The Passage
Justin Cronin
2010
766 pages (in paperback…for once I waited for the paperback before I tossed down some money)
Published by Ballantine
********************
It took me 3 weeks to read this book, which in SRT (Softdrink Reading Time…kinda like Pacific Standard Time, only not) is practically an eternity.
Granted, it’s not entirely the book’s fault. It’s harder to read in a hospital than one might think. I was thinking I’d get all sorts of reading done while I was waiting for Hamburger to be surgeried/heal/sleep/whatever else one does in the hospital. Boy, was I wrong!
However, some of it really is the book’s fault, since the little bastard isn’t so little. As the characters might say, “Flyers! At 766 pages, it’s a beast!” And while I was enthralled for most of the book, it could’ve used some trimming, especially towards the end (I could have done without the whole Texas Expeditionary Forces, or whatever they’re called, although I’m sure they’re going to be important).
And if you’re wondering, this is what it’s about, briefly:
Vampires.
Really.
Okay, maybe not.
But kind of.
See, it’s the very near future. And a scientific experiment is co-opted by the military (ooh, bad idea, that) and things go a wee bit wrong. A scientist (aided and abetted by said military) has infected a bunch (12…give or take a few…they’re called The Twelve, but there’s a Zero in there, and Amy, so I get a bit confused) of death row inmates (and one innocent little girl) with a virus that causes vampiric (and evidently I just made up a word) tendencies, such as blood sucking and super powers and almost eternal life. Except then the 12 (or so) baddies (and one innocent little girl) escape and the United States pretty much goes to hell in a hand basket. There are mass epidemics and martial law and fires and bombs and it’s a Very Bad Scene.
Fast forward 90ish years to The Colony, a small outpost in the California desert where a small group of survivors has managed to fend off the smokes, as the baddies are called. The trick is to keep the lights on at night, because smokes don’t dig the light. But then things start to go wrong at The Colony, too (of course they do…did I mention the 766 pages? 766 pages requires a lot of Bad Things), and a small group takes themselves off on a Trek. Or maybe it’s a Pilgrimage? Or even a Quest?
Whatever it is, more adventures and Bad Things ensue (and some of them are totally over the top, even for a dystopian novel featuring modern day vampires that are WAY scarier than Dracula), and potential Saviors of the Human Race emerge and the book ends.
Only it doesn’t. Because there is going to be another book next year (titled (wait for it)…The Twelve), god save our souls. And probably another one after that. One can only hope the sequels aren’t 766 freakin’ pages long.
Ahhhh you finally went viral! I listened to this on audio and loved it! Yeah some parts dragged a bit and in the beginning I really just wanted to know all about Amy.. but now I sit and wait (and wait and wait and wait) for the next book to come out in 2012!
Flyers! Thats a long time!
Sheila (Bookjourney)´s last [type] ..Between by Jessica Warman
My husband loved this book! He read it in three days time–he would even take it to work with him. I am pretty sure I am going to skip it though. I just don’t really have any interest in reading it.
Stephanie´s last [type] ..Book Review: The Book Thief
lol, like sheila, i listened to my boy-toy scott brick read this one. it was 29 discs long–FLYERS, indeed! like with most audiobooks, i find myself enjoying them more than i do traditional reads. i can pick up a dull novel on audio and find myself liking it far more than i would if i just read it. there’s something about being read to…
as for ‘the 12′…i’m not really dying to hear it. i was pretty exhausted by the time i finished up the passage.
natalie @book, line, and sinker´s last [type] ..I’m Just Wild About Harry…
So many people have raved over this one, but I’m not sure it’s for me. It sounds like it could have used a good edit.
bermudaonion (Kathy)´s last [type] ..Giveaway: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt (audio version)
No, no, it’s not a beast. A two-l llama, that’s a beast. (A one-l lama, that’s a priest.)
rhapsodyinbooks´s last [type] ..Review of “Forbidden” by Tabitha Suzuma
I almost gave up on this book so many times, because it would hook me and then drag things out and then hook me again and then almost lose me. And I’m chagrined to realize that I am just enough invested to read the next one. I just hope and hope, like you, that the next one is shorter!
