Forever Human

by Tom Conyers

Spanning some 3,000 years and narrated by multiple voices, Forever Human follows a triangle of characters whose worlds are inextricably linked: Cassius, who remembers his past lives; Henri, who forgets; and Memphis, who may just have a greater awareness of the overarching plan of history than either of them. As Cassius toils on a formula for saving humanity from itself, the sinister Memphis shadows him and Henri through the ages on a significantly darker quest of his own.

From modern-day Melbourne to first-century Pompeii, 15th-century Brittany, Edwardian London and beyond, this compelling tale of an artist, a mathematician and an enigma takes the reader on a delicious journey straddling science fiction and literary mainstream, with a touch of Greek tragedy thrown in for good measure.

Conyers’ ambitious novel experiments with the literary equivalent of musical sampling and creative collage as he adapts, quotes and affectionately impersonates an eclectic mix of authors ranging from Fyodor Dostoyevsky to Emily Brontë, Franz Kafka to H. G. Wells and many more. Alongside his masterful use of language and plot, the author paints a menagerie of incredibly solid, believable characters, whose personalities will linger in the memory long after the final page is turned.

Forever Human is part literary mash-up, part meditation on religion and history, part adventure, part puzzle, and last but by no means least: a touching love story.

Forever bloodthirsty … Forever lovelorn … Forever human.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy

Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Tom Conyers was born in the UK but has lived most of his life in Australia. Apart from writing books, he also paints, draws, and makes films.

Reviews

[Lisa Reads & Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that I've allowed the story to dwell in my thoughts for a month, I've settled on the best way to describe my experience: reading Forever Human was like viewing a literary kaleidoscope. To be more precise, in the beginning, the kaleidoscope was close up, say at the tip of my nose. What I saw were pretty colors, interesting dialogue and characters, but I struggled to see how or where they fit into a story. As I progressed through the novel, the kaleidoscope was at arms length, then by the end, seated across the table from me was a face with a devious grin. Good show!

The love story between the main characters has already exposed by other reviewers to personify an idealistic relationship between science and art--and the story is richer if the reader is aware of that. The supporting cast carry much of the story's momentum: a fascinating villain, kooky woman, and a very big dog. They provided quite a few chuckles and the visuals will remain with me for a long while.

The literary styles (yes, I meant to use the plural) are a menagerie that the reader will have fun identifying. I missed quite a few; Tom Conyers kindly provided a list at the end.

Especially for lovers of history and literature, this novel will present a fun and challenging read.

[Anthony Noack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forever Human cleverly intertwines the lives of different characters from Roman times to the present. The plot follows the mathematician Cassius who is trying to formulate an algorithm that will help humanity avoid the mistakes of the past. Cassius is re-born again and again over the centuries and each time must pick up on the slivers of memory from his past lives which will allow him to progress his work a little further. He is aided and sometimes hampered by the artist Henri, and pursued over these various lifetimes by the shadowy Memphis and his very strange dog Barney. The book requires concentration to follow the various elements, but it is enjoyable seeing the various threads come together and worth the effort to read.

[Christopher Buckner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forever Human is a really tough book to read, only at first as for the first thirty pages I was lost. However, if you keep reading you'll be pulled deeper into the characters and start to be more interested in this world. The switch of narrative is a bit jarring and probably won't please a some readers, and this is the point that is probably most difficult to accept about this book for myself. Nevertheless the writer does a wonderful job of fleshing out his characters with flowing dialogue and good interaction that once you start reading you probably won't be able to put it down. In addition I really liked the cover to this book.

[Acquafortis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I shall start with why I gave it 4 stars not 5. For the first 20-30 pages I found the book very difficult to follow to such a point that I was reading it just for the sake of going on.
Swamped through that hurdle, the story started getting intriguing by the chapter to such a point that I looked forward to have time to read the book.
If you're in for some fantasy time bending, past lives revocations and unorthodox love, lived over and over again through thousands of years than I suggest you grab this book. You are in for a strangely weird collage of episodes splattered through time and space with an unexpected (at least for me) ending.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in order to review it.