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The Ark
“Wool meets Super Sad True Love Story”
The year is 2041. As rapidly dwindling oil supplies wreak havoc worldwide a team of scientists and their families abandon their homes and retreat into a bunker known as The Ark, alongside five billion plant seeds that hold the key to the future of life on Earth. But The Ark’s sanctuary comes at a price.
When their charismatic leader’s hidden agenda is revealed it becomes impossible to know who to trust. Those locked out of The Ark become increasingly desperate to enter, while those within begin to yearn for escape.
The Ark delves into the fears and concerns raised by the environmental predicament facing the world today, exploring human nature in desperate times. At its heart it asks: can our moral compass ever return to true north after a period in which every decision might be a matter of life and death and the only imperative is survival?
The year is 2041. As rapidly dwindling oil supplies wreak havoc worldwide a team of scientists and their families abandon their homes and retreat into a bunker known as The Ark, alongside five billion plant seeds that hold the key to the future of life on Earth. But The Ark’s sanctuary comes at a price.
When their charismatic leader’s hidden agenda is revealed it becomes impossible to know who to trust. Those locked out of The Ark become increasingly desperate to enter, while those within begin to yearn for escape.
The Ark delves into the fears and concerns raised by the environmental predicament facing the world today, exploring human nature in desperate times. At its heart it asks: can our moral compass ever return to true north after a period in which every decision might be a matter of life and death and the only imperative is survival?
220 pages, ebook
First published September 19, 2014
4 people are currently reading
835 people want to read
About the author
Annabel Smith
14 books176 followersAnnabel Smith is the author of Whisky Charlie Foxtrot, and A New Map of the Universe, which was shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Book Awards.
She has been writer-in-residence at Katherine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre and the Fellowship of Australian Writers (WA), had short fiction and commentary published in Westerly and Southerly and holds a PhD in Writing from Edith Cowan University.
In 2012 she was selected by the Australia Council as one of 5 inaugural recipients of a Creative Australia Fellowship for Emerging Artists, for the creation of an interactive app to accompany her experimental speculative fiction The Ark, to be published in 2014. She is currently working on an epic quest with a sci-fi twist featuring a monkey, an evil priestess and the mother of all tsunamis.
She has been writer-in-residence at Katherine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre and the Fellowship of Australian Writers (WA), had short fiction and commentary published in Westerly and Southerly and holds a PhD in Writing from Edith Cowan University.
In 2012 she was selected by the Australia Council as one of 5 inaugural recipients of a Creative Australia Fellowship for Emerging Artists, for the creation of an interactive app to accompany her experimental speculative fiction The Ark, to be published in 2014. She is currently working on an epic quest with a sci-fi twist featuring a monkey, an evil priestess and the mother of all tsunamis.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 1, 2016
The idea for this book is ingenious. In the 2040s, the world is falling to pieces. A seed bank has been set up in the Snowy Mountains to protect the world's plant stocks. As the Chaos mounts, the director of the seed bank decides to bring the employees and their families inside and lock them away. He says it's to keep them and the plants safe until things calm down, but also implies the giant biotech company which runs the facility has been secretly destroying the world's natural crops and he wants to rescue these seeds from them.
The Ark is a workplace, and the story is told through workplace communications paraphernalia: emails, instant messages, meeting minutes. I'm always delighted when a story acknowledges that most of our lives take place in offices and gives the workplace the literary recognition it deserves. Smith has gone the extra step and created designs and trademarks around each of the communication methods (I love the idea of a messaging system called ParlezVite), and they look great and are quietly hilarious.
The first part of the story is told from the point of view of the wife of one of the employees, out of her depth in a slightly cultish workplace, and deeply worried about the fate of her sister on the outside. The emails between them beautifully capture the panic of suddenly being unable to communicate with someone you know is in trouble.
The second part is utterly brilliant, told through the blog posts of the teenage son of one of the employees, and the comments his friends worldwide leave on them. The language in this section is inspired, the characters tiny but rich. Perhaps a teenager would think it was rubbish, but I thought Smith did a superb job of capturing the anger, humour and tragedy of teenage life at the end of the world. This section had real guts and bravery, real vigour, and it was a delight.
In part three, as the workplace politics take over and things start to go bad in the Ark, the possibility of going outside reemerges, and the Ark inhabitants have to make some difficult decisions.
I would have loved the story to go on a little longer - I would have liked to know more about how the world outside had fared - but other than that I thought this was an excellent book. A great concept, delivered ingeniously; a strong story and believable characters, plus some top-notch jokes and some real terror. I'd like to see more adventurous books like this published in Australia.
[Annabel was kind enough to send me an advance copy. I read it on Kindle, and I haven't yet tried the app.]
The Ark is a workplace, and the story is told through workplace communications paraphernalia: emails, instant messages, meeting minutes. I'm always delighted when a story acknowledges that most of our lives take place in offices and gives the workplace the literary recognition it deserves. Smith has gone the extra step and created designs and trademarks around each of the communication methods (I love the idea of a messaging system called ParlezVite), and they look great and are quietly hilarious.
The first part of the story is told from the point of view of the wife of one of the employees, out of her depth in a slightly cultish workplace, and deeply worried about the fate of her sister on the outside. The emails between them beautifully capture the panic of suddenly being unable to communicate with someone you know is in trouble.
The second part is utterly brilliant, told through the blog posts of the teenage son of one of the employees, and the comments his friends worldwide leave on them. The language in this section is inspired, the characters tiny but rich. Perhaps a teenager would think it was rubbish, but I thought Smith did a superb job of capturing the anger, humour and tragedy of teenage life at the end of the world. This section had real guts and bravery, real vigour, and it was a delight.
In part three, as the workplace politics take over and things start to go bad in the Ark, the possibility of going outside reemerges, and the Ark inhabitants have to make some difficult decisions.
I would have loved the story to go on a little longer - I would have liked to know more about how the world outside had fared - but other than that I thought this was an excellent book. A great concept, delivered ingeniously; a strong story and believable characters, plus some top-notch jokes and some real terror. I'd like to see more adventurous books like this published in Australia.
[Annabel was kind enough to send me an advance copy. I read it on Kindle, and I haven't yet tried the app.]
July 18, 2014
I have been lucky enough to read an advance copy of Annabel Smith's third novel, and it's such an exciting project. The narrative itself deals with a small group of people who are sealed away from the outside world in a bunker under Mt Koziusko with the aim of protecting not just themselves, but a collection of millions of seeds. In many ways, the premise reminded me of Hugh Howey's 'Wool'.