Christy´s last [type] ..Claudine at School by Colette
Yup, it could have used some editing at the end parts but it was so much fun! When I finished it I was sad to think I had to wait sooo long for the second book..The Twelve?!
This book and its lack of editing just seriously annoyed me.
Here’s a quote from my review: “Justin Cronin can write. There are at least half a dozen good novels in this book, but that’s the problem. If you expect me to read 766 pages (and cart around 2.4 lbs of book) then I expect you to make the majority of those pages work together towards telling a coherent story. That doesn’t mean it can’t be impressionistic, it doesn’t even mean that I require a standard ABC plot, but I do want to read a story with some sort of throughline and this book just doesn’t deliver that.”
Seriously? 2.4 lbs? Really?
Caitlin´s last [type] ..Book Review – Kicking Ass and Saving Souls by David Matthews
You made it!!! I’m so proud of you. No, really, I am. Like I told you, I think I only made it 100 pages and they were so. hard. to. read. You almost make me curious about it though (curse you) so I may go the way the lovely commenters above did, and listen to it. Maybe. Someday. Perhaps.
Heather´s last [type] ..Wordless Wednesday – Something Wicked
Everything goes to shit when scientists and the military get into bed together. Don’t they know? Flyers, yes, this was long. And no sexy neck sucking here. Those beasts were terrifying, and it made me just a wee bit skittish as I was walking on the country roads of Indiana, with lots of corn and trees, as I was listening to Scott Brick tell me about the maiming and dismembering. I will take my Prozac as I am making my way through this series.
Sandy´s last [type] ..Ten Beach Road – Wendy Wax
I bought this in hardcover when it first came out because of all the hype, and I’ve still yet to read it. I tried to get my husband to read it too, and he was just bored and confused, which saddened me. I need to make time for this one, even though it is a huge chunkster. I am sort of intrigued by all the vaimpireness and the colony and all that other stuff that purports to be in there, so I am moving this one up in the stacks.
zibilee´s last [type] ..The Twisted Thread by Charlotte Bacon — 384 pgs
I didn’t even notice its length. I was completely absorbed in the story so it didn’t stand out at the time. I can’t wait for the next book. I heard it had been optioned for a movie.
Ti´s last [type] ..Review: Kafka on the Shore
I felt the EXACT same way you did! Enjoyed the story but felt a bit more editing would have been good. I am interested enough to read the second book, but like you hope it’s not quite as long!
Stephanie´s last [type] ..A Discovery of Witches
766 pages will definitely put me off! I hope Hamburger is feeling good now.
Veens´s last [type] ..One Hundred Candles (Past Midnight #2) by Mara Purnhagen
I’ve obviously heard tons of great things about this book, but I did recently talk to a friend who is struggling with this one… she is trying to push through, but she says it’s dragging a lot and at 766 pages, I can see why! I get that it’s hard to do epic Fantasy without being, well, epic in length, but for us busy readers it sure throws a wrench in the works!
Jason gave me this for Christmas and I still haven’t picked it up. It’s the size that’s putting me off!
stacybuckeye´s last [type] ..Son of a Witch, by Gregory Maguire
I think I’m going to set my clocks to S.R.T. from now on. And this review takes me back to last summer when I read this. It could have used some tightening up at the end I think. The first part just kicked butt though!
Jenners´s last [type] ..Review: Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon
I want to lick my computer monitor every time I see an image of this book on a blog. I think you probably didn’t like it *quite* as much as I did, but that’s OK.
I don’t lick computers (or books) often. I swear.
Sequels tend to be longer than than the originating novel. Just sayin’. Forewarned is forearmed and all that.
I passed on this novel because “Vampires, ew. I’m so over my vampire phase.” But dystopia AND vampires? Hm. I may give it a second look.
Healing vibes for Hamburger!
I totally dug this book. It was the first one I read this year and I downloaded it onto my Christmas present, the Nook Color, thank goodness. I am hating the year in-between books trend, and am hating trilogies right now since everything seems to be one, but I’ll probably be the first in line to pick up book 2 for this one or actually I’ll be downloading it to the Nook Color. I even downloaded the app for it, for cryin’ out loud.