The Passage (The Passage, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Jan 27, 2013 Joyce rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1-in-series, vampires, sci-fi, california, colorado

This was a fantastic book. The characters are very fleshed out as the book goes on. There are some loose ends that you want to find out what happened. The time jump in the book was a bit off kilter but later it made some sense why the author did that. I still would like to have that story of the in between time. This is a very different take on the vampire story. Being a made made virus. You could almost see it happening in real life. I'm looking forward to reading the next book. (view spoiler) ...more

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Sep 04, 2011 Serenity rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I really wanted to love this one, I really did! I'd read so many enthusiastic reviews and this book seemed to be right up my alley...but I ended up only moderately enjoying it. I think it had to do with my lack of connection with most of the characters. I am a character-driven reader, but in this book there were SO MANY random characters with so many back stories and most of them ended up being irrelevant for the rest of the book. I felt like I was observing these characters from the outside and I really wanted to love this one, I really did! I'd read so many enthusiastic reviews and this book seemed to be right up my alley...but I ended up only moderately enjoying it. I think it had to do with my lack of connection with most of the characters. I am a character-driven reader, but in this book there were SO MANY random characters with so many back stories and most of them ended up being irrelevant for the rest of the book. I felt like I was observing these characters from the outside and never really felt compelled by them.

The story is basically 3 parts: Before and leading up to the vampire apocalypse, a century after the apocalypse among a pocket of human survivors and their insulated society, and an adventure/quest into the unknown undertaken by Amy and some of the aforementioned human survivors.

Personally, I found the middle bit extremely dull, and it was also the part where Cronin introduced like a bazillion characters with the same last names (small band of survivors and all, a bit of incest probably unavoidable). Was that really necessary? It also didn't help that none of the characters were exactly likable. The only ones I really liked were a few of the adventurers in the latter part of the book.

There was also a random magical nun that made me feel like I was reading a magical realism novel, and then there was Amy The Chosen One With All The Powers And The Knowings and-she's-just-special-accept-it-okay...and then the virus was never satisfactorily explained (its origins, why it affects each person differently, etc), though the beginning of the book leads you to expect a scientific explanation. It's just, science fiction and magic and supernatural and spiritual things all mixed up, and I hear the next book goes really heavily into religious themes, and basically it's all a hot mess in the sense of world-building.

Despite the negative things I said, I gave the book 3 stars because it WAS entertaining. Especially the last section, with the journey/adventure! That was fantastic! I only hope that the next book has less dragging parts and more plot resolution! I swear I have like a million burning questions by the end of book 1... ...more

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Jul 11, 2010 Susan added it

Shelves: science-fiction, fiction, series

I kept putting off reading this not only because it was so long, but because in general I'm not a fan of vampire stories. But this was worth every page, and there were times when I stayed up late into the night because I kept needing to know what happened next.

Besides being a fast-paced thriller, this has a solid overarching plot line and characters that the reader actually cares about. The science that starts it all is a bit sketchy, but once you overlook that, everything makes sense in the co ...more

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