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The Forever Watch
An exciting new novel from a bold up-and-coming sci fi talent, The Forever Watch is so full of twists and surprises it's impossible to put down.
All that is left of humanity is on a thousand-year journey to a new planet aboard one ship, The Noah, which is also carrying a dangerous serial killer...
As a City Planner on the Noah, Hana Dempsey is a gifted psychic, economist, hacker and bureaucrat and is considered "mission critical." She is non-replaceable, important, essential, but after serving her mandatory Breeding Duty, the impregnation and birthing that all women are obligated to undergo, her life loses purpose as she privately mourns the child she will never be permitted to know.
When Policeman Leonard Barrens enlists her and her hacking skills in the unofficial investigation of his mentor's violent death, Dempsey finds herself increasingly captivated by both the case and Barrens himself. According to Information Security, the missing man has simply "Retired," nothing unusual. Together they follow the trail left by the mutilated remains. Their investigation takes them through lost dataspaces and deep into the uninhabited regions of the ship, where they discover that the answer may not be as simple as a serial killer after all.
What they do with that answer will determine the fate of all humanity in David Ramirez's thrilling page turner.
All that is left of humanity is on a thousand-year journey to a new planet aboard one ship, The Noah, which is also carrying a dangerous serial killer...
As a City Planner on the Noah, Hana Dempsey is a gifted psychic, economist, hacker and bureaucrat and is considered "mission critical." She is non-replaceable, important, essential, but after serving her mandatory Breeding Duty, the impregnation and birthing that all women are obligated to undergo, her life loses purpose as she privately mourns the child she will never be permitted to know.
When Policeman Leonard Barrens enlists her and her hacking skills in the unofficial investigation of his mentor's violent death, Dempsey finds herself increasingly captivated by both the case and Barrens himself. According to Information Security, the missing man has simply "Retired," nothing unusual. Together they follow the trail left by the mutilated remains. Their investigation takes them through lost dataspaces and deep into the uninhabited regions of the ship, where they discover that the answer may not be as simple as a serial killer after all.
What they do with that answer will determine the fate of all humanity in David Ramirez's thrilling page turner.
416 pages, Paperback
First published April 22, 2014
40 people are currently reading
2691 people want to read
About the author
David B. Ramirez
2 books61 followersDAVID RAMIREZ is an ex-scientist who divides his time between Oakland, CA, and Quezon City, Philippines. Once a molecular biologist who worked on the Human Genome Project, Ramirez returned to the Philippines to get married to his highschool sweetheart.
He dabbled in computer science and the last STEM project he worked on was programming part of the information system for the chronobiologists of EUCLOCK, a cooperative project between European research groups on the study of circadian rhythms in model organisms and humans.
He dabbled in computer science and the last STEM project he worked on was programming part of the information system for the chronobiologists of EUCLOCK, a cooperative project between European research groups on the study of circadian rhythms in model organisms and humans.
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February 28, 2014Ahem. I'm not putting in a rating.
I'm the David Ramirez that's the author of this book =)
This is my debut novel, by the way. Other works are by other person(s) with the same name.
I'm the David Ramirez that's the author of this book =)
This is my debut novel, by the way. Other works are by other person(s) with the same name.
June 11, 2014
2.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.blogspot.com/201...
I don’t DNF books. I’m sure that is in large part due to my obsessive completionist nature. I’m still trying to learn to let go, because as everyone so wisely says, life is too short for books you don’t enjoy. But I just can’t help it. And here’s what I think is another reason for my perseverance: Hope. HOPE that the book will get better, HOPE that the story will eventually pick up, HOPE that I’ll finally be able to connect with the characters. After all, it’s happened before. There’s a good handful of books in my 4 or 5 star pile including a couple on my Favorites shelf that I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of experiencing, if I’d gone with the instinct to put them down. Sometimes, my stubbornness pays off.
A lot of the times though, it doesn’t. The Forever Watch was one such book. I had high hopes for it, because even though it got off to a slow start, the ideas and world building it in were phenomenal and when the story started picking up around the 10% mark I thought to myself, “Helloooo, now we’re cooking with gas!”
But just as suddenly as things picked up, they slowed way down again. It happened again around the halfway point. And again around 75%. Every time I thought I was finally getting somewhere with this book, the story would plunge me right back into the usual meandering, aimless pace.
It was disappointing. And even more so because of the incredible foundation laid out for us in the first part of the novel. The planet Earth has died and been abandoned, so our story takes place on a generational ship called the Noah, traveling on a centuries-long journey towards Canaan, humanity’s new hope for a home. The society on the Noah is strictly regulated with highly advanced technology, with programs like forced retirements, mandatory breeding duty for women, and designated Keepers to raise children. Everyone is highly specialized for their roles on the ship, and certain individuals are gifted with powers or implants, giving them abilities like telekinesis or super strength. Every angle of this highly intriguing dystopian society felt impressively detailed and well thought out.
But even though the world building was simply amazing, The Forever Watch faltered for me in other areas. Hana Dempsey, the novel’s main character has just completed her breeding duties, waking up from a nine-months-long induced sleep. Breeders are placed in this state for the whole duration of their pregnancy and never get to see their babies, but while Hana was aware of this, what she did not expect is the secret loss she feels now, yearning for the child she would never know. At first, I thought the narrative would continue exploring this heartbreaking thread, but then it switches tack, introducing Leonard Barrens, with whom Hana has a very special relationship. A police officer running an investigation into the violent death of his mentor, Barrens turns to her for help, and just like that the matter of her baby was relegated to the background, and doesn’t come back again until much later in the book. It was a bit maddening.
Still, I can never resist a good murder mystery and a hunt for a serial killer, in this case dubbed “Mincemeat”. But The Forever Watch isn’t your usual murder mystery either, since it doesn’t have that same dramatic tension. Granted, the book had a few surprises that hooked me in, but otherwise the plot could barely hold my attention from all the scientific jargon and unnecessary exposition which was all white noise distracting me from the main story. I felt no connection to either Hana or Barrens whose personalities were as sterile and rigid as their social environment – which might have been by design, but either way it did nothing for me. Consequently, I also didn’t care much for their romantic relationship.
The Forever Watch therefore gets high marks from me for innovation and world building, but unfortunately I am not too fond of the story or its execution. There were some great moments, but they were few and far between, not enough to generate any sustained momentum. Admittedly, the revelation at the end about Mincemeat and how everything was linked together was pretty mind-blowing, but because I place so much importance on storytelling and character development, the inconsistent pacing and my ambivalence towards Hana and Barrens ultimately made me less excited about the final outcome. I think other readers may find lots to like about this book, but in the end it just wasn’t for me.
I don’t DNF books. I’m sure that is in large part due to my obsessive completionist nature. I’m still trying to learn to let go, because as everyone so wisely says, life is too short for books you don’t enjoy. But I just can’t help it. And here’s what I think is another reason for my perseverance: Hope. HOPE that the book will get better, HOPE that the story will eventually pick up, HOPE that I’ll finally be able to connect with the characters. After all, it’s happened before. There’s a good handful of books in my 4 or 5 star pile including a couple on my Favorites shelf that I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of experiencing, if I’d gone with the instinct to put them down. Sometimes, my stubbornness pays off.
A lot of the times though, it doesn’t. The Forever Watch was one such book. I had high hopes for it, because even though it got off to a slow start, the ideas and world building it in were phenomenal and when the story started picking up around the 10% mark I thought to myself, “Helloooo, now we’re cooking with gas!”
But just as suddenly as things picked up, they slowed way down again. It happened again around the halfway point. And again around 75%. Every time I thought I was finally getting somewhere with this book, the story would plunge me right back into the usual meandering, aimless pace.
It was disappointing. And even more so because of the incredible foundation laid out for us in the first part of the novel. The planet Earth has died and been abandoned, so our story takes place on a generational ship called the Noah, traveling on a centuries-long journey towards Canaan, humanity’s new hope for a home. The society on the Noah is strictly regulated with highly advanced technology, with programs like forced retirements, mandatory breeding duty for women, and designated Keepers to raise children. Everyone is highly specialized for their roles on the ship, and certain individuals are gifted with powers or implants, giving them abilities like telekinesis or super strength. Every angle of this highly intriguing dystopian society felt impressively detailed and well thought out.
But even though the world building was simply amazing, The Forever Watch faltered for me in other areas. Hana Dempsey, the novel’s main character has just completed her breeding duties, waking up from a nine-months-long induced sleep. Breeders are placed in this state for the whole duration of their pregnancy and never get to see their babies, but while Hana was aware of this, what she did not expect is the secret loss she feels now, yearning for the child she would never know. At first, I thought the narrative would continue exploring this heartbreaking thread, but then it switches tack, introducing Leonard Barrens, with whom Hana has a very special relationship. A police officer running an investigation into the violent death of his mentor, Barrens turns to her for help, and just like that the matter of her baby was relegated to the background, and doesn’t come back again until much later in the book. It was a bit maddening.
Still, I can never resist a good murder mystery and a hunt for a serial killer, in this case dubbed “Mincemeat”. But The Forever Watch isn’t your usual murder mystery either, since it doesn’t have that same dramatic tension. Granted, the book had a few surprises that hooked me in, but otherwise the plot could barely hold my attention from all the scientific jargon and unnecessary exposition which was all white noise distracting me from the main story. I felt no connection to either Hana or Barrens whose personalities were as sterile and rigid as their social environment – which might have been by design, but either way it did nothing for me. Consequently, I also didn’t care much for their romantic relationship.
The Forever Watch therefore gets high marks from me for innovation and world building, but unfortunately I am not too fond of the story or its execution. There were some great moments, but they were few and far between, not enough to generate any sustained momentum. Admittedly, the revelation at the end about Mincemeat and how everything was linked together was pretty mind-blowing, but because I place so much importance on storytelling and character development, the inconsistent pacing and my ambivalence towards Hana and Barrens ultimately made me less excited about the final outcome. I think other readers may find lots to like about this book, but in the end it just wasn’t for me.
March 24, 2014
(This is a spoiler-free review of the advance review copy provided by the publisher.)
"The Forever Watch" by David Ramirez just might be one of the greatest dystopian novels of our time, though you wouldn't know it by the way it begins.
The book takes place aboard a giant spaceship "Noah," which carries the last surviving humans from Earth to the planet of Canaan. The voyage will last over a thousand years, but nobody minds it because life is good: cybernetic implants amplify people's natural abilities and turn them into telepaths, healers, super-strong bruisers, etc. There is no war, no racism, no religious discrimination (mostly because religion has been quietly eliminated over the years) and everything is just peachy. Or is it?..
The main character is the administrator of the city planning bureau. The book begins with her waking up after her 9-month-long breeding duty. (In the wonderful space future, you just take a 9-month nap and wake up to find a large cash bonus in your bank account - somebody else will raise the baby for you.) Shortly afterwards, her friend, a bruiser with an enhanced metabolism, asks her to help him out with an odd case he's been working on. As they investigate a bizarre murder, they discover far more than they'd ever expected to find.
At 336 pages, "The Forever Watch" is an impressive novel, especially considering it's Ramirez's first novel. The plot takes course over the period of several years, flowing smoothly from one key point to the next, evenly spreading the introspective chapters and the gory, bloody action scenes featuring telepathically enhanced characters.
The way the story slowly but surely descends from a verifiable Utopia into a dysyopian nightmare is remarkable - a hard sci-fi version of "Faust" if I've ever seen one. Ramirez uses all the genre tropes - spaceships, aliens, mutants, psychics, self-aware computers and so many, many more - and weaves them into the narrative filled with plot twists and surprises that even the most astute reader would find hard to anticipate.
"The Forever Watch" is not a nice book. It's not a happy book. It's definitely not the kind of book you'd want to give your 11-year-old. But it's the perfect book for our age, with its grim, gestalt message about surveillance and secrets, rebels and revolutions, freedom and responsibility. It'll make you think and weep and gasp and wonder, as all great books are meant to do.
"The Forever Watch" by David Ramirez just might be one of the greatest dystopian novels of our time, though you wouldn't know it by the way it begins.
The book takes place aboard a giant spaceship "Noah," which carries the last surviving humans from Earth to the planet of Canaan. The voyage will last over a thousand years, but nobody minds it because life is good: cybernetic implants amplify people's natural abilities and turn them into telepaths, healers, super-strong bruisers, etc. There is no war, no racism, no religious discrimination (mostly because religion has been quietly eliminated over the years) and everything is just peachy. Or is it?..
The main character is the administrator of the city planning bureau. The book begins with her waking up after her 9-month-long breeding duty. (In the wonderful space future, you just take a 9-month nap and wake up to find a large cash bonus in your bank account - somebody else will raise the baby for you.) Shortly afterwards, her friend, a bruiser with an enhanced metabolism, asks her to help him out with an odd case he's been working on. As they investigate a bizarre murder, they discover far more than they'd ever expected to find.
At 336 pages, "The Forever Watch" is an impressive novel, especially considering it's Ramirez's first novel. The plot takes course over the period of several years, flowing smoothly from one key point to the next, evenly spreading the introspective chapters and the gory, bloody action scenes featuring telepathically enhanced characters.
