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bookph1le's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it and thought it was a satisfying end to the trilogy, but...
- To me, it was overly long. I didn't necessarily dislike passages, but when the story picked up its threads again, I'd think, "Oh, good. We're finally getting back to the plot now." Things take such a long time to happen. Rather than get on with it, there are often long tangents. I felt a lot of this could easily have been conveyed in far fewer pages.
- I plain didn't like some of the choices characters made.
As for specifics, spoilers ahead.
- Peter was so annoying to me. He made such dumb choices. It drove me up the wall that he refused to listen to Amy and Alicia, who knew far more about Fanning than he did. Which leads to...
- In the face of the knowledge that you will have to try to save the human race, you do dumb crap. Why does this crop up so often in apocalyptic stories? Michael is right that they need to be choosy about who gets on the boat, but Peter is having none of that practicality, for reasons that don't make any sense.
- Despite the suggestion that he's practical, Michael seems not to have done much planning beyond fixing the boat. I mean, wouldn't you also think about filling the boat with tools, seeds, helpful books, etc., considering that your plan is to set up civilization on an uninhabited island, with a small population and limited resources? Instead, you not only neglect to do this, you blow up the boat rather than stripping it for invaluable scrap? Say what?
- The female characters are just so disappointing. Mostly they're there to lend a hand to male characters. I used to really like Alicia, but she seemed kind of superfluous in this book.
- I'm not sold on the overall plot. Basically, it all boils down to this: Fanning has a tantrum because he didn't get the girl, which nearly results in the total annihilation of the human race. I hate that guy. He's such a jerk.
- Lastly, there is no conceivable way that Amy would be able to communicate so easily with the other characters at the end. That is not how languages work, not after hundreds of years in isolation. It would be like me going back to England in the 1200s and having no problem chatting with a local peasant. Not gonna happen, folks.
In the end, I kind of have mixed feelings about this trilogy, but, still, I do enjoy this more literary version of science fiction and supernatural elements. I just think a book like Station Eleven does it better.
- To me, it was overly long. I didn't necessarily dislike passages, but when the story picked up its threads again, I'd think, "Oh, good. We're finally getting back to the plot now." Things take such a long time to happen. Rather than get on with it, there are often long tangents. I felt a lot of this could easily have been conveyed in far fewer pages.
- I plain didn't like some of the choices characters made.
As for specifics, spoilers ahead.
Spoiler
- Fanning was a pompous windbag. He calls himself grandiose at one point, so I know this is intentional, but it made him come across as cartoonish at times. I was interested in his past, but that chunk of the novel was jarring for me because it was as if an entirely different book suddenly appeared on my Kindle. I went from something sci-fi/supernatural to literary fiction, and I ended up getting a little impatient with it.- Peter was so annoying to me. He made such dumb choices. It drove me up the wall that he refused to listen to Amy and Alicia, who knew far more about Fanning than he did. Which leads to...
- In the face of the knowledge that you will have to try to save the human race, you do dumb crap. Why does this crop up so often in apocalyptic stories? Michael is right that they need to be choosy about who gets on the boat, but Peter is having none of that practicality, for reasons that don't make any sense.
- Despite the suggestion that he's practical, Michael seems not to have done much planning beyond fixing the boat. I mean, wouldn't you also think about filling the boat with tools, seeds, helpful books, etc., considering that your plan is to set up civilization on an uninhabited island, with a small population and limited resources? Instead, you not only neglect to do this, you blow up the boat rather than stripping it for invaluable scrap? Say what?
- The female characters are just so disappointing. Mostly they're there to lend a hand to male characters. I used to really like Alicia, but she seemed kind of superfluous in this book.
- I'm not sold on the overall plot. Basically, it all boils down to this: Fanning has a tantrum because he didn't get the girl, which nearly results in the total annihilation of the human race. I hate that guy. He's such a jerk.
- Lastly, there is no conceivable way that Amy would be able to communicate so easily with the other characters at the end. That is not how languages work, not after hundreds of years in isolation. It would be like me going back to England in the 1200s and having no problem chatting with a local peasant. Not gonna happen, folks.
In the end, I kind of have mixed feelings about this trilogy, but, still, I do enjoy this more literary version of science fiction and supernatural elements. I just think a book like Station Eleven does it better.
evesn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
jmcook's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
shantial20's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy. The book wrapped up well but the weak points to me were the lengthy Fanning flash back and the facts that he seem to get a happy ending that he just didnt deserve in my opinion. I also felt that most of the epilogue was unnecessary and boring. The first 6 mins of it and last 15 minutes seem to be the only relevant portions of it. Overall it was a good book.
jenhurst's review against another edition
2.0
When I was reading reviews I know my opinion is an unpopular one.
