Why Be the Last Man?

Some ladies might think a world without men would be far more peaceful, but there would be huge changes to the structure of the world without men, and the continuation of the species would be the last thing on everyone's mind. In the first volume of Y: The Last Man, Unmanned, by Brian K. Vaughan, the world loses every male mammal... except two. 

Yorick has a smoking hot girlfriend who is currently traipsing around the Outback, but he fully intends on proposing to her. Meanwhile, his mother is trying to hold her own in Congress, and his sister, Hero, is living up to her name as an EMT. Everything seems normal. Normal, until everything isn't. All of a sudden, every man and male mammal in the world dies. Women around the globe watch their fathers, sons, husband, friends, coworkers, etc. drop dead in front of their eyes. Everyone, that is, except Yorick. A borderline agoraphobic, Yorick doesn't really leave his apartment. He offered to train a service monkey to help handicapped people, but so far the only thing he has accomplished is ducking when Ampersand flings his poo at Yorick's head. 

Yorick is a goofball, and certainly not anyone's idea of the epitome of the last man on earth, but he is all the human race has left. With all the men gone, the women have had to step in, but none can agree on how to run things. The Amazons believe the plague was the world's savior, and try to eliminate all chances of a baby boy ever being born. The few remaining members of Congress are trying to hold things together, but the wives of prominent Republicans don't agree with how they "took over the government." Meanwhile, there are millions of bodies of men just rotting in offices and apartments that have to be incinerated. The world has gone to hell in a handbag, and Yorick is the last hope for mankind?!

First of all, I have read this series before. It was quite some time ago, and I loved it so much, I certainly did not take my time to savor it. After having finished all of Vaughan's Saga so far, I needed more of his genius, so I decided to reread this series, and I am so glad I did. It really is brilliant. First of all, Yorick is awesome. He is a total screw-up, but you won't be able to resist his delightful, scampish charm! Seriously. Yorick is absurd and fabulous all in one, and I just LOVE him SO much! So, the idea that this knucklehead is the last man on earth makes this series even more spectacular. 

Add to that the great illustrations (not as stunning as Saga, but pretty darned good) and an incredible story line, and you have yourself one winning graphic novel series here. My only regret for purchasing these is that I couldn't control myself and wait for the hardcovers, because I imagine I will be rereading this series frequently. This volume is the basic backstory leading up to the death of all men, and the beginning of Yorick's travels. It will give you a good snapshot of the world without men, but it doesn't get to the heart of the story... for that you need Volume 2!!

A Promising Conclusion

Gaia is a strong woman who was raised to be a midwife in a land where babies were taken to supply the walled city with offspring. When everything fell apart, she left the city to take her chances in the wasteland where she happened upon a town that worshipped women and their very few offspring... a little too much. But having decided to leave Sylum with over a thousand members (mostly male) of its population, she returns to the one place that she never thought she'd see again. Caragh O'Brien's Promised concludes the dystopian trilogy with the final transition for the Gaia, the humble midwife turned leader.

Gaia has taken a huge risk leaving Sylum, and an even larger risk taking her people to Wharfton, but she doesn't have many choices, especially since "her people" includes the crims (criminals). When they arrive, the people of the Enclave are understandably on edge about their presence, but a lot has changed in Wharfton. The inability to reproduce is the least of the worries of the people inside and outside the walls as hemophilia rampages through the new generations, leaving the people as vulnerable as they were when Gaia left them... maybe even more so.

The one person greedily happy to see Gaia is the Protectorate. With his civilization on the brink of extinction, he knows Gaia and her rare DNA hold the key to survival (and the reinsurance of his reign). With her people camped out in Unlake, Gaia depends on the Protectorate to give them the water they need to settle and survive, but what she doesn't expect is how far he is willing to go to get what he deserves. And Gaia takes her position as the leader of New Sylum very seriously...

This has been such a strong dystopia, so it was bittersweet to get the final book in the mail. I wanted to read it, but I also didn't want the series to end. And after having the lovely opportunity to meet Caragh O'Brien at a local bookstore, I was mesmerized even more by this trilogy (she is a DELIGHTFUL woman!). And I have to say, this book did not disappoint. It took Gaia's story, which has had a number of transitions and transformations, and it ended in a way I couldn't imagine. I loved it!

Gaia went from a festering novice full of anger for the establishment to a strong leader who wasn't willing to give up, and it was great to watch. My one complaint was that she simply couldn't stop going back into the Enclave! She gets tortured, threatened, imprisoned, etc., and still she marches, slinks, and crawls her way back in time and time again. I wanted to smack her by third time she went in after Leon. Sure, this series has many darks corners, but its dystopic web is unmatched. I really loved this series, and this conclusion doesn't disappoint. But beware... it is going someplace you might not be ready to travel!

Women Rule and Men Drool

When we last saw Gaia, the midwife from the Enclave, she had been held prisoner inside the walled city and found her mother, who she feared had died. Her mother was pregnant and Gaia was forced to serve as her midwife. After losing her mother in childbirth, she is determined to save her sister. Aided by the guard she cared more about than she cares to admit, Leon, Gaia escapes into the Wasteland. At the beginning of the sequel Prized, Caragh O'Brien, we find Gaia and her sister Maya barely alive in the Wasteland... but still free of the Enclave.


