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sadieros73's review against another edition
3.0
This book should become a movie. The concepts, technology, and discoveries in the story would make for an excellent sci fi film. The book, however, was a tough read. I almost put it down around 40 pages, but I really like to finish what I start. Still after 100 pages, the story barely picked up in pace and it is nearly all in the head of the main character. The beginning is entirely skimmable. The end of the story was completely unexpected, though, so I'm glad I stuck around for the payoff. If I could rate the sections of the book, the beginning would get 1 star, but the end gets a solid 3 stars for the interesting concepts presented.
guyro's review against another edition
3.0
had rubbish annoying moments and had really good moments
like how the protagonists went from being 'on-the-run' to joining the 'super-police', this particularly annoyed me as i felt having learnt their characters went against them, the author could have made their sudden change in personality clearer
like how the protagonists went from being 'on-the-run' to joining the 'super-police', this particularly annoyed me as i felt having learnt their characters went against them, the author could have made their sudden change in personality clearer
jmoses's review against another edition
5.0
Well then. That was not what I expected. It's.....pretty amazing. And horrifying. A really excellent read. Although if you don't like scifi, or don't know if you do, this isn't the place to start. It's got a great story, real characters and some lovely tech things. The "world" is -thoroughly- fascinating and I'd love to read more about it.
jager123's review against another edition
2.0
This has taken me weeks to read. I have walked away, returned, finished two other books, come back, walked away again and finally finished the last 259 pages this evening. I have never read a sci fi crime thriller before, and to be honest I probably won’t again. The first and last 100 pages were challenging but fascinating. Sadly there were about 200 pages of absolutely pointless guff that meandered without direction in the middle.
No spoilers just this, there’s a giant colony shop hurtling through space. The people on board are all modified in some way. People die. People investigate. Things get bloody. Stuff happens. Chuck in a twist or ten.
Nicest thing I can say is I didn’t hate it enough to walk away permanently.
No spoilers just this, there’s a giant colony shop hurtling through space. The people on board are all modified in some way. People die. People investigate. Things get bloody. Stuff happens. Chuck in a twist or ten.
Nicest thing I can say is I didn’t hate it enough to walk away permanently.
megatsunami's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this "hard sci fi" book about a spaceship carrying the last remnants of Earth's population to a distant planet. I found that, as other reviewers said, the pacing was uneven and sometimes a little slow, and there was a little too much jargon/ programming detail at times. Also, I figured out a couple of plot points a little while before the characters. Still, it was a worthwhile read and I really liked what happened with the plot (I won't give spoilers but it was pretty interesting). I would definitely read more from this author.
serinde4books's review against another edition
3.0
This was from a book box I received in 2015, I believe it was a Star Wars Box. Obviously, this book didn’t grab me. I had to restart and finish it mostly because I was tired of seeing it on my Current Reading list. I would say that the last quarter was good, the storyline started moving and it had a great ending, but sadly the 1st 3 quarters were hard to get through. Very slow and just didn’t peak my interest.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com
leilaboo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
halcyon_rising's review against another edition
5.0
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:
- Second, the endings that Hana saw for her friends. A quick summary of what happened to whom is always such an odd thing, isn't it? Which person ends up with a HEA, which one doesn't... In this case, who is going to have a longer life (Leo, Hennessy) and who will be Mincemeat soon (Jazz, Marcus). It was a bit of a shock to read that pretty quickly a person or two, three from Hana's former friends died from it as well, so at what rate people truly do seem to die. Which brings us to the following:
- Third, Archie the fast-learning AI versus the mission to save mankind. Archie grew so quickly, not only in the Web but later when she tried to save Hana's life, or stall her death as much as possible. She's such a fantastic piece of technology, a great 'invention'. What I don't get is why they never tried to see if an AI couldn't solve the problems mankind is facing. Why exactly can they not cure the disease(s) they have? Have they not found the damages in their own DNA? They must have? If not, can't Archie? Karla just waved that possibility away, trying to ever find a cure. With the mission now needing more than 800 years again before the end point, why not take that time to try. 800 years should be enough. It's ridiculously long, in fact.
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:
Spoiler
- First, about Hana. I wasn't sure until we really saw her ending what exactly was going to happen, but I guess I'm semi-happy with it. Archie had a lot of time to repair things in her body to keep her on a certain level of health, and though it seemed that Hana did look like half a robot near her death, Archie didn't succeed in fixing her up enough for her to stay alive. It could honestly, from my perspective (fan, not scientist), have gone either way, but I guess the author chose not to have had Archie work faster so that she did survive. (Imagine Karla's face. :P)- Second, the endings that Hana saw for her friends. A quick summary of what happened to whom is always such an odd thing, isn't it? Which person ends up with a HEA, which one doesn't... In this case, who is going to have a longer life (Leo, Hennessy) and who will be Mincemeat soon (Jazz, Marcus). It was a bit of a shock to read that pretty quickly a person or two, three from Hana's former friends died from it as well, so at what rate people truly do seem to die. Which brings us to the following:
- Third, Archie the fast-learning AI versus the mission to save mankind. Archie grew so quickly, not only in the Web but later when she tried to save Hana's life, or stall her death as much as possible. She's such a fantastic piece of technology, a great 'invention'. What I don't get is why they never tried to see if an AI couldn't solve the problems mankind is facing. Why exactly can they not cure the disease(s) they have? Have they not found the damages in their own DNA? They must have? If not, can't Archie? Karla just waved that possibility away, trying to ever find a cure. With the mission now needing more than 800 years again before the end point, why not take that time to try. 800 years should be enough. It's ridiculously long, in fact.
There, that was it. ;)
Thanks for the awesome read, should the author ever read this, and we hope to be hearing from you again!
djhobby's review against another edition
2.0
4.8 out of 10 stars.
