The Last Man: Commercial facts
13 lenses on commercial facts for The Last Man by Mary Shelley. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8 L9 L10 L11 L12 L13
L1. Total word count. Count
1826, 169,311 words. See the full lens on the book page.
L2. Chapter count and average length. Count
1826, 169,311 words. See the full lens on the book page.
L3. Length against modern norms for the genre. Both
169,311 words. Modern science fiction often runs 90,000 to 110,000 words, so this is long for the shelf today. These ranges are rough trade norms, not rules.
At 169,311 words across 29 chapters, the novel is substantially longer than modern science fiction norms (typically 90,000 to 120,000 words). Its length reflects Shelley's leisurely early chapters and extensive philosophical reflection, which modern readers may find slow but which allow deep character development.
L4. First published as a serial or a volume? Research
1826, 169,311 words. See the full lens on the book page.
Facts from outside the text (sales, serial history, adaptations, sequels, most quoted lines). Coming in a later phase, with sources and dates.
L5. Serial instalment breaks and how each ends. Both
The novel was published in three volumes in 1826, likely divided at chapters 10 and 20. Volume 1 ends with Raymond's departure for Greece; Volume 2 ends with Lionel's realisation that hope is dead. Each volume ends on a note of loss, encouraging readers to continue. The structure mirrors the three-part arc of love, ambition, and apocalypse.
Chapters: Ch 10, Ch 20
L6. Sales and reviews in its day. Research
Facts from outside the text (sales, serial history, adaptations, sequels, most quoted lines). Coming in a later phase, with sources and dates.
L7. Adaptations: film, TV, stage, count and type. Research
Facts from outside the text (sales, serial history, adaptations, sequels, most quoted lines). Coming in a later phase, with sources and dates.
L8. Sequels and series. Research
Facts from outside the text (sales, serial history, adaptations, sequels, most quoted lines). Coming in a later phase, with sources and dates.
L9. Modern books in the same mould (comps). AI
Modern comps include Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road' (post-apocalyptic survival, sparse prose, father-child bond), Emily St. John Mandel's 'Station Eleven' (plague, civilisation's collapse, art as witness), and Octavia Butler's 'Parable' series (social breakdown, visionary leadership). All explore how humans endure when systems fail.
L10. Who it would be shelved for today. AI
Today this would be shelved as literary science fiction or speculative fiction, appealing to readers of climate fiction, pandemic narratives, and philosophical dystopias. It suits adult readers interested in historical SF, feminist retellings of canonical texts, and meditations on mortality and meaning.
L11. Content notes. AI
Content notes: death and plague throughout, suicide (Perdita, impostor-prophet), grief and despair, infidelity, social collapse, isolation, existential dread. The novel is philosophically dark but not graphically violent. Suitable for mature readers comfortable with sustained melancholy and themes of human extinction.
L12. A modern pitch line and blurb. AI
When plague wipes out humanity, one man remains to bear witness. Lionel Verney's journey from a desperate youth seeking love to the last survivor on Earth is a meditation on isolation, mortality, and what it means to be human when humanity is gone. A haunting reimagining of the end of the world.
L13. Title style against genre norms. AI
The title 'The Last Man' is direct and declarative, typical of Romantic-era SF. It names the protagonist's ultimate state rather than hinting at plot. Modern genre titles tend toward metaphor or mystery; Shelley's approach is bold and literal, foregrounding the novel's central conceit.
Ask The Last Man a question about its craft (free beta)
Answers cite chapter and paragraph, and every quote is checked against the text. (3 free questions a day).
Weekly email: coming soon
One short email a week on new AI tools for authors. Sign up opens soon.