I read the passage in 2013 and loved it. It felt very original at the time I read it, compelling and I was extremely invested in the vampires. I read the twelve after and remembered enjoying it. I reread both before this and found the passage to be even better then I remembered, even if it wasn’t original, there was still enough to it that it felt fresh. The twelve was much more disappointing then I remembered but I still enjoyed this. I did not enjoy this one though. I struggled to connect with the characters because it felt like there was so many and they weren’t as developed as much as I would’ve liked. I don’t like how the plot was set up either. The first was great as it happened, but then the twelve we went back to the start again with different people and then city of mirrors was a 1000 years in the future. I’m not sure why this was a necessary set up to the story. I’m fine if they don’t follow the same characters, as Octavia e butler had a series that did that but the timeline still felt cohesive enough. Or a book that jumps timelines with the same characters is fun, but this felt like it was trying to be too different I just couldn’t connect to any aspect of the 2nd and 3rd books. the love story presented in book 3 was also really out of place.
I’ll definitely recommend the first book, but I won’t recommend the rest of the series. I personally wish I hadn’t finished and was just left with positive memories of my first read through of the first two
I read the passage in 2013 and loved it. It felt very original at the time I read it, compelling and I was extremely invested in the vampires. I read the twelve after and remembered enjoying it. I reread both before this and found the passage to be even better then I remembered, even if it wasn’t original, there was still enough to it that it felt fresh. The twelve was much more disappointing then I remembered but I still enjoyed this. I did not enjoy this one though. I struggled to connect with the characters because it felt like there was so many and they weren’t as developed as much as I would’ve liked. I don’t like how the plot was set up either. The first was great as it happened, but then the twelve we went back to the start again with different people and then city of mirrors was a 1000 years in the future. I’m not sure why this was a necessary set up to the story. I’m fine if they don’t follow the same characters, as Octavia e butler had a series that did that but the timeline still felt cohesive enough. Or a book that jumps timelines with the same characters is fun, but this felt like it was trying to be too different I just couldn’t connect to any aspect of the 2nd and 3rd books. the love story presented in book 3 was also really out of place.
I’ll definitely recommend the first book, but I won’t recommend the rest of the series. I personally wish I hadn’t finished and was just left with positive memories of my first read through of the first two
aminakara's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
stepriot's review against another edition
2.0
And I thought Dean Koontz was preachy! If you cut out all of the proselytizing in this series you could probably shorten it by 1/4.
mistydawnwaters's review against another edition
5.0
WOW.
The final book of this incredible series packed punch after punch. Cronin stunned me time and again with his use of theme and foreshadow, but the way he built tension held me utterly rapt. Definitely a series I'm picking up again.
The final book of this incredible series packed punch after punch. Cronin stunned me time and again with his use of theme and foreshadow, but the way he built tension held me utterly rapt. Definitely a series I'm picking up again.
stephen_arvidson's review against another edition
5.0
Justin Cronin’s evocative language and skillfully paced narrative sweeps readers into his vampyric, post-apocalyptic world for the third and final time. City of Mirrors wraps up The Passage trilogy in epic fashion, and at last readers will know the fates of Amy and her companions—and yes, the emotional payoff is far more rewarding if you’ve read the previous books.
Cronin opens this high-concept, eschatological tome with the same doctrinal schematic as The Twelve, ensuring that everyone is up-to-speed on main events and key players. Much of the book’s defining themes involve faith, love, loss, and hope—abstract concepts complemented by the book’s mystical, almost religious undertones. For the departed characters Cronin offers a coda depicting an afterlife of sorts, but he opts for ambiguity, leaving the reader to surmise the characters’ whereabouts in the wake of their demise; this seems an appropriate and fancy-free approach as opposed to tying the series to either a particular religious convention or an entirely invented cosmology.