This is a modern take on the epistolary novel. The narrative is told through a variety of documents, emails and instant messaging, from inhabitants of The Ark. What this does so well, with the variety of first person, unreliable narrators, is create a mounting sense of tension, as the reader is kept in the dark as to what is really going on inside and who they can trust.
What is even more exciting is that the author plans to release this novel as an interactive app. I have read just the text of the narrative, but it will work perfectly for digital media. I recently listened to a running app which involved a post-apocalyptic story written in conjunction with Margaret Atwood, and like that, The Ark is demonstrates a different way of telling stories in the digital age.
This is a clever and compelling story, and an innovative and exciting example of non-traditional story telling.
This is a modern take on the epistolary novel. The narrative is told through a variety of documents, emails and instant messaging, from inhabitants of The Ark. What this does so well, with the variety of first person, unreliable narrators, is create a mounting sense of tension, as the reader is kept in the dark as to what is really going on inside and who they can trust.
What is even more exciting is that the author plans to release this novel as an interactive app. I have read just the text of the narrative, but it will work perfectly for digital media. I recently listened to a running app which involved a post-apocalyptic story written in conjunction with Margaret Atwood, and like that, The Ark is demonstrates a different way of telling stories in the digital age.
This is a clever and compelling story, and an innovative and exciting example of non-traditional story telling.
February 9, 2015
This is such an innovative book; I've never read anything like it before. Told through a collection of electronic documents including emails, blog posts and transcripts of meetings, it's a sort of futuristic, dystopian version of Lord of the Flies. I read the interactive app version, which gives the reader the option to follow links to further parts of the back story in the form of news articles, view photos of the bunker the characters live in, follow some of the characters on Twitter, and much more. Not only does the reader have the opportunity to delve further into the world, but they are also encouraged to keep the story going through fan fiction and leaving comments on the characters' blog posts. The latter option is not really my thing, but it's such an interesting way to involve the reader in the storytelling experience, and something I can imagine happening far more in the future. The only part of the book I struggled with a bit was the section from the perspective of the 15 year old blogger. As a grammar-obsessed writer/editor, the 'internet speak' just about drove me around the twist, but it was an essential part of the story and also brought in some interesting statements on climate change and what could (or will) happen to our world if we don't act now. This was a really interesting project and one that I hope pays off for the author.
December 15, 2014
First posted on The Steadfast Reader
What do you get when you combine a brilliant dystopian novel with a unique, cutting edge epistolary style of storytelling? Why Annabel Smith's The Ark, of course. Smith takes novel writing and the technology that we have available to us for storytelling to a whole new level.
But let's start with the general things about the book that I loved anyway. It's another well written piece of literary dystopian fiction that while quite different from St. Mandel's Station Eleven, shows a similar command of the genre. Smith takes an idea that could have easily fallen into the general tropes of apocalypse/dystopian genre fiction and makes it literature. There are deeper themes to explore, more than what is just presented on the surface. The epistolary format in which it's written allows for expert pacing in unfolding what exactly is going on inside (and outside) the ark.
This book written in the usual manner would be more than enough for me to have enjoyed it thoroughly and highly recommend it, but Smith's use of the e-book to create an interactive experience really just puts the whole thing over the top in uniqueness. If possible I would highly recommend reading this on an iPad or other such tablet device (I know, it sounds like bizarre advice) - if not, you can still interact with the novel by visiting the website.
Brilliant writing, brilliant idea on taking a story to a new level.
What do you get when you combine a brilliant dystopian novel with a unique, cutting edge epistolary style of storytelling? Why Annabel Smith's The Ark, of course. Smith takes novel writing and the technology that we have available to us for storytelling to a whole new level.
But let's start with the general things about the book that I loved anyway. It's another well written piece of literary dystopian fiction that while quite different from St. Mandel's Station Eleven, shows a similar command of the genre. Smith takes an idea that could have easily fallen into the general tropes of apocalypse/dystopian genre fiction and makes it literature. There are deeper themes to explore, more than what is just presented on the surface. The epistolary format in which it's written allows for expert pacing in unfolding what exactly is going on inside (and outside) the ark.
This book written in the usual manner would be more than enough for me to have enjoyed it thoroughly and highly recommend it, but Smith's use of the e-book to create an interactive experience really just puts the whole thing over the top in uniqueness. If possible I would highly recommend reading this on an iPad or other such tablet device (I know, it sounds like bizarre advice) - if not, you can still interact with the novel by visiting the website.
Brilliant writing, brilliant idea on taking a story to a new level.
September 20, 2014
I purchased the book version 26 hours ago and just finished it. It is a rare story that captures my attention the way The Ark has. I was totally sucked in from page one. Now I feel the way many might at the end of a great HBO series season finale, with a level of satisfaction regarding the outcome, and emotionally stirred up enough to be chewing on the detail for weeks and wishing for another season. Also have an overwhelming desire to buy chickpeas and rice in bulk and check that the gas bottles are topped up.
There is so much about this story that makes it compelling reading in this age. We are constantly reminded about the potential for world order to go 'tits up' for a variety of reasons (so many dumb ways to trigger an apocalypse). I believe Smith provides the perfect level of detail on what is going down outside the ark, leaving our overactive imaginations to freak ourselves out. I gasped audibly and had to gather my faculties regarding the 'quietexit'.
If you are thinking, apocalyptic / futuristic stories are not your thing, they weren't mine either.
I could go on about it for longer, but just have a read of page one and see what happens then.
There is so much about this story that makes it compelling reading in this age. We are constantly reminded about the potential for world order to go 'tits up' for a variety of reasons (so many dumb ways to trigger an apocalypse). I believe Smith provides the perfect level of detail on what is going down outside the ark, leaving our overactive imaginations to freak ourselves out. I gasped audibly and had to gather my faculties regarding the 'quietexit'.
If you are thinking, apocalyptic / futuristic stories are not your thing, they weren't mine either.
I could go on about it for longer, but just have a read of page one and see what happens then.
July 4, 2017
‘The Ark’ is no ordinary novel, and to say I read it doesn’t quite sum up the experience of this book, as it is an experience more than a read.
It’s written in epistolary form—emails, minutes of meetings, and news articles. There’s also a website, thearkbook.com, with video of inside the Ark and audio of conversations. Also on the website, you can upload your fan fiction. Together, the book and the website create the world of the Ark, and add a whole new dimension to its enjoyment.
The book is set in the year 2041-2043. The ‘Ark’ itself is a facility set up in a bunker at the base of Mt Kosciusko to store billions of seeds under the National Arboreal Protection Facility. It’s where the seeds will be kept until the Earth can regenerate back to health and they can be replanted. It is the only way plant life will survive.
