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The Season of Passage
Dr. Lauren Wagner was a celebrity. She was involved with the most exciting adventure mankind had ever undertaken. The whole world admired and respected her.
But Lauren knew fear.
Inside voices entreating her to love them.
Outside — the mystery of the missing group that had gone before her. The dead group.
But were they simply dead?
Or something else?
A terrifying novel of horror — and, surprisingly, of salvation — from one of America's bestselling writers.
A novel you won't forget.
But Lauren knew fear.
Inside voices entreating her to love them.
Outside — the mystery of the missing group that had gone before her. The dead group.
But were they simply dead?
Or something else?
A terrifying novel of horror — and, surprisingly, of salvation — from one of America's bestselling writers.
A novel you won't forget.
438 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
45 people are currently reading
3580 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Pike
262 books5,479 followersChristopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin McFadden. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction who specializes in the thriller genre.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 286 reviews
May 13, 2015
First of all, to really get why I've chosen this as one of my favorites, you must know the deep love affair I've had with Christopher Pike. Growing up in my neighborhood, it was either Christopher Pike, R.L. Stine, or for the more dramatic ones, Cynthia Voight. I ate all of Mr. Pike's books up and from the horror genres, I moved up to the eerie drama/thriller collections of V.C. Andrews. But I never forgot Christopher Pike and my obsession with his stuff.
I remember going to Barnes and Nobles one day with a friend and going to the young adult section to scope the books of our day. Being nostalgic. We were then discussing the transition of certain authors from Young Adult to Adult genres. I happen to come upon a Christopher Pike book that peaked my interest.
Even the front cover was so different than his other books I knew I had to read it.
It was the first sci-fi[ish] book I'd read and was amazed I didn't fall asleep reading it. It had this eerie feel to it. The characters were so much deeper than previous characters of the same author. It's one of those books you'll always remember. Even up to now....almost 10 years later, I still find myself getting sucked back into reading it. A must-read!!
I remember going to Barnes and Nobles one day with a friend and going to the young adult section to scope the books of our day. Being nostalgic. We were then discussing the transition of certain authors from Young Adult to Adult genres. I happen to come upon a Christopher Pike book that peaked my interest.
Even the front cover was so different than his other books I knew I had to read it.
It was the first sci-fi[ish] book I'd read and was amazed I didn't fall asleep reading it. It had this eerie feel to it. The characters were so much deeper than previous characters of the same author. It's one of those books you'll always remember. Even up to now....almost 10 years later, I still find myself getting sucked back into reading it. A must-read!!
February 21, 2013
I really love this book and have read it literally 20 times or more over the years. I wish there was another book to follow this story. I really fell in love with Princess Chaneen and her people. The fantasy story within the story that kept coming up throughout the book was one of the most exiting parts I believe
January 24, 2021
A surprisingly good read! Definitely science fiction as it revolves around a trip to Mars, but it also involved an ancient curse and monsters.
Edit: reread 1-21. This was my first book by Pike, who is known for his YA horror and science fiction, and while this did have some aspects of YA (a genre I tend to avoid like the plague), he weaves a strangely compelling story here. Our main protagonist is Lauren, a medical doctor and astronaut who will be shortly heading out to Mars. Her sister Jennifer was only a year old when their parents were killed in an accident and Lauren basically raised her sister while attending medical school. Lauren is engaged to a reporter/novelist named Terry, who emerges as the other main character.
Published in 1992, the mission to Mars has today a quaint feel to it. It seems the Russians sent a manned mission a few years ago that met with disaster; a few days after landing, all communications ceased and it was assumed everyone died. So, the USA's mission is in part to find out what happened to the Russians alongside a basic exploratory goal. Pike gives us in part a good space opera, albeit very shy on technical details, but ASOP is much more than that. Ever since Lauren knew she was heading to Mars, she and her sister have been having nightmares. Jennifer, a precocious 13 at the start of the story, was given a strange ring by another member of the Mars crew; something he found in India. The ring is impervious to lasers, diamonds, etc., and is a perfect circle. While briefly commented on at the start, it will play a major role in the story later...
While on the long journey to Mars (the USA crew is in a sort of hibernation), Jennifer starts writing a story while holed up in a cabin in Wyoming. The story is quoted in fits and starts when Pike opens up a new section of the text, and involves something of a fantasy; a struggle between almost god like people and their enemies...
The story takes a real eerie turn when the crew arrives on Mars, especially when they begin to investigate the Russian lander still on the surface. Pike also ups the pacing, proceeding at a frenetic pace thereafter all the way to the end, utilizing short, clipped sentences reminiscent of Hemingway. It seems the Russian crew found something on Mars, something evil and just waiting to be discovered by humanity...
I had to suspend my belief structure a bit and just let the story flow. Truly a genre crossover/breaker, Pike combines science fiction and horror, with a big dollop of fantasy in ASOP and serves it up in style. 4.5 stars!!
Edit: reread 1-21. This was my first book by Pike, who is known for his YA horror and science fiction, and while this did have some aspects of YA (a genre I tend to avoid like the plague), he weaves a strangely compelling story here. Our main protagonist is Lauren, a medical doctor and astronaut who will be shortly heading out to Mars. Her sister Jennifer was only a year old when their parents were killed in an accident and Lauren basically raised her sister while attending medical school. Lauren is engaged to a reporter/novelist named Terry, who emerges as the other main character.
Published in 1992, the mission to Mars has today a quaint feel to it. It seems the Russians sent a manned mission a few years ago that met with disaster; a few days after landing, all communications ceased and it was assumed everyone died. So, the USA's mission is in part to find out what happened to the Russians alongside a basic exploratory goal. Pike gives us in part a good space opera, albeit very shy on technical details, but ASOP is much more than that. Ever since Lauren knew she was heading to Mars, she and her sister have been having nightmares. Jennifer, a precocious 13 at the start of the story, was given a strange ring by another member of the Mars crew; something he found in India. The ring is impervious to lasers, diamonds, etc., and is a perfect circle. While briefly commented on at the start, it will play a major role in the story later...
While on the long journey to Mars (the USA crew is in a sort of hibernation), Jennifer starts writing a story while holed up in a cabin in Wyoming. The story is quoted in fits and starts when Pike opens up a new section of the text, and involves something of a fantasy; a struggle between almost god like people and their enemies...
The story takes a real eerie turn when the crew arrives on Mars, especially when they begin to investigate the Russian lander still on the surface. Pike also ups the pacing, proceeding at a frenetic pace thereafter all the way to the end, utilizing short, clipped sentences reminiscent of Hemingway. It seems the Russian crew found something on Mars, something evil and just waiting to be discovered by humanity...
I had to suspend my belief structure a bit and just let the story flow. Truly a genre crossover/breaker, Pike combines science fiction and horror, with a big dollop of fantasy in ASOP and serves it up in style. 4.5 stars!!
December 3, 2008
i don't care what anyone says. this is the best science fiction/horror book i've read so far. it's beautiful and sad and scary and awesome. i still think that stephen king is overrated, and christopher pike is severely underrated. please give it a chance.
January 4, 2011
What a shame that this book is no longer in print.
If not for Goodreads, I would never have heard of it, and being out of print, I figured it would be another of those long searched-for novels that would stay on my to-read list forever.
But, last month yielded a major used book score, including this one!
Well, it sure held up to the hype. Maybe it was because this was exactly what I needed at the time, but I must say that this was one of the more enjoyable reads I had this year. It's definitely not the best written book, nor did it have had the most fully developed characters I've come across, but if your thing is science fiction with a horror slant, you'd be hard pressed to find a more engaging tale.
The story involves a NASA crew traveling to Mars to investigate the
disappearance of a Russian crew. Paralleling this is a fantasy story written by the protagonist's teen sister. This is all you need to know, I won't spoil anything. Not since Rendezvous With Rama or Rama II have I been so engaged with the haunting exploration of an alien landscape. The book just about jumped out of my hands one night when someone had banged a car door shut outside my home.
Now, before you get the impression that this is badly written with undeveloped characters, I should retract that a statement a bit. The characters are developed just fine, and there was one paragraph that had such a moving description of loss that I had to stop and marvel at it. I don't believe in including quotes in reviews, so I'll just say this occurred about 3/4 of the way through. You'll know it when you read it.
