There's no slowing down now. Shit is getting real. Staying strong through the end so far. Really great book.
Haters gonna hate Part X Spoiler Lacey is alive. Kills Babcock. The Many of Babcock are gone thanks to Amy. Alicia is dead (or is she?). Wonder where they all go from here? What happened to Theo? It sounds like he assumes it's a viral attacking him but i'm not sure. I wonder if it is another one of the twelve? I doubt that though. Another thought is Orson Hand... Possibly even Zombie Jude!? We'll see.
Part VIII Spoiler -Im really sad about Caleb. - I agree about the train scene. I was confused on some parts. I thought they left Hand behind while he was boosting his daughter up. I missed where he made it to the engine car with the rest of them. - I guess the explanation with Jude is what happened with Zander?? - Im excited Amy seems like she is getting ready to drop some knowledge on us hopefully. - I really hope this book as a good ending and not just a segue way into the second book. Although it wont matter because Im starting that Mofo as soon as I finish this one.
Part XI and Post script Spoiler Well Alicia is alive and better than ever. Theo is alive after an attack from Galen. Wonder who the third gunner could have been, possibly Hand? idk Sara/Hollis Theo/Maus/Baby Caleb leaving again. What a bunch of pussies. Glad Greer is going with Peter and them, I have a feeling I'm really going to like his character. Was kinda pissed Amy destroyed the vials, was wanting Peter to go viral beastmode. Station was destroyed, looked like Humans vs. Humans... crazy Colony empty, Auntie dead at least it looked like she went peacefully. Olgast is alive and a viral Time to go to war "Shots outside, going to take a look ** End of Document**"
Started a thread for The Twelve for whenever anyone needs it http://www.the-mainboard.com/index.php?threads/the-twelve-justin-cronin-the-passage-2.117051/
Spoiler Liked the closure of Wolgast at the end. Was hoping Peter would get the vial and finally get paired with Lish. Anxious to see how their relationship plays out over the next two books. Im guessing the story will end with the passing of Peter, with Lish and Amy being left alive. Glad Theo made it out of that encounter alive; I was surprised they left that house tbh. I wonder if they will reveal exactly what saved him other than a ghost... Maybe Theo's father is/was still out there (dont recall them finding his body, or killing him as a viral, may have missed it?), and that was him somehow? What are they going to do at the colony now? Pack up shop and head down towards Kerrville? I would have been pissed after reading the epilogue if I had to wait several months before reading part 2. It's going to suck having to wait for part 3 :( BartScottcantwait.mp4 on reading how they will take down the rest of the 11 next book. Gonna have to learn to fly or something And at one point towards the end, I was reading and something popped into my head (that I've now forgotten) that maybe the whole Texas army is like an army for one of the other twelve. Spoiler we are carter we are carter we are carter ...? [/spoiler
Spoiler -Pretty straightforward section. Didnt really raise a lot of questions for me besides what you brought up about Amy being in Greer's dream. -The part where they got caught up in the net reminded me of the Ewok Scene for Return of the Jedi. -Im not one to complain about stupid shit like this, but Im sure how I feel about the vamps being lured by garlic or distracted by thier reflect and other traditional gimmicks that go with hollywood vampire stories. I mean this is real life - life or death for fuck sakes. -I like the plot device of using journal entries to move time forward quickly while still giving us good details of what has transpired. - I was a little confused at the end. I did Peter refuse the duffle bag full of weapons? I know he gave Greer his blade to. Right now, im under the impression that he is rolling out there with just Amy for protection. - As far as how I read the characters - I think that chick you mentioned is a little too old. Im picturing Amy as a super young Anne Hathaway - pale, dark hair and big, bright eyed. Im picturing Alicia as Michelle Rodriguez. I cant really think of who peter reminds me of - or anyone else for that matter. Michael is kind of easy. The typical nerdy tech guy Gonna try and take advantage of having a half day because of Vetrans Day and knock out the rest of the book right meow.
Spoiler -Yea Ewok scene is exactly what I thought of as well. - Yea Summer Glau couldn't play Amy in the movie, but her character on Firefly is who Amy reminds me of sometimes. - I don't know who I would choose but for some reason I hate the idea of Michelle Rodriguez playing Alicia. Shes also supposed to have red hair, so I picture her as fair skinned. - Yea I think Peter was showing Greer his faith in Amy by leaving the weapons.