The outside world is in Chaos and twenty-six people, mainly scientists and their families, have been chosen to live together inside the Ark in this top-secret mission. The residents are soon told by the Project Manager, Aiden Fox, that the Ark’s time-delay locks will be activated for their own protection, and they will be locked inside the bunker for sixty days.
Through emails and letters, whose servers have creative trade names such as ‘Gopher’ and ‘Parlez vite’, the reader learns of the dispute between Aiden and the company that owns the Ark, SynBioTec. SynBioTec don’t support the locking of the Ark, and the reader begins to wonder what’s really going on. Who is right—SynBioTec or Aiden? Is Aiden all that he seems?
The book is divided into sections that concentrate on a different character. I particularly liked the section on Ava, the wife of one of the scientists, who suspects early on that Aiden is dangerous, but even her husband won’t believe her. Aiden, of course, cares about Ava, and is deeply concerned for her mental instability. he sends this ‘Gopher’ to the doctor:
Ava eventually needs time in the ‘Vitality Compact’ where she is treated for a ‘non-critical, non-contagious condition’. Gradually, more people in the Ark develop a non-critical, non-contagious condition requiring treatment …
This book is a clever in its creation of a futuristic world. I love the means of communication the group uses. For example, minutes of meetings are taken through the voice recognition software, ‘Articulate’, which has been ‘organising your thoughts since 2016′. Not only does it decipher the words used, but also the emotions conveyed, like ‘compassionate’ and ‘regretful’.
This book is a study of manipulation, power and corruption. The tension builds and things inside the Ark become more sinister. I’d liken it to George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’.
It’s written in epistolary form—emails, minutes of meetings, and news articles. There’s also a website, thearkbook.com, with video of inside the Ark and audio of conversations. Also on the website, you can upload your fan fiction. Together, the book and the website create the world of the Ark, and add a whole new dimension to its enjoyment.
The book is set in the year 2041-2043. The ‘Ark’ itself is a facility set up in a bunker at the base of Mt Kosciusko to store billions of seeds under the National Arboreal Protection Facility. It’s where the seeds will be kept until the Earth can regenerate back to health and they can be replanted. It is the only way plant life will survive.
‘The Ark Manifesto
The Ark exists to protect the seeds. The seeds are protected to enhance the future of human life on earth. Without our protection, the seeds cannot survive. The seeds do not have higher value than the lives of those who protect them, rather the relationship is symbiotic: each nurtures the other …’
The outside world is in Chaos and twenty-six people, mainly scientists and their families, have been chosen to live together inside the Ark in this top-secret mission. The residents are soon told by the Project Manager, Aiden Fox, that the Ark’s time-delay locks will be activated for their own protection, and they will be locked inside the bunker for sixty days.
Through emails and letters, whose servers have creative trade names such as ‘Gopher’ and ‘Parlez vite’, the reader learns of the dispute between Aiden and the company that owns the Ark, SynBioTec. SynBioTec don’t support the locking of the Ark, and the reader begins to wonder what’s really going on. Who is right—SynBioTec or Aiden? Is Aiden all that he seems?
The book is divided into sections that concentrate on a different character. I particularly liked the section on Ava, the wife of one of the scientists, who suspects early on that Aiden is dangerous, but even her husband won’t believe her. Aiden, of course, cares about Ava, and is deeply concerned for her mental instability. he sends this ‘Gopher’ to the doctor:
‘Alex, a delicate matter—I’m concerned about Ava’s mental state—I think all the pressure from Longrigg is making her a little unstable. I know your wife is friendly with her—I’m wondering if you might plant the idea for Darya that Ava might benefit from some counselling with you.’
Ava eventually needs time in the ‘Vitality Compact’ where she is treated for a ‘non-critical, non-contagious condition’. Gradually, more people in the Ark develop a non-critical, non-contagious condition requiring treatment …
This book is a clever in its creation of a futuristic world. I love the means of communication the group uses. For example, minutes of meetings are taken through the voice recognition software, ‘Articulate’, which has been ‘organising your thoughts since 2016′. Not only does it decipher the words used, but also the emotions conveyed, like ‘compassionate’ and ‘regretful’.
This book is a study of manipulation, power and corruption. The tension builds and things inside the Ark become more sinister. I’d liken it to George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’.
October 3, 2014
I received this book for my birthday from a friend who knows the author in person (I only know her as a friend here on Goodreads). I loved Annabel's last book Whisky Charlie Foxtrot (to be released in the US as Whisky and Charlie) and was really excited to read this one. Aside from the fact that she lives in my neighbourhood, she's also an amazingly talented author.
A quick flick will be enough to convince any potential reader that The Ark is not an ordinary novel. It's a series of memos, emails, blog posts and transcribed voice recordings that work in sequence to tell a bigger story. The Ark is a secret underground facility manned by a group of scientists and their families. It's purpose is to protect one of the largest seed banks in the world, which includes many species that might otherwise be extinct. The facility gets sealed in 2041 to protect the seeds from the menace of 'The Chaos' which is destroying the rest of the world. The bunker community is in lockdown with no way in or out - drama unfolds.
I loved this book's format and style, but found myself getting really annoyed with the character of Ava, one of the books key 'narrators' as she communicates with her sister in the outside world. This dialogue didn't feel very real to me - the sisters were portrayed as being very close to each other, but Ava seemed unnaturally focussed on her own small problems and uncaring about her sister's much bigger ones. I didn't think that Ava was supposed to come across as selfish, but I'm not sure how else to describe someone who constantly whines about her 'rights' to a loved one whose very life is in peril, without really giving equivalent attention to her sister's problems. I assume that the author probably wanted to keep some mysery around the nature of 'The Chaos' and therefore wanted to focus on Ava, but this was jarring to me and really impacted my enjoyment of the early sections where her voice was dominant.
However, that's where my negativity ends. I thought The Ark got better and better - the final third was as simply awesome. I can't really say why I liked it so much without giving spoilers, but if you want to know.....
I'm giving this 4 stars. Maybe it should be a 5 because it ended so strongly, but I can't get past the fact that I didn't like the first third of it. Anyway, I think it's one of those books that will linger in my memory and tempt me for a second helping.
A quick flick will be enough to convince any potential reader that The Ark is not an ordinary novel. It's a series of memos, emails, blog posts and transcribed voice recordings that work in sequence to tell a bigger story. The Ark is a secret underground facility manned by a group of scientists and their families. It's purpose is to protect one of the largest seed banks in the world, which includes many species that might otherwise be extinct. The facility gets sealed in 2041 to protect the seeds from the menace of 'The Chaos' which is destroying the rest of the world. The bunker community is in lockdown with no way in or out - drama unfolds.
