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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
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
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
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
qjbrown96's review
5.0
Great trilogy with a fantastic last book! Cronin took a lot of idea from The Stand for sure. He writes a series about a government created virus that wipes out most of the world and people are trying to survive, but He gives a supernatural twist making it about Vampires. Yes please! He has a character named Rand, as in Randall Flagg… Come on that’s too easy. His main antagonist, Zero is also very similar to Flagg but Cronin does such a good job with Zero. This book sets off after they killed The Twelve and are now preparing for Zero’s wrath but he’s much stronger and deadlier than the twelve. Cronin gives a lot of the beginning to give a background of Zero’s life to give you a little compassion for him, which I love a good guy/bad guy antagonist. Cronin also gave one of the best endings to a book I’ve ever read.
jrabbit12's review
1.0
Maybe next time Cronin's daughter can dare him to try brevity.
Another example of why I would rather stab myself in the ear with a soup spoon than sit next to a Workshop alum at a dinner party.
Another example of why I would rather stab myself in the ear with a soup spoon than sit next to a Workshop alum at a dinner party.
_travelingpages's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
cricket1988's review against another edition
5.0
It was worth the wait amazingly written, great story line still getting nightmare/dreams about that ending
timna_wyckoff's review
5.0
This final installment was utter perfection. Epic, comprehensive, thrilling, moving....and binge-read-inducing :) I'll have to read the whole trilogy again some day.