The Twelve (Book Two of The Passage Trilogy): A Novel (edition 2012)

Amazing, even though I liked 'the passage' more (and usually I prefer the second book). The beginning felt a bit disjointed, all the stories of year zero events/people. Only later would we discover the reason for some of those stories. The last half was the best, and I can't wait for the last book. ( )

I felt like I waited half a lifetime for this to be released and I'll admit, I'm pretty damn disappointed. The Passage blew me away and is one of my all-time favorites/ The Passage really took some patience and focus because Justin Cronin's writing is so intricately detailed that it's incredibly easy to miss something important but it was SO worth it. It all began with several individual story lines that had no apparent relation with one another but as time progressed they started to intersect with one another to form one hugely multi-faceted story. The Twelve brings that writing style back into the spotlight with a new array of characters and new storylines.

There were such an immense amount of characters and intersecting storylines from The Passage that I was more than a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to understand what was going on in The Twelve. Fortunately, we're given a refresher in the form of biblical writings from "The Book of Twelves". I thought that the way it was done in the prologue was sheer genius. (Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical at first by the biblical approach he took and continued to take throughout the extent of the book. It threw me a bit but Justin Cronin is a genius and it managed to work out.)

It's strange though, because if you really think about it the original story line from The Passage was solely focused on government conspiracies and the creation of a virus that went completely wrong and was unleashed on the world after the virus was given to death-row-inmates. In The Twelve, the story is centered around a city where individuals are utilizing vampire blood in order to achieve immortality. A far cry from the original story, which was a bit of a disappointment because I would have loved to find out more about the original Twelve.

The main difference for me between The Passage and The Twelve is how the multiple storylines inevitably intersected. With The Passage it was seamless and once everything came together there was the big 'Ahhh' moment where everything was clear and the light bulb went on. For me, I think when the 'Ahhh' moment was intended to happen my reaction was more along the lines of 'Uh... I still don't get it.' Completely riveting story lines, complex and detailed to the max, but ultimately lacked in coming full circle and left me with far too many questions than answers.

The City of Mirrors, the final installment, isn't due out for 2 years but I will of course be reading it. I'm hoping that questions are finally answered and aren't left as they have been: a bunch of hypothetical possibilities.

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Update 3/8/2012: Checkout the new EW Magazine tomorrow for a brand new excerpt from The Twelve!

Preview of 'The Twelve' available here:

http://www.hachette.com.au/downloads/titleresources/9780752883304/Sneak peek at Justin Cronin's next book, The Twelve.pdf ( )

I read and enjoyed The Passage, the first book in the series, although I thought it was a little long. I didn't enjoy The Twelve. The story was all over the place, with too many characters. It was hard to follow what was going on. It was also about 200 pages too long in my opinion. There were several times where I almost gave up on the book, but I continued, hoping it would get better. It never did. ( )

Well, what a fascinating book! Part fantasy, part science fiction, part vampire, part adventure. And beautifully written, some parts quite poetic. Cronin has a lovely and unobtrusive way with words. It's an easy read, but a fulfilling one.
The cast of characters is a bit of a labyrinth sometimes. I had to flick back 50 pages occasionally to remember how some character connected with their back story. Surprisingly, this didn't seem to be a problem as I found that pressing on soon allowed me to pick up the threads. Some of this is intentional on Cronin's part. He often begins a new episode with a vague opening along the lines of "she woke to a crushing headache" and it will take a dozen lines before you work out who "she" might be, or the reason for her headache. I didn't mind this. He gives the reader the respect that we like to use our brains while reading.
There's lots of bloody action and not a few convenient resolutions assisted by the fantastic world in which, at authorial whim, anything can happen. It's in the nature of this kind of writing, and I didn't object.
I have not read "The Passage", the earlier book in what promises to be a trilogy, but the lack of that did not detract. ( )

Not as captivating as The Passage and the storyline was a little disjointed. Still, I liked The Passage enough to continue with the series. ( )