I loved this book's format and style, but found myself getting really annoyed with the character of Ava, one of the books key 'narrators' as she communicates with her sister in the outside world. This dialogue didn't feel very real to me - the sisters were portrayed as being very close to each other, but Ava seemed unnaturally focussed on her own small problems and uncaring about her sister's much bigger ones. I didn't think that Ava was supposed to come across as selfish, but I'm not sure how else to describe someone who constantly whines about her 'rights' to a loved one whose very life is in peril, without really giving equivalent attention to her sister's problems. I assume that the author probably wanted to keep some mysery around the nature of 'The Chaos' and therefore wanted to focus on Ava, but this was jarring to me and really impacted my enjoyment of the early sections where her voice was dominant.
However, that's where my negativity ends. I thought The Ark got better and better - the final third was as simply awesome. I can't really say why I liked it so much without giving spoilers, but if you want to know.....
I'm giving this 4 stars. Maybe it should be a 5 because it ended so strongly, but I can't get past the fact that I didn't like the first third of it. Anyway, I think it's one of those books that will linger in my memory and tempt me for a second helping.
September 12, 2014
How might "Lord of the Flies" or "Animal Farm" play out in thirty years time? "The Ark" is a stark imagining of just such a future. Instead of an island of boys or a farm of human-like animals, Annabel Smith's protagonists are either locked underground or enduring world-wide calamities outside. The earth has been stripped of its vegetation and fossil fuels, and the underground inmates have been charged with safeguarding the seeds of all the crop producing and carbon encapsulating plants that remain. Only they've been locked inside under false pretenses, and for much longer than they originally planned. And an international vegetation management company badly wants to get in.
The backdrop of this novel is every bit as chilling as those envisaged by Golding and Orwell, and one that may yet prove to be prophetic. But the intrigues, anxieties and tragedies experienced by the characters within it are relevant to any age. And they are revealed through unique narrative devices that portray a society at once hyper-connected, hopelessly fractured, and desperate to secure something more than just survival. Annabel Smith’s latest novel is an incisive and cautionary tale. Highly recommended.
The backdrop of this novel is every bit as chilling as those envisaged by Golding and Orwell, and one that may yet prove to be prophetic. But the intrigues, anxieties and tragedies experienced by the characters within it are relevant to any age. And they are revealed through unique narrative devices that portray a society at once hyper-connected, hopelessly fractured, and desperate to secure something more than just survival. Annabel Smith’s latest novel is an incisive and cautionary tale. Highly recommended.
September 7, 2014
The Ark is essentially an epistolary novel, with the story being told through snippets of communication like news articles, blogs, memos and emails. Smith has created the various mediums with aplomb, mostly paralleling things we have today but with care to replicate the essential features - for example, official corporate correspondence may be electronic but it still carries the same weight as an official letter. Of particular note is the distinction between dailemail (essentially the same as our email) gophers (more direct, encrypted communication) and the Headless Horseman (the most secure form of communication possible). It's not really specified how the Horseman differs technologically from the Gopher, but the talk around the Horseman's illegality is a nice hat-tip to how governments are starting to view technologies like TOR.
The first person we really get to know is Ava, who writes to her sister on the outside. The nature of the epistolary novel means we can't get directly inside anyone's head and have things explained to us, so everything has to come through these snippets. Since Ava's the first we hear from in any depth, she carries the burden of explaining a lot to the reader, with her sister acting as a proxy. There was one instance of the dreaded "As you know" which made me cringe a little, but it's mostly done very smoothly, and - without giving anything away - later in the chapter, absence becomes just as telling as presence.
One chapter is told from the perspective of Roscoe, the 15-year-old son of The Ark's Futurologist, Mia, primarily through his blog "Kaos Kronikles", and is presented in the chatspeak of 2041 (he's on Twitter if you want a taste). This device of trying to ape non-standard English is something I very rarely like (cf my review of Chuck Palahniuk's Pygmy). It is massively hard to pull off in a way that is convincing and thereby add any value through verisimilitude, so it's a high-risk manoeuvre (and with little reward - most teenagers speak like adults most of the time). At best it makes even simple things take longer to parse; at worst it comes across like when government anti-graffiti campaigns try to be hip. Smith does handle it much better than most, so in the end it doesn't grate as much as it could; but Roscoe's chapter was nonetheless a low point.
While The Ark takes place against the background of the apocalypse, at its core it's less about how society deals with disaster and more about how a small group of people deal with a charismatic leader who will stop at nothing to control them. It's very much a timeless human story, in that sense - that is where the bulk of the drama and intrigue comes from, and it really works well on that level. However, the technological and futuristic level is present as well, and is particularly worth examining given the nature of the project.
The Ark is not just a book, it's also an app and a website, and it's very much sold on the idea that the two parts go hand-in-hand, that it's an interactive experience. This is something I quite like - particularly with scifi. I love being able to delve into the background of the world that the author has built; how the technology works, how their society differs from ours, and so on. And it is good that Smith is trying to play with notions of how we consume books in the 21st century - something reflected by the fact that she got a government grant to help build the app.
Nonetheless, the book does deal with issues of how omnipresent surveillance is becoming, as technology becomes more and more central to our lives; of how large corporations are often quite amoral about the information they gather and what they do with it. A central part of the plot involves people being bound to a document they either barely read or didn't read at all, having "consented" when their partner or parent signed it. This echoes the current situation we have with the End User Licence Agreement (EULA) whereby people almost always click "I agree" without even a perfunctory glance at what they're agreeing to. Not even this formality is always adhered to - sometimes the EULA simply states "By using this product, you agree to..."
At the time of writing, The Ark app requires access to (among other things) your identity, location, photos, and the ability to make phonecalls. Most of these are required so you can do the various interactive things, like uploading your own content, but it's an all-or-nothing prospect; even if you don't want to upload anything, you still have to give the app access.
I don't suspect Smith or her team of anything underhanded here - this is just the way the app-making industry works in 2014. And yet many of the problems we're already seeing around privacy are caused precisely because we are so willing to give up these permissions, without a clear way of knowing exactly how they will be used - or any recourse if they change in the future. Much like the EULA, few people even bother reading an app's short summary before they click "Accept." This is a situation that will only get worse unless we start paying attention to it, but it is far from inevitable. App developers, and the Apples and Googles who create the environment they work in, certainly could build apps that don't require all these extra permissions - they just have no incentive to do so unless the public cares about it.
