The City of Mirrors: A Novel (Book Three of the Passage Trilogy)

Is it over? Is this masterpiece of modern day fiction truly and thoroughly over?But first, a brief summary of events that led us to this eagerly anticipated, yet still emotional conclusion…Like a lot of people probably did back in 2010, I picked up The Passage on a whim, only knowing about it from a small Facebook ad and a quote by Stephen King, encouraging people to read it. I knew next to nothing about the plot, and even less about Justin Cronin so call it fate or just one of those rare moments of pure randomness, but whatever the reason, giving The Passage a chance was probably one of the best decisions I ever made. I instantly fell in love with the book. The plot was amazing. The writing even more so. I can still remember the excitement and sheer enjoyment of that fateful summer, staying up into the wee hours of the morning, totally engrossed in the story, even going as far as bringing the book into work, sneaking glances at its pages when there were far more pressing matters at hand. The Passage was so awesome and such a damned perfect novel in every single facet and I made it well known, loaning out (GASP!) my beloved copy to multiple family and friends. Yes, my first edition is now worn, pages creased and corners bent in, but it was totally worth it in my eyes since nearly everyone who borrowed it felt exactly the same as I did.When The Twelve was announced, I was like a kid being told he’s going to Disneyland for his birthday; I could hardly contain my excitement. I might not have been the very first person to pre-order it, but I’m pretty sure I was somewhere up there on that list. It had been a long 2 years and now for 3 months I eagerly awaited its release, counting down the 100+ days until the novel was finally in my hands. Now to say that The Twelve had a lot, and I mean a lot, riding on it, pretty much goes without saying. Maybe that’s why, the first time through, I was somewhat disappointed. The book was great, don’t get me wrong, but having to follow up The Passage was no easy feat, plus I had squandered those 2 long years, not going back to read the previous novel. It would make sense, then, that I was lost, a little confused, and hardly able to remember any of the basic structure. In going back to re-read The Twelve in anticipation for Mirrors, however, it became pretty apparent that Twelve was, in fact, a fantastic follow up. Questions were answered, new ones were posed, the story of Amy and Peter and Michael was continued practically flawlessly and brought even more depth and originality to Cronin’s post-apocalyptic universe. Plus, and probably best of all, it left the reader in suspense and wanting more.Well, we wanted more for FOUR FREAKING YEARS. That’s a year longer than your average auto lease. Or like reaching into George R.R. Martin status! I know that doesn’t equate to a long time for some people, but for book lovers, and lovers of this series, it might as well have been an eternity, particularly when you consider the release date continuing to be pushed back, or being simply, wrong all together. Cronin’s own cryptic red herrings and purposefully teasing announcements didn’t help much either, only leading to more impatience and constant fear that the final book in the trilogy would continued to be delayed, or, horror of all horrors, never be published altogether.So I guess the question is: was the frustratingly long wait of nearly 1,460 days really worth it?The answer?Hell Yes!And a resounding “Hell Yes” at that!The City of Mirrors holds that rare distinction of a near perfect conclusion to an already near perfect trilogy, joining the ranks of other distinguished series like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter (and even Harry Potter had 2 clunkers in it’s canon (Order of the Phoenix and Half Blood Prince just in case you wanted to know). Seriously though, the final book in The Passage trilogy exceeded even my highest expectations…and I set the bar pretty stinking high.[image error]It’s just that Cronin does a freaking fantastic job of tying everything together, bringing to a close, the story he started so many years ago. It never once feels like so much time passed between books because he is seriously that good of an writer. Much as he did in his previous works, Cronin pens a depressing story, one with little hope or joy, yet still manages to be beautifully descriptive, bringing forth truly vivid scenes and details, as well as a bunch of different emotions, and you can’t help but to root for humanity’s survival and applaud their constant tenacity against the Virals and Zero.Speaking of Zero, the backstory really knocked my socks off. Sure, Fanning moaning about love like a 7th grade emo kid got a little old, and his descriptions of cars and technology that Alicia and anyone listening wouldn’t understand were a little out of place (though I think this was more for the readers themselves), but for 100+ pages, I was 100% hooked. Giving humanity to the most lethal viral of all, and showing the reasons for who he is/was, made for a compelling section, and someone readers could identify with, much as we had already done with Carter.And my God, what an ending! I gotta admit, while it wasn’t exactly how i would have chosen to finish this story had I written it, I must say, damn, was it good. Somehow, in the sure genius that is Justin Cronin’s mind, he made me actually feel something, some form of emotion beyond just enjoyment. Both happiness and heartache, as well as this weird bittersweet response of completion.And there it is, The Passage has been completed. 6 years, 2,000 pages or so, and countless hours of sleep and now my literary journey is finished. Like I said, it’s such a weird feeling, being both happy with the outcome, but still kind of bummed out that the ride is over. I feel like I’m losing friends and family, since, afterall, we readers followed them for years (both literally and fictionally). And knowing that we won’t (most likely) see them again is definitely a melancholy feeling. Then again, to know Cronin was able to write 3 fantastic novels that kept me on the edge of my seat and will remain, all of them, some of my all time favorite books, is an accomplishment many hope to achieve but few actually do.Bravo Mr. Cronin. Bravo

