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thinkbooksgreat's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
trevert's review
2.0
*Sigh*. Another DNF. However, I actually listened to the audiobook right up to part 30 of the 34 chapters, so I feel like I got a pretty good feel for the book even though I didn't finish. When I finally bailed, I'd realized that I was not actually following the story anymore, but was simply doing other things with it running as background noise while waiting for it to be over, because I was that uninvolved with it. The writer is an excellent world-builder. He also does terrific plots. The story was complex, interesting, and had some nice twists. However, the characters were so flat and uninteresting that I never connected with anyone in the book, and when I realized that at chapter 30 or 34, I *still* did not care what happened to these cardboard people, I bailed.
You know those 600 page books that are 30 pages of story and 570 pages of the main character navel-gazing and dithering over obvious choices to make? This was the mirror opposite of that.
You know those 600 page books that are 30 pages of story and 570 pages of the main character navel-gazing and dithering over obvious choices to make? This was the mirror opposite of that.
emnodash's review
4.0
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.
mothwing's review
3.0
The descriptions of the machines and the tech parts were partly confusing to me, but other than that this is a very readable crime and government conspiracy story set in space. Could have done without the gruesome rape that doesn't really add that much to the story, but I've rarely ever seen rape do that, so I wasn't surprised.
explikator's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
The people on the starship "Noah" are on a journey to rescue humankind on another planet. But things are not as they seem in that perfect civilization. There is a killer, psychics, aliens, drugs, revolts and even a war on board. A book that aims too high.
But it's a debut and Ramirez can write. The first 10% are brilliant and balance infodumping, character building and the slow start of a complicated plot. But then the pacing gets out of control and I lost the connection to Hana and Barrens, the main characters, and stopped caring for the "Noah" altogether.
Nothing really new in this book, but I made it through. If David will write another book, I'll check it out. Like most sex scenes in SF or Fantasy, this one was a desaster, too. If you just list analogies, we will never feel with the characters. I'm not interested in what it feels LIKE, I want to feel it. And I really disliked the inner monologues of Hana. That's where all the infodumping happens. Why does she explain the world she lives in to herself?
But it's a debut and Ramirez can write. The first 10% are brilliant and balance infodumping, character building and the slow start of a complicated plot. But then the pacing gets out of control and I lost the connection to Hana and Barrens, the main characters, and stopped caring for the "Noah" altogether.
Nothing really new in this book, but I made it through. If David will write another book, I'll check it out.
offictionandfantasy's review
2.0
I was given this book over half a decade ago and finally got around to reading it for Book Battle’s Star on the Cover prompt this month.
The author is a former scientist and it is very evident by how this book is written. I felt as though most of the 326 pages were in depth descriptions of computer programs with the occasional brief (and vague) paragraph for battle or sex.
I didn’t connect with any of the characters throughout the entire series. I didn’t like the romance in the slightest. There were at least ten grammatical errors or duplicate words that threw me from the story.
I’m only giving this book two stars because I genuinely didn’t guess the final plot twist. Don’t get me wrong, I still threw the book across the room when I was done, but at least I didn’t see it coming.
The author is a former scientist and it is very evident by how this book is written. I felt as though most of the 326 pages were in depth descriptions of computer programs with the occasional brief (and vague) paragraph for battle or sex.
I didn’t connect with any of the characters throughout the entire series. I didn’t like the romance in the slightest. There were at least ten grammatical errors or duplicate words that threw me from the story.
I’m only giving this book two stars because I genuinely didn’t guess the final plot twist. Don’t get me wrong, I still threw the book across the room when I was done, but at least I didn’t see it coming.
f3ew's review
4.0
Pretty decent dystopian SF. Quite a few good twists in the tale, though the ending felt forced. This should really be a 3.5* book, but I can't give half a *.
dameofscones's review
4.0
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.