe the last 30 years. But instead, it was written almost 90 years ago.

The story tracks human evolution through billions of years, touching in the different societies that rise and fall. It’s told entirely in narrative, so don’t expect much in the way of characters, but if you like stories which flesh out a world, this one’s for you.

It is now probably the audiobook I’ve listened to most, and one I expect to enjoy over and over for years to come.

And of course, the performance itself was incredible in that it was effectively invisible. The narrator tells the story so well that you forget him. You forget the story is being told and simply sink into it. Worth your credit and worth your dollar.

Future History: "Life, the Universe, & Everything"

A classic, written over 80 years ago, before the results of World War II were known, and before any of the current technology was conceived (the first binary digital computer and the Turing machine were both not developed until 1936). This is definitely a history, not a story, and there are no characters here. It spans billions of years of human evolution, includes genetic engineering (used to both improve the human species and to save it from extinction, which almost occurs a number of times).

The scope of this book is ambitious, and some of Stapledon's future predictions (of the near future) are, neccessarily, inaccurate. But the philosophical impact is, nevertheless, gratifyingly huge. I first read this book in 1970, and it left an impression on me for the rest of my life. I was pleased to find it in audio, and the reader is a good match. I will listen again, and will probably get the other book of his that I have read, "Starmaker".