The Twelve by Justin Cronin

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Orion

Pages: 688pgs

The Story

THE EPIC STORY OF THE PASSAGE CONTINUES

At the end of The Passage, the great viral plague had left a small group of survivors clinging to life amidst a world transformed into a nightmare. In the second volume of this epic trilogy, this same group of survivors, led by the mysterious, charismatic Amy, go on the attack, leading an insurrection against the virals: the first offensives of the Second Viral War.

To do this, they must infiltrate a dozen hives, each presided over by one of the original Twelve. Their secret weapon: Alicia, transformed at the end of book one into a half human, half viral—but whose side, in the end, is she really on?

The Review

For those who have read my review for Justin Cronin's The Passage last year, you would know how much I love this author and of his unique, bleak tale. So you can only imagine my own excitement when I received my copy of the sequel, THE TWELVE, because I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen to some of my favourite characters - including my favourite girl, Amy. But after reading the book, while certain parts of it certainly answered a lot of my questions from the previous book, but unfortunately my love of the first book was not shared with this sequel. At least not on a grand epic scale this time round.

THE TWELVE was quite a mouthful. I mean, The Passage, the first installment of the series, was quite a mouthful as well (like a lot of readers have already pointed out), but unlike the sequel I found the first book flowed much more easily and beautifully at that, which made me enjoy every second of it. So while I still love this sequel, especially with Justin Cronin's imaginative - but very bleak - world and the overall tale the author is telling us that is still so cryptic and exciting, however I did get confused and quite a bit bored by the amount of perspectives we receive in this particular book. Some more unnecessary than others. I guess I just wanted more from my favourite characters, Amy and Peter, whom I was more interested in than any other character we've been introduced to lately. I just felt like those two characters in particular had so much more to offer, especially Amy who is the center of all of this world.

Despite the very long book that dragged on now and again, the ending was definitely worth it. An ending that features Amy and another beloved character of mine, Wolgast, who looked after Amy from the first book, The Passage. Wolgast was like a father figure to our unusual and mysterious Amy, and while his story comes to an end in this sequel, but my god the ending was so sad and yet so incredibly empowering not to mention wonderful. Gosh . . . Amy and Wolgast bring out all sorts of emotions in me when I read them together on the page. I'm going to really miss you Wolgast. I'm really going to miss you.

Overall, while I had a lack of a connection to THE TWELVE compared to The Passage, but I'm still looking forward to reading the third and final book in the series next year. I just hope there is more Amy and Peter scenes, because no matter how you look at it, I always ship them together and yet they have very small scenes together . . . so please bring me some more of them!

The Rating

3/5 stars

The Passage by Justin Cronin

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Orion

Pages: 963pgs

The Story

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

The Review

THE PASSAGE was one of the most hyped up books of 2010 and I've been meaning to read it for a long, long while, especially after reading so many raving reviews on it. But, like with most good old books that we are dying to read, I've never quite got the chance to explore this awesome-sounding book . . . until now that is. So as of today, it is really simple to say that I'm kicking myself here because I wished I had picked up this book sooner than I did. Not only is this book cryptic, engaging, and even more terrifying than any other post-apocalyptic book I have ever read, but it's also one of the most epic books I have read in my entire life and let's just consider my own mind blown. Completely.

 

From a world-building perspective, while some elements of the book closely follow the post-apocalyptic worlds including titles such as The Road, I Am Legend and Dawn of the Dead, but what made THE PASSAGE so much different and stand on its own two feet (assuming books even have feet) is the way that it was written and the story that clearly channels all of the right elements to entertain readers, while also showing readers just what an awesome writer Justin Cronin IS. Honestly I think this book deserves every bit of praise it has been receiving over the past few years since its release because I have no words at all - and for once I'm actually speechless here, and there are no words that could possibly do this book justice anymore than what I am saying now.

 

The same instances go along with the characters as well. Both large and varied right from the beginning of the book, THE PASSAGE contains a large set of characters that are both human and infected alike, and not once did I get distracted by the many voices that we are soon introduced to: from the tragic young woman Jeanette Bellafonte, to the wondrous and completely faithful Sister Lacey, to the hardened FBI agent Wolgast and to the mesmerizing and unearthly young girl named Amy. They were ALL so in-your-face-amazing, especially this girl character named Amy who was such an addictive character when it came to reading from her perspective and she was my favourite character in the entire book since she was uber-amazing in every way! And, even for such a large book, I have to say that the author did such a splendid job in crafting his peculiar, odd world while still keeping each one of his own characters as engaging as the next one you will meet along the way. That is quite a talent I must say and boy I was a total sucker for it . . . I hanged off every word, every chapter and every page to be honest with you!

Overall, THE PASSAGE, the first book of an adult trilogy (yes two more books are in the works so let's hi-five each other in the glory of it all), is without a doubt the best book I've read this year and this review doesn't even begin to describe my many feels for this book alone. So if you're eager for a tale about a world that is already crumbling to the masses of ruin and utter devastation, and one that is erasing what's left of the human population along with it, then I would highly highly recommend this book to you all. It's just one of those books where you MUST READ before own our world meets the apocalypse (hopefully not too soon!).

The Rating

5/5 stars