Ableist world-building, but the protags are working to make things fairer. Murder, self-harm, suicide, war, torture. A bloody book. Not sure how I feel about the ending.

I haven't had the opportunity to read the first two books in the series, but when this book came up on Netgalley, the description really caught me.

THE FOREVER SHIP is an unflinching portrayal of revolution. There is war, fighting and starvation - It's pretty grim. I had a look at what other has been saying and they too experienced a lack of optimism from the book. Maybe it's nice to have a change from the happy ending genre. The world building is very good - Haig has developed a really deep world which the reader can get involved in - not that it's the kind of place you would want to visit.

It took me a while to get into the book - mostly down to picking up the story at the tail end, however I persevered and really enjoyed it. Four stars.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

With all the various dystopian/apocalyptic novels out and about, this series was a truly original one with it's overarching story line of the ruined world birthing twins who are connected not only in life, but in death. When one feels pain, so does the other, when one dies, so does the other. One is the Alpha the 'perfect,normal twin' while the other is the Omega, the 'different twin' whom may be missing a limb, have an extra limb, or maybe a gift not seen (like our main narrator Cass) where they have the ability to see the future. This was very unique and so well written for all three novels.

Now, the first novel was surprising and enthralling. I was concerned about the second novel, since often times the second in a trilogy seems to lull about and is merely a bridge, not the case! Then this novel, just wow. A spectacular ending in this original series. Although this is a trilogy and best read together, there are certainly some aspects that would almost seem as though these novels could stand on their own.

This novel picks up not far after the end of the second novel, where the resistance is gaining power and ideas as they are continuing to fight against the Alphas. Except now the resistance is made up of Alphas and Omegas and Cass is on the hunt again for her twin, Zach, known as the Reformer. Then an unexpected gift appears on the porch, Zach asking for shelter. Unknown how to deal with this, the resistance takes him in as a prisoner and continues their missions to set Omegas free and take away power from the Alphas. I don't want to spoil anymore, just read it! I'm highly impressed that the author really did tie up a lot of different story lines then I even realized, but again, highly impressed and enjoyed this movie a great deal.

Francesca Haig is a very good writer. Her world building skills are excellent and as her character portrayal skills. . The main theme which features sets of twins, one perfect and one flawed who will live or die if their sibling does and their different unequal lifestyles is at the heart of this series. Not an easy read as conflict can never be ever be described as enjoyable. However the storyline is well thought out and I am interested to see what she tackles next.

We finally get to read the third installment in the 'Fire Sermon' trilogy! If I had to rate all three books it would be in order 'The Fire Sermon', 'The Forever Ship' and then 'The Map of Bones'. I was disappointed with the second book and I had hoped the third wouldn't be the same. Luckily it turned out to be much better in my opinion. The whole series and world that Cass and her friends live in is bleak but the second book just felt too bleak. It didn't feel like there was anything good in it (except for the ending I suppose). The third book was also very dark but there were still little bits of good in it. [Zoe's relationship with Paloma and the newfound friendships between the Omega and Alpha rebels. (hide spoiler)]

For me this was a satisfying conclusion to the series but I can see why some people might have a problem with the ending. [I actually think that Zach and Cass going to live on the island in peace was a fitting ending. I wouldn't have been convinced it was the right choice if Cass rode off into the sunset with Piper and helped build a new world. She was never fit for politics or war and I think after everything with the council was done she was tired and finished. (hide spoiler)] Overall I think the series left off in a hopeful way which is what the characters and that world needed.

Unfortunately I can't say I enjoyed reading this title all that much. I did not feel a strong connection to the main character and the story dragged on making this book a challenge to read for me.

There’s nothing quite like a literary trilogy. As a reader, there’s something wonderful about seeing a story unfold over the course of three books; you get more detailed narrative than in a single book without having to deal with the nebulous endpoint of an ongoing series.

In many ways, three is the magic number.

It’s certainly magic for Francesca Haig, whose new novel “The Forever Ship” marks the third and final installment of her “Fire Sermon” series. It is a well-wrought and engaging finale to what has proven to be an exquisitely-detailed dystopian vision.

This world – a world still suffering the aftereffects of a centuries-past nuclear blast – is in upheaval. The twinning that is central to their existence – the unbreakable bond between the physically perfect Alphas and the mutated Omegas – has led to a feudal society whose structure is less than amenable to those not in power.

