Ark

Forward collection

By: Veronica Roth

Narrated by: Evan Rachel Wood

Length: 1 hr and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Audible narration by Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld)

On the eve of Earth’s destruction, a young scientist discovers something too precious to lose, in a story of cataclysm and hope by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy.

It’s only two weeks before an asteroid turns home to dust. Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond. Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection.

As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower.

Veronica Roth’s Ark is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.

©2019 Veronica Roth (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Evan Rachel Wood portrays Samantha in a soft, resigned tone that fits a story in which humanity has already been through the painful grieving process and has settled into a somber acceptance of its fate...it’s the gentle emphasis Wood gives to the connections between humans that makes this audiobook such a compelling listen." --AudioFile magazine

"…A sensational project...." --Spine Magazine

“This is exactly how I like my techno-anxiety.... Happy bingeing!” --Audible, an October Editors Pick

Contemplating the end

Story: 3.5⭐️

A very quiet, subtle take on death, rebirth and how circumstances shape how (and if) we choose to live. "Ark" follows horticulturist, Samantha, as she and a volunteer group of scientists catalog flora for a storage spaceship (AKA Ark) bound for Terra (Earth 2.0) during the last 2 months before the planet-killer asteroid, Finis hits.

I was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected poignancy and beauty in some of Roth's words, particularly in regards to Samantha and her unusual acceptance of the inevitability of death. Since most people (consciously or not) fear death, it is uncommon for people to see death favorably in any way unless they or a loved one has been suffering from pain or illness for a while. Even then, most people see it as a necessary evil, but Samantha can see the wonder in it as well.

"It’s the story of this planet in reverse,” she said. “We were born out of—coalescing matter, chaos, here, all lava and earthquakes and thunder...It will be like . . . seeing the birth of the world. Can you imagine anything more beautiful, more worth witnessing, than that?”

Through a handful of characters, some the responses to grief, loss and uncertainty are shown, with Samantha being a unique avatar. As someone raised under the spectre of Finis, she has known for most of her life when the end was coming and the story explores how this shapes her and her expectations for a future, as well as the difference between truly living and simply surviving. How much should knowing the future effect how you live?

I was a bit sceptical at the start, especially with the SERIOUSLY unimaginative names making me question if the rest of the story would be so on the nose (this is carried through to the end and I honestly can't tell if this is a deliberate choice to buck sci-fi conventions, a stab at irony, or just plain laziness). However, if you can a) quiet your inner nerd - ("Is this an alternate Earth or far in the future that we have the tech for terraforming, space travel etc.? Speaking of, where is this new Earth; is it within our solar system given that it only takes a single generation to get there or a new exoplanet bc the closest potentially Earth-like one is 1400+ lys...-) and b) if you don't mind the calm, deliberate pacing and human mundanity of the setting in a situation usually depicted as global societal meltdown, then you may appreciate Ark.

Enjoyable

this whole series has been a pleasure.
this story brings one to thinking about what's important

heartbreaking, thought-provoking and beautiful

this was a deeply existential story about finding meaning in the face of hopelessness. I can't recommend it enough

Good

This was sooo good, and very different. I wouldn’t have expected this from Veronica but it was interesting and quick

Excellent Apocalyptic Story

Not your typical doom & gloom. You know what's going to happen, but it's not predictable.
The narration is superb!

A Search For Meaning In Certain Extinction

Wonderfully narrated and a poignant story about our human search for meaning and in particular significance.

Haunting but worth it

The great exodus of humanity to a distant planet as the Earth will be hit by a massive asteroid soon. But done from the perspective of those building the collection of plants to be placed on the ark. Appreciating the beauty and variety of life we have here is more poignant knowing it’s about to end.

OK Story Thats Kinda Sad;Good but Couldve Be Great

Good story about a possible future but the characters and story seemed to be missing something?? I just didn't connect to them for some reason still trying to figure that out!

Beautiful

I loved this. Science and emotion delicately intertwined into a near futuristic story. A great performance too.

Slow and Steady

Title: Ark
Autho: Veronica Roth
Format: Audio
Narrator: Evan Rachel Wood
Genre: Science Fiction, End of World
Standalone: Yes
Part of a Series: Book 1 of the Forward series
POV: Samantha
Steam Level: Clean
3/5

Ark was a good novella focused on the last two weeks of the end of the world. Using this crunch time to discover and catalogue what flora to take when leaving the world explores what is "important" to yourself versus to others. While a slow read, it was a good background listen for when I was focusing of other things.