The way the story slowly but surely descends from a verifiable Utopia into a dysyopian nightmare is remarkable - a hard sci-fi version of "Faust" if I've ever seen one. Ramirez uses all the genre tropes - spaceships, aliens, mutants, psychics, self-aware computers and so many, many more - and weaves them into the narrative filled with plot twists and surprises that even the most astute reader would find hard to anticipate.
"The Forever Watch" is not a nice book. It's not a happy book. It's definitely not the kind of book you'd want to give your 11-year-old. But it's the perfect book for our age, with its grim, gestalt message about surveillance and secrets, rebels and revolutions, freedom and responsibility. It'll make you think and weep and gasp and wonder, as all great books are meant to do.
February 7, 2015
An incredibly detailed and layered science fiction thriller, The Forever Watch is unfortunately let down by its execution and pacing.
Blurb -
All that remains of humanity is on a thousand-year journey to a new home aboard one ship, the Noah. Unfortunately this ship is also carrying a dangerous serial killer
All that is left of humanity is on a thousand-year journey to a new planet aboard one ship, The Noah, which is also carrying a dangerous serial killer...
As a City Planner on the Noah, Hana Dempsey is a gifted psychic, economist, hacker and bureaucrat and is considered "mission critical." She is non-replaceable, important, essential, but after serving her mandatory Breeding Duty, the impregnation and birthing that all women are obligated to undergo, her life loses purpose as she privately mourns the child she will never be permitted to know.
When Policeman Leonard Barrens enlists her and her hacking skills in the unofficial investigation of his mentor's violent death, Dempsey finds herself increasingly captivated by both the case and Barrens himself. According to Information Security, the missing man has simply "Retired," nothing unusual. Together they follow the trail left by the mutilated remains. Their investigation takes them through lost dataspaces and deep into the uninhabited regions of the ship, where they discover that the answer may not be as simple as a serial killer after all.
What they do with that answer will determine the fate of all humanity.
Review -
I was excited to read The Forever Watch. The blurb sounded amazing, and I was looking forward to experiencing a roller coaster ride of science fiction thrills and spills. A serial killer on the hunt... on a world ship with the remnants of humanity... sign me up and take my money. Unfortunately, it just never really reached the heights I thought it would.
There were many good things to like about The Forever Watch. The world building was simply amazing, with technological elements like implants, and the generational ship Noah, working brilliantly alongside the more dystopian themes like mandatory breeding and a regimented social hierarchy. Ramirez in fact does a wonderful job in building, explaining, and exploring the world he has created in The Forever Watch. I especially adored the psychics and their various roles aboard the Noah, and I was enthralled by their backgrounds and origins. Hana Dempsey and Leonard Barrens were also both fascinating and interesting protagonists with a layered greyness and sterility that I loved. Ultimately however, I felt they were let down by the novel's pacing.
The Forever Watch starts out at a slow speed, picks up intermittently, and then slows down again. And I hate to say it, but I found getting to the end a struggle during those slow periods. The characters and the plot development were really overwhelmed by the detail Ramirez poured into this world. Unfortunately this was a real shame for me, because the Forever Watch could have been such a wonderful story if the balance between the detail, plot, and pacing had been more equal.
All in all this novel scores points for its stunning world building and innovation, but is ultimately let down by its denseness and slow pace at times. The good moments were mind blowing and crazy, but they were too few and far between. I was left feeling that The Forever Watch could have been so much more. I think some readers will absolutely adore this book, but in the end it wasn't for me.
3 out of 5 stars.
smashdragons.blogspot.com.au
A review copy was provided.
Blurb -
All that remains of humanity is on a thousand-year journey to a new home aboard one ship, the Noah. Unfortunately this ship is also carrying a dangerous serial killer
All that is left of humanity is on a thousand-year journey to a new planet aboard one ship, The Noah, which is also carrying a dangerous serial killer...
As a City Planner on the Noah, Hana Dempsey is a gifted psychic, economist, hacker and bureaucrat and is considered "mission critical." She is non-replaceable, important, essential, but after serving her mandatory Breeding Duty, the impregnation and birthing that all women are obligated to undergo, her life loses purpose as she privately mourns the child she will never be permitted to know.
When Policeman Leonard Barrens enlists her and her hacking skills in the unofficial investigation of his mentor's violent death, Dempsey finds herself increasingly captivated by both the case and Barrens himself. According to Information Security, the missing man has simply "Retired," nothing unusual. Together they follow the trail left by the mutilated remains. Their investigation takes them through lost dataspaces and deep into the uninhabited regions of the ship, where they discover that the answer may not be as simple as a serial killer after all.
What they do with that answer will determine the fate of all humanity.
Review -
I was excited to read The Forever Watch. The blurb sounded amazing, and I was looking forward to experiencing a roller coaster ride of science fiction thrills and spills. A serial killer on the hunt... on a world ship with the remnants of humanity... sign me up and take my money. Unfortunately, it just never really reached the heights I thought it would.
There were many good things to like about The Forever Watch. The world building was simply amazing, with technological elements like implants, and the generational ship Noah, working brilliantly alongside the more dystopian themes like mandatory breeding and a regimented social hierarchy. Ramirez in fact does a wonderful job in building, explaining, and exploring the world he has created in The Forever Watch. I especially adored the psychics and their various roles aboard the Noah, and I was enthralled by their backgrounds and origins. Hana Dempsey and Leonard Barrens were also both fascinating and interesting protagonists with a layered greyness and sterility that I loved. Ultimately however, I felt they were let down by the novel's pacing.
The Forever Watch starts out at a slow speed, picks up intermittently, and then slows down again. And I hate to say it, but I found getting to the end a struggle during those slow periods. The characters and the plot development were really overwhelmed by the detail Ramirez poured into this world. Unfortunately this was a real shame for me, because the Forever Watch could have been such a wonderful story if the balance between the detail, plot, and pacing had been more equal.
All in all this novel scores points for its stunning world building and innovation, but is ultimately let down by its denseness and slow pace at times. The good moments were mind blowing and crazy, but they were too few and far between. I was left feeling that The Forever Watch could have been so much more. I think some readers will absolutely adore this book, but in the end it wasn't for me.
3 out of 5 stars.
smashdragons.blogspot.com.au
A review copy was provided.
Want to read
September 3, 2016 I received this ARC for an honest review.
No spoilers and colorful language abound!
It has taken me months to come to this conclusion, and if it wasn't for NG archiving the book, I would still be trying. The first 10% of this book was brilliant, absolutely mind boggling, awe inspiring brilliant. Emotional, contemplative, kick ass introduction to this world we find ourselves in, or lack there of really. Then we detailed into a ball of fire of the most boring, mind numbing, forced relationship and information dump that I would read three pages and have to walk away. Her internal monologues are awful. You ever meet a character that gives you too much detail that you fail to put together a whole picture? There was a 4 page long "sex scene" comprised entirely of analogies upon analogies, rivers and bubbling brooks and shit. GAH, NO. Then it has the most brilliant flashes for plot and as fast as it came, it was gone.
The truth is, I have a hunch that if I were in the right frame of mind for a smart read like this I would have fallen madly in love with it. If I'm being totally honest with you, I will probably buy this book and finish it one day. Right before I gave up there was a change, and I still think about it months later.
I have a few books in my life that I read very slowly, maybe 10 pages at a time and it takes me all year. I'm always happy for them, and I typically adore them but it's not something that can hold my attention for long spans of time.
This book is smart, it's dynamic, it's intriguing, it's boring, and the technology boner is raging. One day my friend, we will connect and it will be wonderful but today is not that day.
No spoilers and colorful language abound!
It's official, DNF.
It has taken me months to come to this conclusion, and if it wasn't for NG archiving the book, I would still be trying. The first 10% of this book was brilliant, absolutely mind boggling, awe inspiring brilliant. Emotional, contemplative, kick ass introduction to this world we find ourselves in, or lack there of really. Then we detailed into a ball of fire of the most boring, mind numbing, forced relationship and information dump that I would read three pages and have to walk away. Her internal monologues are awful. You ever meet a character that gives you too much detail that you fail to put together a whole picture? There was a 4 page long "sex scene" comprised entirely of analogies upon analogies, rivers and bubbling brooks and shit. GAH, NO. Then it has the most brilliant flashes for plot and as fast as it came, it was gone.
The truth is, I have a hunch that if I were in the right frame of mind for a smart read like this I would have fallen madly in love with it. If I'm being totally honest with you, I will probably buy this book and finish it one day. Right before I gave up there was a change, and I still think about it months later.
I have a few books in my life that I read very slowly, maybe 10 pages at a time and it takes me all year. I'm always happy for them, and I typically adore them but it's not something that can hold my attention for long spans of time.
This book is smart, it's dynamic, it's intriguing, it's boring, and the technology boner is raging. One day my friend, we will connect and it will be wonderful but today is not that day.
October 19, 2014
After the first 200 pages I was almost sure that the entire complex edifice that is The Forever Watch will crumble until the end. Because everything is here in this book: Gothic space-opera, Alien, telepathy&telekinesis, Blade Runner, post-apocalypse, Philip K. Dick, crime-noire, Soylent Green, love story, Dark City, artificial intelligence, Dune Messiah, post-humanism and many many more. A debut novel can not use so many science-fictional themes and live to see the end of the day. But David Ramirez pulls it off and 95% of the novel works beautifully. Well done!
April 13, 2014
The Review: http://thefoundingfields.com/2014/04/...
“An excellent novel – David Ramirez establishes himself as a fantastic author who’s certainly one to watch with a complex, entertaining and original science fiction novel that comes highly recommended – you won’t want to miss this.” ~Bane of Kings, The Founding Fields
All that is left of humanity is on a thousand-year journey to a new planet aboard one ship, The Noah, which is also carrying a dangerous serial killer…
As a City Planner on the Noah, Hana Dempsey is a gifted psychic, economist, hacker and bureaucrat and is considered “mission critical.” She is non-replaceable, important, essential, but after serving her mandatory Breeding Duty, the impregnation and birthing that all women are obligated to undergo, her life loses purpose as she privately mourns the child she will never be permitted to know.
When Policeman Leonard Barrens enlists her and her hacking skills in the unofficial investigation of his mentor’s violent death, Dempsey finds herself increasingly captivated by both the case and Barrens himself. According to Information Security, the missing man has simply “Retired,” nothing unusual. Together they follow the trail left by the mutilated remains. Their investigation takes them through lost dataspaces and deep into the uninhabited regions of the ship, where they discover that the answer may not be as simple as a serial killer after all.
What they do with that answer will determine the fate of all humanity in this thrilling page turner.
The thing that sold me on The Forever Watch was its cover. Having no knowledge about the writer or the book I requested it from NetGalley based on the eye-catching cover and when I was able to get stuck in I did, and the book did not disappoint, providing among of the most unique science fiction experiences that I’ve had the pleasure of reading so far this year. It’s smart, original and compelling – and hopefully this won’t be the last that we’ll see of David Ramirez.
The-Forever-WatchThe Forever Watch charts the story of the spaceship Noah and its journey to find the Promised Land – Canaan. This alone was enough to remind me of my favourite TV series Battlestar Galactica – the 2003 version, where a group of survivors are fleeing the twelve colonies of Kobol in search of the mythical world known as Earth, and this book turned out to be very interesting indeed, putting the reader’s attention on the main character Hana Dempsey – a city planner who’s gifted in multiple fields, among them hacking and economics.
Given the fact that David Ramirez is an ex-scientist, you can expect that The Forever Watch is going to be well researched and far from a simple read, and you’d be right – the book involves a lot of technological elements and they’re pulled off very well, allowing for a complex read and it doesn’t just come from that front – The Forever Watch also handles complex characters and an interesting plot to boot, making it one of the strongest science fiction novels that I have read in a while, especially as it is a debut one.
Hana herself allows for a great protagonist. Her first introduction comes as a mother giving birth, as is required by law on board Noah, which is something that’s unusual to happen even in a book where a law isn’t there. However, this allowed an intriguing element to the book, and it was interesting to see how Ramirez dealt with this, and he handled it effectively in what otherwise could have been an awkward situation. As well as Hana there’s also Leonard Barrens, a police officer who drafts in Hana to help find the murderer of his mentor, and he is another good character that the writer has given us, well developed and just as interesting as Hana.
This book is one of the most original science fiction novels I’ve read in a while, there are some fascinating concepts here and they’re dealt with very well – despite the fact that this may be Ramirez’s first novel, he’s a confident and strong writer who manages to knock it out of the park – this could very well be one of the year’s best debuts by the end.
Ramirez doesn’t fall into the trap that comes with having vast amount of scientific elements in his story that will seem off putting to a reader only casually invested in the science fiction genre. However, Ramirez manages to tell a good story despite this, weaving a confident and strong narrative that doesn’t get bogged down with the details, the book turning out to be an incredibly strong read and the pace allows for some compulsive reading.
It’s amazing how much Ramirez has accomplished in his debut novel that feels like the second or third novel rather than the beginning. His book never feels overlong and doesn’t feel too short either, getting the perfect balance. In fact, there’s very little wrong with this novel, as the writer deals with powerful themes and an intriguing plot incredibly strongly.
