#Review - The Forever Ship by Francesca Haig #Science Fiction

Series: The Fire Sermon # 3
Format: Hardcover, 400 pages
Release Date: December 5, 2017
Publisher: Gallery Books
Source: Edelweiss
Genre: Science Fiction / Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic

Book Three in the critically acclaimed The Fire Sermon trilogy—The Hunger Games meets Cormac McCarthy’s The Road in this richly imagined post-apocalyptic series by award-winning poet Francesca Haig.

Haig's prose is gorgeous and engaging, particularly when she describes the desolate landscape, now peppered with ruins from the Before. Fans of dystopias will appreciate this adventure-filled yet character-focused tale that offers hope and explores (in a refreshingly nuanced way) the moral complexities involved in defeating an oppressive and backward government structure" (Booklist, starred review).

The Forever Ship is the third and final installment in author Francesca Haig's The Fire Sermon trilogy. This book picks up right where The Map of Bones left off. Haig has created a world that is 400 years in the future. The Earth has turned primitive following a nuclear fire that laid waste to civilization and nature. Though the radiation fallout has ended, for some unknowable reason every person is born with a twin. Of each pair one is an Alpha - physically perfect in every way - and the other an Omega burdened with deformity, small or large.

Surprising, the twins are always a boy and a girl. Whenever one dies, the other will as well. The series protagonist, Cass, is an Omega burdened with psychic foresight. Her sight allows her to see a future with yet another bomb blast thanks to her own brother Zach, and the Councilwoman known as the General. Cass has joined a struggling rebellion with those like Piper (Omega) and his sister Zoe (Alpha). When we last left Cass and this group, a ship called the Rosalind had just arrived along with a woman named Paloma. 

Paloma comes from a place called the Scattered Islands or for those like Cass and the Omega's, Elsewhere. Elsewhere is like Nevernever. It has never been seen, & there have been people struggling to find it for years. It has also become something more of a bedtime story than reality. But, with Paloma's arrival, everything changes. The rumor now becomes hope. The hope of finally curing the plague called the twinning once and for ever. But, will Cass and her allies be able to stop her brother and the General from destroying it? 

Cass is distracted for most of this story with visions of yet another blast thanks to the fact that the General has found a way to recreate the weapons that will send a nuclear bomb towards Elsewhere. She has no idea how to stop it since the General holds all the cards. Cass's journey hasn't exactly been an easy one, and one could get frustrated at her lack of progress as a character without understanding her first 13 years of her life. From branded with a Omega sign on her head after finding out that she's a seer, to living 4 years in captivity under the Confessor's brutality until she finally escaped. To discovering the ARK and and even more deadly secret that she does her best to stop.

Her relationship with her brother isn't an easy one to read about, mostly because he's like a member of the German Third Reich who wants to keep the status quo while subjugating the Omega's to tanks where they will never be allowed freedom again. Zack, aka the Reformer, is really a piece of work and you can't help but having zero remorse for anything that he's done to Cass or anyone else. Thanks to the Council member known as the Ringmaster, Cass and her rebellion may have hope in stopping the General's plans to destroy Elsewhere if they can survive.

In the end, The Forever Ship is filled with twists and turns and challenges. It ends on a remarkably unremarkable final chapter where I would never have guessed that Haig would end her series in this manner. In one way, it makes perfect sense with everything that has happened over the course of three books. In another, one could say that it might have been better had Haig gone a different direction. A direction that I won't spoil. I really did like the addition of Paloma and it's because of her own insecurities and abnormalities that haven't slowed her down. Paloma's addition gives readers an entirely different look at what may have happened to the rest of the world after the bombs fell. 

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

#Saturday Review - The Map of Bones by Francesca Haig (Young Adult, Dystopian) @FrancescaHaig @GalleryBooks

Series: The Fire Sermon # 2
Format: E-Galley, 416 pages
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Publisher: Gallery Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian


Book Two in the critically acclaimed The Fire Sermon trilogy—The Hunger Games meets Cormac McCarthy’s The Road in this richly imagined post-apocalyptic series by award-winning poet Francesca Haig.

Four hundred years in the future, the Earth has turned primitive following a nuclear fire that has laid waste to civilization and nature. Though the radiation fallout has ended, for some unknowable reason every person is born with a twin. Of each pair, one is an Alpha—physically perfect in every way; and the other an Omega—burdened with deformity, small or large. With the Council ruling an apartheid-like society, Omegas are branded and ostracized while the Alphas have gathered the world’s sparse resources for themselves. Though proclaiming their superiority, for all their effort, Alphas cannot escape one harsh fact: whenever one twin dies, so does the other.

Cass is a rare Omega, one burdened with psychic foresight. While her twin, Zach, gains power on the Alpha Council, she dares to dream the most dangerous dream of all: equality. For daring to envision a world in which Alphas and Omegas live side-by-side as equals, both the Council and the Resistance have her in their sights.

The Map of Bones, by author Francesca Haig, is the second installment in The Fire Sermon trilogy. The story picks up right where The Fire Sermon left off. Cass, Piper, and Zoe have survived the Island, while Cass managed to survive her encounter with her brother Zach, and The Confessor who tortured her for four long years while in captivity. Cass is distracted throughout the story with

visions of the Blast and what happened to Kip which kind of changes her ability to move forward. 

Since the Blast, instead of being born one at a time, babies are born in pairs called Twinning. One is the physically perfect Alpha, while the other is burdened with imperfections, Omega. In Cass's case, she has the ability to see the future. The twins are forever linked. If one dies, the other dies. But, Zach has a plan to solve that problem and thanks to Cass's encounter with Zach and the Confessor, she doesn't like what she sees. She doesn't want to live in a world where Omega's are forever shoved inside a watery grave unable to live the lives they choose. 

One of the more interesting aspects of The Map of Bones is Cass's discovery of notes from the world right after The Blast. One could say that Haig leads Cass, Piper, and Zoe right to where they needed to be, but doesn't give them an easy road to get there. They continue to search for the place called Elsewhere which supposedly

cured twinning. Now, they get to discover an entirely new place called ARK where survivors holed up. This is where Cass and Piper discover an even more shocking secret. One that truly needs to be stopped quickly.

I especially wonder about the alliance that has formed between Omega's and those under the Ringmaster thanks to Cass. I am curious as to where this entire series goes from here knowing that the only way to stop Zach, is for Cass to die as well. Not sure if I am ready for another book where a lead character sacrifices herself for the greater good. I am totally OK with all the traveling that Cass, Piper, and Zoe have to deal with. 

Let's be realistic folks. This is a world where electricity and gas isn't high on anyone's radar. Putting food on the table and surviving to see the next day and the day after is. Yes, people do have horses, but low long do you think it takes to travel via horse hundreds of miles? This is a dystopian enriched world where things are dangerous. Think Mad Max without the vehicles. There are still dangerous animals and toxic areas that leave your skin grey and food tasting like ash.

I highly recommend that you read The Fire Sermon before jumping into this book. I have read reviews from others who have jumped in and said it was the wrong thing to do. Plus, the ending of this book gives you hope for a solid final installment to the series with a new addition to the cast, and a hopeful future for all Omega's.

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble |  Kobo

*Book Review* The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig (Post-Apocalyptic)

Series: The Fire Sermon # 1
Published by: Gallery Books
Released: March 10, 2015
Source: Edelweiss/Publisher
Format: E-Book, 384 pages
Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopia

*Book Blurb*

When Zach and I were born our parents must have counted and recounted: limbs, fingers, toes. We were perfect. They would have been disbelieving: nobody dodged the split between Alpha and Omega.
Nobody.

They were born together and they will die together.

One strong Alpha twin and one mutated Omega; the only thing they share is the moment of their death.