Maya has stopped crying and Gaia knows the end is near. They won't last much longer. Just as she is about to give up, a rider on horseback finds her. She thought horses were extinct! Peter takes her back to Sylum, the community where women are dying out and the ones left control the community. Unlike the Enclave, in Sylum, women are the only citizens who matter and the only ones to vote. Matrarc, the "matriarch" of the community, takes Maya from Gaia to be placed with another family and warns Gaia about the unfortunate reality of Sylum: if you stay, you will have to go through the "entry sickness". Once your body acclimates to Sylum, you will never be able to leave. People have tried and always end up dying in the Wasteland. No one knows what happens to your body in Sylum to keep you from leaving, but they do know that once you make the choice to stay, you have to accept your life will remain in Sylum forever.


Gaia stays, but only for her sister. She fills the space of the long-gone midwife, but butts heads with Matrarc for assisting in a miscarriage. In a society where only 1 in 10 babies is a girl, they realize every baby is precious, but the way to maintain order is to ensure families remain together and the women have strict rules to protect them. Therefore, no man can touch a woman and a kiss is considered attempted rape. As Gaia gets to know Peter, who saved her form the Wasteland, and Will, Peter's brother, she realizes how restricting life must be for people who can't even hug or hold hands unless they are getting married. When Leon shows up from the Wasteland, Gaia knows she must save him from the prison. What she doesn't expect is Leon's bitterness about how well she has finally acclimated to a society where Gaia and the rest of the women are in charge. Now she must find a way to get her sister back and to prove to Leon how sorry she is. Not an easy thing to do when he is in jail and her every move is watched carefully.


It is no secret that I loved Birthmarked, but Prized was a brilliant sequel. It gave us two totally different dystopic worlds within the same series and with the same characters. It would make sense that in Gaia's world, there are entire civilizations completed separated by the Wastelands and other geographic obstacles, and it would only make sense that they would be totally and completely different. This brilliant move made this book just as exciting as the first book in the series. And the idea of a community where women's numbers are dwindling and women are in complete control is fascinating. There was a logical reason for it- men outnumbering women and all trapped there might endanger the women- but it had gone too far to a point where men were little more than slaves. It was an interesting flip flop to something our students are used to learning about and would spark some interesting discussions.


My one very, very tiny pet peeve was some of the jargon or terms used in Sylum. Cuzines were the governing body of women, all married women in proper standing were referred to as Mlady and single women in proper standing were Mlass. Women who were disgraced and refused to marry were called libbies and their prefix was Mx. It was a little confusing at first, but luckily the terminology was limited and didn't overpower the story. I think a nice addition to the book would have been a short glossary for people getting adjusted to the language used in the community. Otherwise, this was a brilliant sequel. The characters continue to be deep and realistic. The story is intricate and beautiful, and the reader, though O'Brien's wonderful prose, finds themselves immersed into the world along with Gaia, tough choices and all. I promise, you are going to go into this book thinking you know where you stand on things and end up questioning everything you thought you understood! 

Would it Be the Same without Men?

In my quest for more and more dystopias, I found two books about a future where there are few men, if any. One was written by a man, one by a woman. I couldn't wait to see the difference between the two! Nomansland by Lesley Hauge is the woman's perspective of what life would be like without men.

Keller is a Tracker "in training". Trackers protect the Foundland from interlopers... men in particular. Foundland has survived for generations as a woman-only civilization and would like to keep it that way. After sickness and mutations decimated the population, a group of women moved north to a college campus where they have learned to survive. Everyone has a job, but everyone may be subject to impregnation if the Committee suspects a wave of fertility is spreading. Impregnation is not optional, and is done from sperm saved from a sperm bank, but Trackers are rarely impregnated.

When the rebellious Laing finds a house from before, the girls sneak off every chance they get to revel in the found objects. They still don't know why the Committee members are at the campus, but they can't resist the house and its forbidden objects like high heels, makeup, magazines, and most forbidden in Foundland, mirrors. But there is more to Foundland than they are told. While found objects and fashion are forbidden, the Committee uses them regularly. They have to come from somewhere. Keller begins to suspect there is more to Foundland and the world than they have been led to believe. But can she stand up against what she has always known?

This book had a really great premise, but I am afraid it fell a little short for me. It was really good, but I wouldn't say it was excellent or my favorite dystopian world. The characters were interesting, but you don't learn about anyone other than Keller in much depth until the very end. Amos, the experienced Tracker, is a wonderful mix of obedience and rebel that will keep you wanted more. But the book starts a little slow. Just when things really picked up and got interesting, it ended! And search as I might for the possibility of a sequel, I think I might not got any closure. If Hauge knew what was good for her book, she would continue the story.

The writing is fairly simple, but the terms used and descriptions are sometimes difficult to understand. You know the objects they are describing are things we are familiar with, but sometimes it takes a bit to figure out what they are talking about. I think my students would have a difficult time understanding the blind obedience, but maybe it would be a great lesson for them! In Nomansland, rebellion for rebellion's sake is pointless, but rebellion for freedom is impossible to ignore...