Title: The Twelve (Goodreads)
Author: Justin Cronin
Series: The Passage #2
Published: Hachette, 2012
Pages: 75
Genres: Horror
My Copy: ARC from Publisher
Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)
I recently read The Passage this year so I was lucky I didn’t have to wait as long as everyone else for book two; The Twelve. I was privileged to win an advanced review copy so I need to be careful in reviewing this book without any spoilers. As many people would already know The Twelve continues on with the epic tale that The Passage built. This time we have a whole lot of new characters to read about as they struggle to survive in this nightmarish world of virals.
One of my biggest issues with The Passage is the same issue I’ve had with this book; which is the fact that I really struggled to keep the characters in order. Granted all the characters had a wonderful amount of depth to them but because there are so many characters, it sometimes becomes a struggle keeping up with them. I had to write a list of each character and a bit of information about them just to refer back to and remember key aspects of their story arcs. While in The Twelve the characters seem to travel more as a big group so I didn’t feel like I needed a map and little figures to move around like a war map just to keep track of everyone.
I love the post apocalyptic world the Justin Cronin has created and I found so much joy in returning to the world. He has created this wonderful world full of great characters, tension and action. But he has written these books in such literary way, which sets it apart from most Post-Apocalyptic survival novels. Although these books are bricks and too heavy to hold; they are still well worth reading.
I’m a little worried that I now have to wait till 2014 for the final book in the trilogy, The City of Mirrors. Fans of The Passage, you are in for a treat with The Twelve; just for the joy of going back to the world and continuing the story but also because there are new characters to meet. While I think this book will stand out as a standalone read, I highly recommend you start this book from the beginning. But maybe wait till 2014 so you don’t have to suffer with waiting two years for the next instalment. I hope I haven’t given anything away about the plot away, but if you have read this book already I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
So looking forward to this one, although it will be my fourth really big book in the final few months of the year which is starting to get a bit intimidating!
Hope it’s not as heavy as this ARC because my copy weighs more than the 1500 page books I have on my shelf. *Too heavy to hold*
I’m glad to see a review of this one. Would you say it’s pacier than The Passage? I liked the first half of The Passage but felt the second part was too slow.
I know what you mean but I didn’t notice that as much in The Twelve, I thought it’s faster and more violent .
I read so much high fantasy as a kid, that a large cast of characters doesn’t even phase me anymore. The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan broke me of that pretty damn quickly. I’m so looking forward to this book, I’m glad to see it meets expectations.
I hope to get use to it soon too 🙂
I’ve been meaning to read The Passage but haven’t and this is already out? Maybe I should wait until 2014 to read them all together because if I read one now and have to wait for the next one I get lost and can’t connect with the book again.
It will be out very soon, but wait till 2014 if you can, then read them all 🙂
Thank you for a great review. I agree with you about the many fascinating characters so I re-read The Passage in the week preceding the release of The Twelve to bring me up-to date with them all again. In fact I enjoyed The Passage more the second time around and it made digesting The Twelve a lot easier.
I pulled my character list from The Passage for The Twelve but turned out I didn’t need it
[…] epic story of The Passage continues with The Twelve by Justin Cronin. The two year wait had everyone wondering what happens next with the viral plague […]