The Omegas live in segregation, cast out by their families as soon as their mutation becomes clear. Forced to live apart, they are ruthlessly oppressed by their Alpha counterparts.

The Alphas are the elite. Once their weaker twin has been cast aside, they're free to live in privilege and safety, their Omega twin far from their thoughts.

Cass and Zach are both perfect on the outside: no missing limbs, no visible Omega mutation. But Cass has a secret: one that Zach will stop at nothing to expose.

The potential to change the world lies in both their hands. One will have to defeat the other to see their vision of the future come to pass, but if they're not careful both will die in the struggle for power.

The Fire Sermon is the first book in Francesca Haig's The Fire Sermon trilogy. It is a post-apocalyptic world that takes place 400 years into the future. It is a world where people talk about "The Blast" and "The Long Winter" that changed life on earth completely. It is a place where every baby born, is born with a twin. One is an Alpha, and the other is an Omega. Alpha's are perfect in every way and are given every chance they'll ever need to succeed in life and hopefully join the Council which determines how people will live. Their Omega counterparts are born without limbs & have deformities, are forced into small communities, and given little opportunity to learn to read or write by their Alpha brothers and sisters. Their communities are often raided by Alpha's looking to take whatever valuables the Omega's may have.

Cassandra and Zach were both born without any faults or missing limbs, but Cass was born with a secret. For 13 years, she hides the fact that she's a powerful seer who can see the future. Betrayed by Zach, branded on her forehead as an Omega, Cass is forced into a small community where 6 years later, Zach kidnaps her and forces her into solitary confinement and away from those who might want to kill him by killing her. The only thing keeping the Alpha's from fully eliminating their brethren Omega's, is the fact that if one dies, they both die. If one suffers an illness, the other will also. There is also an interesting dynamics between Zach's ascension to the Council, and Cass's desire to join the Omega Resistance which has been searching for a place called Elsewhere.

I do have a whole lot to say about this story, and will refrain from being too sarcastic. First, there is the question of why the so called blast ended up causing deformities and later twins. Obviously, one can deduce that the nuclear fallout and subsequent long winter screwed with human DNA. But, why one boy, and one girl? Why does one die when the other dies? I think I'm not the only one to ask this question, but perhaps it needs to be explained. Perhaps it's a form of nuclear detente that once existed between Russia and the US. Therefore, Alpha's, even though they despise Omega's, can't fully eliminate them once and for-all.

Second, Cass escapes after 4 years in captivity and being continually questioned by The Confessor and ends up helping a mysterious man escape from his watery encased prison. It takes a very long time before Haig reveals the identity of the person Cass names "Kip" or why he was being held in the first place. I guess I'm okay with this to a point. It leaves a major mystery to be solved right till the final moments of the story. But, it also leaves room for explanation as to what the Confessor and Zach are truly up to. This isn't a story that is covered in days. It is a long journey that is similair to that of a high fantasy novel.

Let's talk about relationships. So, obviously Cass and Kip spend a whole lot of time together. They're constantly running from Alpha's and the Confessor looking for Cass. Needless to say, they eventually form a bond but it isn't love at first sight, but it does grow the more time they spend together. In fact, I dare say that Piper, another Omega character who is introduced, makes more sense than Kip does when all is said and done. There is also the relationship between Zach and Cass. Even though Zach is driven by power, one has to ask themselves if he really does have feelings for Cass. Hopefully, the sequel will explore this even more

In writing this review, I discovered that apparently The Fire Sermon has been optioned for a possible future movie by Dreamworks. I do think that if done correctly, and not covering up certain aspects of this story, it could actually work. But, let's not cross that bridge until the first reviews and cast has been selected. Lastly, folks PLEASE??? Stop calling every single Dystopian book that is released from here until eternity the next Hunger Games. It just doesn't make it true.

**I received this book for free from (Gallery Books) via (Edelweiss ) in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!! This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**