The Forever Gate Compendium Edition

By: Isaac Hooke

Narrated by: Susanna Burney

Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's Summary

From USA Today best-selling author Isaac Hooke comes this fantastic tale of the unexpected.

The world as we know it is about to end.

Hoodwink Cooper has been sentenced to death. His crime? Attempting to blast a hole in the Forever Gate, the colossal wall that surrounds the city and protects the denizens from the uninhabitable Outside.

As the gols, the humanlike automata who rule the city, prepare to carry out his sentence, a rogue faction plots even greater turmoil. Hoodwink's daughter is embroiled with this cabal, and if Hoodwink gives up the ghost without first extricating her from their clutches, she will most likely join him in the afterlife. What Hoodwink and the cabal members don't realize is that they are all pawns in a greater game whose stakes are the very survival of humanity as a species.

Will Hoodwink escape in time to save his daughter? More importantly, will he break free of the invisible forces that guide him? Or will he succumb to the domination of his unseen masters and cause the breaking of the world, losing not just his daughter, but everything?

©2013 Isaac Hooke (P)2015 Isaac Hooke

will appeal to hard scifi fans and fantasy lovers

The world is plunged into perpetual winter, years of it, so long that no one can remember leaves on the trees. Everyone has the power to control lightning, but rather than destroy each other, at 15 years old everyone is fitted with a collar to stop these powers. Hoodwink, sentenced to death for bombing the forever gate escapes, then must find out how this strange world came to be. But more important, find out how he came to be here, how everyone came to be here – on the other side of the forever gate.

Part fantasy, part hard science fiction, this expansive tale brings us worlds within worlds, illusion within illusion. Nothing is as it seems, except Hoodwink’s love for his daughter. He will do anything to save and protect her, including crossing death itself on the other side of the forever gate. It is full of action, strange creatures, mind bending plot twists and lots of cool weapons to keep any action hungry listener going.

It is difficult to describe the characters or plot without spoiling the story. It is an entertaining tale that seemingly throws everything in, including the kitchen sink. It sort of rambles at times, with endless battles between humans and creatures. Just when you think the good guys will win, the tide turns. And when insurmountable odds make you think the bad guys will destroy everything, the good guys pull off a magic escape. And back and forth it goes. The evil villain is so evil and powerful, he’s almost comical; the good guys so weak and over-matched, you have no idea how they will succeed.

The story is performed by Susana Burney, who does a wonderful job. Her hypnotic voice fits the story perfectly, keeping us in the surreal mood that defines it. Her character voices are excellent and you immediately know who is who.

The Forever Gate will appeal to hard scifi fans and fantasy lovers alike. Once you discover the many plot twists about three quarters of the way in, it devolves into pure action, but that’s OK. It is always an entertaining ride that you will want to stay on to the end.

Audiobook provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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18 of 26 people found this review helpful

Fantastic Voice Acting Enhances an Epic Story

Some say this is kind of an niche epic: it’s a combination of mainstream genres to create a story that ups the freshness quotient. I’m talking Sci Fi mixed with Fantasy, with a good dose of virtual reality tossed in. I’m addicted to this audiobook. The Forever Gate Compendium Audiobook is delectably voice acted by Susanna Burney, and she’s able to handle voicing everything from the loudmouth male protagonist, Hoodwink, to the archrival supercomputer, One. Of course Hooke’s writing bears its own weight, but Burney’s voice lends an additional aspect to the story that further enhances everything and adds to the suspense.

Don’t miss this one, especially if you are a fan of Isaac Hooke’s “Bug Hunt” or “You are Prey” audiobooks from the Argonauts series, or his ATLAS audiobook Trilogy.

Slow start, strong finish.

Reader was a poor choice for the performance. Did a fine job just poor casting. Beyond that, the book took too long to distinguish itself. I had set it down out of boredom. Enjoyed the last half immensely though.

Worlds within worlds within worlds...Incredible!

I was already a big fan of Isaac Hooke for his Atlas series, and this book is easily as good as those. It is a very deep story, set in multiple levels of reality. It kept me guessing where the story was going the entire book, and thats all you can really ask of a good book. The characters are great, both heroes, not so heroic, and villains alike. The plot is engaging and fast paced, with well plotted out and detailed fight scenes. The world building it top notch, especially considering the differences between the worlds. This book had sort of a Jack L. Chalker feel to it, like the Flux and Anchor books. That is a good thing in my opinion. Anyone looking for a twisting, turning, wild ride of a sci fi book would be well served with this one. Susanna Burney did a great job with the narration, really bringing the characters to life. Any fan of Jack Chalker's sci fi work will really enjoy this book.

2 of 4 people found this review helpful

Interesting Story

What did you like best about The Forever Gate Compendium Edition? What did you like least?

Several other reviews mention similar plot components of other more famous stories but that argument can be made against just about anything these days if you want to pick at it. There are a lot of interesting elements and surprising twists that make this worth the read. As an audio book the narrator was very clear and understandable but something just seemed a little disconnected that makes me wonder if she just wasn't the best fit for this book.

Would you be willing to try another book from Isaac Hooke? Why or why not?

Yes, I enjoyed reading Atlas and would be curious to see where that story line continues.

What three words best describe Susanna Burney’s performance?

Clear, understandable, well paced

Do you think The Forever Gate Compendium Edition needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

no, I don;t see any of the existing characters expanding into another book and without that connection the future after this isn't interesting

0 of 1 people found this review helpful