The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Jun 01, 2014
SCIENCE FICTION
The Forever Watch
By David Ramirez
Hodder & Stoughton/Trade paperback/$30.79 without GST/Major bookshops/***1/2
The idea of a spaceship, holding the last of mankind, sailing through space to a new Earth, is not a new idea. The most recent popular incarnation of the idea was Beth Revis' young adult trilogy Across The Universe.
David Ramirez's book is for adults, which means a dash more sex (discreet by contemporary standards) and a generous helping of violence (again, not as lurid as some other offerings).
Hana Dempsey is a mid-level bureaucrat in the City Planning department of the spaceship Noah, which is on a centuries-long journey to a new Eden with the last remnants of humankind. In a fairly stratified society, people are defined by their psychic abilities, enhanced by implants and the mysterious inner workings of the ship. Hana, against unspoken biases, develops a tentative relationship with street cop and "bruiser" Leon Barrens.
Newly transferred to the Long Term Investigations department, Barrens stumbles upon a mystery: multiple deaths in which the victims are left in barely recognisable pieces. Determined to investigate this "Mincemeat" phenomenon, Barrens asks Hana for help. As their unofficial investigation progresses, it turns up evidence of a dark conspiracy by the ruling class which threatens the survival of everyone on board.
Ramirez's writing is smooth and polished, his vision of the ship and its technologies nicely thought through and described in enough detail to paint a satisfying picture without getting mired in a mass of tech-talk. This is quite an accomplishment for a first-time author and molecular biologist. His background in science comes in useful later in the story as one particular plot point hinges on genetics.
While the characters are not as fully fleshed out as one might like, the main protagonists are likable enough to keep the reader sympathetic to their causes even if their motivations are sometimes a little underdeveloped. The world Ramirez creates is not particularly original - there are plenty of flashes of other classic sci-fi influences, ranging from Alfred Bester to Roger Zelazny. No shame in filching from the best as Ramirez weaves all these influences into something different enough to be pleasing despite the crazy quilt effect. Moreover, the plot twists are also sufficiently gripping that you will keep turning the pages in pursuit of the denouement.
In other words, this comes out just in time to catch the crest of summer readers. It is light enough to keep your brain from frying, possesses enough scientific and narrative ballast to keep it from feeling too insubstantial, but is pacey enough to be thoroughly entertaining.
If you like this, read: The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester (1997, Orion, $23.10, Books Kinokuniya), a modern sci-fi classic about a rich tycoon who attempts to plot murder in a society policed by telepaths, by an author who helped invent the genre.
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