Les douze

Nous y voilà ! La suite du Passage reprend l’action à notre époque, alors que le virus s’est propagé et que les douze cobayes condamnés à mort se sont évaporés dans la nature, semant la mort et la contagion. Une très longue première partie nous plonge dans cette période de terreur et de désespoir, et met en scène de nombreux personnages attachants dont certains joueront un rôle primordial dans la suite des événements, un siècle plus tard. L’auteur nous avait laissés en plan avec son cliffhanger du premier volume, et fait durer le plaisir en prenant son temps avec ce long mais passionnant flashback. La seconde partie, sous forme d’interlude bien plus court, relate un épisode tragique ayant lieu une quinzaine d’année avant la réapparition d’Amy, tandis que l’action de la troisième reprend cinq ans après le massacre de Roswell. Et tout se remet alors en place. Cinq ans après Roswell les choses ont changés, mais la traque des douze Virals est sur le point d’être abandonnée. Peter est alors missionné en secret, de même qu’Alicia, tandis qu’Amy, toujours aussi mystérieuse, s’apprête à elle aussi à faire face à son destin. La chasse reprend, compliquée par la domination de Guilder, dont le but est de rassembler les douze à l’origine de la contagion. Le vampirisme moderne fait des ravages dans cette partie du monde dominé par un vampire illuminé, un tyran fou qui exploite et utilise les survivants non contaminés. Aventures, tensions, personnages toujours aussi intéressants, action permanente, suspens bien dosé, The Twelve est une digne seconde partie qui annonce une non moins percutante conclusion, qui, si elle est du même niveau, devrait casser la baraque. Au moins.

A very different novel from The Passage. Probably not as good, but still a very good book.

Much of the opening of the novel works like a prequel, going back to the chaotic aftermath of Year Zero. And when it gets back to the present day, the novel often focuses on how humanity is still surviving in Texas and elsewhere. It takes a while for the action of the book to focus in on the titular twelve original lab virals, but when it does, holy crap is it good.

The major problem that I had with The Passage remains, which is that the main characters always seem borderline indestructible. There's even one part in The Twelve where it's pointed out that there is no logical reason for a character to have survived, but whatever, there he is. If the books weren't so amazing, this would be a problem. But Cronin's storytelling easily overwhelms the flaws of the books.

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.

This review was originally found on my blog; literary-exploration.com/2012/10/06/book-review-the-twelve/