VERDICT: 9/10
“An excellent novel – David Ramirez establishes himself as a fantastic author who’s certainly one to watch with a complex, entertaining and original science fiction novel that comes highly recommended – you won’t want to miss this.” ~Bane of Kings, The Founding Fields
All that is left of humanity is on a thousand-year journey to a new planet aboard one ship, The Noah, which is also carrying a dangerous serial killer…
As a City Planner on the Noah, Hana Dempsey is a gifted psychic, economist, hacker and bureaucrat and is considered “mission critical.” She is non-replaceable, important, essential, but after serving her mandatory Breeding Duty, the impregnation and birthing that all women are obligated to undergo, her life loses purpose as she privately mourns the child she will never be permitted to know.
When Policeman Leonard Barrens enlists her and her hacking skills in the unofficial investigation of his mentor’s violent death, Dempsey finds herself increasingly captivated by both the case and Barrens himself. According to Information Security, the missing man has simply “Retired,” nothing unusual. Together they follow the trail left by the mutilated remains. Their investigation takes them through lost dataspaces and deep into the uninhabited regions of the ship, where they discover that the answer may not be as simple as a serial killer after all.
What they do with that answer will determine the fate of all humanity in this thrilling page turner.
The thing that sold me on The Forever Watch was its cover. Having no knowledge about the writer or the book I requested it from NetGalley based on the eye-catching cover and when I was able to get stuck in I did, and the book did not disappoint, providing among of the most unique science fiction experiences that I’ve had the pleasure of reading so far this year. It’s smart, original and compelling – and hopefully this won’t be the last that we’ll see of David Ramirez.
The-Forever-WatchThe Forever Watch charts the story of the spaceship Noah and its journey to find the Promised Land – Canaan. This alone was enough to remind me of my favourite TV series Battlestar Galactica – the 2003 version, where a group of survivors are fleeing the twelve colonies of Kobol in search of the mythical world known as Earth, and this book turned out to be very interesting indeed, putting the reader’s attention on the main character Hana Dempsey – a city planner who’s gifted in multiple fields, among them hacking and economics.
Given the fact that David Ramirez is an ex-scientist, you can expect that The Forever Watch is going to be well researched and far from a simple read, and you’d be right – the book involves a lot of technological elements and they’re pulled off very well, allowing for a complex read and it doesn’t just come from that front – The Forever Watch also handles complex characters and an interesting plot to boot, making it one of the strongest science fiction novels that I have read in a while, especially as it is a debut one.
Hana herself allows for a great protagonist. Her first introduction comes as a mother giving birth, as is required by law on board Noah, which is something that’s unusual to happen even in a book where a law isn’t there. However, this allowed an intriguing element to the book, and it was interesting to see how Ramirez dealt with this, and he handled it effectively in what otherwise could have been an awkward situation. As well as Hana there’s also Leonard Barrens, a police officer who drafts in Hana to help find the murderer of his mentor, and he is another good character that the writer has given us, well developed and just as interesting as Hana.
This book is one of the most original science fiction novels I’ve read in a while, there are some fascinating concepts here and they’re dealt with very well – despite the fact that this may be Ramirez’s first novel, he’s a confident and strong writer who manages to knock it out of the park – this could very well be one of the year’s best debuts by the end.
Ramirez doesn’t fall into the trap that comes with having vast amount of scientific elements in his story that will seem off putting to a reader only casually invested in the science fiction genre. However, Ramirez manages to tell a good story despite this, weaving a confident and strong narrative that doesn’t get bogged down with the details, the book turning out to be an incredibly strong read and the pace allows for some compulsive reading.
It’s amazing how much Ramirez has accomplished in his debut novel that feels like the second or third novel rather than the beginning. His book never feels overlong and doesn’t feel too short either, getting the perfect balance. In fact, there’s very little wrong with this novel, as the writer deals with powerful themes and an intriguing plot incredibly strongly.
VERDICT: 9/10
April 27, 2014
The reviews are out there, the plot explained. The reception is mixed. The Forever Watch is a complicated and unique book in some ways and it is a story that has been told many times before but with an added twist. This book is labeled as “Hard Science Fiction”. In the case of The Forever Watch, it is a very literal label. Too “hard” for this fan of great stories. The first third of the book is an introduction to the protagonist, Hana and the strange world she lives on in the spaceship called The Noah. Of course there is world building that I didn't find impressive until the end of the book.
The people on the ship have computer implants in their brains. This allows them to accelerate at their jobs that they are tested for when they are children. They can communicate psychically with each other which makes for strange reading. All memories from life are remembered which also makes for written flashbacks that seem to run right in to the present timeline.
Although there is no religion any longer, there is still classicism. Hana has a group of friends who are drawn thinly and basically act like 15 year old’s. They play a more integral role at the end of the book.
Due to a natural and normal human condition called curiosity, a mystery unfolds. The protagonist and her boyfriend, Barrens, work together to try and solve this mystery. From that mystery, the rest of the story unfolds from there. There is the “creation” of AI that Hana has accidentally formed and is responsible for. I think this is where the book is supposed to be profound. It is profound, yet I found myself so frustrated by the scientific complexities of the book, I almost didn't care. There are dark and awful secrets uncovered that were not supposed to be. We find out about the G-0 and the G-1.
I have to give this book credit for what it accomplished. It will be seen as a great book by some readers and it will be seen as too much of a chore for other’s. There will be as many DNF’s on this one as there will be complete reads. What a shame and in my opinion a lost opportunity. I read the entire book, every word of it and I feel there was a better story here. If not a better story, at least one that the average non Scientist/Computer Programmer can understand. Too much of the action and answers come down hard in the last 50-100 pages. Of course there is a moral(s) to the story. What you don’t know can’t hurt you. Or that government secrets aren't necessarily kept in order to harm you but to help you. Or that life is so complicated that in order to contain the people from mass hysteria and revolution, some things just need to have a lid on it. That we need to not only think of ourselves but of the successful future of humankind.
It is an interesting message and The Forever Watch delivers it. I am positive I am missing some of the intended messages as well. I have no idea how to rate this book. It was at times maddening and painful to read. The last 50 pages were outstanding. It is a book that should be finished by those who start reading it, but it won’t be and that is understandable yet sad.
The people on the ship have computer implants in their brains. This allows them to accelerate at their jobs that they are tested for when they are children. They can communicate psychically with each other which makes for strange reading. All memories from life are remembered which also makes for written flashbacks that seem to run right in to the present timeline.
Although there is no religion any longer, there is still classicism. Hana has a group of friends who are drawn thinly and basically act like 15 year old’s. They play a more integral role at the end of the book.
Due to a natural and normal human condition called curiosity, a mystery unfolds. The protagonist and her boyfriend, Barrens, work together to try and solve this mystery. From that mystery, the rest of the story unfolds from there. There is the “creation” of AI that Hana has accidentally formed and is responsible for. I think this is where the book is supposed to be profound. It is profound, yet I found myself so frustrated by the scientific complexities of the book, I almost didn't care. There are dark and awful secrets uncovered that were not supposed to be. We find out about the G-0 and the G-1.
I have to give this book credit for what it accomplished. It will be seen as a great book by some readers and it will be seen as too much of a chore for other’s. There will be as many DNF’s on this one as there will be complete reads. What a shame and in my opinion a lost opportunity. I read the entire book, every word of it and I feel there was a better story here. If not a better story, at least one that the average non Scientist/Computer Programmer can understand. Too much of the action and answers come down hard in the last 50-100 pages. Of course there is a moral(s) to the story. What you don’t know can’t hurt you. Or that government secrets aren't necessarily kept in order to harm you but to help you. Or that life is so complicated that in order to contain the people from mass hysteria and revolution, some things just need to have a lid on it. That we need to not only think of ourselves but of the successful future of humankind.
It is an interesting message and The Forever Watch delivers it. I am positive I am missing some of the intended messages as well. I have no idea how to rate this book. It was at times maddening and painful to read. The last 50 pages were outstanding. It is a book that should be finished by those who start reading it, but it won’t be and that is understandable yet sad.
July 4, 2018
5 Stars
The Forever Watch by David B. Ramirez is a science fiction space adventure and mystery. I wish I formulated my thoughts when I read this as it is my favorite read of 2018 thus far. Ramirez has created a fabulous setting and feel to this mystery space opera.
I loved the setting
The writing
The science
The style
I cannot wait for more from David B. Ramirez
Highly recommended and a favorite of 2018
The Forever Watch by David B. Ramirez is a science fiction space adventure and mystery. I wish I formulated my thoughts when I read this as it is my favorite read of 2018 thus far. Ramirez has created a fabulous setting and feel to this mystery space opera.
I loved the setting
The writing
The science
The style
I cannot wait for more from David B. Ramirez
Highly recommended and a favorite of 2018
April 27, 2014
Originally published at Reading Reality
If you threw Gorky Park, Blade Runner, one of Robin Cook’s medical thrillers and Anne McCaffrey’s The Ship Who Sang into a blender, you might come up with something like The Forever Watch--but it probably wouldn’t be half as good.
Not even if you added in elements of The Matrix and Madeline Ashby’s Suited. It’s not just that all of those elements are in The Forever Watch, but that they are melded into a single story that left me gasping in marvel at the end.
I’m having a hard time letting this one go. I’m having an even harder time figuring out how to encapsulate the experience.
The story starts with familiar concepts. Hana Dempsey is a City Planning engineer on the generational ship Noah. Her job, her entire department’s job, is to make the city more energy efficient, while still being livable, so that the ship will have enough resources to reach Canaan. In other words, the promised land.
The mission is to save the human race. The ship is over two centuries out from a destroyed Earth, and has eight centuries yet to travel. That’s a long time for hundreds of thousands of human beings to be trapped inside a flying tin can -- no matter how big or well designed the can might be.
Perpetuating the human species is not even left to chance. Every woman is assigned Breeding Duty, where she spends the entire pregnancy in a medically induced coma. She is supposed to remember nothing of the process. The child might not even be hers. She’ll certainly never see him or her.
Hana Dempsey comes back from her Breeding Duty with a sense that her life is as empty as she is. Duty is no longer enough.
Her friend, Leonard Barrens, tries to help her fill that void with helping him on a personal quest. Barrens is a cop, and he’s been quietly looking into a series of gruesome and inexplicable murders that no one seems to be investigating. Instead of being looked into, or even merely filed away, all trace of these murders is being systematically wiped from the system.
Barrens needs Hana’s skills to help him hack the vast computer system, the Nth Web, in order to find whatever traces are left. His mentor was one of the victims of what appears to be a serial killer named “Mincemeat” for the way he leaves his victims, and Barrens feels compelled to discover why the evidence keeps disappearing.
Hana gets involved because she needs something to absorb her. And because she has always cared for Barrens more than she is willing to admit. In the testing enforced caste system on the Noah, the differences between a cop and a manager in the City infrastructure are huge.
Hana and Barrens only know each other because Barrens rescued her after an assault. He makes her feel safe. She makes him feel cared for. But she’s used to Barrens being there in her darkest moments, and she’s in one now. His quest gives her something to do, something to be take her out of her empty self.
And finally a way for them to reach out from beyond their society and self-imposed barriers for each other.
Until the secrets that they uncover tear not just them, but their entire world, asunder.
Escape Rating A+: I loved this book so much that I immediately started inflicting it on other people--my husband read it in one sitting (it’s 500 pages!) and now a friend has started to devour it.
The Forever Watch exemplifies some of the best of science fiction, in that as soon as you read you start thinking about the society and what might have brought the race to this sorry pass, and it drives you crazy because the way things have worked out make you uncomfortable. Yet it’s impossible to stop reading, because that same discomfort makes you desperate to figure out why this is the way that society went.
It doesn’t seem logical, and yet it all hangs together perfectly. Even more amazing, every single bit of where it seems that things make no sense within that society, are all resolved at the end, and in a way that upholds the willing suspension of disbelief.
What lengths would we go to in order to save the human race? How far do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? What secrets are so horrible that suppressing them is better for society than full knowledge, and who has the right to decide? How much can be justified by the cold equations of survival?
You will end up with more questions than answers, but you will not be able to get this book out of your head.
If you threw Gorky Park, Blade Runner, one of Robin Cook’s medical thrillers and Anne McCaffrey’s The Ship Who Sang into a blender, you might come up with something like The Forever Watch--but it probably wouldn’t be half as good.
Not even if you added in elements of The Matrix and Madeline Ashby’s Suited. It’s not just that all of those elements are in The Forever Watch, but that they are melded into a single story that left me gasping in marvel at the end.
I’m having a hard time letting this one go. I’m having an even harder time figuring out how to encapsulate the experience.
The story starts with familiar concepts. Hana Dempsey is a City Planning engineer on the generational ship Noah. Her job, her entire department’s job, is to make the city more energy efficient, while still being livable, so that the ship will have enough resources to reach Canaan. In other words, the promised land.
The mission is to save the human race. The ship is over two centuries out from a destroyed Earth, and has eight centuries yet to travel. That’s a long time for hundreds of thousands of human beings to be trapped inside a flying tin can -- no matter how big or well designed the can might be.
Perpetuating the human species is not even left to chance. Every woman is assigned Breeding Duty, where she spends the entire pregnancy in a medically induced coma. She is supposed to remember nothing of the process. The child might not even be hers. She’ll certainly never see him or her.
Hana Dempsey comes back from her Breeding Duty with a sense that her life is as empty as she is. Duty is no longer enough.
Her friend, Leonard Barrens, tries to help her fill that void with helping him on a personal quest. Barrens is a cop, and he’s been quietly looking into a series of gruesome and inexplicable murders that no one seems to be investigating. Instead of being looked into, or even merely filed away, all trace of these murders is being systematically wiped from the system.
Barrens needs Hana’s skills to help him hack the vast computer system, the Nth Web, in order to find whatever traces are left. His mentor was one of the victims of what appears to be a serial killer named “Mincemeat” for the way he leaves his victims, and Barrens feels compelled to discover why the evidence keeps disappearing.
Hana gets involved because she needs something to absorb her. And because she has always cared for Barrens more than she is willing to admit. In the testing enforced caste system on the Noah, the differences between a cop and a manager in the City infrastructure are huge.
Hana and Barrens only know each other because Barrens rescued her after an assault. He makes her feel safe. She makes him feel cared for. But she’s used to Barrens being there in her darkest moments, and she’s in one now. His quest gives her something to do, something to be take her out of her empty self.
And finally a way for them to reach out from beyond their society and self-imposed barriers for each other.
Until the secrets that they uncover tear not just them, but their entire world, asunder.
Escape Rating A+: I loved this book so much that I immediately started inflicting it on other people--my husband read it in one sitting (it’s 500 pages!) and now a friend has started to devour it.
The Forever Watch exemplifies some of the best of science fiction, in that as soon as you read you start thinking about the society and what might have brought the race to this sorry pass, and it drives you crazy because the way things have worked out make you uncomfortable. Yet it’s impossible to stop reading, because that same discomfort makes you desperate to figure out why this is the way that society went.
It doesn’t seem logical, and yet it all hangs together perfectly. Even more amazing, every single bit of where it seems that things make no sense within that society, are all resolved at the end, and in a way that upholds the willing suspension of disbelief.
What lengths would we go to in order to save the human race? How far do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? What secrets are so horrible that suppressing them is better for society than full knowledge, and who has the right to decide? How much can be justified by the cold equations of survival?
You will end up with more questions than answers, but you will not be able to get this book out of your head.
May 3, 2014
Intense, beautiful, thought-provoking, and powerful are words I would use to describe this book. Start with an uncommonly well-realized and fleshed-out world, add in great characters with depth and emotion, and finally layer in a few mysteries, some action, and a plot with good pacing a satisfying resolution - you'll have it all in this book.
All that's left of humanity is on the colossal generation ship, the Noah, a few centuries into its thousand-year flight to the planet of Canaan. The protagonist, Hana Dempsey, is an upper-level manager in City Planning, tasked with ensuring that the Habitat zones are as energy-efficient as possible whilst remaining comfortable. Leonard Barrens is a policeman, far below her on the ship's rigid meritocratic scale, her friend and one-time savior. He asks her to help him investigate a series of strange murders.
From that premise, we get to explore the Noah and its mysteries, explore the nuances of total government control, and so much more. I won't say much to avoid spoilers, but let me conclude by saying this is one of the finest scifi novels I've had the pleasure to read, and I look forward to visiting it again in the future.
Oh, one other note - some reviewers noted difficulty with the hard sci-fi elements here, especially in the realm of computer science. I have absolutely no CS background and experienced no difficulty with the info about programming and whatnot.
All that's left of humanity is on the colossal generation ship, the Noah, a few centuries into its thousand-year flight to the planet of Canaan. The protagonist, Hana Dempsey, is an upper-level manager in City Planning, tasked with ensuring that the Habitat zones are as energy-efficient as possible whilst remaining comfortable. Leonard Barrens is a policeman, far below her on the ship's rigid meritocratic scale, her friend and one-time savior. He asks her to help him investigate a series of strange murders.
From that premise, we get to explore the Noah and its mysteries, explore the nuances of total government control, and so much more. I won't say much to avoid spoilers, but let me conclude by saying this is one of the finest scifi novels I've had the pleasure to read, and I look forward to visiting it again in the future.
Oh, one other note - some reviewers noted difficulty with the hard sci-fi elements here, especially in the realm of computer science. I have absolutely no CS background and experienced no difficulty with the info about programming and whatnot.
November 22, 2015
I always, always, always feel badly about leaving a negative book review. I know how incredibly hard it is to write a book, and how much love and effort goes into a book. But, books, like art are subjective to the end user.
There will be many spoilers in this review.
There were many reasons I did not like this book, but generally it boils down to the fact that there's just too many science fiction concepts smashed together in a poorly explained way. The cover of the book unfortunately predisposed me to a certain thought process when I started this book by saying it was "action-packed, and yet filled with scientific plausibly..". No. A book that is filled with scientific plausibility is The Martian. This, this book is not.
I know the author is incredibly smart. I do not doubt this. But all of the science fiction elements of this book are introduced so randomly, without any background, and are so poorly explained, with glossed over details, or no details at all.
Examples:
They have implants in their head that monitor everything about their lives, and do other things. Why do they have this, when was it developed? Does it give them their abilities?
They are supposedly on a spaceship, but everything about this book describes it as a city instead, I don't even know where to start.
1. They have cars. Why? What powers them? Trains, freight trains, buses? Again, why?
2. They have a vast city that it takes over a half an hour or more by vehicle to travel in from location to location. That seems big. But then it's later described that the ship is so vast that you could never explore it in a lifetime. That seems implausible.
3. Why build skyscrapers? Why is the ship that tall?
4. In a world with futuristic technology, we use it to recreate a standard city with sidewalks and streets, alleys and bricks.
They have cigarettes. Sure, you could have packed a bunch when the earth exploded, but it's supposedly been generations, why would you waste food growing space to grow tobacco?
There's a material that comprises the ship and all it's contents called plastitech. What I don't understand about this material is that it can become everything. Wood, concrete, clothing, desks, anything. How is it able to mimic it all? Not really explained.
They have genetically modified people, bruisers, but don't explain them at all. It took 200 pages for me to realize that Psyn was not their ability, but was a drug they used to enhance their ability? What is their natural ability? Your guess is as good as mine.
This book runs the gamut of modified human abilities, from telepathy to object manipulation, to mind control, to objects triggering memories. All these abilities appear suddenly, without any explanation. For example, the main character is just going about her job designing buildings and what not, when one day all the sudden she has the ability to shape and throw objects with her mind.
Amplifiers come in and out of the book, they enhance peoples abilities I guess, and are some thing usually worn on the wrist or are somewhere in the environment? Dunno how they work, it's apparently not important.
Other topics included in this vast work of science fiction ideas: Aliens, Genetically modified out of control human mush piles, human push piles that give birth to regular humans, who give birth to human mush piles. Microbots, though those are mentioned once in one paragraph and never again until the end of the book, and of course accidentally created artificial intelligence.
They mention ISec a lot, and you would think it was the main police, but they briefly mention the council, but they then never mention it again (until the very end, and even still it's not clearly explained).
Overall, the beginning reads like a romance mystery novel set in a city, the middle where she gets captured is the best 20 pages or so of the novel, and everything else is just minutia about the mystery/artificial intelligence program to get to an ending.
It is the one time I can truly say a lot and nothing happens all at once. Although I thought the ending, while sad, was interesting.
TLDR: The book plot doesn't make a lot of sense, the character's actions and choices don't line up with their personality, and it's convoluted with a lot of extra science fiction elements it didn't need.
There will be many spoilers in this review.
There were many reasons I did not like this book, but generally it boils down to the fact that there's just too many science fiction concepts smashed together in a poorly explained way. The cover of the book unfortunately predisposed me to a certain thought process when I started this book by saying it was "action-packed, and yet filled with scientific plausibly..". No. A book that is filled with scientific plausibility is The Martian. This, this book is not.
I know the author is incredibly smart. I do not doubt this. But all of the science fiction elements of this book are introduced so randomly, without any background, and are so poorly explained, with glossed over details, or no details at all.
Examples:
They have implants in their head that monitor everything about their lives, and do other things. Why do they have this, when was it developed? Does it give them their abilities?
They are supposedly on a spaceship, but everything about this book describes it as a city instead, I don't even know where to start.
1. They have cars. Why? What powers them? Trains, freight trains, buses? Again, why?
2. They have a vast city that it takes over a half an hour or more by vehicle to travel in from location to location. That seems big. But then it's later described that the ship is so vast that you could never explore it in a lifetime. That seems implausible.
3. Why build skyscrapers? Why is the ship that tall?
4. In a world with futuristic technology, we use it to recreate a standard city with sidewalks and streets, alleys and bricks.
They have cigarettes. Sure, you could have packed a bunch when the earth exploded, but it's supposedly been generations, why would you waste food growing space to grow tobacco?
There's a material that comprises the ship and all it's contents called plastitech. What I don't understand about this material is that it can become everything. Wood, concrete, clothing, desks, anything. How is it able to mimic it all? Not really explained.
They have genetically modified people, bruisers, but don't explain them at all. It took 200 pages for me to realize that Psyn was not their ability, but was a drug they used to enhance their ability? What is their natural ability? Your guess is as good as mine.
This book runs the gamut of modified human abilities, from telepathy to object manipulation, to mind control, to objects triggering memories. All these abilities appear suddenly, without any explanation. For example, the main character is just going about her job designing buildings and what not, when one day all the sudden she has the ability to shape and throw objects with her mind.
Amplifiers come in and out of the book, they enhance peoples abilities I guess, and are some thing usually worn on the wrist or are somewhere in the environment? Dunno how they work, it's apparently not important.
Other topics included in this vast work of science fiction ideas: Aliens, Genetically modified out of control human mush piles, human push piles that give birth to regular humans, who give birth to human mush piles. Microbots, though those are mentioned once in one paragraph and never again until the end of the book, and of course accidentally created artificial intelligence.
They mention ISec a lot, and you would think it was the main police, but they briefly mention the council, but they then never mention it again (until the very end, and even still it's not clearly explained).
Overall, the beginning reads like a romance mystery novel set in a city, the middle where she gets captured is the best 20 pages or so of the novel, and everything else is just minutia about the mystery/artificial intelligence program to get to an ending.
It is the one time I can truly say a lot and nothing happens all at once. Although I thought the ending, while sad, was interesting.
TLDR: The book plot doesn't make a lot of sense, the character's actions and choices don't line up with their personality, and it's convoluted with a lot of extra science fiction elements it didn't need.
November 30, 2015
The Forever Watch is quite the slow starter. I wasn't able to really get into the story until a little over 100 pages in. I will say I was very intrigued with the premise, which is why I decided to pick this book up in the first place, but I wasn't thrilled with the implementation.
The romance was dull in my opinion. I wasn't a fan!! In all honesty the main character Hana wasn't all that thrilling either. She was ok, just ok. The three star rating is in honor of the idea... I love a good spaceship traveling to another planet with thousands of years stuck living in space while the leaders of the society are keeping a vast number of "mysteries" from the people stories. They get me every time! :)
I felt like a spent a majority of this novel waiting for something to happen. But when the action did happen or we figured out a piece of the puzzle, it was a pretty thrilling discovery. I just wish there were more of those feelings and less dwelling on Hana and her boyfriend Barrens.
Oh well... moving on! :)
The romance was dull in my opinion. I wasn't a fan!! In all honesty the main character Hana wasn't all that thrilling either. She was ok, just ok. The three star rating is in honor of the idea... I love a good spaceship traveling to another planet with thousands of years stuck living in space while the leaders of the society are keeping a vast number of "mysteries" from the people stories. They get me every time! :)
I felt like a spent a majority of this novel waiting for something to happen. But when the action did happen or we figured out a piece of the puzzle, it was a pretty thrilling discovery. I just wish there were more of those feelings and less dwelling on Hana and her boyfriend Barrens.
Oh well... moving on! :)
March 26, 2014
originally posted at: http://thebookplank.blogspot.com/2014...
When I read about the release of The Forever Watch I was very excited. There are three letters in the synopsis that got me stoked. DNA. And finding out that David Ramirez is an ex-scientist in the field of Molecular Biology I knew that this would be an excellent read with top notch scientific lingo and facts straight, I am also an molecular biologist and when I read a story wherein these kind of things aren't the least related to the read deal it annoys me. The Forever Watch is also David Ramirez's debut into the SF genre fiction. Just a mention up front. This is the new kind of science fiction that you will be dying to read, it's evocative and in the end hauntingly beautiful.
