This was a great ending to The Passage trilogy. This review may be vague, but that's a necessary evil to keep it spoiler-free. Seriously though, if you haven't read the first two books, stop here and come back when you've read them, because this review is NOT spoiler-free for the whole series to date.
The City of Mirrors picks up where The Twelve left off. The viral horde has been vanquished at Homeland where eleven of the Twelve were killed after Amy went viral to save humanity, and the people left in Iowa and Kerrville, Texas appear to be safe to rebuild. Alicia, still half viral, has a different mission however, to track down the Zero and kill him, ending the viral threat forever. Amy has vanished, leaving Peter, Sarah, Hollis and Michael to return to Kerrville. Carter, the twelfth of the Twelve, remains a wild card, ensconced in his bunker in the wreck of the Chevron Mariner. Will he continue his silence or will he use his power to unleash a new horde of the virals called "Dopeys"?
The book, as usual, is extremely well written. Justin Cronin is a talented writer who pays great attention to detail and writes in flowing, engaging prose. The language he uses draws the reader in, making scenes that could be dry or turn into a boring info dumps really interesting. He can ratchet up the tension when needed, whether it's a slow burn to a major plot point, or a shorter build up to a sneak attack. He also resolves the plot in this book, something I really appreciate, since I've seen quite a few trilogies get bloated with side plots and become never-ending slogs, either because the writer has lost sight of the ending and just doesn't know what to do, or because the series was successful, and the writer wants to keep the book sales gravy train rolling.
Overall, I thought this was an excellent end to the series and well worth waiting for. I'm very interested to see what Justin Cronin writes next, but in the meantime, I'll be rereading this series from the beginning.
]]>
[spoiler]
For example: at the end, when she's being chased and shot at by Quinn, she makes it to the car parked at the trailhead. Does she jump in and drive away? Nope, she sits down to rest before getting in the car to make her escape, you know, just to give Quinn time to catch up with her and take a couple more shots in her direction. UGH.
[/spoiler]
She also has daddy abandonment issues, like this is supposed to make her interesting or unique. Sorry, nope - it just makes her another overdone cliche'. It got to the point that I just rolled my eyes every time the story shifted to her POV.
Overall it's a decent book and an interesting story. I just wish the main character was not such a total dud.
Still with me? Ok, let's get into specifics.
What makes this book so good? The main character, Mark Watney, is sarcastic, funny and doesn't take anything too seriously while moving the story along, which keeps the story from becoming either a dry, boring, technical science-y, snooze-fest for us non-scientists or an overly serious downer given the long odds he faces.
The pacing is excellent and I felt like the things that happened were realistic. Even though Mark encountered a lot of problems during his 18 months on Mars, it never felt like the author was just throwing another disaster at him for the sake of a cheap thrill. He was allowed triumphs
[spoiler]
like the successful potato crop and creation of water from rocket fuel
[/spoiler]
and the boredom and monotony of being stranded on Mars alone. The problems were never too devastating, thanks to his gallows humor and ability to recover from mistakes and/or events outside his control, which requires a SERIOUS balancing act to keep his recoveries believable. He's resilient.
I also liked that the science was explained in a way that was easy to understand. A lot of books fall into the trap of being too technical for non-science people, which, while correctly analyzing scientific problems & solutions, leads to boredom or skimming. The author, through Mark, broke the science down in a way that makes it easier to understand why he's doing what he's doing without making it patronizing. That's tough and I commend him for it.
The supporting characters are also great, especially considering the fact that they don't get a ton of page time individually for their development. We learn a lot about the other members of the Ares 3 crew from Mark rummaging through the items they left behind. Later in the book you get their perspectives to fill in the gaps in Mark's perceptions. The NASA staff feel like real people you'd expect to work for NASA - crazy-smart, a little nerdy, and full of individual quirks.
Overall, I can't say enough good things about The Martian. I hope Andy Weir keeps writing for a long time, since I'm looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next.
]]>[spoiler]
WTF with the last sentence! Does Nora delete Matt's email to be forever alone with James' ghost? Does she open it and go out for coffee with him? WE'LL NEVER KNOW!!
[/spoiler]
So frustrating. I'm not the kind of person who needs all of my stories to be wrapped up with a neat little bow, but come on man. Still, it was very good and I think that anyone who enjoys mystery/thriller novels will enjoy.
]]>[spoiler]
he's Josef Mengele
[/spoiler]
is pretty good. There are multiple threads and sub-plots in this installment, along with suspense and plenty of action.
Overall it's a good thriller - the type of book that's well plotted (no huge, obvious holes), interesting characters and lots of action. Basically, the type of book that often gets turned into big summer blockbuster-style action movies. There was only one thing that made me roll my eyes -
[spoiler]
when Grace is locked in the Chamber of Mysteries with Cyrus/Mengele, the twins, Otto, the assassin and the genetically modified Berserker bodyguard, she has the drop on them but doesn't shoot. No, instead, she stands up and tells them to do what she wants. Who does that? I'm pretty sure elite military training includes shooting the gorilla-man and assassin holding a gun as quickly and quietly as possible to neutralize the immediate threats, not popping up to say "hey everybody, drop your guns and do what I say."
[/spoiler]
and for that, it loses half a star.
]]>[spoiler]
despite being dead after the prologue
[/spoiler]
) really gets short shrift. Angus, who ends up being a pretty major character, is only really developed through Anna telling Maddie his history. We don't really get to learn a lot else about Angus, just small glimpses here and there.
[spoiler]
I also would have loved more info about <i>their</i> marriage, like why Mairi was so despondent that she killed herself when she thought he was killed in action.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
Finally, the love story between Maddie and Angus was a little bit of a head scratcher. Don't get me wrong, I liked that they got together, it was just a little puzzling how Maddie fell in love with him (and Angus with her) because they don't actually interact with each other all that much. They mostly interact with the other characters and sort of circle & observe each other from afar. So, when Maddie finally decides to leave Ellis, it was like "huh" when she does so to start a relationship with Angus.
[/spoiler]
That being said, I did like Maddie's growth as a character throughout the book. I also liked the development of the the strange relationship with Ellis, Maddie and Hank as the situation strained the trio along the way.
[spoiler]
I also liked that Maddie figured out that she was their mutual beard, as the real romance was between Ellis and Hank, who obviously couldn't be out and proud in the 1940's.
[/spoiler]
Overall, it's definitely worth reading and highly enjoyable.
[spoiler]
Especially Lily! She shows up at the end, when it's revealed she's the person controlling the wraith, but other than that, you learn nothing about her.
[/spoiler]
I don't know if this will be a series or not, but the end was definitely left open.
Overall, the world building is solid and the author steadily ratchets up the tension throughout the book. I really liked it in spite of the open ending (or series beginning?) and my desire for more background on the magic on display here.