From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…

I loved Part I (The Worst Dream in the World) -- if it had stood alone I'd have given it 5 stars easily. The first part deals with the time before (which I swear I've heard used in another book, but it escapes me wh

I loved Part I (The Worst Dream in the World) -- if it had stood alone I'd have given it 5 stars easily. The first part deals with the time before (which I swear I've heard used in another book, but it escapes me which one it was). This is where we meet Amy, who is supposed to be our protagonist. Amy's mother had a bit of a rough life (understatement) and dropped her off at a convent when it became clear she was in more trouble than she could get out of. And then all hell breaks loose. Amy, it transpires, is a special child. She becomes even more special when the government gets a hold of her and injects her with an experimental virus. We learn through other perspectives that the government is gathering death row inmates for some sort of experiment. This is where Agent Brad Wolgast comes in. From the description, it seemed as though Wolgast would be a central character, but he disappears a little less than halfway through the book (or so it seems). Wolgast takes a liking to Amy because she reminds him of his own daughter, who died in infancy. Through his interactions with Amy, Wolgast begins to question the ethics of the experiment, and what it could mean for humanity.

What is the experiment? Just the creation of vampires. We get a few excerpts of letters from a research expedition to Africa (I really hope this plot is expounded upon in The Twelve, but I doubt it) that seems to point towards the virus's origins. But Wolgast and his partner travel all over the country, finding death row inmates who are good candidates to join the experiment -- no family, no ties to the outside world, no one to miss them. Each inmate is injected with a new form of the virus -- they're all vampires (although strangely they're rarely called that; most characters refer to them as "virals"), but it's hinted that they are all slightly different. Amy is injected with the most updated form of the virus, and though she exhibits vampire-like qualities -- including an aversion to sunlight -- it's clear that she's the endgame. However, the purpose of reaching said endgame is never clarified, because not long after Amy's injection, the vampires escape and the virus begins to spread. Much like "traditional" vampires, they can make others of their kind by biting humans. Wolgast is able to escape with Amy into the mountains, where he keeps the world at bay for a time, but it's clear that the virus is spreading, and the world will soon be a very different place.

Then we're abruptly dumped about 90 years into the future, with no sign of Amy for a few hundred pages. The world of The Colony reminded me forcibly of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, especially since Cronin's vampires are fairly zombie-like. The Colony has existed since the virus made its spread from the compound in Colorado (where the virals were created) to the west coast. Families were put into train cars and basically whoever survived the trip to the compound got to stay there forever. Though there are walls all around and lights all night, it's clear that this happy utopian stasis can't last forever.

In the Colony we meet an entirely new cast of characters -- Peter, the defacto protagonist; Alicia, a tomboy who has essentially raised herself; Michael, a "circuit" or electrical engineer who is responsible for keeping the lights on; Sara, his sister and a nurse; Maus, as tough as Alicia but hiding a pregnancy; and a whole host of other players, including wise old sage Auntie, who has been around since the Time Before and remembers what life used to be like. I had a hard time keeping the cast straight once we arrived in the Colony. The politics of this made-up society just did not interest me, so I did some hardcore skimming in the early Colony chapters. Eventually, the major complications arise -- Peter's brother Theo is missing, and the batteries that have kept the lights on for 90 years are about to run out. The major cast go on an expedition, first to the power station, and ultimately out into the world, after the arrival of a mysterious little girl and a night of viral attacks.

The little girl, of course, is Amy. She leads them into the world, which it turns out does exist behind the walls of Pleasantville the Colony. We learn about a few different societies -- those that fight the virals and those that appear to honor them -- before the group eventually closes in on its goal.

This is incredibly muddled and nonsensical. Suffice it to say, the plot is complicated. Breaking it down is difficult, especially since, as I said at the beginning, it reads like two separate books. I felt like the Colony chapters, especially at the beginning, were pretty ponderous (unnecessarily so). It was hard to keep the characters straight, and since Cronin dropped so many heavy-handed hints that something wicked this way comes, I was pretty sure most of them were toast anyway. It felt like an awful lot of unnecessary wrenching to get everyone where they needed to be for the Big Journey East. Although I understand that we need some context for the new world before we can start to care about the characters' journey, it was definitely too much, at least for my tastes. I would have rather heard more about what went on behind the scenes at the compound, or what Amy was up to for 90 years.

I do find the concept of the vampire virus to be pretty fascinating. Was it meant to be a military weapon? Were they all supposed to end up like Amy eventually? And what would happen then? Did anyone anticipate the weird telepathy phenomenon? And can all 12 get inside people's heads, or was that just Babcock's specialty? Also, did Vampire Diaries rip off that entire bloodline subplot from this novel? Because it sounds awfully familiar.

I'd say overall I enjoyed this novel. The parts I liked far outweighed the parts I didn't. However, I am almost positive it did not need to be almost 900 pages long (I'm fairly certain I'll be saying the same about 11/22/63 in a few days!). I know it's supposed to be a trilogy, but The Twelve looks significantly shorter. Like half the size. And from what I've read about it, a substantial part seems to focus on the 90 year gap and what Amy and the other virals were doing. So why not write the first book all about Amy? Keep the first 250 pages the same and then continue Amy's story. Then book two could be about the Colony, the journey east, the search for the 12. Book three remains to be seen (maybe there only needs to be one sequel). It reminds me of the 4th and 5th books of A Song of Ice and Fire -- I feel like The Twelve is going to leave out a substantial chunk of somebody's story. And I'm really hoping it includes zero whiny sailors.

Notes from the reread:
I started this back in...March, maybe? My original intention was to read up until the Colony time jump, then skip ahead to The Twelve. I remember being distinctly bored by the Colony the first time around, but for some reason this time it sucked me in. I think it's partially because now I know what's coming in The Twelve -- we WILL hear more about Year Zero and what was happening to the rest of the world while Amy and Wolgast were on the mountain. And the Colony people eventually become important in their own right, so although I did a LOT of skimming up until the big escape scene, I'm glad I didn't skip ahead. It's such a good story, and I had a hard time putting it down.

There's so much that I had forgotten. I remembered Auntie's story about the trains, but I had forgotten about Sara's journal excerpts. Both of which are presented at some conference on "the North American quarantine period." To me, that indicates that the rest of the world didn't get infected. Also, Fanning, the guy from Africa, is Zero, the original viral. I missed that detail on my first read, but this time around I confess to taking notes. This cast of characters is huge, and only gets bigger in the next book. It's Ice & Fire -esque, in a way. (Speaking of which...dear god if that 6th book ever does come out I am going to be SO lost!)

I also forgot that Babcock died at the end of this book. I was convinced that happened in The Twelve. Like, at the end. And I forgot Lacy reappears and that Lear had been with her and also Wolgast shows up. Again, in my head that was the end of the next book. Can't wait to see what else I forgot! Clearly rereading was a wise choice.