The Forever Watch tell the story of the space ship Noah and it's inhabitants that travels from a destroyed earth to the new promised land of Canaan. In the midst of this all you find the young Hana Dempsey, who works as a city planner aboard the Noah and is gifted in many fields as an hackers, economist and psychic. The story opens with Hana giving birth to a child and I did find this mildly disotrubing but intriguing at the same time, every female is tasked with carrying and delivering a child once in a while, in order to keep the Noah full of new life. They are on a 800 year voyage to a new plant. Soon after Hana has gotten her life back on track, the child was taken from her, she is confronted with a murder case and her latter trait, that of being pshycic/telepathic soon becomes needed when the murder case becomes unexplainable. This raises many questions since every thought by a person on board the Noah is registered... Hana is asked by the police officer Leonard Barrens to help find the murderer, it's his mentor that was murdered. From this point onwards the whole story is thrown over it's head (in a good way!). The explanation that is given by the Information Security, the department that governs all the information on the Noah, is that the murder has been Retired, so simple taken out of the picture. However Hana and Leonard don't take this answer as one that even sounds plausible. And as Hana and Leonard carry out there investigation they delve into a pit that they hadn't thought existed. Now don't think that this is just one simple murder investigation story. Like I already mentioned as Hana and Leonard delve deeper and deeper into this investigation they find out the true inner workings of the Noah and the reason why they left Earth behind for pastures new. This all was a lot darker than I had dared to even imagine. This is only the rough outline of The Forever Watch, if I would go deeper into the details that make this a perfect story it would definitly spoil the surprise for you but let me tell you this when you read the plot twist at the end you will find your self staring, mouth a gape, and saying what and rereading it it, it did it... good stuff and very original! The story of The Forever Watch is pretty heavy on the science element, directly to my liking!
The protagonist of The Forever Watch, Hana, makes up for an interesting perspective. As mentioned above her introduction was first as a birthing mother, after which her child was taken from her to be raised by others and she is just given some meds to shrug it of an continue working. If this doesn't get to you I don't know what will. David Ramirez does an excellent job in highlighting how tough this part is on Hana, she finds it hard to accept but does come over it a bit.. at least so it seems.. nearing the ending a whole floodgate it opened ripping Hana apart again by these thoughts. With showing Hana in this way, David Ramirez immidiatly creates a powerful character. Hana is gifted in many fields, but mostly the direct science fields and when she gets involved with the police officer Leonad Barrens, she starts to unfold her emotional side and for some thoughts she doesn't know how to go about them. This duality with her thoughts gave Hana's character a nice extra few layers of complexity. She readily drives the story forward with her actions, and the best thing is that she isn't a sherlock type of detective and she get wrong on some occasions keeping the storyline interesting and unpredictable. The secondary cast like Leonard and many other all help to further broaden the scope of the story. Leonard's is a police officer in everything that he does and is termed a bruiser able to burn immense amount of calories to enhance himself with sheer strength of supernatural speed. And with this he might come over as a person who only lives for his job, that of maintaining order and catching bad guys, but as soon as he meets Hana, his perspectives do change a little, especially when they get closer with their complex relation. Though the characters are a bit limited, this did allow David Ramirez to fully focus on developing them and this was done in a great way. With almost each page you learn something new about a character and just as with the clever storyline, this keeps the whole story engaging from start to finish.
There are many cool idea's all working in the favor of The Forever Watch and gives a real boost towards the science fiction genre. David Ramirez creates an interesting society of of enhanced humans on board the Noah, I have already mentioned that Leonard was a bruiser, well Hana has the touch, gifted by telepathy amongst others. Well this was achieved by genetic modification... This particular topic is of hot debate in our own society and inspires for me always a nefarious air when used in the correct way its basically tinkering with genetics in a way for your advantage and is playing god. It really comes to show that David Ramirez knows what he is talking about and the scientific plot twist in the end about the inhabitants of the Noah and the G0 and G1 generations and how it is all passed along literally blew me away. This is the kind of hard hitting science that I want to read about. It makes you stop an wonder. I know it's fiction, but with our own advances in several fields... how long until we are augementing ourselves in this way. It's cool to think about but also pretty dangerous stuff!
However building a story on heavy hitting science elements can be a drag to get through but luckily here David Ramirez shows that he also knows how to write. David Ramirez's writing style flows natural and his usage of words produces an engaging and highly addictive narration.There are a lot of terms used in The Forever Watch, and on the first it might seem to overwhelm you but later David Ramirez explains a lot of these terms in a natural way and not giving you an information dump of everything. I think this was a big plus of The Forever Watch, hereby it is not only limiting it to the die hard science fiction fan but producing an terrific story for a much broader audience. In the ending the book, the tables are turned and David Ramirez transforms his story from heavy science fiction into an strong emotional rollercoaster and will definitly make you stop and think about Hana and all the others aboard the Noah.
With The Forever Watch, David Ramirez creates a powerful and unique entry into the dystopian science fiction genre. I am always on the look for books that have a heavy science influence,being a scientist myself it is something that I really enjoy reading about. I have encountered a few wherein the author itself had facts checked by people in the field, but David Ramirez was able to use his own background when setting up this story, and I have to say I was very impressed with the ideas he brought to life. For some readers it might seem like another fiction story but our technology is advancing as well... What makes The Forever Watch even better is that it is David Ramirez's debut, and he hits all the right snares: an interesting, unpredictable story, well developed characters and an amazingly rich storyline. The Forever Watch is a rich and evocative story, is has many dark influences and in the end everything comes together producing an hauntingly beautiful story. Definitely recommended.
When I read about the release of The Forever Watch I was very excited. There are three letters in the synopsis that got me stoked. DNA. And finding out that David Ramirez is an ex-scientist in the field of Molecular Biology I knew that this would be an excellent read with top notch scientific lingo and facts straight, I am also an molecular biologist and when I read a story wherein these kind of things aren't the least related to the read deal it annoys me. The Forever Watch is also David Ramirez's debut into the SF genre fiction. Just a mention up front. This is the new kind of science fiction that you will be dying to read, it's evocative and in the end hauntingly beautiful.
The Forever Watch tell the story of the space ship Noah and it's inhabitants that travels from a destroyed earth to the new promised land of Canaan. In the midst of this all you find the young Hana Dempsey, who works as a city planner aboard the Noah and is gifted in many fields as an hackers, economist and psychic. The story opens with Hana giving birth to a child and I did find this mildly disotrubing but intriguing at the same time, every female is tasked with carrying and delivering a child once in a while, in order to keep the Noah full of new life. They are on a 800 year voyage to a new plant. Soon after Hana has gotten her life back on track, the child was taken from her, she is confronted with a murder case and her latter trait, that of being pshycic/telepathic soon becomes needed when the murder case becomes unexplainable. This raises many questions since every thought by a person on board the Noah is registered... Hana is asked by the police officer Leonard Barrens to help find the murderer, it's his mentor that was murdered. From this point onwards the whole story is thrown over it's head (in a good way!). The explanation that is given by the Information Security, the department that governs all the information on the Noah, is that the murder has been Retired, so simple taken out of the picture. However Hana and Leonard don't take this answer as one that even sounds plausible. And as Hana and Leonard carry out there investigation they delve into a pit that they hadn't thought existed. Now don't think that this is just one simple murder investigation story. Like I already mentioned as Hana and Leonard delve deeper and deeper into this investigation they find out the true inner workings of the Noah and the reason why they left Earth behind for pastures new. This all was a lot darker than I had dared to even imagine. This is only the rough outline of The Forever Watch, if I would go deeper into the details that make this a perfect story it would definitly spoil the surprise for you but let me tell you this when you read the plot twist at the end you will find your self staring, mouth a gape, and saying what and rereading it it, it did it... good stuff and very original! The story of The Forever Watch is pretty heavy on the science element, directly to my liking!
The protagonist of The Forever Watch, Hana, makes up for an interesting perspective. As mentioned above her introduction was first as a birthing mother, after which her child was taken from her to be raised by others and she is just given some meds to shrug it of an continue working. If this doesn't get to you I don't know what will. David Ramirez does an excellent job in highlighting how tough this part is on Hana, she finds it hard to accept but does come over it a bit.. at least so it seems.. nearing the ending a whole floodgate it opened ripping Hana apart again by these thoughts. With showing Hana in this way, David Ramirez immidiatly creates a powerful character. Hana is gifted in many fields, but mostly the direct science fields and when she gets involved with the police officer Leonad Barrens, she starts to unfold her emotional side and for some thoughts she doesn't know how to go about them. This duality with her thoughts gave Hana's character a nice extra few layers of complexity. She readily drives the story forward with her actions, and the best thing is that she isn't a sherlock type of detective and she get wrong on some occasions keeping the storyline interesting and unpredictable. The secondary cast like Leonard and many other all help to further broaden the scope of the story. Leonard's is a police officer in everything that he does and is termed a bruiser able to burn immense amount of calories to enhance himself with sheer strength of supernatural speed. And with this he might come over as a person who only lives for his job, that of maintaining order and catching bad guys, but as soon as he meets Hana, his perspectives do change a little, especially when they get closer with their complex relation. Though the characters are a bit limited, this did allow David Ramirez to fully focus on developing them and this was done in a great way. With almost each page you learn something new about a character and just as with the clever storyline, this keeps the whole story engaging from start to finish.
There are many cool idea's all working in the favor of The Forever Watch and gives a real boost towards the science fiction genre. David Ramirez creates an interesting society of of enhanced humans on board the Noah, I have already mentioned that Leonard was a bruiser, well Hana has the touch, gifted by telepathy amongst others. Well this was achieved by genetic modification... This particular topic is of hot debate in our own society and inspires for me always a nefarious air when used in the correct way its basically tinkering with genetics in a way for your advantage and is playing god. It really comes to show that David Ramirez knows what he is talking about and the scientific plot twist in the end about the inhabitants of the Noah and the G0 and G1 generations and how it is all passed along literally blew me away. This is the kind of hard hitting science that I want to read about. It makes you stop an wonder. I know it's fiction, but with our own advances in several fields... how long until we are augementing ourselves in this way. It's cool to think about but also pretty dangerous stuff!
However building a story on heavy hitting science elements can be a drag to get through but luckily here David Ramirez shows that he also knows how to write. David Ramirez's writing style flows natural and his usage of words produces an engaging and highly addictive narration.There are a lot of terms used in The Forever Watch, and on the first it might seem to overwhelm you but later David Ramirez explains a lot of these terms in a natural way and not giving you an information dump of everything. I think this was a big plus of The Forever Watch, hereby it is not only limiting it to the die hard science fiction fan but producing an terrific story for a much broader audience. In the ending the book, the tables are turned and David Ramirez transforms his story from heavy science fiction into an strong emotional rollercoaster and will definitly make you stop and think about Hana and all the others aboard the Noah.
With The Forever Watch, David Ramirez creates a powerful and unique entry into the dystopian science fiction genre. I am always on the look for books that have a heavy science influence,being a scientist myself it is something that I really enjoy reading about. I have encountered a few wherein the author itself had facts checked by people in the field, but David Ramirez was able to use his own background when setting up this story, and I have to say I was very impressed with the ideas he brought to life. For some readers it might seem like another fiction story but our technology is advancing as well... What makes The Forever Watch even better is that it is David Ramirez's debut, and he hits all the right snares: an interesting, unpredictable story, well developed characters and an amazingly rich storyline. The Forever Watch is a rich and evocative story, is has many dark influences and in the end everything comes together producing an hauntingly beautiful story. Definitely recommended.
March 20, 2023
Incredible book. Rich, interesting concept with immersive world building , creating a dystopia that would be enough on its own but then also brings you on a rollercoaster of a plot line that leaves you reeling from how it ended from where you started (in a good way), whilst also leading you to ponder big questions like the strength and the point of survival instinct, the benefit of knowledge vs ignorance and the meaning of life. It is a part sci-fi, part conspiracy filled dystopia, part noir detective, part romance, part superhuman action-adventure novel - literally something for everyone.
April 17, 2014
When I requested The Forever Watch on NetGalley I felt like I really needed a change in pace and felt like some good classical science fiction was exactly what I needed.
And now that I've finished it, I'm completely torn about this book. On one side the world building is impressively detailed and layered, there's so much of the story that you can imagine at first, with some dystopian touches here and there and the plot has some curve balls that you really cannot expect. But on the other hand, everything seems to progress at such a slow pace... it's like following a path of tiny crumbs that keeps on meandering and going and going and never seems to end! You are walking through a gorgeous countryside and try to enjoy the journey but if it goes on for too long... you just want to get somewhere!
Our story takes place in the Noah, a generation ship on route to Canaan after the destruction of Earth. The society built on the Noah is a meritocracy and has a very advanced technology with brain implants that enhance abilities like telepathy and telekinesis and other physical feats. Hana has just undergone her mandatory Breeding, where females get pregnant and stay sedated during the entire pregnancy and never get to meet their children. We see her trying to get back to her normal self previous to this experience and going back to her normal routine. Through her eyes we discover the world of the Noah and while it is fascinating, we meander around technology and descriptions for quite a bit.
Then we meet Barrens, a friend of Hana after helping her on her worst night to date, and a police officer, with plenty of phyisical enhancements and modifications to help with his work. He also has some secret darkness in him that is at odds with the tight control that is everywhere in the Noah. Big brother is nothing compared to the control of the Nth Web and what can be done by the "thought police". Being Adjusted means having your memories deleted which results in a loss of who you are, and are left more than an unfeeling robot.
