I have a trilogy finale for you today...a long awaited finale! I reviewed book two, The Twelve over two years ago. The Passage kicked off this wild and treacherous ride, read on to find out how I felt when it all came to an end with The City of Mirrors.
Publisher: Ballantine Books and Random House Audio
Release Date: May 24, 2016
Format: MP3
Pages: 598 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 29.5 hours
Narrator: Scott Brick
Source: Library Borrow
Genre: Fantasy/Post Apocalyptic/Dystopia/Horror
Review Date: July 6, 2016
Rating: 4 bookmarks
Synopsis: In "The Passage" and "The Twelve", Justin Cronin brilliantly imagined the fall of civilization and humanity's desperate fight to survive. Now all is quiet on the horizon but does silence promise the nightmare's end or the second coming of unspeakable darkness? At last, this bestselling epic races to its breathtaking finale.
"The world we knew is gone. What world will rise in its place?"
The Twelve have been destroyed and the hundred-year reign of darkness that descended upon the world has ended. The survivors are stepping outside their walls, determined to build society anew and daring to dream of a hopeful future.
But far from them, in a dead metropolis, he waits: Zero. The First. Father of the Twelve. The anguish that shattered his human life haunts him, and the hatred spawned by his transformation burns bright. His fury will be quenched only when he destroys Amy – humanity's only hope, the Girl from Nowhere who grew up to rise against him.
One last time light and dark will clash, and at last Amy and her friends will know their fate.
Release Date: May 24, 2016
Format: MP3
Pages: 598 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 29.5 hours
Narrator: Scott Brick
Source: Library Borrow
Genre: Fantasy/Post Apocalyptic/Dystopia/Horror
Review Date: July 6, 2016
Rating: 4 bookmarks
Synopsis: In "The Passage" and "The Twelve", Justin Cronin brilliantly imagined the fall of civilization and humanity's desperate fight to survive. Now all is quiet on the horizon but does silence promise the nightmare's end or the second coming of unspeakable darkness? At last, this bestselling epic races to its breathtaking finale.
"The world we knew is gone. What world will rise in its place?"
The Twelve have been destroyed and the hundred-year reign of darkness that descended upon the world has ended. The survivors are stepping outside their walls, determined to build society anew and daring to dream of a hopeful future.
But far from them, in a dead metropolis, he waits: Zero. The First. Father of the Twelve. The anguish that shattered his human life haunts him, and the hatred spawned by his transformation burns bright. His fury will be quenched only when he destroys Amy – humanity's only hope, the Girl from Nowhere who grew up to rise against him.
One last time light and dark will clash, and at last Amy and her friends will know their fate.
The story picks up about 20 years after the end of The Twelve. I found it pretty interesting what happened to all of our major characters from the previous installments. Amy, Peter, Michael, Alicia, Hollis, and more. We get to see some of the babies from the previous books as adults with their own families and kids. We got to get a glimpse of the rebuilding of society. After they've been lulled into a false sense of security, the world thought that the Virals were a thing of the past and long gone. Are they? Of course not. Nothing's that easy.
We find out what's happened in the time that's passed through a story that is laid out in a way that's similar to a Bible as something similar. The story of what happened with a Amy after taking out the Twelve and what happened shortly after are expressed in the form of a historical document.
|
|
Where has Amy been this whole time? What about Anthony? We get answers to those questions. We find out how Amy, again - saves the world. Of course everyone has their hand in it. Michael thinks he's doing the right thing, Peter thinks he's doing the right thing, as does Alicia, and everyone else. The good thing is no one wants to give up. Everyone wants to save what's left of humanity. That's commendable. How does it all unfold? Well you'll need to read it to find out for yourself!
What was new, and unexpected, was that we got a really in-depth look at Zero's history. We find out what kind of person he was as a child, as a teen, and as an adult. We find out what pushes his buttons and what made him be the person he is today as a Vampire. We learn how he was infected, what happened following the infection, and how the twelve were created and his role in all of it. For a while, I actually felt a little sorry for Zero, and then not so much. He's not a good person. He wasn't then, and he isn't now. Of course Zero, is more than one would expect and because of that I think I enjoyed his sections most of all. I enjoy a good villain sometimes.