Be on the lookout for this used bookstore gem.
If not for Goodreads, I would never have heard of it, and being out of print, I figured it would be another of those long searched-for novels that would stay on my to-read list forever.
But, last month yielded a major used book score, including this one!
Well, it sure held up to the hype. Maybe it was because this was exactly what I needed at the time, but I must say that this was one of the more enjoyable reads I had this year. It's definitely not the best written book, nor did it have had the most fully developed characters I've come across, but if your thing is science fiction with a horror slant, you'd be hard pressed to find a more engaging tale.
The story involves a NASA crew traveling to Mars to investigate the
disappearance of a Russian crew. Paralleling this is a fantasy story written by the protagonist's teen sister. This is all you need to know, I won't spoil anything. Not since Rendezvous With Rama or Rama II have I been so engaged with the haunting exploration of an alien landscape. The book just about jumped out of my hands one night when someone had banged a car door shut outside my home.
Now, before you get the impression that this is badly written with undeveloped characters, I should retract that a statement a bit. The characters are developed just fine, and there was one paragraph that had such a moving description of loss that I had to stop and marvel at it. I don't believe in including quotes in reviews, so I'll just say this occurred about 3/4 of the way through. You'll know it when you read it.
Be on the lookout for this used bookstore gem.
November 7, 2021
This book was the worst and so was absolutely everyone in it. Jesus.
Spoilers, I guess, but this book is so terrible you really shouldn't mind. (I'll call it out about before I get to spoiler-y parts, though.)
CW: rape
Let's start with the characters:
Lauren, a doctor and an astronaut who is about to go on a mission to Mars. They make sure to tell us she wasn't picked because she's the most qualified but because she's pretty and would be good at PR.
Jennifer, her 13-year-old sister that every adult man is unhealthily obsessed with. Jennifer is more beautiful than Lauren, as Lauren's fiancee tells her. One of Lauren's coworkers, who has only met Jennifer a couple times, is so obsessed with her he leaves her a valuable and mysterious present when he goes off to Mars and writes a will leaving everything else to her, too. Jennifer's psychiatrist loves talking to Jennifer so much that he waives the fee for a month's worth of therapy.
Terry, Lauren's fiancee, a balding reporter writing a novel about an incel cockroach that everyone seems to think is hilarious. In addition to his inappropriate fixation on Jennifer, Terry is disrespectful of other women he comes across (when viewing pretty women, he remarks to himself how he has had plenty of sex with beautiful women who dumped him when they found out he was broke... sure Terry, that's why they left you. You gross creep). He also undermines Lauren to her colleagues, sending her a message through NASA while she's on her Mars mission, where all her colleagues will be able to hear, telling her "Santa brought her a naughty gift." Inappropriate and rude, Terry. Jesus. Let the woman be a fucking professional.
Also everyone in this book is bad at their jobs.
13-year-old Jennifer's psychiatrist is bad at having appropriate boundaries, refusing to charge for sessions with Jennifer since he takes personal delight in them. Gross creep.
Lauren's astronaut colleague Gary intentionally barges in on her in the shower and also insists on telling her detailed accounts of his sexual exploits.
Lauren, the doctor for the Mars mission, doesn't tell NASA or her coworker when she discovers a heart condition in their colleague Jim after they arrive at Mars, because she doesn't want to prevent him from being able to go down to the planet. That is your actual job, Lauren. Be a doctor. That is why you are there.
(SPOILERS below)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
When it becomes clear there is a weird terrible alien infection thing happening on Mars, Jim tells Gary and Lauren that NASA included a nuclear warhead in case of a scenario just like this with which, even if they think they are safe/cured/uninfected, they are meant to blow themselves up rather than risk bringing an infection back to Earth. Despite this, at no point does anyone consider using the warhead to blow themselves up, even though it is very clear that people are infected and they have been exposed.
Rankar, the king of a fantasy land that is at war with another fantasy race. He is worried that, while his people might win this war, the enemy will later return. So he sacrifices himself, leaving them without a capable general. So instead his people are certain to lose the first war instead of some future second war. What the fuck kind of plan is that, Rankar you GD idiot?
Chaneen, the queen of the fantasy land, whose people are being murdered and who is obviously and inevitably losing the war after the death of her husband. She has some kind of cosmic super weapon but can't bear to hurt another living soul, and so she doesn't use it, letting all her people die instead. Eventually she shares the power with her sister, but it's a moral copout and she should have just had the integrity to do what needed to be done from the beginning.
Janier, Chaneen's sister who is left leading the troops after Rankar does the bullshit that he does. When Chaneen finally shares the super power with her, she warns Janier that the power will only work in their lands and if she crosses into the enemy's lands it will stop working. Despite this warning and despite the fact that, prior to the superpower they were having their asses handed to them, once she uses the superpower and starts winning she decides it'll be totally cool to follow the enemy back to their lands because she'll be able to take them even without superpowers. Idiot.
Other reasons this book is terrible:
I do not have a problem with sex and sexuality in books. This book was gross and inappropriate and unsexy about it. It's like Christopher Pike needed to prove he was writing an adult fiction book and not a YA novel anymore. We have Terry and Gary's inappropriate comments to Lauren. Yuck but fine. We also have first implied and then detailed descriptions of creature rape from the monsters. And we get a weird, super cringe subplot about Lorraine, the crazy nymphomaniac stalker identical twin of some one night stand of Gary's. First we get Gary telling Lauren about meeting Kathy, the sweet twin, and being tricked into sleeping with Lorraine when Kathy takes him back to their house. But it doesn't end there. Then we get Kathy, who has only met Gary once, trying to get into NASA to talk to Gary through NASA's video messaging, but really it's Lorraine who only pretends to be Kathy in order to tell Gary some sexual rape fantasy of hers. And that's not the last we hear of Kathy and Lorraine either. This subplot continues throughout the entire book.
In conclusion:
This book is trash. At best, it can perhaps be viewed as like a weird sociological study of prevailing attitudes in the 90s, maybe? "Ha ha ha, casual misogyny. Ha ha ha, women have to put up with harassment and lack of respect in the workforce. Ha ha ha." I don't know. It really doesn't have any redeeming qualities. I guess eventually when the plot got going on Mars, there was less time for "character development" so we had less workplace sexual harassment and more action, but even then everyone acted like an irresponsible fool, so it was not satisfying.
This book is trash.
Spoilers, I guess, but this book is so terrible you really shouldn't mind. (I'll call it out about before I get to spoiler-y parts, though.)
CW: rape
Let's start with the characters:
Lauren, a doctor and an astronaut who is about to go on a mission to Mars. They make sure to tell us she wasn't picked because she's the most qualified but because she's pretty and would be good at PR.
Jennifer, her 13-year-old sister that every adult man is unhealthily obsessed with. Jennifer is more beautiful than Lauren, as Lauren's fiancee tells her. One of Lauren's coworkers, who has only met Jennifer a couple times, is so obsessed with her he leaves her a valuable and mysterious present when he goes off to Mars and writes a will leaving everything else to her, too. Jennifer's psychiatrist loves talking to Jennifer so much that he waives the fee for a month's worth of therapy.
Terry, Lauren's fiancee, a balding reporter writing a novel about an incel cockroach that everyone seems to think is hilarious. In addition to his inappropriate fixation on Jennifer, Terry is disrespectful of other women he comes across (when viewing pretty women, he remarks to himself how he has had plenty of sex with beautiful women who dumped him when they found out he was broke... sure Terry, that's why they left you. You gross creep). He also undermines Lauren to her colleagues, sending her a message through NASA while she's on her Mars mission, where all her colleagues will be able to hear, telling her "Santa brought her a naughty gift." Inappropriate and rude, Terry. Jesus. Let the woman be a fucking professional.
Also everyone in this book is bad at their jobs.
13-year-old Jennifer's psychiatrist is bad at having appropriate boundaries, refusing to charge for sessions with Jennifer since he takes personal delight in them. Gross creep.
Lauren's astronaut colleague Gary intentionally barges in on her in the shower and also insists on telling her detailed accounts of his sexual exploits.