The battle between the entrenched establishment Alphas and the Omegas who seek only to be treated as equals is coming to a head. Cass, the Omega seer whose brother Zach once sat in a seat of power on the Alpha Council, can see what is coming – a plan by the Alphas to break the longstanding taboo against machines and resurrect the deadly technology of the past in order to launch a preemptive strike against the people of the Scattered Islands, also known as Elsewhere.

Every time Cass closes her eyes, she sees the consequences of that plan – blinding fire that will destroy not just the people of Elsewhere, but her own people as well. But the monomaniacal General – new leader of the Council – will stop at nothing to bring her plan to fruition. And even as she struggles to counter the General’s deadly scheme, she must also find a way to free the thousands of Omegas who have been taken captive by the Alphas.

With just a handful of allies that she can truly trust, Cass must navigate the complicated waters of warfare. She has almost no hope of success – but it is only her success that can save the world from dooming itself once again. And this time, there will be no coming back. It will be the end.

A writer invites a fair amount of pressure when undertaking a trilogy. The reader invests not just the time reading the books, but also the time between books spent waiting for the next installment. Allowing each novel to stand on its own merits while also weaving together the overarching narrative is a difficult trick to pull off.

Haig handles it beautifully.

“The Forever Ship” is a compelling conclusion to what has proven to be an exceptional example of speculative fiction. Dystopian stories in general might feel a bit played out, but there’s a freshness to what Haig has created that avoids feeling redundant or derivative. The world-building, the character development, the relationship dynamics, the narrative tension – all the pieces are there for a high-quality trilogy.

Haig is a marvelous writer – there’s a depth to her prose that is often lacking in genre fiction. She is evocative with her imagery without ever coming off as florid; the intimacy that creates makes for a reading experience that is utterly engrossing. She has a particular knack for intertwining moments of hope and beauty amidst blocks of bleakness; the post-apocalyptic society she has built is the best kind of overbearing and suffocating, but those flashes of light among the shadows are what really make these stories transcend.

You might think that literary dystopia has nothing left to offer you, but if you have yet to experience this trilogy, you’re wrong. “The Fire Sermon,” “The Map of Bones” and now “The Forever Ship” are formidable, fascinating reading – a trilogy well worth every minute you really ought to spend with it.

I liked the first two books of this series, The Fire Sermon and The Map of Bones. I mean, it wasn’t exactly my favorite series of all time, but it was solid. And I was looking forward to this conclusion! In many ways, it was satisfying, but in a few key ways it did let me down a bit. As always, let’s start with the good stuff! Oh, and I will try to keep this spoiler-free for the whole series, too!

The Good:

-The world is incredibly bleak and dire, and I love it. Throughout the series, this world is portrayed as a real downer. Everything is a mess, and somehow everyone is worse. It’s post-apocalyptic so you know it’s not exactly going to be sunshine and flowers, but it’s just a real disaster. The author also does a great job of making the atmosphere feel very desperate.

-While the main premise of everyone being born with a twin does require a bit of suspension of disbelief, the author built the world well, and it makes for a very compelling storyline. In so many cases, characters’ biggest enemies are also their womb-mates. In addition, when one twin dies, the other does too, which complicates things even further. Basically, the relationships make the stakes even higher- in the midst of an already very high stakes world.

-There is a lot of gray morality in the characters’ lives. There are so many awful decisions to be made. They basically run the gamut of bad to worse, and there is basically never a “right” or “good” choice. It’s all trying to figure out what is the least of the evils.

-There are just enough small glimmers of hope scattered throughout the series that it makes it bearable.

-Most of the characters were great, especially the main character. Cass goes through so much in the course of the series, she changes in so many ways, while still holding strong to her core values. The groups of people she meets along the way are equally as multifaceted, and add quite a bit to the story.

The Not as Good:

-The book (and the series) did move a bit slowly at times. This is probably the biggest gripe for me overall in the series, there were times that things felt a little draggy. But, then the action would pick up and things would be okay again. Pacing was a bit off throughout for me.

-I was kind of overwhelmed with more minor characters at times. As the series progresses, a lot of people are added to the mix, and especially between books two and three, I had a hard time remembering everyone (or remembering who was important enough to need to be remembered).

-Okay, the main reason I am giving this book a lower rating than the other two? I hated the ending. Hated, loathed, entirely raged against. I honestly think this is going to be the kind that people either love or hate- I hated it. I’m going to put this in spoiler tags, though I won’t actually spoil it- I just know some people like to be completely in the dark about endings, and some people want to know. So for the want-to-knows: View Spoiler »
Bottom Line: A solid series, which I think would have stayed in the 3.5-4.0 star range had I detested the ending a little less. Definitely bleak, so if you’re looking for a darker book with a good cast of characters, this series could be for you! But beware of occasional slowness if you’re not a fan.

