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The Forever Watch

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About this listen

The Noah: a city-sized ship, half-way through an 800-year voyage to another planet. In a world where deeds, and even thoughts, cannot be kept secret, a man is murdered; his body so ruined that his identity must be established from DNA evidence. Within hours, all trace of the crime is swept away, hidden as though it never happened.

Hana Dempsey, a mid-level bureaucrat genetically modified to use the Noah's telepathic internet, begins to investigate. Her search for the truth will uncover the impossible: a serial killer who has been operating on board for a lifetime...if not longer. And behind the killer lies a conspiracy centuries in the making.

©2014 David Ramirez (P)2014 Hodder & Stoughton Adventure Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Fiction Crime

Critic reviews

"Vivid, action-packed, and yet filled with scientific plausibility, The Forever Watch propels you on a tense voyage of mystery, surprise and discovery." (David Brin)
"A dark sci-fi fable set aboard a multigenerational spaceship that holds humanity's only hope for survival... Intriguing and powerfully disruptive." (Kirkus)
"Superior, psychologically plausible characterizations are combined with sophisticated worldbuilding, clever trope inversion and original plotting to create a powerful story that will amply reward rereading." (Publishers Weekly)
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This novel is a mix of conspiracy thriller, science fiction adventure and dystopian fiction, all set in the far future. Early on, the author spends a lot of time establishing the characters, and describing the depressing dystopian world in which they live. The plot starts out as a slow burn conspiracy thriller. Later on, the story becomes a fast moving science fiction adventure, full of plot twists which call for ever greater suspension of disbelief.

For the most part, I enjoyed The Forever Watch. I found the characters believable and sympathetic. The setting is well worked out. The plot is internally consistent, and contained plenty of twists that I didn't see coming.

However, for me two things slightly spoil the story, making this an OK novel rather than a great one. First, it isn't very original. The story is packed full of science fiction cliches. Second, the constant changes of tone and pace make the story feel disjointed.

The narration is competent throughout. The reader captures the narrator's emotions, but struggles to make the minor characters sound different from each other.

Highly competent, but unoriginal

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This is a great story and delivery. No terrible accents like many audiobooks just a well delivered performance of an interesting book.

Just listen to it.

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This is a beautiful story with characters I totally fell in love with. The story is modern with many of the qualities that make classic Sci fi so readable. It has a an intricate and complex narrative which is executed wonderfully.

The narration is just perfect, so soulful and emotional. The audio version is the only way you should read this book.

I read a lot of Sci fi and this is an instant favorite.

Simply wonderful sci-fi.

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Where does The Forever Watch rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Its a solid story, with interesting ideas and good characters. Not the among the Iain M Banks of stories, but showed strong promise from the author.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Forever Watch?

Not a single moment as such but the development relationship between the AI and the lead character was extremely well done.

What about Helen Johns’s performance did you like?

Solid use of voice changes, with excellent inflection and feeling.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Some things are secret for a reason

Any additional comments?

Definitely worth a listen, you'll enjoy it.

Good solid story, with excellent narration

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The Forever Watch is the sort of Sci-fi I fall in love with. Set in a utopian/dystopian future, on a generation ship flying between the stars, it ticks all the boxes, examining themes from state oppression, family and motherhood, freedom and self-determination. There are great twists and turns, none of which I fully anticipated. The audiobook performance was excellent - tender and thoughtful during quieter moments, tense and stark during the darker passages.

Considering this is a first time novel for David Ramirez, I was surprised by the depth of this book, and would fully recommend it to any fan of the genre.

Thought-provoking Sci-fi

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