The story flashes forward and back in segments of time. Sometimes we go forward a few years, at the end as much as 900 years. Some times we go back to the beginning. It's an epic tale, but with all of the time jumps, I do wonder if this book could have been cut down by about 100 pages. The story had its peaks and valleys. Things seems to drag a bit time to time during the valleys.
I listened to this on audiobook for two reasons. First because I wanted to follow the same format as I did in the previous books. Second because I really enjoyed Scott Brick's narration of the first two books in the trilogy. Brick provided a stellar performance, as expected Narrating a story with so many characters must have been pretty difficult. Anyone that can narrate a story as complex as this and not lean on a full cast, is just amazing. It's difficult for many men to perform an iteration of a woman's voice, let alone several women. Brick does this with ease and I fully buy the characters as he delivers them. He also has a fantastic cadence. I'm really able to form an image of the scenes in my mind as the plot developed. I'd listen to even more audiobooks with Scott Brick as the narrator. The production value of this audiobook was well done also. No gaps, no awkward pauses, etc.
When it was all said and done, I liked the book a lot. I didn't like what happened to Peter and I kind of didn't like what happened to Amy either. It was a sad ending. Hopeful, but sad. It seems really unfair that after saving the world that her life would play out in that manner. Regardless, I did like the fact that all of the loose ends are tied up and we knew what the future held for the world. If you enjoyed books one and two, you really should finish out the trilogy. I believe that seeing how it all ends is worth it.
Did you read City of Mirrors? What did you think? If not, you need to get this onto your TBR (to be read) list stat! Especially in audiobook format.
Happy Reading and Listening,
~Tamara
What was new, and unexpected, was that we got a really in-depth look at Zero's history. We find out what kind of person he was as a child, as a teen, and as an adult. We find out what pushes his buttons and what made him be the person he is today as a Vampire. We learn how he was infected, what happened following the infection, and how the twelve were created and his role in all of it. For a while, I actually felt a little sorry for Zero, and then not so much. He's not a good person. He wasn't then, and he isn't now. Of course Zero, is more than one would expect and because of that I think I enjoyed his sections most of all. I enjoy a good villain sometimes.
The story flashes forward and back in segments of time. Sometimes we go forward a few years, at the end as much as 900 years. Some times we go back to the beginning. It's an epic tale, but with all of the time jumps, I do wonder if this book could have been cut down by about 100 pages. The story had its peaks and valleys. Things seems to drag a bit time to time during the valleys.
I listened to this on audiobook for two reasons. First because I wanted to follow the same format as I did in the previous books. Second because I really enjoyed Scott Brick's narration of the first two books in the trilogy. Brick provided a stellar performance, as expected Narrating a story with so many characters must have been pretty difficult. Anyone that can narrate a story as complex as this and not lean on a full cast, is just amazing. It's difficult for many men to perform an iteration of a woman's voice, let alone several women. Brick does this with ease and I fully buy the characters as he delivers them. He also has a fantastic cadence. I'm really able to form an image of the scenes in my mind as the plot developed. I'd listen to even more audiobooks with Scott Brick as the narrator. The production value of this audiobook was well done also. No gaps, no awkward pauses, etc.
When it was all said and done, I liked the book a lot. I didn't like what happened to Peter and I kind of didn't like what happened to Amy either. It was a sad ending. Hopeful, but sad. It seems really unfair that after saving the world that her life would play out in that manner. Regardless, I did like the fact that all of the loose ends are tied up and we knew what the future held for the world. If you enjoyed books one and two, you really should finish out the trilogy. I believe that seeing how it all ends is worth it.
Did you read City of Mirrors? What did you think? If not, you need to get this onto your TBR (to be read) list stat! Especially in audiobook format.
Happy Reading and Listening,
~Tamara
Get the Kindle version here:
| Get the Audible version here:
| Get the Audible version here:
