mass market paperback, 861 pages
English language
Published Dec. 4, 2018 by Ballantine Books.
An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions.
But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl—and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world. ([source][1])
An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions.
But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl—and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world. ([source][1])
I liked it.
It made me think of The Stand from Stephen King. Ambiance-wise.
I thought the pacing was a bit slow sometimes and jumbledly quick in some action scenes. I had to go through some passages twice to understand what happened.
чудова до- і постапокаліптична епопея. за винятком фіналу, на який (як і багатьом іншим авторам, на жаль) кроніну не стало наснаги (деякі фрагменти притягнено за вуха і вельми недбало натягнено на ср..ку). в цілому — читається цікаво.
What a slog of a book this was. It was recommended as a tale in the vein of Stephen King's The Stand, one of my all-time favorites by Mr. King. I expected something similar. A tale of a world falling to a pandemic, and the tales of its survivors. What I got was a highly editable story that ends on a frustrating cliffhanger and makes me not want to continue, because...whatever.
There's absolutely nothing going on in huge parts of the book. The action doesn't really begin until about 250 pages in. Instead, we get pages and pages of exposition to characters that die shortly afterwards without leaving any impact on the story. What's the point?
The story picks up a bit once the pandemic (a sort of disease strain from bats that turns people into quasi-vampires) has wiped out most of the population of the US, and we get …
What a slog of a book this was. It was recommended as a tale in the vein of Stephen King's The Stand, one of my all-time favorites by Mr. King. I expected something similar. A tale of a world falling to a pandemic, and the tales of its survivors. What I got was a highly editable story that ends on a frustrating cliffhanger and makes me not want to continue, because...whatever.
There's absolutely nothing going on in huge parts of the book. The action doesn't really begin until about 250 pages in. Instead, we get pages and pages of exposition to characters that die shortly afterwards without leaving any impact on the story. What's the point?
The story picks up a bit once the pandemic (a sort of disease strain from bats that turns people into quasi-vampires) has wiped out most of the population of the US, and we get to meet the inhabitants of the Colony, a walled-in community in the Californian desert, descendants of children who were stuffed into a train by the army to be safe from the attacks of the Virals. Here at least we get to spend more time with the characters, e.g. Peter, the male protagonist for most of the book.
I started skimming after the half-way mark because all too often, you had to look for the thread of the plot swimming in a sea of meaningless exposition.
All in all, it was one of those frustrating books that I wanted to love, and simply couldn't.
Fantastic story. Can't wait for the second book.
Fantastic story. Can't wait for the second book.
I loved it. Great story - nothing overwhelmingly new, but an artful combination of themes and techniques used separately in countless other stories. I found myself deeply committed to some of the characters, although when I try to look at the book objectively, I'm not sure that character development is Cronin's strongest skill. So I'm not quite sure what I found so compelling.
This book reminded me constantly of Stirling's Change series - the obvious parallel is that they're both post-apocalyptic fiction, but the similarities seem to stop there, so again - not quite sure what's behind the strength of my reaction.
In short, I found it totally enthralling - I've never plowed through that many pages in that few days. Can't wait for the remaining books and the movies!!
I loved it. Great story - nothing overwhelmingly new, but an artful combination of themes and techniques used separately in countless other stories. I found myself deeply committed to some of the characters, although when I try to look at the book objectively, I'm not sure that character development is Cronin's strongest skill. So I'm not quite sure what I found so compelling.
This book reminded me constantly of Stirling's Change series - the obvious parallel is that they're both post-apocalyptic fiction, but the similarities seem to stop there, so again - not quite sure what's behind the strength of my reaction.
In short, I found it totally enthralling - I've never plowed through that many pages in that few days. Can't wait for the remaining books and the movies!!