This book was a little more frustrating than interesting.
I picked this book because I'm fascinated by the idea of ark ships sailing to distant stars, and I'm a sucker for a good mystery. Well... This book is promoted as having both of these elements, but it just barely touches on these things. It's more of a Harlequin romance novel than a mystery/sci-fi novel.
This book was a little more frustrating than interesting.
I picked this book because I'm fascinated by the idea of ark ships sailing to distant stars, and I'm a sucker for a good mystery. Well... This book is promoted as having both of these elements, but it just barely touches on these things. It's more of a Harlequin romance novel than a mystery/sci-fi novel.
mel_reviews_in_a_pinch's review against another edition
4.0
Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
My Thoughts: Thinking about the future can be daunting. However, thinking about a futuristic reality seems intriguing and imaginative. The idea of deep space exploration, time travel, human evolution, and much more just seem like far-fetched ideas that may or may not ever happen (certainly not in my lifetime).
The Forever Watch is without a doubt in the science fiction realm. However, right off the bat, something really bothered me about it. On the front cover is a quote from a reviewer saying, “filled with scientific plausibility.” I wanted to scream when I saw that. You should never build that sort of expectation into a sci-fi book. It ends up leaving someone science-minded with ridiculous expectations that will probably not be met.
I won’t even bother beating around the bush, the plot was awesome. I absolutely loved how in-depth and complicated everything seemed to be. The Forever Watch pulled in so many complicated things and expounded on them to a degree where you felt like, “hey, there’s a possibility that this could occur.” While I may be an idiot when it comes to computer programming, even I know the majority of the concepts presented in The Forever Watch are pretty far into the future, if they really are possible.
The main characters, overall, were pretty good. They were multi-dimensional and had so many different layers to their personalities and normal human flaws that it was a joy to read, but also mighty frustrating. I was so frustrated with Hana at points that I wanted to rip my hair out. She can’t seem to accept the idea that a government would hide things (important things) from society and some of the questions she asked made me want to punch her. As interesting as the answers to her questions were, they weren’t exactly the most relevant things to be asking.
There were also a lot of character inconsistencies. Another character, Leon Barrens came across as just short of stupid, while at other times he came across as having above average intelligence. This was reflected through his speech patterns and then his surprisingly quick understanding of the programming involved with The Monster (Archie – sentient software, but not a TARDIS). This was mainly a problem in the first half of the book.
There were also deep questions, relevant in the modern world, that resonated throughout The Forever Watch. Whether it was a question of vanity or the world’s dependence on technology, the author didn’t fear taking his own stand on where those lines should be drawn. It forced me to think about my own stance versus how I actually behave. I realized I may be a tad vain (I sincerely hate wearing my glasses, contacts all the way). The question of technology dependence and online privacy really stuck with me well after I finished reading The Forever Watch. How much can “Big Brother” really see? And how much can “he” affect?
There was a lot to this review and I’m sure some people are wondering, did you like it or not? I really enjoyed The Forever Watch. So far, it’s my favorite book from Netgalley. I may have my complaints about it because no book is perfect, but in the end I really liked it and would read it again. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend The Forever Watch (even more so if you’re already a sci-fi fan).
For more reviews, check out Reviews in a Pinch today!
My Thoughts: Thinking about the future can be daunting. However, thinking about a futuristic reality seems intriguing and imaginative. The idea of deep space exploration, time travel, human evolution, and much more just seem like far-fetched ideas that may or may not ever happen (certainly not in my lifetime).
The Forever Watch is without a doubt in the science fiction realm. However, right off the bat, something really bothered me about it. On the front cover is a quote from a reviewer saying, “filled with scientific plausibility.” I wanted to scream when I saw that. You should never build that sort of expectation into a sci-fi book. It ends up leaving someone science-minded with ridiculous expectations that will probably not be met.
I won’t even bother beating around the bush, the plot was awesome. I absolutely loved how in-depth and complicated everything seemed to be. The Forever Watch pulled in so many complicated things and expounded on them to a degree where you felt like, “hey, there’s a possibility that this could occur.” While I may be an idiot when it comes to computer programming, even I know the majority of the concepts presented in The Forever Watch are pretty far into the future, if they really are possible.
The main characters, overall, were pretty good. They were multi-dimensional and had so many different layers to their personalities and normal human flaws that it was a joy to read, but also mighty frustrating. I was so frustrated with Hana at points that I wanted to rip my hair out. She can’t seem to accept the idea that a government would hide things (important things) from society and some of the questions she asked made me want to punch her. As interesting as the answers to her questions were, they weren’t exactly the most relevant things to be asking.
There were also a lot of character inconsistencies. Another character, Leon Barrens came across as just short of stupid, while at other times he came across as having above average intelligence. This was reflected through his speech patterns and then his surprisingly quick understanding of the programming involved with The Monster (Archie – sentient software, but not a TARDIS). This was mainly a problem in the first half of the book.
There were also deep questions, relevant in the modern world, that resonated throughout The Forever Watch. Whether it was a question of vanity or the world’s dependence on technology, the author didn’t fear taking his own stand on where those lines should be drawn. It forced me to think about my own stance versus how I actually behave. I realized I may be a tad vain (I sincerely hate wearing my glasses, contacts all the way). The question of technology dependence and online privacy really stuck with me well after I finished reading The Forever Watch. How much can “Big Brother” really see? And how much can “he” affect?
There was a lot to this review and I’m sure some people are wondering, did you like it or not? I really enjoyed The Forever Watch. So far, it’s my favorite book from Netgalley. I may have my complaints about it because no book is perfect, but in the end I really liked it and would read it again. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend The Forever Watch (even more so if you’re already a sci-fi fan).
For more reviews, check out Reviews in a Pinch today!