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David McK (3562 KP) rated The Legend of Deathwalker (Drenai #7) in Books
Dec 29, 2024
This is a book that I hadn't (re)read for a while, so had actually pretty much forgotten how good it actually is!
Presented (or bookended) as a tale told by Druss during the siege of Dros Delnoch (as in 'Legend' - Gemmell's most famous novel) to one of the defenders manning the walls, this therefore takes place a good time before the events of that novel and - in some respects at least - can almost be seen as a microcosm of that earlier work due to some pronounced similarities!
Presented (or bookended) as a tale told by Druss during the siege of Dros Delnoch (as in 'Legend' - Gemmell's most famous novel) to one of the defenders manning the walls, this therefore takes place a good time before the events of that novel and - in some respects at least - can almost be seen as a microcosm of that earlier work due to some pronounced similarities!
Kelly (279 KP) rated The Passage in Books
Dec 4, 2018
In depth, well thought out characters (2 more)
Intelligent plot
A nobody is safe story line!
A ‘could not put it down’ read.
The passage is the first of three books which span centuries, covering before, during and after a vampire apocalypse.
I have to say, I was hooked on this novel from the start. Originally picking it up, without even reading the synopsis or reviews, I was surprised to find out that this is actually a novel about vampires (which I did not expect from the title). The build up to the vampire apocalypse is well thought out, flawless planned and written, demonstrating expert skill by Justin Cronin.
The characters are complex, and demonstrate both strengths and flaws, nobody is perfect in this novel not even Amy or Peter, who are the main characters the story centres around. We grow to love these characters, just as much as we grow to strongly dislike characters such as Babcock and Grey. I believe that the emotional connection that I was able to apply to these characters, is what drew me further into the novel. Equally all characters face hardships during the novel, some worse than others, but I found myself wishing that those characters I deemed to be good, would face better times, and those who I felt were bad individuals would soon face their comeuppance. Good or bad however, Cronins’ concentration on the back grounds of the characters does allow us to emphasise and understand why the primary characters within the novel act the way they did, even if this was in conflict with our own values and morals.
As the story unravels, Cronin does jump between different time periods (pre, during and post apocalypse). Although Cronin does give each period a fair amount of time within the book, I did find it difficult to leave the characters from one period behind, in order to move onto another, partially due to the attachment that I had created with the characters. Although the time jumps were carried out at deliberate timings and are not too frequent, I did find them a little distracting.
The story itself makes sense as a stand alone novel, but makes even more sense when read with the rest of the series. When read with the other two novels, The Passage is merely a scene setting novel, for the books that are to come, and as such, has a lot less of a biblical undertone than the series as an entirety (there are a lot of references to the Old Testament in the books that follow). Despite this, the book is a highly enjoyable read, and is not your usual vampire/ apocalyptic novel.
I have to say, I was hooked on this novel from the start. Originally picking it up, without even reading the synopsis or reviews, I was surprised to find out that this is actually a novel about vampires (which I did not expect from the title). The build up to the vampire apocalypse is well thought out, flawless planned and written, demonstrating expert skill by Justin Cronin.
The characters are complex, and demonstrate both strengths and flaws, nobody is perfect in this novel not even Amy or Peter, who are the main characters the story centres around. We grow to love these characters, just as much as we grow to strongly dislike characters such as Babcock and Grey. I believe that the emotional connection that I was able to apply to these characters, is what drew me further into the novel. Equally all characters face hardships during the novel, some worse than others, but I found myself wishing that those characters I deemed to be good, would face better times, and those who I felt were bad individuals would soon face their comeuppance. Good or bad however, Cronins’ concentration on the back grounds of the characters does allow us to emphasise and understand why the primary characters within the novel act the way they did, even if this was in conflict with our own values and morals.
As the story unravels, Cronin does jump between different time periods (pre, during and post apocalypse). Although Cronin does give each period a fair amount of time within the book, I did find it difficult to leave the characters from one period behind, in order to move onto another, partially due to the attachment that I had created with the characters. Although the time jumps were carried out at deliberate timings and are not too frequent, I did find them a little distracting.
The story itself makes sense as a stand alone novel, but makes even more sense when read with the rest of the series. When read with the other two novels, The Passage is merely a scene setting novel, for the books that are to come, and as such, has a lot less of a biblical undertone than the series as an entirety (there are a lot of references to the Old Testament in the books that follow). Despite this, the book is a highly enjoyable read, and is not your usual vampire/ apocalyptic novel.
Phil Bradley (0 KP) rated The Wasp Factory in Books
Sep 29, 2017
Erika (17789 KP) rated The Perks of Being a Wallflower in Books
Nov 2, 2017
Dave (6 KP) rated Metro Redux in Video Games
Jul 16, 2017
1st person shooter
A very stylish shooter based on the novel "Metro 2033". It is rather dark (in tone) but lovely to look at. It can get rather hectic at times, kind of like a Russian "Fallout"
Victoria Lynn (2 KP) rated Watchmen in Books
Jan 13, 2018
Victoria Green (34 KP) rated Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1) in Books
Jun 6, 2019
Loved it.
Contains spoilers, click to show
While ready g the first novel of the series, I realised how hard it was to get into but I never regretted it for I e second. After the first I will be read g the rest.
