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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
This is a VERY LONG book, but at times, you feel it. But it picks up again, so you go through waves of "can't put the book down" to "should I keep going?" I'm glad I kept going. Very vivid description of the environment of "before" and "after," both physical and psychological. It's very ambitious in its time span covered, and its world-building, but it does deliver. I'm the 100th (I think) on the wait list at the library for the next book.
This book was so very well written, I was hooked from the first chapter. It is fast paced and never loses momentum. I think the key thing about this book (at least for me)is that it reads like a movie, so to speak. It didn't so much as feel as if I was reading but that scenes were playing out in my head. And while this is true for most books I read, I truly felt the flow with this one. It was truly a very enjoyable read. In terms of plot, honestly, it is not an extremely original idea. Take elements from "end of the world" movies and vampire/scifi thrillers and that is basically the plot. However, the story was truly very captivating even with this generalization and I hesitate even mentioning "vampires" in the plot as it tends to cheapen the story. I highly recommend at least reading the first chapter, I am sure you will be hooked from there.
an epic story, eyes glazed over sometimes but a good if long read
Faktiski “Pāreja” ir divas grāmatas – pirmās ~250 lpp darbība risinās līdz vampīru apokalipsei (par ko arī tiekam informēti grāmatas anotācijā), un tad pēkšņi tas pārmetas 100 gadus uz priekšu, (gandrīz) visi varoņi ir sen izbeigušies un mums liek priekšā jaunu tēlu plejādi, praktiski sākoties pilnīgi jaunai grāmatai. Turklāt, skumjā ziņa ir tāda, ka, manuprāt, vienīgais grāmatas tēls, kurš ir kaut nedaudz dziļāks nekā zupas šķīvis – aģents Volgāsts – mūs skumji pamet apokalipses rītausmā.
Šī grāmata pilnīgi noteikti ir daudz par biezu – rakstnieks mūs nevajadzīgi, toties uzstājīgi, iepazīstina ar otrā un pat trešā plāna tēlu jūru, acīmredzot, lai lasītājam būtu lielāks līdzpārdzīvojums, kad šie nesvarīgie varoņi tiek nežēlīgi slaktēti. Tiek veidota ilūzija, ka nav pasargāts neviens, taču (bez šaubām) galveno varoņu pulciņš ugunī nedeg un ūdenī neslīkst.
Plašāk blogā:
https://andrislasa.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/dzastins-kronins-pareja/
Šī grāmata pilnīgi noteikti ir daudz par biezu – rakstnieks mūs nevajadzīgi, toties uzstājīgi, iepazīstina ar otrā un pat trešā plāna tēlu jūru, acīmredzot, lai lasītājam būtu lielāks līdzpārdzīvojums, kad šie nesvarīgie varoņi tiek nežēlīgi slaktēti. Tiek veidota ilūzija, ka nav pasargāts neviens, taču (bez šaubām) galveno varoņu pulciņš ugunī nedeg un ūdenī neslīkst.
Plašāk blogā:
https://andrislasa.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/dzastins-kronins-pareja/
Im finally calling it. I stopped reading this over a week ago. I don’t like the time shift that happens not even 300 pages into this tome. Could honestly care less about the plot now that, on top of moving in time a century, we’re following a whole new cast of characters! And there are ALOT. No thank you. This book bored me as much as it pissed me off. The only reason I made it as far as I did before quitting was the audiobook. But even that couldn’t convince me to pick it back up again after awhile.
This book was well written but damn, was it long! Cronin did a great job to leave no question unanswered and to take time building a cohesive plot.
At points where you suspect the plot to become dull and cliche, he ends the arc and moves on with the story.
The characters are well-rounded for the most part. The dynamic is good and the romance is tolerable.
I look forward to continuing the series!
At points where you suspect the plot to become dull and cliche, he ends the arc and moves on with the story.
The characters are well-rounded for the most part. The dynamic is good and the romance is tolerable.
I look forward to continuing the series!
Spoilers
And then it happened.
And then he heard it.
And then he saw it.
Ugh.
And then I couldn't take any more "and then it" 's. Sometimes it's these kinds of things that can just drive you crazy and make you want to stop reading.
I had a lot of problems with this book, other than the overuse of "and then it happened." It almost got 2 stars. It's close. But I liked it enough, and I'm a softee...
Anyway, the problems. First of all, it reminded me of shows like "the 4400." Where a non-genre/sci-fi type author thinks it must be easy to write one, and so follows the formula a little too closely. It's not BAD... and at it's core, like a show like 4400, it has a cool idea to start with. But it never surprises, it never really makes you gasp, it's never that hard to put down and sometimes you forgot what it is you were reading last night?