Cass, the weaker and female Omega, and Zach, the elite and male Alpha, were twins living in a post-nuclear war world. Cass, Paloma, Piper and Zoe searched for a place called Elsewhere where there was peace among twins. In Cass’s world, the twins had to be segregated because the Omega were the mutants. They set off for New Hobart but faced obstacles such as the Council. Zach exposed the secrecy of Cass’s mutation and she was expelled from her family as the Omega twin.

The brutal Council, led by the General, tried to exterminate the plagues of twins. They hunted down Cass and her friends and searched for the secret weapon to wipe both mutants and non-twins from the face of the scorched earth.

In this, the third book of The Fire Sermon Trilogy, the story was set in many islands which did not exist before the nuke war. This dystopia was still as cruel as The Maze Runner, The Hunger Games and Divergent!

I like reading any book from this Tasmanian author who introduces her hometown, Hobart, as a place called New Hobart.

Caesar 13

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

It is not immediately apparently what ship The Forever Ship by Francesca Haig is referring to. The ship that comes from a more advanced country to save a violently divided nation? That same ship, but seen in the light of its potential to doom everyone? A metaphorical ship, bearing the final fate of humanity?

Well, Haig is a poet, and one skilled with multivalence. This final book in her apocalyptic trilogy is deeply layered with meaning as we enter the final stages of a conflict between Alphas and Omegas and their evolving relationships (or lack thereof). Into that conflict has come the emissary from Elsewhere, Paloma, who has a solution if only the two groups can decide whether to take it.

Unlike in Cass's world, where twins are linked such that the death of one is the death of both, Paloma is untwinned. Elsewhere, her no-longer-mythical homeland, has cured the "plague of twins," though all babies are born with some deformity, not just Omegas. This promise of equality sounds like a threat to many Alphas who are complacent in their assumed superiority. Even some of Cass's allies would rather keep the twinning, while her enemies would go further and destroy Elsewhere in order to prevent it. And to do so, they would break the taboo against machines and unleash the blast once again, unwittingly dooming humanity.

Thus the battle begun for Omega rights in book two (Map of Bones) has evolved into a last battle for the fate of the world. If the bomb is unleashed, Cass knows that it will be the true end. And unlike the Cassandra of the Iliad, many are listening to her visions. But those visions are not clear and not consistent, and boldness and subterfuge are just as necessary. So is argument, and patience. The long waiting of military life, the slow starvation of a siege, the gradual chipping away that familiarity does to prejudice--these are the weapons of change, according to Haig, that will really change the world. Or leave it in ruins.

The Forever Ship tiny bit less bleak than Cormack McCarthy's The Road. And if it's less urgent (owing, I think, to McCarthy's characters being in constant danger of starvation; Haig's world is not quite so barren), then it's also less ludicrous (nobody eats a baby). Haig's world is exquisitely careful, a precarious nest of overlapping hatreds, alliances, compromises, and priorities. Breaking or even altering even one might send the whole world crashing down, cracking the fragile world like the egg.

The language seems quarried, cut very deliberately and with great effort from a dark place, and carried with infinite care to the light. Even when describing battlefields or tortured bodies, Haig has such compassion for her characters and the terrible choices they face that the effect is gentled, elegiac instead of gory. It's the only way such a story can be bearable. Choosing between children, allies, friends--how would anyone go on? And yet Cass does, pursuing a future not bathed in fire that even she, a great seer, cannot see.

She does this not with blind slogans but with unflinching tenderness, again and again. I think it would be very easy to focus on the anger or heroism of the apocalypse, all the grand things we've come to expect from intentionally spectacular franchises like The Hunger Games. But there is only one battle speech, and while it's good, the language is pressed on all sides by descriptions of terror and confusion. Battle has never seemed so suffocatingly real, the bodies in it so terribly fragile. It turns the message away from easy glory, and brings us back always from the heroic to the human. Desperation, mourning, healing--these are the focuses of The Forever Ship.

Progress has always been slow, Cass reflects, watching Alpha and Omega soldiers gradually come to trust one another, and victims of violence gradually return to themselves. There is nothing grand in such things, but Haig makes poetry from it, remarking on the heady beauty of a meal after long hunger, of a single breath drawn after the battle is over. Little things have rarely felt so huge or so moving.