Lauren, the doctor for the Mars mission, doesn't tell NASA or her coworker when she discovers a heart condition in their colleague Jim after they arrive at Mars, because she doesn't want to prevent him from being able to go down to the planet. That is your actual job, Lauren. Be a doctor. That is why you are there.
(SPOILERS below)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
When it becomes clear there is a weird terrible alien infection thing happening on Mars, Jim tells Gary and Lauren that NASA included a nuclear warhead in case of a scenario just like this with which, even if they think they are safe/cured/uninfected, they are meant to blow themselves up rather than risk bringing an infection back to Earth. Despite this, at no point does anyone consider using the warhead to blow themselves up, even though it is very clear that people are infected and they have been exposed.
Rankar, the king of a fantasy land that is at war with another fantasy race. He is worried that, while his people might win this war, the enemy will later return. So he sacrifices himself, leaving them without a capable general. So instead his people are certain to lose the first war instead of some future second war. What the fuck kind of plan is that, Rankar you GD idiot?
Chaneen, the queen of the fantasy land, whose people are being murdered and who is obviously and inevitably losing the war after the death of her husband. She has some kind of cosmic super weapon but can't bear to hurt another living soul, and so she doesn't use it, letting all her people die instead. Eventually she shares the power with her sister, but it's a moral copout and she should have just had the integrity to do what needed to be done from the beginning.
Janier, Chaneen's sister who is left leading the troops after Rankar does the bullshit that he does. When Chaneen finally shares the super power with her, she warns Janier that the power will only work in their lands and if she crosses into the enemy's lands it will stop working. Despite this warning and despite the fact that, prior to the superpower they were having their asses handed to them, once she uses the superpower and starts winning she decides it'll be totally cool to follow the enemy back to their lands because she'll be able to take them even without superpowers. Idiot.
Other reasons this book is terrible:
I do not have a problem with sex and sexuality in books. This book was gross and inappropriate and unsexy about it. It's like Christopher Pike needed to prove he was writing an adult fiction book and not a YA novel anymore. We have Terry and Gary's inappropriate comments to Lauren. Yuck but fine. We also have first implied and then detailed descriptions of creature rape from the monsters. And we get a weird, super cringe subplot about Lorraine, the crazy nymphomaniac stalker identical twin of some one night stand of Gary's. First we get Gary telling Lauren about meeting Kathy, the sweet twin, and being tricked into sleeping with Lorraine when Kathy takes him back to their house. But it doesn't end there. Then we get Kathy, who has only met Gary once, trying to get into NASA to talk to Gary through NASA's video messaging, but really it's Lorraine who only pretends to be Kathy in order to tell Gary some sexual rape fantasy of hers. And that's not the last we hear of Kathy and Lorraine either. This subplot continues throughout the entire book.
In conclusion:
This book is trash. At best, it can perhaps be viewed as like a weird sociological study of prevailing attitudes in the 90s, maybe? "Ha ha ha, casual misogyny. Ha ha ha, women have to put up with harassment and lack of respect in the workforce. Ha ha ha." I don't know. It really doesn't have any redeeming qualities. I guess eventually when the plot got going on Mars, there was less time for "character development" so we had less workplace sexual harassment and more action, but even then everyone acted like an irresponsible fool, so it was not satisfying.
This book is trash.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2014
This is probably my favorite book of all time. The first time I read this book was when I was in the eighth grade. I read it once a year every year after that until I graduated. I have never read another book that many times. In fact, there are very few books that I've ever read more than once because there are simply too many books out there that I want to read. Once and done and moving on... During the college years it didn't get read but I told everyone I knew about it and happily loaned out my copy so that more people could fall in love with the amazingness that is The Season of Passage. One such person kept my copy and I promptly replaced it because I couldn't not have a copy close at hand.
I can't even really say why I love this book so much because science fiction generally isn't for me. But this book is different. I suppose it's because of the vampire-like elements or the story within the story about an ancient people or the love of sisters. Whatever "it" is, it is haunting and captivating and I think of it often.
I can't even really say why I love this book so much because science fiction generally isn't for me. But this book is different. I suppose it's because of the vampire-like elements or the story within the story about an ancient people or the love of sisters. Whatever "it" is, it is haunting and captivating and I think of it often.
August 6, 2007
This book was one of my favorites in high school. It is still for me one of hte most terrifying books I have ever read, and I don't even know what it was about the book that struck such a cord of terror! One of the few Pike books that was written more towards adults than teens.
February 7, 2017
This book is not without its flaws. The science in the book is laughable, really; one has to suspend disbelief and throw their knowledge of space right out the window when reading this book. Perhaps I forgive it easily because I've loved this book since I was about 12 (and am now thirty), but it is still, and most-likely always will be, one of my favorite novels of all time. It is indeed outdated, though, and every time I read it, I become more aware of that, but to me, it is still magical.
January 1, 2015
I truly love Christopher pike.....his books have something very few authors have....extremely inventive and creative storytelling abilities...I have read a LOT of books by a LOT of different authors and pike is a master above masters.
Anyways on to review...this book is truly something else...its not perfect but it is creative and fascinating. There will always be books for everyone but not every book is good for everyone.
People seem to think this book is about vampires on mars....that's all I see...but in reality this book is about the weaving lives of people and reincarnation through thousands of years. Pikes story within a story gives us insight into the war between the ancient first humans the sastra and the asurians..a race far more ancient and on their last desperate legs. There was a war fought between them long ago but then the asurians desperateness came to be too much and their king devised a plan to be young again.
The main story surrounds the expedition to mars and the return of the ancient sastra queen chaneen into Jennifer's being as she is the current incarnation of this goddess but until she writes her story after she receives her ancient ring one from one of the astronauts travelling to mars she doesn't understand who she truly is. Hints are given throughout that her power is returning when she is able to control the fire around her.
Lauren,Jennifer's sister, is part of both stories of course and as they say history repeats itself...I can't give it all away.
This story does have vampiric qualities and near the end it'd more prominent but I would say instead that its more an ampncient race is returning and they are not the same as us humans so they do different things...the word asura means demon and the asurians are clearly the bad guys in the story...violators of the natural order and pike takes a very interesting approach to history and why mars is a red planet stripped of life and air. The sentence "I see you brought the fire" is important and in my review its not powerful but the way pike uses it in his story raises deep emotions within me and the bringing of the fire in the story is so powerful I am brought to tears because of how intense and powerful its used in the book.
I hope you read this book and find out how powerful this story is because I am truly sad at those who have not yet got to read this amazing book. Please take a chance because I think you would be surprised.
Anyways on to review...this book is truly something else...its not perfect but it is creative and fascinating. There will always be books for everyone but not every book is good for everyone.
People seem to think this book is about vampires on mars....that's all I see...but in reality this book is about the weaving lives of people and reincarnation through thousands of years. Pikes story within a story gives us insight into the war between the ancient first humans the sastra and the asurians..a race far more ancient and on their last desperate legs. There was a war fought between them long ago but then the asurians desperateness came to be too much and their king devised a plan to be young again.
The main story surrounds the expedition to mars and the return of the ancient sastra queen chaneen into Jennifer's being as she is the current incarnation of this goddess but until she writes her story after she receives her ancient ring one from one of the astronauts travelling to mars she doesn't understand who she truly is. Hints are given throughout that her power is returning when she is able to control the fire around her.
Lauren,Jennifer's sister, is part of both stories of course and as they say history repeats itself...I can't give it all away.
This story does have vampiric qualities and near the end it'd more prominent but I would say instead that its more an ampncient race is returning and they are not the same as us humans so they do different things...the word asura means demon and the asurians are clearly the bad guys in the story...violators of the natural order and pike takes a very interesting approach to history and why mars is a red planet stripped of life and air. The sentence "I see you brought the fire" is important and in my review its not powerful but the way pike uses it in his story raises deep emotions within me and the bringing of the fire in the story is so powerful I am brought to tears because of how intense and powerful its used in the book.
I hope you read this book and find out how powerful this story is because I am truly sad at those who have not yet got to read this amazing book. Please take a chance because I think you would be surprised.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2025
Oh my, this one was awful! So much so that it cycled back to actually being kind of good. So 2.5 stars because I am amused AF over this one!