(and by the way, of course non-genre writers can succeed wildly in any genre; a good writer is a good writer. The Road was an amazing "genre/end-of-the-world" novel, for example.)
Second... I didn't care about anyone except Amy and Peter. When Peter was about to stake his true love, Alicia, I was like... hurry up. And I couldn't really tell any of them apart. What was the difference between Hollis and Michael? Who was who? Why did Peter have THREE potential love interests? And how random was it that sara suddenly fell for Hollis? "Hey, let's throw THESE two together!" Like Joey and Rachel.
Further, on the second point... I cared about Amy, looked forward to getting back to her story... but she was barely in the second half of the book. She was a plot device, when from the start she seemed to be the central character. Kind of like Carter. Why spend so much time on him, pre-apocolypse, and then never see him in the rest of the book? To set up "the Passage part 2?" THEN, when Wolgast (whom I did like, and did care about, and empathisized with and totally bought why he ended up passionately protecting Amy) shows up in the last few pages... why was there NEVER any hint of his presence? He's presumed dead at the end of Year Zero, and it makes sense that he would survive as a viral. But we never saw any hint of his influence on Amy. It seemed arbritary and manipulative to bring him back.
Third... I just couldn't take all the "First Day," and "Night of Blade and Stars" and that it was the 65th day of summer and "we have sign" and that pants were called gaps, etc, etc, etc, etc... on and on... It was just too cute, too "clever." Too much.
I changed my mind. 2 stars.
And then it happened.
And then he heard it.
And then he saw it.
Ugh.
And then I couldn't take any more "and then it" 's. Sometimes it's these kinds of things that can just drive you crazy and make you want to stop reading.
I had a lot of problems with this book, other than the overuse of "and then it happened." It almost got 2 stars. It's close. But I liked it enough, and I'm a softee...
Anyway, the problems. First of all, it reminded me of shows like "the 4400." Where a non-genre/sci-fi type author thinks it must be easy to write one, and so follows the formula a little too closely. It's not BAD... and at it's core, like a show like 4400, it has a cool idea to start with. But it never surprises, it never really makes you gasp, it's never that hard to put down and sometimes you forgot what it is you were reading last night?
(and by the way, of course non-genre writers can succeed wildly in any genre; a good writer is a good writer. The Road was an amazing "genre/end-of-the-world" novel, for example.)
Second... I didn't care about anyone except Amy and Peter. When Peter was about to stake his true love, Alicia, I was like... hurry up. And I couldn't really tell any of them apart. What was the difference between Hollis and Michael? Who was who? Why did Peter have THREE potential love interests? And how random was it that sara suddenly fell for Hollis? "Hey, let's throw THESE two together!" Like Joey and Rachel.
Further, on the second point... I cared about Amy, looked forward to getting back to her story... but she was barely in the second half of the book. She was a plot device, when from the start she seemed to be the central character. Kind of like Carter. Why spend so much time on him, pre-apocolypse, and then never see him in the rest of the book? To set up "the Passage part 2?" THEN, when Wolgast (whom I did like, and did care about, and empathisized with and totally bought why he ended up passionately protecting Amy) shows up in the last few pages... why was there NEVER any hint of his presence? He's presumed dead at the end of Year Zero, and it makes sense that he would survive as a viral. But we never saw any hint of his influence on Amy. It seemed arbritary and manipulative to bring him back.
Third... I just couldn't take all the "First Day," and "Night of Blade and Stars" and that it was the 65th day of summer and "we have sign" and that pants were called gaps, etc, etc, etc, etc... on and on... It was just too cute, too "clever." Too much.
I changed my mind. 2 stars.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
I will start by saying that this is not generally. my type of book and I read it on the recommendation of a friend. So take my review with a grain of salt.
The book was so unbelievably long. It was daunting just to get through it. I listened to it and read it so I had both experiences. The audio book narrator was fantastic! The author is a magnificent storyteller. He did an incredible job with character development. And the intricacies of the storyline were impressive. All that being said, I didn't wholly enjoy it because the content isn't really my thing and because it was hard not to get bogged down by the details. I can certainly understand why others who like dystopian type novels would enjoy this one!
The book was so unbelievably long. It was daunting just to get through it. I listened to it and read it so I had both experiences. The audio book narrator was fantastic! The author is a magnificent storyteller. He did an incredible job with character development. And the intricacies of the storyline were impressive. All that being said, I didn't wholly enjoy it because the content isn't really my thing and because it was hard not to get bogged down by the details. I can certainly understand why others who like dystopian type novels would enjoy this one!