Justin Cronin's The Passage - Instant Classic or Derivative Tome?

I read The Passage this weekend and while I was reading it, I felt that I was reading a book that would become a classic in the genre. After finishing, I have a couple of doubts, mostly because the publisher requested that it be a trilogy rather than the author conceiving it as a multi-volume work and I am worried that it might weaken over the next volumes.

And, there are echoes or more kindly homages from every conceivable post-apocalyptic work you care to name. Structurally the work borrows from A Canticle for Liebowtiz and The Handmaid's Tale and borrows plot and theme from The Stand, Earth Abides, Swan Song and I am Legend. I hope this is because Cronin is a long time reader of the genre and put in all of the things he loved, but the things borrowed seem less digested and more researched.

I loved this while I was reading it and recommend it as a great read, but as I am thinking about it, there were a few things that bothered me. What did others think? Is anyone else reading it?

I do like some dystopian fiction, but this one doesn't do much for me...the fate of humankind resting in the hands of one vulnerable girl...eh.

I really really liked the first and last thirds of the book. The middle third almost ruined it however, since I nearly set it aside. One big problem is that I can't see where he's going with the story that he hasn't already been... but then I'm not a post-apocalyptic author, heh. Looking forward to volume 2 and predicting a movie deal etc.

#3 - Now that is an interesting point, that there isn't anywhere to go that he hasn't already gone, which may explain my unease that this should have been one book and structured a bit differently to finish it in one volume. After all, it seems that Peter and Amy are going to hunt the other twelve virals, which we have already seen with Babcock. The only one of the twelve who might be interesting is Carter, who was a good person, the others with the exception of Fanning are convincts.

And then we have the rebuilding of human society, which we have seen and the final explanation of the society a thousand years into the future. Cronin is a good enough writer to make this readable, but I'm not certain that this will fill two more volumes in a way that matters.

Either way on this, you've caught my interest. I'll likely check it out when I see it. I have an odd liking for post-apocalyptic dystopias. Well, by like, I don't mean enjoy, so much as find them fascinating and get a good thrill out of them.

I listened to it on audio and thought it would never end. Thought it could benefit from some serious editing. It rambled, it roamed, it went off on tangents.... got very tired of the fat lady.

And I am a little jaded by the idea of the one little girl... I mean, come on.

I received this book as an ARC from Early Reviewers. I almost put it down early; I struggled getting into the book. I did keep reading and enjoyed it.

I think the length is a problem based on the content. The same story could have been told in a shorter volume.