All of the information in The Ark's app is available on the website, which doesn't require any permissions unless you explicitly give them, so the privacy-conscious needn't miss out - but it is interesting that even a book that explores these issues is far from immune from perpetuating them.
The book opens with a passage from 2093 in which The Australian reports on the Ark's discovery by hikers, and the return of its inhabitants to society at large, decades after the story takes place. The rest of the book takes place in the first few years after the Ark is sealed, so while we know that the world outside the Ark must have survived, we hear nothing about it after the first few chapters. The story works perfectly well this way, and what keeps you hooked is undoubtedly what goes on inside the Ark - but it would be nice to get some info at the end on what happened on the outside. I read an advance copy of the book, and the app and website are still beta versions - the book isn't officially launched until September 19 - so maybe some of the website extras will ultimately give us some insight there.
The verdict? It's the first scifi book I've read in a while and as you can see it's certainly been a launching point for the issues it deals with. Both the format and the narrative are compelling enough to keep you glommed to the screen of your eReader, and Smith does an excellent job of managing the suspense. Despite a few aspects that fell flat, I really enjoyed it.
The first person we really get to know is Ava, who writes to her sister on the outside. The nature of the epistolary novel means we can't get directly inside anyone's head and have things explained to us, so everything has to come through these snippets. Since Ava's the first we hear from in any depth, she carries the burden of explaining a lot to the reader, with her sister acting as a proxy. There was one instance of the dreaded "As you know" which made me cringe a little, but it's mostly done very smoothly, and - without giving anything away - later in the chapter, absence becomes just as telling as presence.
One chapter is told from the perspective of Roscoe, the 15-year-old son of The Ark's Futurologist, Mia, primarily through his blog "Kaos Kronikles", and is presented in the chatspeak of 2041 (he's on Twitter if you want a taste). This device of trying to ape non-standard English is something I very rarely like (cf my review of Chuck Palahniuk's Pygmy). It is massively hard to pull off in a way that is convincing and thereby add any value through verisimilitude, so it's a high-risk manoeuvre (and with little reward - most teenagers speak like adults most of the time). At best it makes even simple things take longer to parse; at worst it comes across like when government anti-graffiti campaigns try to be hip. Smith does handle it much better than most, so in the end it doesn't grate as much as it could; but Roscoe's chapter was nonetheless a low point.
While The Ark takes place against the background of the apocalypse, at its core it's less about how society deals with disaster and more about how a small group of people deal with a charismatic leader who will stop at nothing to control them. It's very much a timeless human story, in that sense - that is where the bulk of the drama and intrigue comes from, and it really works well on that level. However, the technological and futuristic level is present as well, and is particularly worth examining given the nature of the project.
The Ark is not just a book, it's also an app and a website, and it's very much sold on the idea that the two parts go hand-in-hand, that it's an interactive experience. This is something I quite like - particularly with scifi. I love being able to delve into the background of the world that the author has built; how the technology works, how their society differs from ours, and so on. And it is good that Smith is trying to play with notions of how we consume books in the 21st century - something reflected by the fact that she got a government grant to help build the app.
Nonetheless, the book does deal with issues of how omnipresent surveillance is becoming, as technology becomes more and more central to our lives; of how large corporations are often quite amoral about the information they gather and what they do with it. A central part of the plot involves people being bound to a document they either barely read or didn't read at all, having "consented" when their partner or parent signed it. This echoes the current situation we have with the End User Licence Agreement (EULA) whereby people almost always click "I agree" without even a perfunctory glance at what they're agreeing to. Not even this formality is always adhered to - sometimes the EULA simply states "By using this product, you agree to..."
At the time of writing, The Ark app requires access to (among other things) your identity, location, photos, and the ability to make phonecalls. Most of these are required so you can do the various interactive things, like uploading your own content, but it's an all-or-nothing prospect; even if you don't want to upload anything, you still have to give the app access.
I don't suspect Smith or her team of anything underhanded here - this is just the way the app-making industry works in 2014. And yet many of the problems we're already seeing around privacy are caused precisely because we are so willing to give up these permissions, without a clear way of knowing exactly how they will be used - or any recourse if they change in the future. Much like the EULA, few people even bother reading an app's short summary before they click "Accept." This is a situation that will only get worse unless we start paying attention to it, but it is far from inevitable. App developers, and the Apples and Googles who create the environment they work in, certainly could build apps that don't require all these extra permissions - they just have no incentive to do so unless the public cares about it.
All of the information in The Ark's app is available on the website, which doesn't require any permissions unless you explicitly give them, so the privacy-conscious needn't miss out - but it is interesting that even a book that explores these issues is far from immune from perpetuating them.
The book opens with a passage from 2093 in which The Australian reports on the Ark's discovery by hikers, and the return of its inhabitants to society at large, decades after the story takes place. The rest of the book takes place in the first few years after the Ark is sealed, so while we know that the world outside the Ark must have survived, we hear nothing about it after the first few chapters. The story works perfectly well this way, and what keeps you hooked is undoubtedly what goes on inside the Ark - but it would be nice to get some info at the end on what happened on the outside. I read an advance copy of the book, and the app and website are still beta versions - the book isn't officially launched until September 19 - so maybe some of the website extras will ultimately give us some insight there.
The verdict? It's the first scifi book I've read in a while and as you can see it's certainly been a launching point for the issues it deals with. Both the format and the narrative are compelling enough to keep you glommed to the screen of your eReader, and Smith does an excellent job of managing the suspense. Despite a few aspects that fell flat, I really enjoyed it.
December 3, 2014
The book is only the beginning. But I’ll start there since this is a review.
The Ark presents a form of fiction that while not rare, is perhaps underutilised. I am talking about epistolary fiction, fiction told through letters or documents. There are examples of the form stretching back six hundred odd years and smattered over all kinds of genre but if you were looking to write a novel it’s not the form I’d immediately choose.
Why?
I think it’s a form that battles against the audience’s expectations and experience. It demands quite a clever bit of structuring from the author and the nature of its communication - essentially stop-start, (a document is experienced as a complete thing in and of itself and has to be written as such to attain verisimilitude) has the potential to break the readers flow.
Essentially it has to look and read like the real thing while delivering the same level entertainment expected of structurally easier formats.
I am, however, glad that Smith took up the challenge. The Ark is a fairly big diversion from the work she’s previously published and I think she’s done well, very well.
In terms of story she delivers an interesting and timely scenario.
