This is simple a slightly revisited, book on humans form other sources... Clearly a poor effect, I've all but given up to this line of products..

One sentence capsule: This product is a waste of time, energy, money, and space, that simply culls flavor text from other, better products and puts it into a single deeply disappointing volume.

Slightly expanded review: As a dedicated player of humans, I had long been disappointed by Paizo's lack of options for that race. Although we are repeatedly told that humans are Golarion's most adaptable, widespread, versatile, and successful race, there is virtually no game-mechanic crunch to support that. The extra feat and extra skill point equate to raw power, yes, but there is virtually nothing a human character can do that a member of any other race can't do as well. Dwarves get Steel Soul; elves and half-elves get the Arcane Archer prestige class; gnomes get Gnome Trickster; half-orcs can have Keen Scent; halflings are sometimes Well-Prepared. Humans can be Eclectic or have Racial Heritage, which...lets them act more like other races. This is the book that should have filled that gap, but instead we get more fluff about different cultures and a couple of pages about a god who's been dead for a century.

This was a chance for Paizo to give players reasons why humans are so successful in so many different areas of Golarion by giving them something, anything, that they can do that other races can't. A few feats, a prestige class, something. Instead, Paizo fumbled its roll.

Piazo really needs to make an effort to offer more than what players already have anyway. Any GM could have cut and pasted handout sheets from other sources for players to read other than to have them use the material offered in this book. Piazo didn't write thie book for GMs or for players. GMs want more... players want more. Piazo needs to focus on giving MORE to people when people pay good money for MORE.

Having detailed background information on a dead god is not worth the sticker price -- and labelling the book as targeted to players only is not justification to skimp. As a GM, owning the Inner Sea Guide does not mean you have all of the information printed in Orcs of Golarion or Dwarves of Golarion or Goblins of Golarion... but evidently the rules have changed for Humans of Golarion. I bought Orcs and Dwarves so I could have MORE, and MORE is what I paid for and MORE is what they gave me!

It is dishonest to publish the book this way and NOT provide the caveate "pretty much most of what you read in here can be found elsewhere." It is also dishonest to charge people for something they already have.

To be honest, this book should have been titled, "Some stuff about Aroden." Piazo should scrap this project, and re-offer it as colorful and cultural Companions going into detail for every human racial group on Golarion. THAT would be more player oriented -- what does a player with a Varisian Character need to know about Garundi that the GM doesn't? Why does that player need to know anything about Aroden that a GM doesn't?

This companion was a swing and a miss. No bones about it.

See my full review here.

There has been quite a bit of criticism of Humans of Golarion. Many people feel that the book doesn’t offer much new for people who already own the Inner Sea World Guide or its predecessor, the Pathfinder Campaign Setting. To a certain extent this is true. Each human racial group, for example, gets a one-page write-up like the equivalent one-page write-up in the Inner Sea World Guide. They are not word-for-word copies. Instead, the Humans of Golarion write-ups present a more player-orientated description of the groups. However, there is no denying that the information contained within them is very similar to that in the Inner Sea World Guide, and people who have read that book (or the Campaign Setting) are not going to discover much that is new in them. As such, Humans of Golarion seems a much less exciting or interesting read than the other race books, as it doesn’t provide new insights into humans in the way that a book like Gnomes of Golarion provides new insights on gnomes.

I think one thing that needs remembering, though, is that the target audience of Humans of Golarion isn’t really GMs who are thoroughly familiar with the Inner Sea World Guide or its predecessor. For players who are new to the Golarion setting, it provides a good overview of human cultures, and for all players (new and old alike), it provides game options (such as traits and spells) for human characters. If you want more in-depth information about the various human societies, there are other books available in the Player Companion line that do just that: any of the books on specific countries, such as Andoran, Spirit of Liberty or Cheliax, Empire of Devils. After all, these are primarily human countries, and they provide new insights into those cultures.

One thing Humans of Golarion does offer that you won’t find in any other book to date is full information on the faith of Aroden. As a dead god, Aroden doesn’t have much of a following left, but he was an extremely important god in the history of the world, and his legacy still has a major impact on current life. There may not be any true clerics of Aroden left, but there are still a few worshippers who cling to the belief that one day Aroden might return. The two-page write-up on Aroden provides players and GMs with a valuable resource on what kind of faith those hold-outs follow. Also, if a GM wishes to set a game in Golarion’s past before the death of Aroden, players now have all the information needed to play a cleric of Aroden in such a campaign.

Overall, while Humans of Golarion is not the most “exciting” book in the Pathfinder Player Companion line, it does what it sets out to do: provide an overview of human cultures and offer options for human characters. Indeed, despite its more mundane qualities, it is a book that is likely to see more in-game use than some of the other race books, such as Goblins of Golarion. As such, it’s a book worth having. Just don’t expect to be wowed.

Rounding out the Races of Golarion books Humans of Golarion falls short because it focuses on races where other books (orcs, gnomes) delve deeper. Still, for a player creating a new character, it is a great resource. Check my full review: Humans of Golarion

While there are several aspects of this book I really enjoy, any player who already has the Inner Sea Guide will probably feel let down.

For the full review head over to seekersofsecrets.com

I can understand why people would feel cheated after reading this. The problem is that it tries to cover all the ethnicities. Compared to bombs like Gnome and Orcs that provide a ton more detail (since they can really focus - their equivalents would be region describing books in this respect) it feels a bit lacking, but the book certainly does a good job portraying the ethnicities from their point of view, thus bringing them closer to the player. The other books are more about what the ethnicities look like from the outside IMO. Seill a good book, but not as great.

This book has some really good content for background material on the different races of human and historical information on the human kingdoms. While this book is rules light, it is not light in flavorful information that would help roleplaying humans and setting up background for humancentric settings.
I enjoy the companion line as supplements for player information and npc building guidelines. The drawback to the line is that they are very text heavy and have to be read to really be useful. I assume that the majority of bad reviews for a book like this has to do with its lack of rules crunch, its focus on flavor over rules, and the textheavy nature of the book. This book doesn't appear to be a quick reference but is very useful if read.
If you like books with lots of rich background and history, and lots of flavor to help roleplaying human characters and human npcs this book is worth purchasing. If you are just looking for rules, feats, traits, spells, and things to add to character builds, take a pass on this book.

Really enjoyed this book particularly the section on Aroden. Yes several parts you can find in other books but it is good to have it all in one place instead of spread out over multiple companions or Chronicle books (Many of which are far to spoilerish to just hand a player and let them read for details.

An excellent player’s guide!

I have all the racial player companions which are perfect for my purposes and “Humans of Golarion” is no exception!

As I, the GM, am making last minute preparations before game time and some or all of the players have selected their pre-generated characters I say, “Great, I see you selected the “___________”. Here is the player companion about that race. Skim through here if you like and it will briefly explain how your character fits racially into this setting.” My players love it! Also these books are indispensable at convention games.

Now that I have “Humans of Golarion” I can now say “Great, I see you selected the Human character. There are several ethnicities to choose from to add variety in appearance, depth in character background, and some unique traits to your otherwise cookie cutter “human”.

My players do not want to read the Inner Sea Campaign Setting book, they want to "Kill things and take their stuff!" So 32 pages let’s you get right to the point. As the GM, I would love for the book to go on and on with pages of feats, spells, and traits but this book isn't for me, it is for the players.

This has inspired me to run an adventure comprised of human characters each from 4 – 6 of the 12 different ethnic groups.