No book can do everything, but I do want to point out that there is no religion, either folk or formal. I wonder if it's a deliberate omission, and whether that comes from thinking there's already enough zealotry and faith to be had without introducing spirits. Or perhaps Haig felt that the blast destroyed any pretenses that we could end in anything but fire. Whatever the reason, the absence enhances the desperation and finality that permeates the narrative. No one speaks of life after death, or of being saved by anything outside themselves. The only somewhat religious element is that of Elsewhere, the not-quite-paradise that quickly turns from hope to yet another innocent in peril. Elsewhere may have technology to end the twinning and alleviate Omega deformities, but it is vulnerable to the bomb.

Do the Omegas defeat the bomb? Do they defeat the Alphas, or learn to live with them? Does Cass survive--can she, with her wicked twin Zach fighting for the other side? The tension is at times as awful as the tragedy, though kind of in a good way--I really could not put this down. Even though I found the ending poetically apt but not emotionally satisfying. All the pieces come together and fit, more or less, but the emotional crux on which the entire climax turns is weak. I don't really buy it, even though it's well-written and contains a good deal of psychological insight into the characters. It just isn't set up beforehand, making it seem unearned.

This isn't to say that I dislike it. Maybe that's splitting hairs, but I don't. I'm satisfied with the way things turn out for the characters and the world, just not the way that it happens.

The Forever Ship also has more endings than The Return of the King, which, I get it, after three books you don't want to let go. That's on the editor, not the author. But the ultimate final ending is another instance of literary completion, a bit too pat and pretty for such a rough and wild world. It makes a certain kind of sense, but again, it doesn't exactly feel earned. And it's so frustrating to see the fate of a powerful, compassionate woman come to a close the way it does--not badly, but just so quietly. Haig has obviously given this a good deal of thought, too, and I say this not so much as a criticism as a simple difference of opinion. I think it should have gone another way. But that's all part and parcel of this series, exactly where lines get drawn and why.

The plot also returns often to the touchstone of whether it is morally defensible to live when you are mortally tethered to a monster. I understand that Haig is saying some pretty important things about choosing the good struggle, and about the sheer tenacity of human life. I can identify with Cass, but I can also see it from the perspective of those around her: is her one life worth it when weighed against the chance to kill a genocidal villain? Much of the horror in these books could have been avoided if Cass had died.

Probably, anyway. That's a question I'm sure Haig wants you to ask, but sometimes the plot gets a bit threadbare when you realize that the architect of much of the world's evil could have been assassinated at any time, and all of the bloodshed avoided. I did not want Cass to die, but I had a hard time hating those who saw her as convenient collateral damage. The cost of a life in these books has been cheap, but also very high, and the meditation on that is a good one, philosophically speaking. But in terms of narrative, I do wonder if the case was made strongly enough.

These questions and more are yours to weigh and decide, and like the rest of The Forever Ship, they're worth examining. I recommend reading this with a milkshake and a puppy, or a batch of cookies and a glass of wine. This is a book about facing the end of the world, and it's not just that you'll need the comfort. The Forever Ship really manages to make you feel the weight and worth of the simple things, and it's nice to have a few on hand to savor as you savor this final book.

Francesca Haig’s The Fire Sermon trilogy has easily been one of the best series I have read this year, so much so that I did something I rarely do and read the second book almost immediately after finishing the first. Now, I have had the chance to read the third, and final, book in this trilogy: The Forever Ship. It did not disappoint.

In this book, the stakes are even higher; with Cass’ visions of fire moving ever closer to being reality and the freedom of the Omegas as a people growing ever more scarce. I loved that Haig does not shy away from the hardship of war; the reality of starvation, violence and death is never far from the surface and the themes of oppression, war and power resonate throughout. Yet, for all the bleak atmosphere, there is hope, and this is one of the reasons why I could not stop reading. I needed to see the characters survive and I wanted to see that hope bear fruit.

Speaking of characters, there is something about the way Haig writes which makes each of the characters step off the page. It was brilliant being back with Cass, Piper and Zoe. Even Zach’s increased presence in this book helped keep me interested, particularly in the ethical and moral arguments he presents. We also get to see more of the secondary characters, and even some new ones. Yet, for the large cast of people in this story, each one comes across as real, so much so that if I close my eyes, I can almost see them. It is the way they’re written which makes this world so much more real and, as a result, so much more terrifying.