Despite all this, both Barrens and Hana start on a slippery slope of hacking and investigating anomalies that are being kept hidden. Here is the beginning of a very long thread that keeps us on our toes and that throws us quite a few unexpected surprises! There are so many secrets and lies weaved all over the Noah, and the choice of keeping them or getting them in the open can lead to the end of what's left of humankind.
Hana and Barrens relationship progresses with a very realistic pace, when we meet them they've already been friends a while, but after Hana's Breeding duty they become close friends and then even more than just that. Their investigating and hacking and illegal activities manage to bring them closer in their quest to find the truth. And they discover that the truth sometimes isn't something that humanity (or what's left of it) can deal with as a whole.
Full of nuance and detail, with great plot lines and food for thought this is a great science fiction read, but somehow it just kept on feeling slow and long for me. I'm giving it 3 stars. Maybe it just wasn't the right read for the right time for me, but if you like science fiction, give this one a try!
And now that I've finished it, I'm completely torn about this book. On one side the world building is impressively detailed and layered, there's so much of the story that you can imagine at first, with some dystopian touches here and there and the plot has some curve balls that you really cannot expect. But on the other hand, everything seems to progress at such a slow pace... it's like following a path of tiny crumbs that keeps on meandering and going and going and never seems to end! You are walking through a gorgeous countryside and try to enjoy the journey but if it goes on for too long... you just want to get somewhere!
Our story takes place in the Noah, a generation ship on route to Canaan after the destruction of Earth. The society built on the Noah is a meritocracy and has a very advanced technology with brain implants that enhance abilities like telepathy and telekinesis and other physical feats. Hana has just undergone her mandatory Breeding, where females get pregnant and stay sedated during the entire pregnancy and never get to meet their children. We see her trying to get back to her normal self previous to this experience and going back to her normal routine. Through her eyes we discover the world of the Noah and while it is fascinating, we meander around technology and descriptions for quite a bit.
Then we meet Barrens, a friend of Hana after helping her on her worst night to date, and a police officer, with plenty of phyisical enhancements and modifications to help with his work. He also has some secret darkness in him that is at odds with the tight control that is everywhere in the Noah. Big brother is nothing compared to the control of the Nth Web and what can be done by the "thought police". Being Adjusted means having your memories deleted which results in a loss of who you are, and are left more than an unfeeling robot.
Despite all this, both Barrens and Hana start on a slippery slope of hacking and investigating anomalies that are being kept hidden. Here is the beginning of a very long thread that keeps us on our toes and that throws us quite a few unexpected surprises! There are so many secrets and lies weaved all over the Noah, and the choice of keeping them or getting them in the open can lead to the end of what's left of humankind.
Hana and Barrens relationship progresses with a very realistic pace, when we meet them they've already been friends a while, but after Hana's Breeding duty they become close friends and then even more than just that. Their investigating and hacking and illegal activities manage to bring them closer in their quest to find the truth. And they discover that the truth sometimes isn't something that humanity (or what's left of it) can deal with as a whole.
Full of nuance and detail, with great plot lines and food for thought this is a great science fiction read, but somehow it just kept on feeling slow and long for me. I'm giving it 3 stars. Maybe it just wasn't the right read for the right time for me, but if you like science fiction, give this one a try!
September 3, 2015
Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.
The Forever Watch is set on the generational ship “Noah” which is carrying the last surviving humans on a thousand year voyage to “Canaan”. People on board the ship have cybernetic implants in their brains which allow them direct access to the futuristic Nth web; their version of the internet. It also enhances their natural abilities turning them into telepaths, healers and almost animal like bruisers.
The main character “Hana” is the administrator of the city planning bureau. We first meet Hana just after she finishes Breeding Duty. A duty every female onboard ship must do; where they are placed in a coma for 9 months while their womb is used to grow a child. Shortly after she is asked by a friend to help on a case he is working on. As they investigate a murder they end up learning more about the ship and its mission than they ever expected to.
I’ve been trying to get my thoughts together on how I feel about this book and to be honest I can’t. This is not a happy book. You definitely wouldn’t want to let your kids read it. But it is fantastic. I really don’t want to write too much about it because I don’t want to give away any spoilers. The closest book I can compare it to is Across The Universe however this book is still nothing like Across The Universe and it is also infinitely better than it too.
There is one slight problem with this book. It is very technical. Technology plays a huge role in this book and with all the talk of compiling code, analysing networks and artificial intelligence you practically need a computer science degree to understand some of the language. But you can tell the author really knows what he is writing about. From knowing that software is not written from scratch and rather is mashed together from pre-written lines of code. To just knowing that software takes longer to test than is takes to be written. Seriously, I spent 3 years doing computing at college and 95% of that time was spend testing my code. The technology was one of the main reasons why I loved this book but I can understand how someone without any knowledge of computers might be confused by it.
Even though I loved this book I didn’t give it 5 stars. I noticed a couple of small grammar errors which were slightly annoying. Some parts of the book I found implausible, the sheer size of the ship for example. And like I already mentioned I had a problem with some of the computer language. However overall I really enjoyed this book. It might not be for everyone but I liked it.
*I received a copy of this book from Hodder & Stoughton in exchange for an honest review.
The Forever Watch is set on the generational ship “Noah” which is carrying the last surviving humans on a thousand year voyage to “Canaan”. People on board the ship have cybernetic implants in their brains which allow them direct access to the futuristic Nth web; their version of the internet. It also enhances their natural abilities turning them into telepaths, healers and almost animal like bruisers.
The main character “Hana” is the administrator of the city planning bureau. We first meet Hana just after she finishes Breeding Duty. A duty every female onboard ship must do; where they are placed in a coma for 9 months while their womb is used to grow a child. Shortly after she is asked by a friend to help on a case he is working on. As they investigate a murder they end up learning more about the ship and its mission than they ever expected to.
I’ve been trying to get my thoughts together on how I feel about this book and to be honest I can’t. This is not a happy book. You definitely wouldn’t want to let your kids read it. But it is fantastic. I really don’t want to write too much about it because I don’t want to give away any spoilers. The closest book I can compare it to is Across The Universe however this book is still nothing like Across The Universe and it is also infinitely better than it too.
There is one slight problem with this book. It is very technical. Technology plays a huge role in this book and with all the talk of compiling code, analysing networks and artificial intelligence you practically need a computer science degree to understand some of the language. But you can tell the author really knows what he is writing about. From knowing that software is not written from scratch and rather is mashed together from pre-written lines of code. To just knowing that software takes longer to test than is takes to be written. Seriously, I spent 3 years doing computing at college and 95% of that time was spend testing my code. The technology was one of the main reasons why I loved this book but I can understand how someone without any knowledge of computers might be confused by it.
Even though I loved this book I didn’t give it 5 stars. I noticed a couple of small grammar errors which were slightly annoying. Some parts of the book I found implausible, the sheer size of the ship for example. And like I already mentioned I had a problem with some of the computer language. However overall I really enjoyed this book. It might not be for everyone but I liked it.
*I received a copy of this book from Hodder & Stoughton in exchange for an honest review.
April 10, 2014
If there was any book that I would recommend to all of my friends who aren’t into young adult fiction and generally “lovey-dovey” stories, this would be it. I adored The Forever Watch and all of its glorious sentences, chapters and heart-pounding cliffhangers. As a debut novel, this is as good as it gets. I honestly believe that this novel belongs on my shelves next to my Game of Thrones series, Lord of the Rings trilogy and my Outlander books.
Hana Dempsey is City Planner on the Noah, a ship on a 1000 year journey from a dead Earth to Canaan. This mass exodus seems reminiscent of Wall-E as the humans aboard the Noah live in a technologically advanced society on the ship with food, water, careers and even vacations in the heavily protected and engineered forests and nature preserves. All of the citizens have cybernetic implants to harness their (basically) telekinetic energy. Some citizens harness this talent as Bruisers with superhuman strength and physical attributes, other use Touch to build and shape the Habitat where they life. Hana herself has amazing Touch talents and uses these to run City Planning. However, she herself has just finished Breeding Duty and is left feeling less fulfilled than she is supposed to.
At first The Forever Watch doesn’t have many of the flavors of a great dystopian, science fiction novel. It focuses around the tentative relationship of Hana and her friend/lover Leonard Barrens. Barrens is a police officer with intense Bruiser talents. However, the story gets super interesting with the introduction of Mincemeat, the terrible threat hanging over the ship, killing people left and right. And right on top of it, the ship’s superiors are covering the whole thing up. Scary.
I spent nearly the whole book holding my breath and wondering what was going to happen next. The plot is so unpredictable that it feels like a breath of fresh air compared to many of the books that I’ve been reading recently. And I cried my eyes out at the end of the book, but don’t take that as a sign that anything in this book is bad. Seriously, I cry at the littlest things if I’m invested even a little in a character. But no, the ending is so worth it, and reading this book is one of the things that you must do this summer. I command it.
Love love love The Forever Watch. I completely recommend it in any format. If you aren’t putting it on your list of things to read, you’re missing out on something amazing.
Hana Dempsey is City Planner on the Noah, a ship on a 1000 year journey from a dead Earth to Canaan. This mass exodus seems reminiscent of Wall-E as the humans aboard the Noah live in a technologically advanced society on the ship with food, water, careers and even vacations in the heavily protected and engineered forests and nature preserves. All of the citizens have cybernetic implants to harness their (basically) telekinetic energy. Some citizens harness this talent as Bruisers with superhuman strength and physical attributes, other use Touch to build and shape the Habitat where they life. Hana herself has amazing Touch talents and uses these to run City Planning. However, she herself has just finished Breeding Duty and is left feeling less fulfilled than she is supposed to.
At first The Forever Watch doesn’t have many of the flavors of a great dystopian, science fiction novel. It focuses around the tentative relationship of Hana and her friend/lover Leonard Barrens. Barrens is a police officer with intense Bruiser talents. However, the story gets super interesting with the introduction of Mincemeat, the terrible threat hanging over the ship, killing people left and right. And right on top of it, the ship’s superiors are covering the whole thing up. Scary.
I spent nearly the whole book holding my breath and wondering what was going to happen next. The plot is so unpredictable that it feels like a breath of fresh air compared to many of the books that I’ve been reading recently. And I cried my eyes out at the end of the book, but don’t take that as a sign that anything in this book is bad. Seriously, I cry at the littlest things if I’m invested even a little in a character. But no, the ending is so worth it, and reading this book is one of the things that you must do this summer. I command it.
Love love love The Forever Watch. I completely recommend it in any format. If you aren’t putting it on your list of things to read, you’re missing out on something amazing.
May 9, 2014
Read this and other reviews at:Ampersand Read Blog
The Forever Watch tears me in two a little. It has some nagging flaws. It has big parts that drag on and make it a little difficult to keep engaged. Its characters are hard to get to know, and the dialogue can be glaringly poor at times.
But there are books whose ending completely ruins the narrative. You're reading along, completely content, enjoying it even, and the ending stops so suddenly you're flipping pages to see where the rest of the story is, or characters die that you feel are completely unnecessary. For The Forever Watch, the exact opposite is true.
Not in that the whole first part of the book sucked. It was decent. The world of The Noah is set up wonderfully. There isn't a waffling of will-they won't-they get together between the main character and her male companion. I loved the idea of buying other people's memories as entertainment, like you would buy a Netflix subscription or watch a YouTube video. It's both a creepy concept and yet totally believable as a vice people in the future would develop.
But holes evolve. The dialogue can be patchy. Characters speak in a certain dialect (dropping the n's off words, for example), and then in a few pages have no distinguishing speech patterns - they suddenly sound like everyone else.
Those last hundred pages or so, though. They were spectacular. The way I mark a book as good, great, AMAAAZING, is when I think of it long after I finish it. If I feel deeply for the characters and care about their fate when the narrative ends, the author has done his or her job. And The Forever Watch ratchets up the action, the tension, the stakes for the characters in that homestretch. I am not ashamed to say that I cried at the end of this book. Crying (usually) means something has been done right - you're feeling something for a written work. I felt something for the characters, for their circumstances, their fate.
The Forever Watch tears me in two a little. It has some nagging flaws. It has big parts that drag on and make it a little difficult to keep engaged. Its characters are hard to get to know, and the dialogue can be glaringly poor at times.
But there are books whose ending completely ruins the narrative. You're reading along, completely content, enjoying it even, and the ending stops so suddenly you're flipping pages to see where the rest of the story is, or characters die that you feel are completely unnecessary. For The Forever Watch, the exact opposite is true.
Not in that the whole first part of the book sucked. It was decent. The world of The Noah is set up wonderfully. There isn't a waffling of will-they won't-they get together between the main character and her male companion. I loved the idea of buying other people's memories as entertainment, like you would buy a Netflix subscription or watch a YouTube video. It's both a creepy concept and yet totally believable as a vice people in the future would develop.
But holes evolve. The dialogue can be patchy. Characters speak in a certain dialect (dropping the n's off words, for example), and then in a few pages have no distinguishing speech patterns - they suddenly sound like everyone else.
