This was part of the Silver Dagger Book Tours. The advantage to doing them is that I come across books that intrigue me. Three of us at Norns Triad Publications decided to read it.
Forever Human is not a long story at under 200 pages, and the premise is a great one. It’s about how humans are flawed, and after years of climate change, war, and greed, mankind finally crumbles and the earth dies. It’s a painful truth for us all.
The last humans are sent to another planet, a long way away, to begin life again. I loved the idea of that. Two hundred young men and women spent the first eighteen years of their life on a space craft, travelling to their destination.
Each of them had a ‘bot’ as a parent who brought them up and cared for them. During this time they are educated and given all the knowledge they required to begin life on a new planet. I wanted to know more about the bots, how did they care for the babies and toddlers for instance? What did they look like?
The story really kicked in when the truth was revealed, which not everyone believed. That caused a great deal of conflict within the ship.
Some things were mentioned but never expanded on. It left me looking for answers. At one point, the main character, Maya, whose story this was is called by another name. I had to reread the paragraph thinking I’d misunderstood.
Overall, it’s a topical idea for a story, one that is relatable. It was a fast read because I couldn’t put it down. There were so many possibilities, and I was eager to see how it turned out. It would even have made a terrific series, but the ending was unexpected.
Readers will see the harsh truths, and enjoy Maya’s story with the challenges she has to face.
Karen J. Mossman - World of Stories 