It reads like an eco/survivor-thriller and it is. The challenges presented by the form don’t seem to have hampered delivering a tense ending. The beginning is perhaps slower than your normal thriller but this is necessary to build the tension and get the reader reading between the lines.
One of the advantages of the form is that we, the reader, have different perspectives presented to us. We begin to create one perception of the book’s reality based on the narrative explored in one set of emails, only to have that impacted or even undermined by revelations in other communications. The reader is caught in a game trying to decide which character is presenting the most accurate state of affairs. In that sense it’s perhaps more akin to a murder mystery thriller but without Hercule or Miss Marple to hold our hands.
So narratively, The Ark worked very well for me. The production of the book, raised the bar further. If you are going to set a story in 2041 that occurs in cyberspace, then aside from say… presenting the story as an App (which Smith also did) you have to give the reader some small sense that they are not reading a book, you have to transcend the book to some extent.
I did read my version in ebook form (I'm not sure if there is a paperback) which does a great job normally of simulating a standard paperback. To break down that sense that we were reading a book though, Smith has designed the documents we read to appear as emails (ie not just text with address headers), blogposts, newspaper extracts, etc. Aside from verisimilitude it generates, this choice gives a literal change of scenery.
To have left the project there, would have been fine. A nice terse future thriller, that makes some quiet comment on ecological issues and presents the reader with some variety in their narrative consumption.
Smith went further giving us an expanded interactive multimedia experience and for that you can checkout thearkbook.com yourself.
The Ark presents a form of fiction that while not rare, is perhaps underutilised. I am talking about epistolary fiction, fiction told through letters or documents. There are examples of the form stretching back six hundred odd years and smattered over all kinds of genre but if you were looking to write a novel it’s not the form I’d immediately choose.
Why?
I think it’s a form that battles against the audience’s expectations and experience. It demands quite a clever bit of structuring from the author and the nature of its communication - essentially stop-start, (a document is experienced as a complete thing in and of itself and has to be written as such to attain verisimilitude) has the potential to break the readers flow.
Essentially it has to look and read like the real thing while delivering the same level entertainment expected of structurally easier formats.
I am, however, glad that Smith took up the challenge. The Ark is a fairly big diversion from the work she’s previously published and I think she’s done well, very well.
In terms of story she delivers an interesting and timely scenario.
It reads like an eco/survivor-thriller and it is. The challenges presented by the form don’t seem to have hampered delivering a tense ending. The beginning is perhaps slower than your normal thriller but this is necessary to build the tension and get the reader reading between the lines.
One of the advantages of the form is that we, the reader, have different perspectives presented to us. We begin to create one perception of the book’s reality based on the narrative explored in one set of emails, only to have that impacted or even undermined by revelations in other communications. The reader is caught in a game trying to decide which character is presenting the most accurate state of affairs. In that sense it’s perhaps more akin to a murder mystery thriller but without Hercule or Miss Marple to hold our hands.
So narratively, The Ark worked very well for me. The production of the book, raised the bar further. If you are going to set a story in 2041 that occurs in cyberspace, then aside from say… presenting the story as an App (which Smith also did) you have to give the reader some small sense that they are not reading a book, you have to transcend the book to some extent.
I did read my version in ebook form (I'm not sure if there is a paperback) which does a great job normally of simulating a standard paperback. To break down that sense that we were reading a book though, Smith has designed the documents we read to appear as emails (ie not just text with address headers), blogposts, newspaper extracts, etc. Aside from verisimilitude it generates, this choice gives a literal change of scenery.
To have left the project there, would have been fine. A nice terse future thriller, that makes some quiet comment on ecological issues and presents the reader with some variety in their narrative consumption.
Smith went further giving us an expanded interactive multimedia experience and for that you can checkout thearkbook.com yourself.
November 20, 2014
Annabel Smith is a Perth based author who has followed her two previous books, A New Map of the Universe (2005) and Whisky Charlie Foxtrot (2012) with The Ark, an edgy post apocalyptic novel set in the near future. The Ark is a radical departure for Smith; it is both available as a traditional print book and digitally as an ebook with the option to use an APP that allows the reader to interact and contribute to the world depicted in the book. In addition the novel experiments boldly with form and style. Clearly this is a novel with one eye set on the future.
Sometimes experiments with narrative form can detract from the story, but fortunately with The Ark Smith has blended form and plot seamlessly. The novel is set in two parts, the first set in 2041 and the second in 2043. The ark itself is a state of the art seed bank in which a small group of biologists and their families have taken shelter from a world in the throws of a post peak oil chaos, leaving the natural environment ruined. The Ark could be a typical post-apocalyptic novel, but the fact that the narrative form predominantly consists of electronic media of the near future provides a new and engaging angle. The characters communicate with both the outside world and each other using various future mediums such as Gopher, Dailemail, parlez-vite vitality (like a chat room), and Articulate, which is a voice recognition technology.
The real strength of The Ark is the fact that Smith has created compelling characters whom are both complex and sympathetic, despite using few of the usual narrative techniques to build character. The dialogue is entirely electronic, complete with fonts and software frameworks used by the various mediums. There is no authorial voice and none of the traditional methods are used to give the reader an idea of the settings, with the only descriptions coming from what the characters are saying to each other. The narrative is completely carried by character perspective, with some sections dedicated to specific characters.
Smith has taken some great risks with The Ark, but thanks to quality writing and a strong plot she has succeeded admirably. Also intentionally or not The Ark says something deeply profound about humanity and the ending can be interpreted in a number of different ways. The Ark is an intriguing novel that offers something new in a market crowded with future dystopias and hopefully it will find the audience it deserves.
Sometimes experiments with narrative form can detract from the story, but fortunately with The Ark Smith has blended form and plot seamlessly. The novel is set in two parts, the first set in 2041 and the second in 2043. The ark itself is a state of the art seed bank in which a small group of biologists and their families have taken shelter from a world in the throws of a post peak oil chaos, leaving the natural environment ruined. The Ark could be a typical post-apocalyptic novel, but the fact that the narrative form predominantly consists of electronic media of the near future provides a new and engaging angle. The characters communicate with both the outside world and each other using various future mediums such as Gopher, Dailemail, parlez-vite vitality (like a chat room), and Articulate, which is a voice recognition technology.
The real strength of The Ark is the fact that Smith has created compelling characters whom are both complex and sympathetic, despite using few of the usual narrative techniques to build character. The dialogue is entirely electronic, complete with fonts and software frameworks used by the various mediums. There is no authorial voice and none of the traditional methods are used to give the reader an idea of the settings, with the only descriptions coming from what the characters are saying to each other. The narrative is completely carried by character perspective, with some sections dedicated to specific characters.
