The Forever Contract (A Dystopian YA Novella) [Kindle Edition]

Avery Sawyer (Author)

Book Description

In the very near future, the country is plunged into drought and unrest. Scarce resources and constant heat are making life completely miserable. Casey doesn't think she can stand slugging back another gel pack or working one more shift at the wells. Fortunately, there's a solution: anyone over the age of seventeen can sign the Forever Contract and enter a utopian paradise. While people's minds take a permanent vacation, their bodies get warehoused and hooked up to a complex array of sensors and feeding tubes. As Casey's brother says, "You upload your consciousness to the system and you're free to live as long as you want, however you want. No more pain, no more heat, no more awful dust, no more work. Just pure thought. It's what our species has always been meant for. Suffering is for philosophers. Not for me."

Casey's ready to sign--a permanent vacation is just what she needs. There's only one problem: her boyfriend James doesn't trust it.

Told from his and her perspectives, The Forever Contract is a 17,000 word (60 page) novella suitable for readers in grade 8 and above.

Would you sign the contract?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Under the pen name Avery Sawyer, Laura Schaefer is the author of Notes to Self, a young adult novel about a teen with a traumatic brain injury, and The Forever Contract, a young adult dystopian novella about escaping from hardship by loading one's consciousness into a digital paradise.

Schaefer is also the author of The Teashop Girls (Simon & Schuster 2009), The Secret Ingredient (Simon & Schuster 2011), and Planet Explorers Travel Guides for Kids. Learn more about her by visiting teashopgirls.com and planet-explorers.net. Look for Laura on Twitter: @teashopgirl

Product Details

• File Size: 170 KB
• Print Length: 56 pages
• Publisher: Planet Explorers Publishing (July 30, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B008R9DDZ0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,760 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish it had been longer! August 15, 2012

By J. Norstrom

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

What a refreshing read! Loved the characters, the dystopian world, and the Forever System! It seems like such a cool place to be, until you find out the truth.

Then you dont want to be there at all.

It had some nice unexpected surprises in it.

I just wish it had been longer, that we'd gotten a deeper look into the world, characters and what happens after the end.

I really hope the author continues this!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars unrealized potential November 27, 2012

By CharDixon

Format:Kindle Edition

This is a short novella in the burgeoning YA dystopian fiction genre.

There are some really good ideas here. The underlying main concept is fantastic. A world where you can choose to have your consciousness uploaded into a virtual world. Still being able to interact with those in the "real" world via computers screens is fascinating. The idea of watching those you know in their self-created virtual worlds. Even the reasoning behind why this is happening works - water shortages that cause wars, arid land that won't support crops. Then throw in an undercurrent of suspicion. A few that don't believe everything they are being told. The set up and the background are great.

Where this novella lets the reader down is in the execution.

Perhaps it is because the concept is too large to be contained in a novella, but the entire story feels rushed and lacking.

The bare bones are there but nothing is given depth or fleshed out. The main characters, Casey and James, are mere facades. They are not real people yet who encourage the reader to become attached. The potential is there.

Casey is a young woman about to make a huge life altering decision. Her boyfriend James is facing the same decision. But the entire tension between their differing views is played out in grade school type dialogue that is far too simplistic for what should be complex and deeply layered emotions.

The same happens in what should be climactic moments. They end up falling flat because the reader has not suspended that disbelief and embraced the world Sawyer is trying to create.

This disappointed me. I wanted more. If the time were taken to develop this into a full length series (if properly fleshed out I easily see 2 books just with what story is already there and a 3rd or even 4th book of what is hinted and left unanswered) it could be mesmerizing. I want to know what the secrets are. What caused the water wars? What is really going on in Chicago? What is the real purpose behind the uploads? What was James' mom doing?

There is a lot of potential. But it cannot be recognized until the story, the world and most importantly the characters are fully realized. This means giving the depth and complexity they now lack.

I was given a free copy of this novella to review. And while happy to have had the chance to glimpse what could be, I would not have purchased this in its current form.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A very quick and enjoyable read! August 10, 2012

By Jeraca

Format:Kindle Edition

**I won this eBook novella from the author through the LibraryThing Member Giveaway free in exchange for my honest review.**

For years now, there has been a drought that has not let up.

Water is timed per month - if a household uses too much water in a month they will lose their water until the first of the next month. Instead of having water bottles to drink, they have gel packs to conserve water.

Food is bland and nothing tastes well. No citrus food at all.

Clothes are dusty and heat stroke is a very common way to die if people aren't carefully when they are outside during the day.

Fortunately, there is a way out of this miserable life. At the age of 17 or older, anyone can sign the Forever Contract, where they get to live in their own virtual world. Wherever they want to live - in the city, country, beach, small town - they will be able to go there in a blink of an eye.

Water and food are there with the very thought of what you want. You will not want anything in Forever - it is a virtual heaven.

Casey is turning 17 soon. She wants to sign the Forever Contract and join her older brother, Ben, who went there a few years ago.

Casey's boyfriend, James, is forbidding to sign the contract. He says that no one is living in this virtual world. They are actually dying in this world.

James knows things that Casey doesn't about the Forever Contract. Things that will make him try to keep her from signing it no matter what the cost is.

But will James stop Casey in time from joining the Forever Contract world? Will anybody listen to James's pleas? Read The Forever Contract by Avery Sawyer to find out!

MY THOUGHTS/REFLECTIONS
Wow. I didn't think I would enjoy this story as much as I did. There have been a lot of dystopian novels coming out this summer and it's starting to be a "too-much" topic for me to keep reading, but Avery Sawyer really hooked me and got me sucked into this futuristic world!

(Also, side note, it wasn't hard to be sucked into this drought world because this summer has been the driest I've been through, so I could definitely see this occurring in the future! At least right now, when it's 100 degrees every day!)

This story was told by both Casey and James, so we got to see why each character chose the path that they wanted.

Casey is a fighter, and I love tough, strong female characters. She also listened to James even though she disagreed with his viewpoints on the Forever Contract.

James is a smart, nerdy guy but also very attractive and easy going. He was determined to get Casey to listen to him, even if it meant breaking a few laws to get his point across!

There were a few grammatical and punctuation errors that I found while reading this 33 page novella, something I've come to expect when getting either 1) an electronic copy or 2) an early reader copy. Not too many errors, just enough for me to notice while flying through this novella.

Overall, I thought this was a great novella! I did have a problem with the abrupt ending and I'm hoping that Sawyer will continue this story either with more novella's or with regular length novels. I need to find out what happens to James and Casey!!!

I would definitely recommend this novella to everyone - guys and girls since there are narrators of both genders. This goes along with the dystopian genre that has grown popular this past year, but is unique in it's own way to make it stand out from other novels being published.

More About the Author

Under the pen name Avery Sawyer, Laura Schaefer is the author of Notes to Self, a young adult novel about a teen with a traumatic brain injury.

Schaefer is also the author of The Teashop Girls (Simon & Schuster 2009), The Secret Ingredient (Simon & Schuster 2011), and Planet Explorers Travel Guides for Kids. Learn more about her by visiting http://www.teashopgirls.com and http://www.planet-explorers.net. Laura is also on Twitter: @teashopgirl