Spoiler Spoiler I missed the part about Alicia being light skinned, and a red head. I just think Michelle Rodriguez because of her tough, sometimes masculine exterior, which is how i read Alicia
Part IV Spoiler Agree with the other people (I think it was Truman) who mentioned the beginning of this new section of the book and it being slow. I was really bummed to lose all the characters from the first couple of sections. But then I was fully engrossed once again, really interested in where things were going. The story about being eight years old and so excited to see what was actually out in the world, to only be let down would suck. Pretty crazy they chose eight years old as the age for them to learn to truth, but if something like this ever happened, the curve of growing up would obviously change. Continue to love the various little things we learn. I think the characters have been incredibly well written, and are obviously full of depth. Much like the beginning of the book, I was pretty much all in on each new character by the end of their chapter. And where I was kinda disappointed in the huge jump of time after Wolgast died, I suddenly love it because it's great learning about the past through that prism. The thing with Zander was crazy interesting. No one knows how he turns, then he tells his friend to just stay up away from him? Wtf. The end up that chapter was really good. Return of Amy got me legit excited. The end of the chapter when she first appeared + hers was really good. And she can control these things? Awesome. And she barely ages? Even crazier. Can't wait to see where her character goes. Still trying to get the terminology down, but I feel like that'll happen soon. My TV viewing is going to fall behind this week, because I plan on reading a ton tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday. CAN'T WAIT
Spoiler Thought Zander was listening to Amy tell the local smokes to be nice. Just a guess. Sounds like she's having a war of wills with Zero et al.
Spoiler That would be interesting. And totally forgot to mention Zero, but I'm obviously excited for him to return. The shenanigans he pulled in Part II were awesome.
Spoiler I mean, she mentioned telling the smokes that killed the guys on the Long Ride to quit it but their hunger/loneliness became too much. Then they were sad and apologized and she sent them away.
Spoiler No I agree, didn't mean interesting as in "interesting but I don't agree." Didn't type that like I wanted to.
Spoiler Word, I'm just spitballin' here. Trying to figure out the nature of her power. They obviously don't treat her like a normal mammal and I don't know if it's physiological or mystical. Maybe it's because she's infected, too. But there's more to it as she seems to imply that she can get them to go away or at least express some emotion. The way her section made it sound, it's almost as if they're in purgatory. Souls stuck hungry and confused. I'm not sure it's the same for the 12, but at least the converted virals. As for Zero, I assume he's up to something somewhere. I mean, Sanjay's obsession seems exactly like Grey's, including the sleepwalking and being dangerously close to doing something bad. Spoiler I don't like Sanjay. Durka durka. Spoiler
Spoiler Can't wait to see what else we learn about her. Because you're right, she obviously is special. Wouldn't be able to do the shit she can. But why? Her parents? Because of what she was exposed to? Would be interesting if one or both of her parents ended up being a big part of the story down the line. And I can't decide what she is. She obviously hates light like the creatures do. And she's obviously aging way slow. But she's not killing people left and right either. Can she hold herself back? Or does she just have power over people? Such an intriguing character.
Spoiler My initial thought was that there's something about youthful innocence during infection. But the guy seems to have some mystical leanings, so I think it's more likely that she's some sort of Christ figure. I suspect she'll die for humanity in book 3, but that's a wild guess from someone a little over halfway through book 1. I'm excited to find out more. Also, I think Alicia or the nerd (Michael?) might be my favorite character from the colony. Thoughts?
Spoiler Definitely agree on each. Alicia was the first character that I really enjoyed from the colony when I started reading Part IV. By the end of it I liked most of them, but those two really stood out. Especially since Alicia was raised by someone else (can't remember his name, but I know it was something like "The Governor" in Walking Dead). Hopefully we can get a little more backstory on him too.