Those last hundred pages or so, though. They were spectacular. The way I mark a book as good, great, AMAAAZING, is when I think of it long after I finish it. If I feel deeply for the characters and care about their fate when the narrative ends, the author has done his or her job. And The Forever Watch ratchets up the action, the tension, the stakes for the characters in that homestretch. I am not ashamed to say that I cried at the end of this book. Crying (usually) means something has been done right - you're feeling something for a written work. I felt something for the characters, for their circumstances, their fate.
November 28, 2014
**2.5 - 3 stars**
Oh dear I struggled with this one. The premise is brilliant, the world building is excellent and the first part of the book was really really engaging. Then I found myself bogged down in an awful lot of what I found to be unneccesary technical jargon and rambling prose on the set up of the ship and this and that and I found myself skim reading a fair bit of it to get back to the parts that were fantastic.
I loved the idea of it – and in places, quite a lot of places to be fair, it really was a terrific read. The plot is intriguing – a ship carrying the last of humanity to a new planet, a hidden killer on board and a conspiracy of silence and cover up. I really liked Hannah Dempsey as a character, when we meet her she has just given birth and struggles with the aftermath – On Noah you don’t keep your children, in fact you sleep through the whole nine months and wake up as if it never happened – which set the scene for some great inner turmoil. When she gets caught up in the hunt for a killer, some of the story is mind blowingly addictive.
The problem was every time it got going, it stopped again. More technical stuff, more rambling and whilst I like the idea of being able to visualise the workings and environment when reading Science Fiction and Fantasy, this was all just a bit too much to get my head round and it kept dumping me out of the experience.
Overall I liked it ok, and there was such a lot of promise, but because I felt it never really got going I was kind of put out by the whole thing. I did struggle to finish it (although I’m glad I did, the end part was really really good again) and I think David Ramirez is a terrific writer, but I DO feel it could have been a lot more accessible. That of course is subjective – if you have a techie brain and like Scifi/Fantasy you will ADORE this because it has the best of both worlds. For me though, it was a bit over egged.
Happy Reading Folks!
Oh dear I struggled with this one. The premise is brilliant, the world building is excellent and the first part of the book was really really engaging. Then I found myself bogged down in an awful lot of what I found to be unneccesary technical jargon and rambling prose on the set up of the ship and this and that and I found myself skim reading a fair bit of it to get back to the parts that were fantastic.
I loved the idea of it – and in places, quite a lot of places to be fair, it really was a terrific read. The plot is intriguing – a ship carrying the last of humanity to a new planet, a hidden killer on board and a conspiracy of silence and cover up. I really liked Hannah Dempsey as a character, when we meet her she has just given birth and struggles with the aftermath – On Noah you don’t keep your children, in fact you sleep through the whole nine months and wake up as if it never happened – which set the scene for some great inner turmoil. When she gets caught up in the hunt for a killer, some of the story is mind blowingly addictive.
The problem was every time it got going, it stopped again. More technical stuff, more rambling and whilst I like the idea of being able to visualise the workings and environment when reading Science Fiction and Fantasy, this was all just a bit too much to get my head round and it kept dumping me out of the experience.
Overall I liked it ok, and there was such a lot of promise, but because I felt it never really got going I was kind of put out by the whole thing. I did struggle to finish it (although I’m glad I did, the end part was really really good again) and I think David Ramirez is a terrific writer, but I DO feel it could have been a lot more accessible. That of course is subjective – if you have a techie brain and like Scifi/Fantasy you will ADORE this because it has the best of both worlds. For me though, it was a bit over egged.
Happy Reading Folks!
August 11, 2016
It's refreshing to read a science fiction book with a concept that I hadn't read in a long time or pondered for a while afterwards. This book takes place on what's called a Generation Ship. Humans have left Earth for reasons unknown to the protagonist and the reader (which are explored in the story) in a spaceship that is taking them to a new planet. The story follows the life of one of the humans living on the ship as a City Administrator in a massive ship with simulated environments and advanced technology that enhances their natural abilities. Humans are born, raised, tested on their abilities, and assigned training/careers based on those abilities. The main character helps a friend investigate the brutal murder of his mentor and find the murderer.
The story itself seems slow at first but at the turning point (you'll know it when you read it) it really picks up and is very hard to put down. For me this happened just before I was going to sleep and ended up staying up later than planned. Suffice it to say I thoroughly enjoyed the ending especially the final few chapters and read through them several times.
The story itself seems slow at first but at the turning point (you'll know it when you read it) it really picks up and is very hard to put down. For me this happened just before I was going to sleep and ended up staying up later than planned. Suffice it to say I thoroughly enjoyed the ending especially the final few chapters and read through them several times.
July 25, 2019
The scope of this novel’s setting is what initially drew me to pick up this book. Noah, a planetary-sized spaceship has left a devastated Earth and is traveling to a nearby to Canaan, a nearby star. They have travelled a third of the distance in approximately 350 years and still have about twice as many years before they reach their destination. So many generations have passed that its citizens don’t truly know what happened or how they were gifted with alien technology. It appears that human memories can be eliminated or created. The spaceship is so vast it possesses simulated day and night cycles with an artificial sun and stars and climates which include periodic rain and snow. Noah is so vast that it contains various biomes of redwood forests, lakes and desert terrains. There are city streets lined with skyscrapers, cafes and shops. All are tied together with roads requiring buses and trains for transportation.
The protagonist of this novel is Hana Dempsey, who is introduced when she awakens from a nine-month “vacation” known as Breeding Day, a lottery in which fertile women are selected to become impregnated through artificial insemination and give birth without ever seeing the child again. Hana is a city planner administrator and computer genius who possesses telekinetic abilities she uses in urban planning. Her lover, a genetically enhanced policeman Leonard Barrens requests Hana’s hacking skills in investigating a series of related murders. Additionally, there also appear to be several early retirements. On the Noah, when someone retires, they individual is whisked away never to be seen again. (Reminded me of the source for Soylent Green). Their investigation begins to receive negative attention from the ship’s administration.
If you are a reader whose habit is to ditch the book after 100 disinterested pages, you will do it with this book. I found it to have a very slow start. It picked up for the remainder of the book, but occasionally fell into boring troughs, especially when the prose became technical. I oscillated between giving it two and three stars settling on the latter because there was enough surprises and a poignant ending to make it so.
The protagonist of this novel is Hana Dempsey, who is introduced when she awakens from a nine-month “vacation” known as Breeding Day, a lottery in which fertile women are selected to become impregnated through artificial insemination and give birth without ever seeing the child again. Hana is a city planner administrator and computer genius who possesses telekinetic abilities she uses in urban planning. Her lover, a genetically enhanced policeman Leonard Barrens requests Hana’s hacking skills in investigating a series of related murders. Additionally, there also appear to be several early retirements. On the Noah, when someone retires, they individual is whisked away never to be seen again. (Reminded me of the source for Soylent Green). Their investigation begins to receive negative attention from the ship’s administration.
If you are a reader whose habit is to ditch the book after 100 disinterested pages, you will do it with this book. I found it to have a very slow start. It picked up for the remainder of the book, but occasionally fell into boring troughs, especially when the prose became technical. I oscillated between giving it two and three stars settling on the latter because there was enough surprises and a poignant ending to make it so.
May 30, 2014
Okay. I finished this book yesterday, which makes today a perfect day to write down a few words on it.
Obviously, I really liked the book since I gave it 5 stars. Some might say that the storyline was a typical subject in Sci-Fi books and therefore had some level of predictability, I still thought the book was well worth the read/my time, anyway.
There's a few things I'd like to say about the ending:
There, that was it. ;)
Thanks for the awesome read, should the author ever read this, and we hope to be hearing from you again!
Obviously, I really liked the book since I gave it 5 stars. Some might say that the storyline was a typical subject in Sci-Fi books and therefore had some level of predictability, I still thought the book was well worth the read/my time, anyway.
There's a few things I'd like to say about the ending:
There, that was it. ;)
Thanks for the awesome read, should the author ever read this, and we hope to be hearing from you again!
August 8, 2016
I binge-read over my vacation, picking up random books at the library or a book shop that catch my attention. Typically, I don't finish them - I read the beginning to get the general style and theme of the book, and then jump to the end. This summer, several fantasy novels and one S.F. novel suffered that fate. 'The forever watch', I read from start to finish.
The cover lies to the reader: it is NOT a murder mystery. The focus lies on detailing life in a small stable-state society, the remnants of humanity, confined to a giant spaceship slowly making its way through empty space towards a habitable planet. The society is seen through the eyes of the first person character, Hana, who feels increasingly estranged from the life she's been bred for (in a double sense - when the story starts she's just given birth).
This is a conspiracy story; of course there are big secrets hidden by the leadership that get gradually revealed as Hana and her lover starts to investigate a murder coverup. But this is not your standard conspiracy story either, as the main characters become increasingly unclear if they really want to find out; it is a stable society after all, even if built on secrets.
The style of this book is highly cinematic - you get to see what Hana sees. At times, reading it comes close to reading a film manuscript (there is not much for the scenographer to invent if this was ever filmed) which contributes to the fairly low pacing. The storyline is good but the love story is cheesy (and the sex scenes would benefit from a feminine perspective), and there are plot holes - this society would be WAY better at surveillance for starters!
The reason I want to recommend the book lies in the layers of thinking about the artificial. I sometimes wished that an editor had cut out some of the frequently uses of 'pseudo' and 'fake' - most of the stuff in this world is artificial, so it doesn't make sense that its inhabitants would think about those materials as 'fake'. It would be the real stuff - authentic wool, meat, grass or whatever - that would be noticed. Authenticity is the most valued thing in this artificial society. But it also makes sense that Hana notices all of the falsity and the artificiality.
To summarise, read this book! It's a fairly straightforward read bringing you visually into a post-humanist society, a decent storyline and a complex web of thinking around what's real and what's artificial.
The cover lies to the reader: it is NOT a murder mystery. The focus lies on detailing life in a small stable-state society, the remnants of humanity, confined to a giant spaceship slowly making its way through empty space towards a habitable planet. The society is seen through the eyes of the first person character, Hana, who feels increasingly estranged from the life she's been bred for (in a double sense - when the story starts she's just given birth).
This is a conspiracy story; of course there are big secrets hidden by the leadership that get gradually revealed as Hana and her lover starts to investigate a murder coverup. But this is not your standard conspiracy story either, as the main characters become increasingly unclear if they really want to find out; it is a stable society after all, even if built on secrets.
The style of this book is highly cinematic - you get to see what Hana sees. At times, reading it comes close to reading a film manuscript (there is not much for the scenographer to invent if this was ever filmed) which contributes to the fairly low pacing. The storyline is good but the love story is cheesy (and the sex scenes would benefit from a feminine perspective), and there are plot holes - this society would be WAY better at surveillance for starters!
The reason I want to recommend the book lies in the layers of thinking about the artificial. I sometimes wished that an editor had cut out some of the frequently uses of 'pseudo' and 'fake' - most of the stuff in this world is artificial, so it doesn't make sense that its inhabitants would think about those materials as 'fake'. It would be the real stuff - authentic wool, meat, grass or whatever - that would be noticed. Authenticity is the most valued thing in this artificial society. But it also makes sense that Hana notices all of the falsity and the artificiality.
To summarise, read this book! It's a fairly straightforward read bringing you visually into a post-humanist society, a decent storyline and a complex web of thinking around what's real and what's artificial.
March 24, 2014
I received an advance reader copy of this book a few weeks ago from the publisher. I have not previously heard of this author or read any of his previous work.
David Ramirez's premier novel, The Forever Watch, begins in familiar territory - a dystopian world set on a generational ship - but quickly diverges into the original/weird/awesome. It's one of those novels that defies genre. It's easily classified as science fiction, obviously, but there are also elements of crime noir, mystery, apocalyptic and dystopian, as well as horror.
The story is told from the point of view of Hana Dempsey, a mid-level management officer in the Ministry of Interior who helps develop areas of the massive ship Noah. It begins after Hana has completed her first term of breeding duty, a nine month period where Hana has been impregnated and gave birth, all while in a coma. How large is the ship? What happened to Earth? And why can't Hana see her baby? These are just a few of the questions whose answers are known only by the Ministry of Information. Teaming up with Barrens, a detective of long term investigations, Hana sets off on a quest for answers. The Forever Watch is one of those novels whose plot is difficult to talk about because of its twists and turns. It had be guessing - right to the very end.
The writing quality was about average. Some of the descriptions were either minimal or vague and I had a difficult time at first getting into the novel. Hana, however, is a dynamic protagonist carries the weight of the novel - and carries it well. It was a combination of the original plot and Hana's character that I enjoyed most about this book.
Something else I really liked was Ramirez's creation of a complex political situation about the Noah. While it is easy detest the Ministry of Information because of their concealment of information from the public (NSA, are you reading this? Of course you are) as Hana and Barrens uncover one secret after another, it becomes harder and harder to say which side is right.
The Forever Watch is a welcome addition to dystopian and science fiction bookshelves. I would this book to readers of either - especially if you also like dark crime novels.
David Ramirez's premier novel, The Forever Watch, begins in familiar territory - a dystopian world set on a generational ship - but quickly diverges into the original/weird/awesome. It's one of those novels that defies genre. It's easily classified as science fiction, obviously, but there are also elements of crime noir, mystery, apocalyptic and dystopian, as well as horror.
The story is told from the point of view of Hana Dempsey, a mid-level management officer in the Ministry of Interior who helps develop areas of the massive ship Noah. It begins after Hana has completed her first term of breeding duty, a nine month period where Hana has been impregnated and gave birth, all while in a coma. How large is the ship? What happened to Earth? And why can't Hana see her baby? These are just a few of the questions whose answers are known only by the Ministry of Information. Teaming up with Barrens, a detective of long term investigations, Hana sets off on a quest for answers. The Forever Watch is one of those novels whose plot is difficult to talk about because of its twists and turns. It had be guessing - right to the very end.
The writing quality was about average. Some of the descriptions were either minimal or vague and I had a difficult time at first getting into the novel. Hana, however, is a dynamic protagonist carries the weight of the novel - and carries it well. It was a combination of the original plot and Hana's character that I enjoyed most about this book.
Something else I really liked was Ramirez's creation of a complex political situation about the Noah. While it is easy detest the Ministry of Information because of their concealment of information from the public (NSA, are you reading this? Of course you are) as Hana and Barrens uncover one secret after another, it becomes harder and harder to say which side is right.
The Forever Watch is a welcome addition to dystopian and science fiction bookshelves. I would this book to readers of either - especially if you also like dark crime novels.
April 6, 2014
This book was provided to me by St. Martin's Press through NetGalley.
Wow! I am not much of a sci-fi person, but so many of my students read the genre, I feel I have to try it every so often. With "The Forever Watch" I am so glad I did! What a wonderfully deep, layered, emotional book that seemingly deals with technology, but really is about love, relationships and caring.
We are traveling on Noah, a ship that is transporting surviving humans away from a destroyed Earth to Canaan, the new home for the species. The trip takes hundreds of years and Noah has been outfitted to support the humans for generations: a ship that is as large as many of Earth's largest cities, with miles of roadways, parks, waterways, and everything a human would need to feel human. But, the humans are becoming less human, as they receive technology implants in their brain to connect them to the Nth net, the communications hub for Noah. They are never not connected to each other. (I'm thinking the iPhone stuck directly into the brain!) These changes help the people enhance their powers: strength, mind reading, telekinesis, etc.
However, there is something very monsterous happening on board Noah. Mincemeat has been brutally destroying people, ripping them to shreds and leaving their parts strewn about. Who, what, is doing this? And why is the command of Noah erasing the memories of the people who witness the gore?
The way the characters and plot were revealed as the layers were pealed back intrigued my to know end. I wanted to never put the book down just to discover the "what's next." The heartache of the main characters was palpable and I hurt and cheered for them all along.
The one drawback for me was the detailed technological sections. I understand the reader needs to feel what the characters are experiencing, but during the sections of integration and adaptation of technology with the Nth Net, it felt bogged down and lost me to a certain degree.
This book was a nice eye-opener for a non-sci-fi guy. A great mystery, a wonderful lover story, and a strong commentary on our society's love of technology. I really enjoyed this book!
Wow! I am not much of a sci-fi person, but so many of my students read the genre, I feel I have to try it every so often. With "The Forever Watch" I am so glad I did! What a wonderfully deep, layered, emotional book that seemingly deals with technology, but really is about love, relationships and caring.
We are traveling on Noah, a ship that is transporting surviving humans away from a destroyed Earth to Canaan, the new home for the species. The trip takes hundreds of years and Noah has been outfitted to support the humans for generations: a ship that is as large as many of Earth's largest cities, with miles of roadways, parks, waterways, and everything a human would need to feel human. But, the humans are becoming less human, as they receive technology implants in their brain to connect them to the Nth net, the communications hub for Noah. They are never not connected to each other. (I'm thinking the iPhone stuck directly into the brain!) These changes help the people enhance their powers: strength, mind reading, telekinesis, etc.
However, there is something very monsterous happening on board Noah. Mincemeat has been brutally destroying people, ripping them to shreds and leaving their parts strewn about. Who, what, is doing this? And why is the command of Noah erasing the memories of the people who witness the gore?
The way the characters and plot were revealed as the layers were pealed back intrigued my to know end. I wanted to never put the book down just to discover the "what's next." The heartache of the main characters was palpable and I hurt and cheered for them all along.
The one drawback for me was the detailed technological sections. I understand the reader needs to feel what the characters are experiencing, but during the sections of integration and adaptation of technology with the Nth Net, it felt bogged down and lost me to a certain degree.
This book was a nice eye-opener for a non-sci-fi guy. A great mystery, a wonderful lover story, and a strong commentary on our society's love of technology. I really enjoyed this book!
May 23, 2014
David has woven a possible future for humanity that is both grim yet beautiful. It is dense with scientific terms that are at times difficult to grasp, but with constant use in the story, will become familiar by the half-way mark. Overall, the story is worth all the indoctrination into the world of the Noah.
From the start, the world-building is superbly done and plays out like an anime in my head, with vivd descriptions of surroundings and the minute detail and emotions of events. You get to know and love Hana, from her blossoming relationship with Barrens to her quirky but efficient crew at City Planning and onto her obnoxious mix of friends. Thay all live in a society that is layered so that each individual provides the utmost benefits to the overall success of the mission: the survival of mankind as it travels to another habitable world.
And then, the mystery begins. Unraveling it will take your emotions through a roller-coaster ride of ups, downs, corkscrews, and deep, dark tunnels. It becomes a page-turner when Hana and Barrens leave the familiar confines of the Habitat to explore the rest of the gargantuan ship. The stark realities, with all its gore, are mixed in with heart wrenching truths that would leave you gasping and at times, teary-eyed.
The revelations keep coming from then on until the final one is revealed in the last two chapters. You will marvel at David's ingenuity at how it plays out. The final leg of the roller coaster ride has the reader seeing the light at the end of the dark tunnel. At the end, it left me praying that the circumstances portrayed here will never happen, but also had me questioning if that time ever comes, will I also do the same as what Hana and Barrens and the rest of their team did. Sacrifices. Truth. Survival. Hope?
Finally, the title made sense.
There is a great potential for "The Forever Watch" to be a graphic novel, an anime, and a real movie!
** Potential Spoilers **
I detect traces of the following works' DNA in the novel (in my opinion):
Akira.
The Matrix.
Homeworld.
Ghost in the Shell.
From the start, the world-building is superbly done and plays out like an anime in my head, with vivd descriptions of surroundings and the minute detail and emotions of events. You get to know and love Hana, from her blossoming relationship with Barrens to her quirky but efficient crew at City Planning and onto her obnoxious mix of friends. Thay all live in a society that is layered so that each individual provides the utmost benefits to the overall success of the mission: the survival of mankind as it travels to another habitable world.
And then, the mystery begins. Unraveling it will take your emotions through a roller-coaster ride of ups, downs, corkscrews, and deep, dark tunnels. It becomes a page-turner when Hana and Barrens leave the familiar confines of the Habitat to explore the rest of the gargantuan ship. The stark realities, with all its gore, are mixed in with heart wrenching truths that would leave you gasping and at times, teary-eyed.
The revelations keep coming from then on until the final one is revealed in the last two chapters. You will marvel at David's ingenuity at how it plays out. The final leg of the roller coaster ride has the reader seeing the light at the end of the dark tunnel. At the end, it left me praying that the circumstances portrayed here will never happen, but also had me questioning if that time ever comes, will I also do the same as what Hana and Barrens and the rest of their team did. Sacrifices. Truth. Survival. Hope?
Finally, the title made sense.
There is a great potential for "The Forever Watch" to be a graphic novel, an anime, and a real movie!
** Potential Spoilers **
I detect traces of the following works' DNA in the novel (in my opinion):
Akira.
The Matrix.
Homeworld.
Ghost in the Shell.
May 4, 2014
Interesting book that is close to impossible to do a thorough review of because the greatest strength is its twisty, turney exploration of the central mystery. I can't even discuss much past the opening pages without giving away spoilers that, trust me, you don't want me to know in advance.
So I'll say this. I was engaged. It was fun. Most of the time the twists and turns were surprising. The times they weren't were due to coincidences that were not believable. (For example, a woman walks into a room with hundreds of thousands of items. She goes up to one single item in the room and it just happens to be the single item there she would recognize and has a personal connection to. Uh... Yeah...).
Although the book comes to a big conclusion, I found it mildly disappointing on an emotional level. When I ask myself why, it is related somehow to my expectations. I wanted this book to become more like OSC's Speaker for the Dead - where I walk away from the book certain that I've just touched upon what it means to be human. That didn't happen to me at all. It's just a good tale without that deeper connection.
I was also a little disappointed that the comments about the ship's religious indoctrination (or opposite of it ) didn't work into the ending. There was a really good connection there that could have, but didn't happen (so hard to talk about this without talking about it)!
I did get a little tired of being told how huge Leon (LI) was. He couldn't be in a scene without us being told he had arms like tree-trunks, etc. I got it the first hundred times, thank you very much.
Otherwise though, I enjoyed the read and would recommend.
So I'll say this. I was engaged. It was fun. Most of the time the twists and turns were surprising. The times they weren't were due to coincidences that were not believable. (For example, a woman walks into a room with hundreds of thousands of items. She goes up to one single item in the room and it just happens to be the single item there she would recognize and has a personal connection to. Uh... Yeah...).
Although the book comes to a big conclusion, I found it mildly disappointing on an emotional level. When I ask myself why, it is related somehow to my expectations. I wanted this book to become more like OSC's Speaker for the Dead - where I walk away from the book certain that I've just touched upon what it means to be human. That didn't happen to me at all. It's just a good tale without that deeper connection.
I was also a little disappointed that the comments about the ship's religious indoctrination (or opposite of it ) didn't work into the ending. There was a really good connection there that could have, but didn't happen (so hard to talk about this without talking about it)!
I did get a little tired of being told how huge Leon (LI) was. He couldn't be in a scene without us being told he had arms like tree-trunks, etc. I got it the first hundred times, thank you very much.
Otherwise though, I enjoyed the read and would recommend.
May 3, 2014
This is a story to make you think. It's definitely science fiction, but it's so much more. It's a love story. It's a mystery. It's an adventure. And it's one of the most innovative stories I've read in forever. The technology that forms the basis for this world is simply amazing.
Earth has been destroyed. The last remnants of the species are in a gigantic generational ship, Noah, which operates by psi technology. People are born, live, and die in surroundings that simulate an ordinary planet with weather, seasons, jobs of all kinds from menial to executive. And in all this is one very talented City Planner, Hana, who falls in love with a man well beneath her station socially, but who brings her peace...and opens her eyes to things that simply don't add up about this artificial society. Who--or what?--is causing the gory murders he nicknames Meatgrinder cases? Why haven't the Ship's Executive Council stopped these hideous crimes? As the two delve deeper into the inner workings of the ship, mysteries abound, revelations are revealed, and nothing is exactly as Hana believed it to be.
This book is simply amazing. It's a character study, a meditation on the consequences of social planning and psychic skills, and so much more. It's not a quick read because the ideas are dense, but it's incredibly good.
My highest recommendation!
Earth has been destroyed. The last remnants of the species are in a gigantic generational ship, Noah, which operates by psi technology. People are born, live, and die in surroundings that simulate an ordinary planet with weather, seasons, jobs of all kinds from menial to executive. And in all this is one very talented City Planner, Hana, who falls in love with a man well beneath her station socially, but who brings her peace...and opens her eyes to things that simply don't add up about this artificial society. Who--or what?--is causing the gory murders he nicknames Meatgrinder cases? Why haven't the Ship's Executive Council stopped these hideous crimes? As the two delve deeper into the inner workings of the ship, mysteries abound, revelations are revealed, and nothing is exactly as Hana believed it to be.
This book is simply amazing. It's a character study, a meditation on the consequences of social planning and psychic skills, and so much more. It's not a quick read because the ideas are dense, but it's incredibly good.
My highest recommendation!
May 28, 2014
An empty alien generation ship arrives at Earth, but the technology is accessible enough to humans for them to get access and inadvertently, apocalyptically infect almost everyone. The remnants of humanity take command of the ship and set a course for a new planet. It'll take almost a thousand years, so there are elaborate precautions build in to keep the crew alive and able to restart humanity. One of the alien benefits humans can at least somewhat use is amazing psionic powers like telekinesis, but huge amounts of alien tech are beyond us. There are also gaps between the official news and the data specialist have access to and hands-on workers like police and sewer repairmen run into. Urban legends morph into mob psychology gone amok; the characters in the story are mainly from the rebellious side and only slowly stumble on the great secrets and compromises that make this voyage on an interstellar ark possible. Chaos erupts as the rebel leaders slowly discover the truths and have to handle the consequences of unleashing it on the general public of the ship crew. Gene Wolfe did this much more mesmerizingly, but this has a current feel to it and is a good take on how in the world you'd keep humanity alive and ready to repopulate a new world over a 1,000 year voyage on a single ship.
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