Review: Ark (Forward collection)

• Title:
  • Ark
• Author:
  • Veronica Roth
• Release:
  • September 17, 2019
• Format:
  • Audiobook
• Narrator:
  • Evan Rachel Wood
• Series
  • Forward collection

The Forward Collection is something I discovered in late 2019 or early 2020 when I first started listening to more Audiobooks. It’s a 6 book series written by 6 different authors about possible futures, curated by Blake Crouch.

Ark has always stood out in my memory as one of the better books in the collection. It really feels like you’re reading the first couple chapters or the ending of a greater novel. I wish this was the case.

This story reminds me of a question I asked myself many years ago. Why do I spend so much time researching, learning, attempting to improve my spelling and grammar, and extending my vocabulary if I’m just going to die and it will all be lost?

That’s essentially the daily lives of the characters in this story. Why do anything, why care about anything if the Earth is going to be destroyed in a few years anyway? The answer is simple. Every living thing dies eventually. But that should never prevent you from making a difference while you still can.

For such a short story, The Ark really brings these people to life. The brave few scientists who have elected to stay on Earth and document as much life as humanly possible, while they still can. In order to leave the survivors better off. It paints a picture of a world where borders ceased to exist and people worked only for the betterment of the species (Yeah right).

The narrator does an excellent job of giving each character a voice and personality. With the backstory and history, she helps to make Samantha’s internal dialogue feel genuine. This isn’t just some mindless narration to go along with the story, this feels like the final thoughts of a real person.

This is a book (and series) I highly recommend. I’ve tried to share it with people before, but they never gave it a chance. I hope my reviews will convince somebody to give this wonderful collection a try.