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A review by rodterez07
The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin
4.0
The Passage Trilogy is one of the best SF&F series I've read in recent years. The City Of Mirrors is a fitting - though very bittersweet - ending to the saga. The book opens after the pivotal events of the last novel. The last remnants of humanity believe the threat of the virals (the horrific vampires of this story) is finally gone forever. However, it's not a spoiler to reveal they are not. Humanity's messiah Amy "the girl from nowhere" and our small band of heroes must confront Patient Zero, the very first vampire, in order to secure the salvation of humanity once and for all.
This novel is a tour de force, proving Justin Cronin is one of the brightest new stars on the literary stage. Cronin has an uncanny ability to create richly realized worlds populated with nuanced characters of uncommon depth and complexity. In the novel, we find out the backstory and origins of Patient Zero - who ultimately becomes a figure fitting a Greek tragedy.
However, my praise of the author is also my complaint with the book. Far too often, Cronin gets preoccupied with illustrating just how skilled he is at using prose to paint scenes and character reveries that, though sumptuous, are completely nonessential to the story.
In fact, the last third of the novel is dedicated to introducing superfluous characters who could have been excised without harming the integrity of the plot. Unfortunately, the novel gets bogged down by Cronin's excess, something stricter editing could have addressed.
This is a glaring fault in an otherwise extraordinary novel.
This novel is a tour de force, proving Justin Cronin is one of the brightest new stars on the literary stage. Cronin has an uncanny ability to create richly realized worlds populated with nuanced characters of uncommon depth and complexity. In the novel, we find out the backstory and origins of Patient Zero - who ultimately becomes a figure fitting a Greek tragedy.
However, my praise of the author is also my complaint with the book. Far too often, Cronin gets preoccupied with illustrating just how skilled he is at using prose to paint scenes and character reveries that, though sumptuous, are completely nonessential to the story.
In fact, the last third of the novel is dedicated to introducing superfluous characters who could have been excised without harming the integrity of the plot. Unfortunately, the novel gets bogged down by Cronin's excess, something stricter editing could have addressed.
This is a glaring fault in an otherwise extraordinary novel.