Funny thing about reading old sci-fi (ish) books set in the "future" is comparing the "future" in the book to the actual future...which is now the past. In this case, we're talking the early 2000s. This book begins with a mission to Mars. Not just sending a robot to cruise around and snap photos, but sending actual people. (Spoiler: in the book, the Russians got there first) Of course this book was penned sometime back in the 80s, I think, when such a feat by the year 2000 didn't seem all that impossible. Of course we were also supposed to have flying cars a short 15 years later, so there you go. Old school sci-fi... ROTFLMAFO!!
Anyway, the book focuses on Lauren, who, like all Pike's heroines, is impossibly beautiful and perfect and one dimensional in that white-girl way only characters in books from this era can be. Lauren is the ship's doctor. We catch up with her when she is about to depart Earth for several years, leaving behind her fiance, who seems kind of a dishrag, and her teenage sister Jennifer, who is a special snowflake if there ever was one. The purpose of the Mars Mission is twofold: to explore the uncharted planet and to investigate what went wrong with the failed Russian mission just two years earlier where the astronauts didn't come back. Only they don't find out the whole truth until they actually GET to Mars. Damn fictional NASA and their secret agendas! Also to resist the Dark Side of the Force and to boldly go where no one has gone before, or something.
While they're there, the crew discovers an underground lake that has darkly mystical properties and an island in the center (I don't know about you all, but reading the description of this setting, I flashed on the scene from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince where Harry and Dumbledore travel to recover the ring). They also find a Russian astronaut from the previous mission who is still "alive" but has caught an alien illness and transformed into a zombie-vampire-whatever creature. This transformation has something to do with bacteria in the underground lake (So if you ever go to Mars...don't drink the water! And here we thought Flint water was bad...). Of course Lauren & Co. don't figure this out until it is too late and they've been infected as well. Lauren and her sole surviving crewmate head back to earth to spread the martian Zombie disease. Pretty cliche.
Meanwhile on earth, Jennifer writes a story before supposedly offing herself. The story is about an ancient war between a Good and Kind race of humanoids and evil lizard-like aliens (Sorry, Miley Cyrus does not make a cameo here). The plot of this story within a story supposedly mirrors events that are actually happening on Mars. I know this connection is supposed to create an A-HA! moment for the reader when they realize this (truly vague) connection, but really only serves to convolute the plot further. And trust me when I say it is VERY convoluted even without Jen's story!
The conclusion is so anti-climactic and abrupt it seems Pike got bored with the story and didn't know how to end it so just, well... ended it. Total cop-out.
In true 80s fashion, this one is full of tropes. Especially the characters: The too-perfect heroines... the Rebel With a Heart of Gold/Han Solo male lead... the Wise Mentor who, in true Obi-Wan fashion, sacrifices himself for the Greater Good... I could go on. The only characters of color seem to be there only to be disposed of. And the creepy crush the elder crewmember seems to have on teenage Jennifer (**shudder!**), which is maybe a wish-fulfillment of the author (**shudder again**). All characters are completely flat. Mixed into the whole hot mess of a plot is a good, heaping dose of Pike's typical New Agey quasi-spiritual woo-hoo. This is way more heavy-handed than the YA books, so be prepared for some eye-rolling weirdness. And that assessment is coming from a Witch who practices Yoga, meditates, and carries crystals in their pocket.
Overall, this one was terrible! Absolutely terrible!! Oftentimes I asked myself, "What the eff am I even reading?" I'm thinking the only reason this book ever stuck through the publishing gauntlet to see the light of day was because Pike was already a well-established author and, therefore, was allowed to publish anything...not unlike King and Patterson, who I'm pretty sure have a team of ghost writers backing them up. Or do a lot of coke. But it is good for a laugh. If nothing else.
Funny thing about reading old sci-fi (ish) books set in the "future" is comparing the "future" in the book to the actual future...which is now the past. In this case, we're talking the early 2000s. This book begins with a mission to Mars. Not just sending a robot to cruise around and snap photos, but sending actual people. (Spoiler: in the book, the Russians got there first) Of course this book was penned sometime back in the 80s, I think, when such a feat by the year 2000 didn't seem all that impossible. Of course we were also supposed to have flying cars a short 15 years later, so there you go. Old school sci-fi... ROTFLMAFO!!
Anyway, the book focuses on Lauren, who, like all Pike's heroines, is impossibly beautiful and perfect and one dimensional in that white-girl way only characters in books from this era can be. Lauren is the ship's doctor. We catch up with her when she is about to depart Earth for several years, leaving behind her fiance, who seems kind of a dishrag, and her teenage sister Jennifer, who is a special snowflake if there ever was one. The purpose of the Mars Mission is twofold: to explore the uncharted planet and to investigate what went wrong with the failed Russian mission just two years earlier where the astronauts didn't come back. Only they don't find out the whole truth until they actually GET to Mars. Damn fictional NASA and their secret agendas! Also to resist the Dark Side of the Force and to boldly go where no one has gone before, or something.
While they're there, the crew discovers an underground lake that has darkly mystical properties and an island in the center (I don't know about you all, but reading the description of this setting, I flashed on the scene from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince where Harry and Dumbledore travel to recover the ring). They also find a Russian astronaut from the previous mission who is still "alive" but has caught an alien illness and transformed into a zombie-vampire-whatever creature. This transformation has something to do with bacteria in the underground lake (So if you ever go to Mars...don't drink the water! And here we thought Flint water was bad...). Of course Lauren & Co. don't figure this out until it is too late and they've been infected as well. Lauren and her sole surviving crewmate head back to earth to spread the martian Zombie disease. Pretty cliche.
Meanwhile on earth, Jennifer writes a story before supposedly offing herself. The story is about an ancient war between a Good and Kind race of humanoids and evil lizard-like aliens (Sorry, Miley Cyrus does not make a cameo here). The plot of this story within a story supposedly mirrors events that are actually happening on Mars. I know this connection is supposed to create an A-HA! moment for the reader when they realize this (truly vague) connection, but really only serves to convolute the plot further. And trust me when I say it is VERY convoluted even without Jen's story!
The conclusion is so anti-climactic and abrupt it seems Pike got bored with the story and didn't know how to end it so just, well... ended it. Total cop-out.
In true 80s fashion, this one is full of tropes. Especially the characters: The too-perfect heroines... the Rebel With a Heart of Gold/Han Solo male lead... the Wise Mentor who, in true Obi-Wan fashion, sacrifices himself for the Greater Good... I could go on. The only characters of color seem to be there only to be disposed of. And the creepy crush the elder crewmember seems to have on teenage Jennifer (**shudder!**), which is maybe a wish-fulfillment of the author (**shudder again**). All characters are completely flat. Mixed into the whole hot mess of a plot is a good, heaping dose of Pike's typical New Agey quasi-spiritual woo-hoo. This is way more heavy-handed than the YA books, so be prepared for some eye-rolling weirdness. And that assessment is coming from a Witch who practices Yoga, meditates, and carries crystals in their pocket.
Overall, this one was terrible! Absolutely terrible!! Oftentimes I asked myself, "What the eff am I even reading?" I'm thinking the only reason this book ever stuck through the publishing gauntlet to see the light of day was because Pike was already a well-established author and, therefore, was allowed to publish anything...not unlike King and Patterson, who I'm pretty sure have a team of ghost writers backing them up. Or do a lot of coke. But it is good for a laugh. If nothing else.
April 15, 2010
In 1996, the first unmanned space probe to land on Mars sent back sensational analyses (including secret pictures of huge footprints) before going dead. Four years later, the Russian crew of the manned Lenin loses contact in mid-mission. When the first American crew, which includes Dr. Lauren Wagner as medical officer, lands there in 2002, the mysteries expand rather than resolve, and author Pike hits top suspense with the American team discovering a Russian cosmonaut still alive in his bed in the orbiting Lenin, despite a freezing temperature in the ship. To be sure, he seemingly has no pulse and answers all questions with a fixed zombie grin that never wavers. When he leads the Americans below to comb the Martian surface by jeep and by foot, and then into a dark cave where they discover something very much like water, the reluctant reader begins shouting warnings.