Smith has taken some great risks with The Ark, but thanks to quality writing and a strong plot she has succeeded admirably. Also intentionally or not The Ark says something deeply profound about humanity and the ending can be interpreted in a number of different ways. The Ark is an intriguing novel that offers something new in a market crowded with future dystopias and hopefully it will find the audience it deserves.
September 25, 2014
Up front, I have to admit that I would never have read this most interesting book if not for the fact that Annabel Smith is one of my favourite authors. Firstly, I don’t like reading eBooks, and secondly, I’m not fond of speculative fiction. It’s a measure of this author’s skill that I was captivated right from the start and finished the book wishing it was longer.
The Ark doesn’t have to be read as an eBook, but (yes, I know I’m contradicting what I’ve written here many times before) I think it’s more fun, and more authentic, given its subject matter and experimental style. The story is composed of emails and other digital forms of communication, and there are links in the text that you can explore as well. You can, for example, explore the setting through creepy little black and white vimeos with eerie sound tracks! I read part of it on my kindle (because I was too impatient to wait for the iPad version) and then when it was available I read the rest of it on the iPad that I otherwise only use for taking photos of student work at school.
The story begins in 2093 with Book One, titled ‘Kirk’ and a ‘report’ from The Australian: 17 people have emerged from a bunker built into Mt Kosciuszko, revealing a priceless storehouse of seed specimens previously thought to be extinct. The survivors have been there for almost half a century, their numbers dwindling from the original 26 to only four, while the other 13 are second or third-generation bunker-babies. From this beginning, the story then travels back in time to 2041 when a seed bank called ‘Ark’ is sealed with a small group of people inside. (A seed bank is a storage repository for seeds in case some sort of disaster destroys the world’s reserves. There are a number of these seed banks around the world, the most famous of which is the Svalbard one in Norway.) In The Ark the oil crisis has created havoc in the global economy and society has broken down, so the decision is taken to preserve the seeds for whatever the precarious future might hold.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2014/09/25/th...
The Ark doesn’t have to be read as an eBook, but (yes, I know I’m contradicting what I’ve written here many times before) I think it’s more fun, and more authentic, given its subject matter and experimental style. The story is composed of emails and other digital forms of communication, and there are links in the text that you can explore as well. You can, for example, explore the setting through creepy little black and white vimeos with eerie sound tracks! I read part of it on my kindle (because I was too impatient to wait for the iPad version) and then when it was available I read the rest of it on the iPad that I otherwise only use for taking photos of student work at school.
The story begins in 2093 with Book One, titled ‘Kirk’ and a ‘report’ from The Australian: 17 people have emerged from a bunker built into Mt Kosciuszko, revealing a priceless storehouse of seed specimens previously thought to be extinct. The survivors have been there for almost half a century, their numbers dwindling from the original 26 to only four, while the other 13 are second or third-generation bunker-babies. From this beginning, the story then travels back in time to 2041 when a seed bank called ‘Ark’ is sealed with a small group of people inside. (A seed bank is a storage repository for seeds in case some sort of disaster destroys the world’s reserves. There are a number of these seed banks around the world, the most famous of which is the Svalbard one in Norway.) In The Ark the oil crisis has created havoc in the global economy and society has broken down, so the decision is taken to preserve the seeds for whatever the precarious future might hold.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2014/09/25/th...
September 28, 2014
I was initially a wee bit thrown by the format of the printed book, having taken a recommendation to read it first and then approach the app and online stuff. I guess that accounted for the fractured start to the storyline(s) for me and my initial hesitancy. However, this not so mighty hurdle of my cognitive dissonance was soon left behind and the book got its hooks(roots?) into me. It is a BELTER of an effort and any misgivings were summarily despatched. Whilst not as rich and dense as Smith's two previous reads, particularly her debut, it has been delivered as a multi format venture. And I imagine to be read, viewed and interacted with, as such. I am now going to embark on that, and who knows maybe even the e-book. This is a well crafted, engaging read and a bold move in multi format publishing. Smith is to be commended for her efforts breaking such new ground and having the fortitude/foolhardiness to self publish. I really do hope this project gets the recognition it doubtlessly deserves.
December 17, 2014
This wonderfully inventive novel, told from multiple points of view and through a collection of documents, is strong, character-driven, and prescient of a future none of us wants and all of us fear. What would it be like to be among the last truly safe people on an unsafe earth? Speculative fiction is not usually my first choice but I had the privilege of reading drafts of The Ark from its inception, and I found the published work (which also comes as an interactive app) a fascinating and compelling read. Guest post from Annabel here: http://amandacurtin.com/2014/09/30/2-...
January 18, 2015
I love the concept of this book especially the epistolary nature of it. There is something indulgent about reading other peoples emails and correspondence. (Or maybe I'm just incredibly nosey!) There were a couple of elements of the book I felt needed further exploration; The Chaos and the reasons why Aiden and Rudolf wanted to be rid of Felipe. What was the back story there.
To be fair I have not logged into the interact website for this book, which is essentially what makes this book project very unique. So my comments may be unfounded once I have that experience.
Overall, there is some very clever work and ideas going on in this book and for that I enjoyed it immensely.
To be fair I have not logged into the interact website for this book, which is essentially what makes this book project very unique. So my comments may be unfounded once I have that experience.
Overall, there is some very clever work and ideas going on in this book and for that I enjoyed it immensely.
July 9, 2015
This is a remarkably engaging and well-written story. The format is unusual -- a series of emails and other electronic messages sent by the various characters. however, this bold choice of an unusual format is one of the novel's strengths. The use of different fonts, borders, and other formatting helps establish the setting and lend to the feeling that the reader really is reading an archive of communiques from a post-apocalyptic future. The characters, plot, and setting all come together very well to tell a creative and captivating story.
October 11, 2014
Great story. Enjoyed the different format. Easy to read.
July 17, 2021
rating: 4.5
I knew about this book from my second year of the architectural degree. It was for one of our assignments which is also my favourite assignment so far, and our task is to design a museum that represents the life in The Ark and tell its story. My approach was to create a significant landmark of the museum as a memorial to the people who previously contributed to The Ark and attract and educate more people to learn about the historical and cultural elements of the seed bank. My classmates and I had the pleasure to meet the author - Annabel Smith, in person and have her go through the background story of The Ark, and it was an intriguing experience to have the book author herself share with us about the book.