While the second book captured more of the history of the world and setting up for this final book, The Forever Ship does a peculiar trick of both expanding outwards and inwards at the same time. We learn more of Elsewhere, and the world which exists beyond that which Cass and her team have only known. Yet, at the same time, we are seeing more exploration at an individual level – we’re seeing the views of the people that live in this world while also learning more about the characters we’re following.

All in all, I thought this was a brilliant ending of the trilogy. It stayed true to the core of the first book yet also allowed the reader to experience entirely new feelings and adventures while joining Cass and her friends on their journey. My only main issues are that, at times, the novel does struggle a little with pacing and the ending did not quite work for me, although I can see and appreciate why Haig ended it as she did.

If anyone is interested in starting a new dystopian series, particularly one which will make you think and leave you emotionally reeling at the end, then this is one I’d heartily recommend.

Note to self: stop reading dystopian fiction until the current national nightmare is over.

The Forever Ship was very readable, compellingly readable, despite its relentlessly grim and violent narrative. It’s probably the best of the three books in the series. While things happened that I expected, other things happened that I did not foresee. The plotting was good, the pace was good. I had to finish it although I certainly can’t say I enjoyed it.

Narrator Cass really started to get on my nerves. On more than one occasion while reading I lamented the fact that she was the narrator, since that presumably meant she and her twin weren’t going to die.

If you’ve not read the series, years after a nuclear apocalypse on Earth every birth results in twins – one perfect, one damaged. The perfect twins are ashamed of their damaged siblings, but they can’t kill them. Whatever happens to one twin happens to the other. So if one is killed, the other dies. If one is injured, the other feels the pain. At one point, Cass decides Zach must be tortured for information. Her companions have not done so because they know Cass will feel the pain as well. Does she ask one of them to do it anyway? Does she actually torture Zach? No, she uses a knife to CUT HERSELF, in a world with the bare minimum of medical knowledge and supplies, where any cut can end in death. What an idiot.

Also, the title makes no sense to me.

If you are looking for a dystopian series that is even more depressing and grim than the Hunger Games, the Fire Sermon series might be for you. There is a mostly strong female lead (she is truly an idiot sometimes), and a lesbian couple play a prominent role.

I read an advance reader copy of The Forever Ship. It is scheduled to be published December 5.

This is not really my type of book. The writing is well done and interesting, but the plot is a bit slow. It would probably have been better if I had read all three books.

3 1/2 stars for the conclusion of this trilogy . The emotions all were there , the same characters we started with and the same upending doom that we felt since we picked up the first book in this trilogy. Thanks to the folks at Netgalley for giving me a chance to read this book. I just have to say that I felt a little bit disappointed by the lackluster ending of this trilogy , I think they could have done a lot more. Pick it up this series if you are into dystopian futures and trilogies (who is not? lol) . AN overall ok trilogy.

The Forever Ship by Francesca Haig is the third and final book in the dystopian series entitled The Fire Sermon. This story takes up after Cass and the rebels that are fighting against the Alpha's and their plan to tank all of the Omega twins to ensure their perpetual safety.
I found that in this book I did not connect with Cass as much as I had in the previous two books. She seemed more remote and withdrawn now that her visions of the the blast consume her frequently. Her relationship with her brother does bring an interesting dynamic to the story that was left out of the first two books.
With the arrival of Paloma from the Elsewhere the Alpha's attempts to destroy Elsewhere and what it could represent become more desperate. Elsewhere has the medicine to end the twinning process and this means that the Alpha's would loose their superiority over the Omegas. All children born would be equal and there would be no Alpha or Omega class. That also meant that any child born could be born with defects or be perfect, but they would no longer have the fear of their lives depending on the survival of their twin.
I'd be interested in seeing where the story leads with the other characters. I found this book to be a satisfying conclusion to the series though it remained a dark tale of a post-apocalyptic world.

This is undoubtedly a good book, the finale to a thought-provoking but rather bleak dystopian trilogy. Haig's prose is flawless, walking the line between understated simplicity and lyrical description with aplomb. I have to say that I personally din't really enjoy this trilogy - I was just compelled to find out how it ended. I can't say exactly why I din't like it, only that I know it's not because the plot is flawed or because I didn't like the style or the characters. It's a mystery but I will still be recommending to other dystopia fans. One of the trilogies biggest selling points is the claustrophobic intimacy of the relationship between the alpha and omega twins. That was fascinating and beautifully realised. I wasn't entirely satisfied with how Cass resolves that with her Alpha twin, Zach, but I think that's a personal thing. Overall this is a brilliant trilogy and I wish I could have enjoyed it more.