Spoiler The Colonel. Makes me think more of the mystical stuff since he, without provocation, went out and Captain Save-a-Ho'd for Amy. Maybe he had a mental link to her like Auntie and the nun. Remember Auntie saying she's coming. Obviously they both knew stuff about her through dreams, not unlike the Zero stuff. Seems pretty religious/mystical, too. I doubt much story will be forthcoming given that he's already dead and was shrouded in mystery already. Maybe so, though. I really liked Arlo-- reminded me of a northman from A Game of Thrones. Maybe Tormund even. Big and story telling and bearded. Sucked he got got. Brutal shit. Really enjoying this, though.
From Wikipedia: "The Passage begins in the near future and details an apocalyptic and, later, post-apocalyptic world that is overrun by vampire-like beings who are infected by a highly contagious virus. What begins as a project to develop a new immunity-boosting drug based on a virus carried by an unnamed species of bat in South America eventually becomes the virus that transforms the world. The novel begins in 2014 and spans more than ninety years, as colonies of humans attempt to live in a world filled with superhuman creatures who are continually on the hunt for fresh blood." Doesn't do it justice tbqh.
Good back and forth between lkrfsgrc and iron Mickey. Not too much I can add since I've finished the book
Spoiler The whole point of a book club is to read at a comparable pace so that everyone can talk about it.
The point of a book club is to meet up when everyone has finished it and discuss but everyone wants to discuss as they read so we do it like this.
Then in that case, why don't we set a date for completion? Even if I were finished with the book, we wouldn't be able to have much of a conversation about it since like 1/3 of the book club has moved on to the second book. It just doesn't make sense. Not trying to be a bitch about it fwiw.
I know and that is one of the difficult things about doing a book in a series. I think it still is working the way we're doing it though. The reason I couldn't add anything to yalls discussion was because by the time I read it y'all had covered my thoughts from reading part IV and anything else I had to add would have come from later in the book
Finished X Spoiler The deaths of Lish and Theo are definitely open ended. My guess one or both are still alive. I doubt its Hand. He is anti-viral, He used our group but it was to kill the vamps. Rip Conroy. Poor little fella. Still curious how this plays out. Still want to know about Amy's powers/the craziness at the Zoo. Gonna finish this mofo up tonight...
One more though on IV Spoiler Decided to re-read Amy's chapter before starting part V, to see if I could pick up on anything. One thing that stood out to me was the dialogue at the end. Was done the same way that the dialogue happened in the very first chapter, with Amy's mom. Now, this could just be random, since she's talking to a being that is obviously not in or of the world. But the rest of the book has been normal then he said, "hello." "Hello," she responded. But that dialogue had the italics and the dashes. Idk, probably reading too much into it, but would be interesting if it was her mom communicating with on. On to part V!
Finished the book. Dont really have anything to add to The Blackfish or @kevintesity 's thoughts All in all. I fucking loved it About the ending and in general Spoiler If I didnt know this was part of a trilogy, I would be pissed not to have everything wrapped up, or at least compartmentalized. Having said that, cant wait to read The Twelve. Sucks ass that the 3 installment isnt due out until 2014. [/spoier]
I'm going to ask something about the world in general. It is contained in the first third of the book, and we are passed the first third of the month, so fuck spoilers. Why do the people in the post-outbreak world use metric as their form of units and measurements? And why do they use the word, "flyer" as an interjection? As in, "Flyers, The Blackfish. Slow the fuck down."
Because the metric system is so much better. If the world was ending and I was starting some sort of final colony I would definitely convert to the metric system Also I have no clue where Flyers came from
I guess my point is, why would a group of people that descended from us, a group of staunchly standard measurements, now use metric? Maybe because they were formed, in a large part, by the military?
It might have been deliberate. If you're isolating a group, it's certainly the more rational system for them to perpetuate. Or maybe one of those Household types had some sense and used the metric system. After one hundred years, it would certainly have taken over. I took the "Flyers!" exclamation to be based on the smokes. Like someone shouting, "Flyers!" when they see them in the treetops hunting. It seemed that a lot of the early outbreak had them moving through the trees. Treetop flyers would be a natural way of identifying glowing humans coming to eviscerate you. I don't know, though. My only other thought was that it had something to do with air support and "the Army." Like, how fantastic would the notion of flying be to people living in essentially 19th century conditions?