This was, I believe, the only story I have ever read that actually creeped me out a bit when I was reading. The part where they head into the cave and find the island, don't read that at night, when you're by yourself. Or do--it makes it all the more spine-tingling.
An intriguing subplot concerning Lauren's earthbound sister and a story she is writing--which appears to be a telepathically received fable about Mars becoming a wasteland of ghouls--is not strong enough to redeem the outlandish main events. Long before the Nova heads home, most readers will have abandoned ship.
The ending just wrapped the whole thing up too easily by twisting the two stories together, and that disappointed me. I wanted something fresh, something unexpected and I didn't get it.
Book Details:
Title The Season of Passage
Author Christopher Pike
Reviewed By Purplycookie
This was, I believe, the only story I have ever read that actually creeped me out a bit when I was reading. The part where they head into the cave and find the island, don't read that at night, when you're by yourself. Or do--it makes it all the more spine-tingling.
An intriguing subplot concerning Lauren's earthbound sister and a story she is writing--which appears to be a telepathically received fable about Mars becoming a wasteland of ghouls--is not strong enough to redeem the outlandish main events. Long before the Nova heads home, most readers will have abandoned ship.
The ending just wrapped the whole thing up too easily by twisting the two stories together, and that disappointed me. I wanted something fresh, something unexpected and I didn't get it.
Book Details:
Title The Season of Passage
Author Christopher Pike
Reviewed By Purplycookie
August 9, 2023
3-word summary: Creepy Mars expedition.
My rating: 2.75 blood droplets, rounded to 3.
First line: It was a nightmare. But Lauren Wagner did not know that. It's often that way with bad dreams .
[May contain minor spoilers, but not much that isn't already mentioned on the back cover]
SEASON OF PASSAGE opens in 2004, as an American-Japanese crew prepare to sleep-hibernate their way to Mars -- obstensibly to determine the fate of the Russians who preceeded them. Our main stars are a lady surgeon/astronaut and her Earth-bound beau, though other characters play major roles.
As you probably know, this book has some creepy in it. Be sure to read this sci-fi/horror book alone, late at night... preferably far from civilization. I had some problems with this tale, but it definitely was entertaining. I didn't care for the mostly-uninspired character cutouts (smart lady doctor, alcoholic writer, smartass pilot, wise scientist, etc.), but I had fun guessing the order in which they would be taking red dirt naps.
The woo-woo stuff actually starts before the astronauts depart Earth. Of course, at the red planet, things escalate to creepy to terrifying to.... Which Idiots Will Survive?
It slowly becomes quite the unholy sci-fi/horror mashup, though there's a bit of a love story woven throughout. But wait -- there's also a story within the story. And there's also a character who is The Most Beautiful Girl Who's Ever Lived. Confused yet? Just hang in there, and start tallying up the body count.
In spite of many issues with the 2-star writing/realism/intelligence, this book is a 3-star page-turner. SEASON would make a good SyFy channel movie, though variations of this same story have already been done more than twice.
SEASON is successful as pure, near-brainless sci-fi/horror entertainment, but the TSTL cast nearly spoils it. The characters () would be unable to tie velcro tennis shoes. They certainly have difficulty putting two and two together.
Theseheroes astronauts wouldn't know danger if it kissed them in the face. Though they are perfectly capable of making (and surviving) (yeah, right), simple logic or math are outside their skillset. Also: they obviously haven't watched a single horror movie.
The writing itself alternated between good and cheesy/juvenile. The book rambles about 100 pages too long, with some far-too-long excursions (including nods to Tolkien). The story within-a-story wasn't entirely awful, but it certainly made my eyes glaze over. Although Pike (a pseudonym for author Kevin Christopher McFadden)wrote published this in his mid-30s, it seems more like the work of a talented, horny 18-year old male*.
* Another reviewer states that Pike wrote the first draft of SEASON in 1977, around age 22. Aha!
There were a few continuity gaffes, such as the most magical knee injury in the history of literature :
PARENTS: I'd hesitate to call this a regular YA book; it's that rarer breed that is more appropriate for older teens (and many adults), but perhaps too scary/weird/violent for young or squeamish folks. There's sexual content, , religious/spiritual themes, violence... and plenty of stupidity.
Also consider:
The "THIRST" series, also by Christopher Pike (which I give 4 to 5 stars):
Thirst No. 1: The Last Vampire, Black Blood, and Red Dice
The (awesome and weird) sci-fi movie .
My rating: 2.75 blood droplets, rounded to 3.
First line: It was a nightmare. But Lauren Wagner did not know that. It's often that way with bad dreams .
[May contain minor spoilers, but not much that isn't already mentioned on the back cover]
SEASON OF PASSAGE opens in 2004, as an American-Japanese crew prepare to sleep-hibernate their way to Mars -- obstensibly to determine the fate of the Russians who preceeded them. Our main stars are a lady surgeon/astronaut and her Earth-bound beau, though other characters play major roles.
As you probably know, this book has some creepy in it. Be sure to read this sci-fi/horror book alone, late at night... preferably far from civilization. I had some problems with this tale, but it definitely was entertaining. I didn't care for the mostly-uninspired character cutouts (smart lady doctor, alcoholic writer, smartass pilot, wise scientist, etc.), but I had fun guessing the order in which they would be taking red dirt naps.
The woo-woo stuff actually starts before the astronauts depart Earth. Of course, at the red planet, things escalate to creepy to terrifying to.... Which Idiots Will Survive?
It slowly becomes quite the unholy sci-fi/horror mashup, though there's a bit of a love story woven throughout. But wait -- there's also a story within the story. And there's also a character who is The Most Beautiful Girl Who's Ever Lived. Confused yet? Just hang in there, and start tallying up the body count.
In spite of many issues with the 2-star writing/realism/intelligence, this book is a 3-star page-turner. SEASON would make a good SyFy channel movie, though variations of this same story have already been done more than twice.
SEASON is successful as pure, near-brainless sci-fi/horror entertainment, but the TSTL cast nearly spoils it. The characters () would be unable to tie velcro tennis shoes. They certainly have difficulty putting two and two together.
These
The writing itself alternated between good and cheesy/juvenile. The book rambles about 100 pages too long, with some far-too-long excursions (including nods to Tolkien). The story within-a-story wasn't entirely awful, but it certainly made my eyes glaze over. Although Pike (a pseudonym for author Kevin Christopher McFadden)
* Another reviewer states that Pike wrote the first draft of SEASON in 1977, around age 22. Aha!
There were a few continuity gaffes, such as the most magical knee injury in the history of literature :
PARENTS: I'd hesitate to call this a regular YA book; it's that rarer breed that is more appropriate for older teens (and many adults), but perhaps too scary/weird/violent for young or squeamish folks. There's sexual content, , religious/spiritual themes, violence... and plenty of stupidity.
Also consider:
The "THIRST" series, also by Christopher Pike (which I give 4 to 5 stars):
Thirst No. 1: The Last Vampire, Black Blood, and Red Dice
The (awesome and weird) sci-fi movie .
February 19, 2012
I'm going to be self-indulgent for a moment and use this space to rant about authors from the '80s and '90s updating their books for re-release. I don't like it. It's stupid, unnecessary, annoying, and mostly seems to involve the author throwing in a line or two about how cell phones don't work in the middle of wherever the characters are stranded where bad things are happening to them.
Christopher Pike chose not to update this book (possibly because it's marketed for adults, and apparently publishers think only teenagers are too dumb to understand that cell phones didn't always exist) so the information about Mars and space technology (about which I'm by no means an expert) is horribly out of date. If you're the type of person who is unable to suspend disbelief, this book will probably annoy you.
However, if you can get past that, The Season of Passage is definitely worth the read. It's not really science fiction, although there are many science fiction elements. This is really a horror story. It's a creepy, claustrophobic, tense horror story, and I loved it.
Christopher Pike chose not to update this book (possibly because it's marketed for adults, and apparently publishers think only teenagers are too dumb to understand that cell phones didn't always exist) so the information about Mars and space technology (about which I'm by no means an expert) is horribly out of date. If you're the type of person who is unable to suspend disbelief, this book will probably annoy you.