In the years following the annihilation of The Twelve, Peter Jaxon and the surviving community of humans have settled into a more-or-less peaceful existence in the Texas Republic. Not a single viral has been sighted in years and the residents are itching to expand beyond Kerrville’s fortified boundaries. Even as they dare to dream of a hopeful future, complacency sets in and they inevitably let their guard down. A costly mistake, as the fates will undoubtedly prove. Cue Timothy Fanning, otherwise known as Patient “Zero”, the final baddie waiting in the wings. Fanning has been biding his infinite time in the murky ruins of Grand Central Station, awaiting the precise moment to land a killing blow to humanity. An inset tale serves to intensify the story’s emotional gravitas by backtracking through time in order to humanize the inhuman, giving readers a first-hand account of Fanning’s tempestuous life during his ivy-league days at Harvard, before his fateful trip to Bolivia where he’s infected with the virus that would effectively depopulate the planet for millennia.
Time proves a harsh yet malleable substance for our protagonists. Peter, Alicia, Michael, Sara, and the others are no longer the youthful and guarded optimists that dared to venture beyond the First Colony walls; they’ve aged, their children have blossomed into capable young adults, and cruel mortality is staring them in the face. There’s a wistful melancholy pervading this novel, one that sets this trilogy apart from most other fantasy epics and leaves a bittersweet aftertaste.
It’s a rarity that a treasured series should recompense audiences with a wholly fulfilling denouement. But Cronin succeeds in every respect. Even after the dust settles over the final battle between good and evil, the story doesn’t end there. Not by a long shot. And that’s a good thing for readers who’ve been enrapt by the series from the beginning. By the novel’s end, readers will be catapulted 1,000 years into the future where an extended epilogue reveals the lasting imprint left on the world by Amy and her beloved friends, thereby placing the three-book narrative into a more expansive emotional context.
Similarly as its predecessors, City of Mirrors is a powerful, multi-threaded page-turner, one that will awaken your imagination and hold sway over you for the last 600 pages of Cronin’s dystopian masterpiece. An appropriate bookend to a stunning magnum opus, City of Mirrors is sure to appease even the most demanding readers.
Cronin opens this high-concept, eschatological tome with the same doctrinal schematic as The Twelve, ensuring that everyone is up-to-speed on main events and key players. Much of the book’s defining themes involve faith, love, loss, and hope—abstract concepts complemented by the book’s mystical, almost religious undertones. For the departed characters Cronin offers a coda depicting an afterlife of sorts, but he opts for ambiguity, leaving the reader to surmise the characters’ whereabouts in the wake of their demise; this seems an appropriate and fancy-free approach as opposed to tying the series to either a particular religious convention or an entirely invented cosmology.
In the years following the annihilation of The Twelve, Peter Jaxon and the surviving community of humans have settled into a more-or-less peaceful existence in the Texas Republic. Not a single viral has been sighted in years and the residents are itching to expand beyond Kerrville’s fortified boundaries. Even as they dare to dream of a hopeful future, complacency sets in and they inevitably let their guard down. A costly mistake, as the fates will undoubtedly prove. Cue Timothy Fanning, otherwise known as Patient “Zero”, the final baddie waiting in the wings. Fanning has been biding his infinite time in the murky ruins of Grand Central Station, awaiting the precise moment to land a killing blow to humanity. An inset tale serves to intensify the story’s emotional gravitas by backtracking through time in order to humanize the inhuman, giving readers a first-hand account of Fanning’s tempestuous life during his ivy-league days at Harvard, before his fateful trip to Bolivia where he’s infected with the virus that would effectively depopulate the planet for millennia.
Time proves a harsh yet malleable substance for our protagonists. Peter, Alicia, Michael, Sara, and the others are no longer the youthful and guarded optimists that dared to venture beyond the First Colony walls; they’ve aged, their children have blossomed into capable young adults, and cruel mortality is staring them in the face. There’s a wistful melancholy pervading this novel, one that sets this trilogy apart from most other fantasy epics and leaves a bittersweet aftertaste.
It’s a rarity that a treasured series should recompense audiences with a wholly fulfilling denouement. But Cronin succeeds in every respect. Even after the dust settles over the final battle between good and evil, the story doesn’t end there. Not by a long shot. And that’s a good thing for readers who’ve been enrapt by the series from the beginning. By the novel’s end, readers will be catapulted 1,000 years into the future where an extended epilogue reveals the lasting imprint left on the world by Amy and her beloved friends, thereby placing the three-book narrative into a more expansive emotional context.
Similarly as its predecessors, City of Mirrors is a powerful, multi-threaded page-turner, one that will awaken your imagination and hold sway over you for the last 600 pages of Cronin’s dystopian masterpiece. An appropriate bookend to a stunning magnum opus, City of Mirrors is sure to appease even the most demanding readers.
mellomorissa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape