The Twelve: a sequel better than the first!

[Karen]

I loved this book, even more than The Passage (which I enjoyed very much). My previous criticism of The Passage had been that I thought it was too long and needed a structural edit. But it didn't take long into book 2 to figure out that the structure of the 1st book made a lot of sense in retrospect.

I started The Twelve assuming it was the 2nd in a trilogy, or possibly even longer series. At the point I started reading last night (about 150 pages to go), the way things were going I began to think that the story might end with this one. But no. There's obviously more to come.

So, on the one hand I'm glad that there will be a third book ... but on the other I'm not pleased I have to wait until 2014!

This was also a book I was very happy to have in hard copy as opposed to ebook. In addition to several maps, there's also a dramatis personae list that's handy to be able to refer to -- and I just find that sort of flipping easier with a paper book.

I highly recommend this one for fans of post-apocalyptic lit. Less so for those expecting vampire lit -- there are creatures that share some characteristics with vampires, but not the things that vampire lovers tend to love. Just sayin'.

BTW, there's an excellent and extremely creative recap of The Passage at the beginning of The Twelve, so although reading The Passage first obviously makes the most sense, it is actually possible to dive straight into The Twelve.

[LindaJ^]

I wouldn't recommend diving into The Twelve without having read The Passage! While I appreciated the mini-recap, it merely triggered memories of what had happened, so that I did not have to revisit The Passage. I thought The Twelve was good, but not as good as The Passage. I do hate having to wait until 2014 to find out how Zero is dealt with!