However, if you can get past that, The Season of Passage is definitely worth the read. It's not really science fiction, although there are many science fiction elements. This is really a horror story. It's a creepy, claustrophobic, tense horror story, and I loved it.
January 9, 2015
(Excerpt from my review at Forever Young Adult.)
You guys, this book makes NO FUCKING SENSE. I mean, it DOES, in that I have written out what happens to the best of my ability but I think whoever edited this thing was VERY VERY HIGH ON LSD. Because it is really just a terribly written and edited book. It skips around; it doesn't explain things, and half of the scenes just sort of start in the middle of a conversation. I was either too drunk or not drunk enough for this book. I still don't know.
(Read the full review here)
You guys, this book makes NO FUCKING SENSE. I mean, it DOES, in that I have written out what happens to the best of my ability but I think whoever edited this thing was VERY VERY HIGH ON LSD. Because it is really just a terribly written and edited book. It skips around; it doesn't explain things, and half of the scenes just sort of start in the middle of a conversation. I was either too drunk or not drunk enough for this book. I still don't know.
(Read the full review here)
November 22, 2017
I first read this book when I was 12 or 13, that was over 10 years ago, and it was one of the books that started my love of reading. I'm glad I enjoyed it still after all this time. A theme I've always loved was in this book, life being a circle, and it's nice to know that started at such a young age, I somehow always find myself reading books about it without even being aware ahead of time it'll be mentioned, and I like that synchronicity.
April 3, 2025
I loved the emotional and intelligent connection between the sisters, which, although was enhanced by the magic of a ring, was already established enough for the younger sibling to understand her sister's journey away from her.
the author does an amazing job of showing this and portrays quite beautifully how the imagination can link two lives and the fate that awaits them.
much more than a horror. This is a journey of souls and the power they have on the people in our lives.
a great tale, but not quite a unique trip. Hence the loss of half a star.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟
the author does an amazing job of showing this and portrays quite beautifully how the imagination can link two lives and the fate that awaits them.
much more than a horror. This is a journey of souls and the power they have on the people in our lives.
a great tale, but not quite a unique trip. Hence the loss of half a star.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟
August 20, 2023
Pubblicato da Christopher Pike nel 1992, è il suo secondo libro per adulti. Pike infatti è un po’ lo Stephen King della narrativa per ragazzi: al suo attivo ha decine e decine di romanzi Young Adult, in larga parte dell’orrore.
L’ho letto in inglese, perché non esiste in italiano, ma l’ho trovato linguisticamente semplice, scorreva quasi tutto come se non fosse in un’altra lingua (di solito evito di leggere degli interi romanzi in inglese, per non complicarmi la vita).
Ha senza dubbio i suoi difetti, di cui tra poco parlerò, però nel complesso l’ho trovato immensamente affascinante anche così com’è. Teniamo a mente che è del 1992. Oggi abbiamo visto e rivisto certe situazioni soprattutto al cinema, ma all’epoca erano meno ovvie.
SPOILER ALERT
Certo, è derivativo: il suo tema dei vampiri spaziali è messo in scena per molti versi grazie ad atmosfere che sono un misto di Alien e La cosa. C’è poi anche un’ispirazione lovecraftiana che avevo già incontrato nella sua narrativa per ragazzi, tant’è che questo romanzo comunque ha parecchio in comune negli spunti con Monster e L’ultimo vampiro. Cambia l’esecuzione, al punto che The Season of Passage è in larga parte un’espansione dovuta: il formato Young Adult a volte va proprio stretto alle belle idee di Pike. Qui si prende tutto il tempo per svilupparle, a tratti in modo affascinante, a volte invece in maniera esageratamente verbosa.
Comunque su certi aspetti m’è sembrato anche in anticipo sui tempi, quasi come se poi un certo cinema, sempre derivativo soprattutto riguardo ad Alien, si fosse anche ispirato a questo romanzo di Pike.
Nonostante il riferimento primario sia l’horror di fantascienza (comunque soprattutto horror), c’è anche una dimensione tipica di Pike che si può definire di dark fantasy. Pike ama creare una dimensione mitologica creando backstory ancestrali che sprofondano nell’antichità. In questo caso, supera se stesso con una cosmogonia interplanetaria che si svela poco per volta. C’è un giardino dell’Eden, ci sono le sue creature; non ci viene subito spiegato che si tratta alla fin fine dei progenitori degli umani e dei marziani dell’epoca, ora sterminati. Il pianeta rosso infatti è diventato così dopo una guerra tra mondi, tra queste divinità che camminavano sulla terra. C’è una maledizione che aleggia ancora sul pianeta rosso e sui noi umani nel momento in cui ci mettiamo piede. Ci sono anelli conservati nelle viscere delle montagne, non importa su quale pianeta. È tutto suggestivo, specie il dipanarsi di questo clima di maledizione prima attraverso le suggestioni della fase introduttiva sulla Terra, poi venendo al dunque nella parte più horror sci-fi su Marte.
Ci sono delle cose che non funzionano o che funzionano male. Intanto Pike sembra uno che sa montare la storia solo in modo lineare, per cui alla fine qui fa un certo sforzo per intervallarla col mito (come faceva in L’ultimo vampiro, stessa struttura e qualche tratto in comune nei plot point), però tutta la trama presente è snocciolata in maniera un po’ scolastica. Non sempre questo giova al romanzo, che tra l’altro è molto lungo, quasi 600 pagine.
In particolare, funziona malissimo la lunga parte finale dal punto di vista di Terry. La storia dal punto di vista di Lauren si interrompe sul più bello sull’astronave quando anche lei soccombe al vampirismo. Capisco l’idea di mostrare dall’esterno la Lauren trasformata, anche per via delle difficoltà di usare il suo pov a quel punto (ma non è che Pike non l’abbia mai fatto in questo modo, per esempio il finale di Monster). Anzi, a dire il vero ho l’impressione che il pov di Lauren sarebbe stato molto più interessante.
Comunque, un grosso problema del pov di Terry è anche come è stato scritto. Terry indaga e deve realizzare le cose che noi lettori sappiamo benissimo, perché sono 500 pagine che le leggiamo. Per noi la sua indagine è noiosissima, le sue lente realizzazioni non hanno alcun valore letterario e sono solo una perdita di tempo che ammazza il ritmo del romanzo.
Anche lo showdown finale è piuttosto in anticlimax rispetto a tutto il resto. Senza dubbio queste ultime 80 pagine circa sono la parte più debole dell’intero mattone. Ci sono poi varie parti che la tirano esageratamente in lungo, per esempio il rituale di Kratine nella montagna, che sembra una scena da una specie di telenovela pulp con dialoghi discutibili. Però appunto, ha un tono talmente camp che alla fine quella parte mi è piaciuta lo stesso, anche se ha alcuni punti che probabilmente Pike poteva scrivere meglio (è una delle scene madre del romanzo).
Il concept dei vampiri spaziali è a sua volta molto pulp, e alla fine gli si vuole bene proprio per quello. Il romanzo mi è piaciuto un sacco, anche coi suoi alti e bassi. È stato a lungo una compagnia in questo inverno 2022/2023.
L’ho letto in inglese, perché non esiste in italiano, ma l’ho trovato linguisticamente semplice, scorreva quasi tutto come se non fosse in un’altra lingua (di solito evito di leggere degli interi romanzi in inglese, per non complicarmi la vita).
Ha senza dubbio i suoi difetti, di cui tra poco parlerò, però nel complesso l’ho trovato immensamente affascinante anche così com’è. Teniamo a mente che è del 1992. Oggi abbiamo visto e rivisto certe situazioni soprattutto al cinema, ma all’epoca erano meno ovvie.
SPOILER ALERT
Certo, è derivativo: il suo tema dei vampiri spaziali è messo in scena per molti versi grazie ad atmosfere che sono un misto di Alien e La cosa. C’è poi anche un’ispirazione lovecraftiana che avevo già incontrato nella sua narrativa per ragazzi, tant’è che questo romanzo comunque ha parecchio in comune negli spunti con Monster e L’ultimo vampiro. Cambia l’esecuzione, al punto che The Season of Passage è in larga parte un’espansione dovuta: il formato Young Adult a volte va proprio stretto alle belle idee di Pike. Qui si prende tutto il tempo per svilupparle, a tratti in modo affascinante, a volte invece in maniera esageratamente verbosa.