Recently I have decided to pick this book up and reread it. It is totally a blast! I enjoyed it so much more than when I was reading it for an assignment (considering all the stress I have had when designing a museum out of a book and, of course, the deadlines). I love the plots and how it's written in the way we read from people's message/email; it makes the whole reading experience more exciting and easy. I can relate to the people in The Ark more now than ever because their situation is somewhat similar to the Covid-19 situation we are in now. Can you imagine if we had the "secret community" hideaway until the Covid-19 is long gone? That would be incredible!
I wish there are more chapters after finishing the book; I am thrilled to know what happened to Ava's sister - Tillie, and also what happened to The Ark when it got discovered after decades, wish there's more to read!
Love this!
I knew about this book from my second year of the architectural degree. It was for one of our assignments which is also my favourite assignment so far, and our task is to design a museum that represents the life in The Ark and tell its story. My approach was to create a significant landmark of the museum as a memorial to the people who previously contributed to The Ark and attract and educate more people to learn about the historical and cultural elements of the seed bank. My classmates and I had the pleasure to meet the author - Annabel Smith, in person and have her go through the background story of The Ark, and it was an intriguing experience to have the book author herself share with us about the book.
Recently I have decided to pick this book up and reread it. It is totally a blast! I enjoyed it so much more than when I was reading it for an assignment (considering all the stress I have had when designing a museum out of a book and, of course, the deadlines). I love the plots and how it's written in the way we read from people's message/email; it makes the whole reading experience more exciting and easy. I can relate to the people in The Ark more now than ever because their situation is somewhat similar to the Covid-19 situation we are in now. Can you imagine if we had the "secret community" hideaway until the Covid-19 is long gone? That would be incredible!
I wish there are more chapters after finishing the book; I am thrilled to know what happened to Ava's sister - Tillie, and also what happened to The Ark when it got discovered after decades, wish there's more to read!
Love this!
May 11, 2019
Excellently written. Sadly even though I purchased the kindle version, if didn't translate properly to the device so I instead read it on my phone which was fine but just of note. Well developed characters, especially given the writing style via extracts and essentially eavesdropping on their lives. Interesting concept, well presented.
March 16, 2015
Annabel Smith has created a disturbingly plausible world in her latest novel, The Ark, which is set later this century in a post peak oil Australia. An underground bunker, aka the Ark, has been established to preserve five billion seed specimens. As violence and lawlessness (known in the book as the Chaos) increase, 26 people consisting of Ark employees and their immediate families, are locked in the bunker to protect themselves and the seeds in their care.
While The Ark is dystopian in nature, its structure is somewhat unconventional. The novel is divided into two parts: the first when the inhabitants arrive in the Ark and the second when the surviving inhabitants are finally offered an opportunity to venture outside. It is written entirely as a series of documents, some of which include new forms of communication as imagined by the author, and the reader is privy to the archives that have been recovered from the Ark decades later.
This narrative structure enables the inclusion of multiple points of view and immediately raises doubts abut whose perspective can be believed or trusted. Is it necessary to seal the Ark to protect the seeds and team members from the Chaos, as argued by charismatic project manager, Aiden, or are there other reasons he is failing to disclose? Are Ava's concerns justified or is her mental health in question? The gaps in the record become as important as what is included when it come to determining where the truth lies.
The Ark is available in paperback and as an e-book, but part of Smith's innovation is the development of an app which enables readers to interact further with the story. Readers can tour the bunker, read news articles and blog posts that provide a sense of time and place, and even contribute comments and fan fiction.
This is a compelling and thought-provoking book.
Recommended.
For a more detailed review: http://melindatognini.com/2015/03/16/...
While The Ark is dystopian in nature, its structure is somewhat unconventional. The novel is divided into two parts: the first when the inhabitants arrive in the Ark and the second when the surviving inhabitants are finally offered an opportunity to venture outside. It is written entirely as a series of documents, some of which include new forms of communication as imagined by the author, and the reader is privy to the archives that have been recovered from the Ark decades later.
This narrative structure enables the inclusion of multiple points of view and immediately raises doubts abut whose perspective can be believed or trusted. Is it necessary to seal the Ark to protect the seeds and team members from the Chaos, as argued by charismatic project manager, Aiden, or are there other reasons he is failing to disclose? Are Ava's concerns justified or is her mental health in question? The gaps in the record become as important as what is included when it come to determining where the truth lies.
The Ark is available in paperback and as an e-book, but part of Smith's innovation is the development of an app which enables readers to interact further with the story. Readers can tour the bunker, read news articles and blog posts that provide a sense of time and place, and even contribute comments and fan fiction.
This is a compelling and thought-provoking book.
Recommended.
For a more detailed review: http://melindatognini.com/2015/03/16/...
November 11, 2014
The Ark gets my vote for the most interesting and clever book I've read this year. It's not your typical narrative, composed instead of emails, instant messages, memos and other documents, forming an epistolary novel with a difference. Leading to the book's launch I was sent a daily sneak peek for a month ... within days I was hooked, waiting eagerly for the 3pm update. Once I started reading the book properly, I could not put it down. I'm not exaggerating.
My husband, who is not a big fiction reader, read The Ark in a couple of sittings. His first impression: "interesting". On further reflection he added: "I liked it. It was quick to read, and I think it sat fairly close to what you'd expect from people's behaviour." Annabel, that's high praise. I'll go a bit further - The Ark is fantastic, sinister, stark, compelling, thought-provoking and exciting. Just read it.
Full review at www.writenotereviews.com
My husband, who is not a big fiction reader, read The Ark in a couple of sittings. His first impression: "interesting". On further reflection he added: "I liked it. It was quick to read, and I think it sat fairly close to what you'd expect from people's behaviour." Annabel, that's high praise. I'll go a bit further - The Ark is fantastic, sinister, stark, compelling, thought-provoking and exciting. Just read it.
Full review at www.writenotereviews.com
January 2, 2015
Firstly, everyone is talking about this novel. And so they should. Independent, multimedia, multiplatform, it’s most certainly something new. It simultaneously paints a glimpse of a very convincing future for humanity while also unveiling the future of the ebook. Resource shortages and social breakdown until the day the Earth’s servers all, finally, blink off – rendered in a new, digital imagining of literature. This is the future; wake up and smell the data.
Full review here: http://leatherboundpounds.wordpress.c...
Full review here: http://leatherboundpounds.wordpress.c...
October 9, 2014
An interesting read. I'm in two minds as to whether I enjoyed it or not. The story was easy enough to follow and makes you think 'could life really be like this in the future'. I wasn't a huge fan of the different types of texts used, email conversation formats etc. Hmmmm....still undecided!
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