Comunque su certi aspetti m’è sembrato anche in anticipo sui tempi, quasi come se poi un certo cinema, sempre derivativo soprattutto riguardo ad Alien, si fosse anche ispirato a questo romanzo di Pike.
Nonostante il riferimento primario sia l’horror di fantascienza (comunque soprattutto horror), c’è anche una dimensione tipica di Pike che si può definire di dark fantasy. Pike ama creare una dimensione mitologica creando backstory ancestrali che sprofondano nell’antichità. In questo caso, supera se stesso con una cosmogonia interplanetaria che si svela poco per volta. C’è un giardino dell’Eden, ci sono le sue creature; non ci viene subito spiegato che si tratta alla fin fine dei progenitori degli umani e dei marziani dell’epoca, ora sterminati. Il pianeta rosso infatti è diventato così dopo una guerra tra mondi, tra queste divinità che camminavano sulla terra. C’è una maledizione che aleggia ancora sul pianeta rosso e sui noi umani nel momento in cui ci mettiamo piede. Ci sono anelli conservati nelle viscere delle montagne, non importa su quale pianeta. È tutto suggestivo, specie il dipanarsi di questo clima di maledizione prima attraverso le suggestioni della fase introduttiva sulla Terra, poi venendo al dunque nella parte più horror sci-fi su Marte.
Ci sono delle cose che non funzionano o che funzionano male. Intanto Pike sembra uno che sa montare la storia solo in modo lineare, per cui alla fine qui fa un certo sforzo per intervallarla col mito (come faceva in L’ultimo vampiro, stessa struttura e qualche tratto in comune nei plot point), però tutta la trama presente è snocciolata in maniera un po’ scolastica. Non sempre questo giova al romanzo, che tra l’altro è molto lungo, quasi 600 pagine.
In particolare, funziona malissimo la lunga parte finale dal punto di vista di Terry. La storia dal punto di vista di Lauren si interrompe sul più bello sull’astronave quando anche lei soccombe al vampirismo. Capisco l’idea di mostrare dall’esterno la Lauren trasformata, anche per via delle difficoltà di usare il suo pov a quel punto (ma non è che Pike non l’abbia mai fatto in questo modo, per esempio il finale di Monster). Anzi, a dire il vero ho l’impressione che il pov di Lauren sarebbe stato molto più interessante.
Comunque, un grosso problema del pov di Terry è anche come è stato scritto. Terry indaga e deve realizzare le cose che noi lettori sappiamo benissimo, perché sono 500 pagine che le leggiamo. Per noi la sua indagine è noiosissima, le sue lente realizzazioni non hanno alcun valore letterario e sono solo una perdita di tempo che ammazza il ritmo del romanzo.
Anche lo showdown finale è piuttosto in anticlimax rispetto a tutto il resto. Senza dubbio queste ultime 80 pagine circa sono la parte più debole dell’intero mattone. Ci sono poi varie parti che la tirano esageratamente in lungo, per esempio il rituale di Kratine nella montagna, che sembra una scena da una specie di telenovela pulp con dialoghi discutibili. Però appunto, ha un tono talmente camp che alla fine quella parte mi è piaciuta lo stesso, anche se ha alcuni punti che probabilmente Pike poteva scrivere meglio (è una delle scene madre del romanzo).
Il concept dei vampiri spaziali è a sua volta molto pulp, e alla fine gli si vuole bene proprio per quello. Il romanzo mi è piaciuto un sacco, anche coi suoi alti e bassi. È stato a lungo una compagnia in questo inverno 2022/2023.
July 10, 2014
Before continuing, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXBBGj...
This is how I'd describe Season of Passage. The writing was just... my god. What the fuck? This 400 page tome is just bristling with corny gems: "I can't leave Michael for the medics to find. He might wake up in the morgue later and bite off someone else's balls."
WHAT?! Is this book for real? I've never seen a book that had a decent idea propelled by such weird execution. So much of this book spoon feeds you what just happened, and spends pages going over minor developments. So much so that I'd say maybe 40% of this book was necessary to the story.
The first hundred pages were so slow. It just gives a run down of the crew and other characters with each getting a 5 - 10 page description along with some background to the purpose of the mission. Then it stops. Then book 2. In apropos of absolutely nothing it starts with some fantasy story which turns out to be written by Lauren's sister, Jennifer. It is an obvious framing device for Lauren's voyage and the grander narrative. And Pike liberally uses this for the last 100 pages of the book.
Bad lines aside (though they appear consistently throughout), the middle two hundred pages were fun. Over the top horror, action and intrigue mix together to make for some entertaining reading. Think the movie Alien meets... well, I don't know what.
But then the last hundred pages. My God, what a brutally tedious experience. It just goes over the motives all parties had for everything that happened so far. The Jennifer mystery comes together in an unsatisfying deus ex machina and it just ends of being total ass.
Overall, Season of Passage oscillates between being kind of cool to just unspeakably cheesy. In the last quarter of the novel it proved to be nearly too much for me. It ends unengaging and boring and the tedious style with the mutilated similes, figures of speech and whatever else were just grim.
I'm surprised I finished it, seeing as how it is just too long and not that great.
Also, a fair number of people reviewing this seem to be a bit older and do so retrospectively. This book might've been awesome when you're 13 - 15, but now, I don't know.
This is how I'd describe Season of Passage. The writing was just... my god. What the fuck? This 400 page tome is just bristling with corny gems: "I can't leave Michael for the medics to find. He might wake up in the morgue later and bite off someone else's balls."
WHAT?! Is this book for real? I've never seen a book that had a decent idea propelled by such weird execution. So much of this book spoon feeds you what just happened, and spends pages going over minor developments. So much so that I'd say maybe 40% of this book was necessary to the story.
The first hundred pages were so slow. It just gives a run down of the crew and other characters with each getting a 5 - 10 page description along with some background to the purpose of the mission. Then it stops. Then book 2. In apropos of absolutely nothing it starts with some fantasy story which turns out to be written by Lauren's sister, Jennifer. It is an obvious framing device for Lauren's voyage and the grander narrative. And Pike liberally uses this for the last 100 pages of the book.
Bad lines aside (though they appear consistently throughout), the middle two hundred pages were fun. Over the top horror, action and intrigue mix together to make for some entertaining reading. Think the movie Alien meets... well, I don't know what.
But then the last hundred pages. My God, what a brutally tedious experience. It just goes over the motives all parties had for everything that happened so far. The Jennifer mystery comes together in an unsatisfying deus ex machina and it just ends of being total ass.
Overall, Season of Passage oscillates between being kind of cool to just unspeakably cheesy. In the last quarter of the novel it proved to be nearly too much for me. It ends unengaging and boring and the tedious style with the mutilated similes, figures of speech and whatever else were just grim.
I'm surprised I finished it, seeing as how it is just too long and not that great.
Also, a fair number of people reviewing this seem to be a bit older and do so retrospectively. This book might've been awesome when you're 13 - 15, but now, I don't know.
March 16, 2008
First of all, I can't believe all of Christopher Pike's books are on here. And that I've read them. And that people are actually reviewing them. He was my jam when I was young. They were for me what mystery novels are for middle-aged housewives. I devoured his books. This is one of his adult offerings, and I loved it. Vampires on Mars. Really, I'm not kidding. I was reading this around the time Under the Pink came out and I spent a lot of time in my room contemplating life and this book and wishing I could somehow go to Mars because it sounded so cool - even the vampire part. Come on, who didn't want to be a vampire at some point in their life? Was I the only one?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2014
There are really only four words you need to hear to understand this book: Lizard vampires from Mars. I'm sure those of you of a certain age range will remember Christopher Pike from his popular young adult horror novels that graced every book store the nation over during a time period. This was the second of his "adult" works, and boy is it batshit insane.
This is the story of Dr. Lauren Wagner, a medical doctor who is taken on a trip to the fourth rock from the sun despite being the most irresponsible and incompetent practitioner of medicine ever portrayed in literature. She leaves behind her angelic younger sister Jennifer (spoiler alert: she's actually magic) and her unbearable alcoholic, passively misogynistic, hack-writer fiance Terry. Taking this journey into space with her is Jim "wise old mentor type", Gary "Ken doll turned astronaut", Bill "I'm the captain of the ship", and Jesse "I'm black". They are sent on their noble trek to the stars by the U.S. government after a Russian team went there and never came back. Mystery shrouds the disappearance of the Russian team and thus the U.S. team is only informed of the fact that there MIGHT BE ALIENS THERE YOU GUYS directly before take off. Turns out there is in fact life of a sort on Mars but it's Lizard Vampires From Mars.
The science that is portrayed in this book in regards to the technology used and the characteristics of space / Mars is so amazingly unbelievable / inaccurate so as to add a layer of insane to a tapestry of illogic that hardly even seems possible. Pike really reached for the golden ring on this one. What type of insane, might you ask? Let's just say that nuclear bombs, magic rings, Martian tidal waves and volcanoes, and novels about sentient cockroaches all get their time in the sun before you're halfway into this opus.
Long story short, this is one of the pulpiest, hackiest, off the wall novels ever written, particularly in that niche market of Lizard Vampires From Mars novels. So obviously I loved every minute of it. Would totally recommend.
This is the story of Dr. Lauren Wagner, a medical doctor who is taken on a trip to the fourth rock from the sun despite being the most irresponsible and incompetent practitioner of medicine ever portrayed in literature. She leaves behind her angelic younger sister Jennifer (spoiler alert: she's actually magic) and her unbearable alcoholic, passively misogynistic, hack-writer fiance Terry. Taking this journey into space with her is Jim "wise old mentor type", Gary "Ken doll turned astronaut", Bill "I'm the captain of the ship", and Jesse "I'm black". They are sent on their noble trek to the stars by the U.S. government after a Russian team went there and never came back. Mystery shrouds the disappearance of the Russian team and thus the U.S. team is only informed of the fact that there MIGHT BE ALIENS THERE YOU GUYS directly before take off. Turns out there is in fact life of a sort on Mars but it's Lizard Vampires From Mars.
The science that is portrayed in this book in regards to the technology used and the characteristics of space / Mars is so amazingly unbelievable / inaccurate so as to add a layer of insane to a tapestry of illogic that hardly even seems possible. Pike really reached for the golden ring on this one. What type of insane, might you ask? Let's just say that nuclear bombs, magic rings, Martian tidal waves and volcanoes, and novels about sentient cockroaches all get their time in the sun before you're halfway into this opus.
Long story short, this is one of the pulpiest, hackiest, off the wall novels ever written, particularly in that niche market of Lizard Vampires From Mars novels. So obviously I loved every minute of it. Would totally recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2014
This book lost points because of a few issues.
1- The second story, of the aliens. This is basically a slow moving, creepy sci-fi tale, but it alternates with a fast paced fantasy tale with a totally different tone and feel. While I appreciate the importance of that tale, Pike could have introduced the backstory totally differently, perhaps having the astronauts discover it from artifacts on Mars, or even Terry discovering it from some research on Earth. The second story completely took me out the book. Frankly, if it were removed completely the novel would not lose a thing.
2- The Professor's tale of finding the ring in India. This was a totally generic "lost world" story of the kind that has been done the same way for over a century. It was generic and unnecessary.
3- The cave, lake, and island on Mars was much too close to the section of The Hobbit where Bilbo meets Gollum, before Gandalf manages to open the gates to Moria. Pike even seems to recognize it himself, giving a wink to the reader by having one of the astronauts quote that section of The Hobbit.
4- While I found the Mars section genuinely scary and atmospheric, for a book that could be described as "vampires on Mars," there were pretty few vampires on Mars.
1- The second story, of the aliens. This is basically a slow moving, creepy sci-fi tale, but it alternates with a fast paced fantasy tale with a totally different tone and feel. While I appreciate the importance of that tale, Pike could have introduced the backstory totally differently, perhaps having the astronauts discover it from artifacts on Mars, or even Terry discovering it from some research on Earth. The second story completely took me out the book. Frankly, if it were removed completely the novel would not lose a thing.
2- The Professor's tale of finding the ring in India. This was a totally generic "lost world" story of the kind that has been done the same way for over a century. It was generic and unnecessary.
3- The cave, lake, and island on Mars was much too close to the section of The Hobbit where Bilbo meets Gollum, before Gandalf manages to open the gates to Moria. Pike even seems to recognize it himself, giving a wink to the reader by having one of the astronauts quote that section of The Hobbit.
4- While I found the Mars section genuinely scary and atmospheric, for a book that could be described as "vampires on Mars," there were pretty few vampires on Mars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2010
A truly dreadful book. If you're going to write a sci-fi horror story, the least that should be expected is that you know a little bit about science, and a tiny bit about horror. The 'science' bits of the book are utterly hilarious, the kind of comical nonsense that a 13 year old failing science would find amusingly bad. But they shine, compared to the 'horror' aspect. Utterly predictable, completely pedestrian and totally ludicrous. I've read some bad sci fi, and some completely awful horror in my time, but this book marked a new low. I understand that Pike started as a kids author, all I can say is I hope he's better at that, because this book was painfully bad. The worst book I've read this year, by a country mile, the only good thing about it is that I got it from a charity shop for 50p. And that was 50p too much, actually. I really cannot believe that anyone has a good word to say about it, because it really is truly awful.
January 31, 2011
Wow, 20 years ago (holy cow, that was painful to type!) this was the first book to scare the bejeezus out of me. I had voraciously consumed all of Christopher Pike's tween-thrillers up to this point, but my palette wasn't quite prepared for the depth of creepy/scary flavor that Season of Passage contained. I remember reading about 80% of the book, then arriving at a convenient chapter break and hiding the book at the bottom of my underwear drawer. I think I finally finished it 2 or 3 years later.
I have a terrible memory for plots, titles, and the like, but "Seasons of Passage by Christopher Pike scared the pants off me!" is a sentiment I've been able to retain for two decades. This is definitely one for me to reread as an adult, if I can work the courage up. I still get that totally creeped out feeling just thinking about it.
I have a terrible memory for plots, titles, and the like, but "Seasons of Passage by Christopher Pike scared the pants off me!" is a sentiment I've been able to retain for two decades. This is definitely one for me to reread as an adult, if I can work the courage up. I still get that totally creeped out feeling just thinking about it.
April 16, 2021
I bought this book when it first came out in 1993 at a local bookstore (now closed;The Times Bookstore at Yow Chuan Plaza,KL Malaysia) I was 17 years old. I’m 45 now and Christopher Pike is still my all time favorite author,this particular book is my number 1 horror/sci-fi list,it’s well written(despite what others think) and the plot is absolutely amazing and one of a kind,very unique indeed,good news for me and other fans of this book,a movie is in the making!! I’m so very exited for this,I just hope the makers will do the book justice,Christopher Pike will be producing and let us just hope he has a hand in writing the script as well,no spoilers here but if you’ve never read this book,please give it a chance,it’s really good.
April 22, 2017
I don't like to tell people the plot of this book because "lizard vampires from Mars sabotage space mission to invade Earth" sounds silly, in retrospect. However, in true Pike fashion, the story really does suck you in. There's a little mysticism, some philosophy, lots of weird stuff, a couple stock characters with quirky personality traits, and it's a fun ride. I enjoy it as a piece of crazy science fiction, and I'll always keep a copy on my shelf.
June 25, 2024
reread bc i heard through the grapevine that mike flanagan was in the process of adapting this. like excuse me, “the haunting of Hill house” mike?? weeeell lemme tell y’all this now, this is gonna absolutely SLAP when it’s on screen like all that stuff that happens on mars?! fuck yes!
January 11, 2010
VAMPIRES LIVE ON MARS, AND THEY WANT TO KILL YOU.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2014
Starts of well but gradually collapses under it's own weight like a jelly made with an overly large mould.
August 20, 2018
Someday I want to go to Mars and see the canals and be eaten by the demon vampire lizards from hell.
i have Goals.
i have Goals.
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