I liked the first two volumes of this trilogy, but I enjoyed this one the most. The author spends considerable time revisiting the events of the first two books and explores the interior life of characters new and old. We see with fresh eyes everything that’s already happened. Compared to the first two books (and everything’s relative!), there’s a quieter, poignant, nuanced feel to it all. The long, slow denouement is entirely satisfying.I enjoyed this trilogy despite the vampires, not because of them. I fear the Amazon AI engine is now going to think I’ll want to read other books that feature vampires. I don’t. But I’m not done with Justin Cronin!

Although I tried to read the edition I received it was hard to get used to the extremely large type. So far I have not made it past a few pages. This will have to be returned.The First two books were awesome to read and I loved the different take on the "virals"

After six years, Justin Cronin's vampire trilogy - a trio of novels that span a thousand years and almost twice as many pages - finally rumbles to a conclusion. Originally a dare by the author's daughter to craft a story about a girl who saves the world, Cronin has spent a lot of time and imagination sewing together expansive worlds and Hollywood-esque climaxes. It hasn't been the smoothest road for The Passage's characters or even its readers and The City of Mirrors feels like a volume that huffs and puffs as it reaches its final station.With its far-flung settings in space and time, the most jarring aspect of Cronin's writing is that he ensures each world he builds is planned, laid out to the last brick, then inspected for safety before moving along. He can't escape to a new setting without establishing a pair of new characters (usually more) and delivering their life stories as a sort of sacrifice to the reader to ensure we follow along with motivations. It's a bit of biographic telling and not showing when it comes to protagonists and antagonists alike. Just as we fall in love, it's taken away and Cronin starts again.Sometimes this approach works. The opening act of the first book details the tragic story of a woman who falls pregnant to the trilogy's superhero girl - Amy, the Girl from Nowhere - and the rough life she leads to support her daughter. From the very first moments, Cronin taps an emotional tuning fork that reverberates throughout the whole book. From there, Cronin sets forth a virus upon the world that turns people into hyper-muscular "virals" that do the bidding of a their masters: The Twelve (who were extinguished in the previous book) and Zero, their Dracula-like predecessor who serves as the trilogy's final boss.But sometimes his world building doesn't work, especially as he shifts between pre-apocalyptic modern times and the dusty frontier a full century in the future where most of the trilogy's action takes place. The City of Mirrors opens with one of the trilogy's post-apocalyptic warriors losing her child immediately after birth, then spending years grieving for her. It fails to chime in much the same way that Amy's story did not only because we've done this before, but because our warrior has been little more than a duty-bound flying dagger throughout the trilogy, slicing up foes and then disappearing into the countryside yet again.In fact the most interesting aspect of The Passage's protagonists is that they tend to stay alive. Each book finds ways to bring characters back by magic, plot contrivance or extensive dream sequences that tend to wear as characters pop up after we've already emotionally accepted their fates with the reader swearing, along with the other book's heroes, that they were torn to shreds a hundred pages ago. It's unfortunate that none of The Passage's trilogy's characters seem to have aspirations or motivations more creative than an un-creased Manila folder. Some are righteous warriors, some are righteous leaders, some are righteous parents, but all are seeking the greater good for the tattered remains of humanity. It seems that in addition to technology, fuel and ammo, character flaws seem in short supply after the end of known civilization. We push through these hundreds of pages in the hope that we find another story as emotionally resonant as Amy's story in The Passage or the failure of a FEMA camp in the midst of a vampiric wash in The Twelve and Cronin doesn't really find that home run in The City of Mirrors.It's not for lack of trying, though. Buoying a glacial first act is the story of Zero, or Timothy Fanning as he was known before, as he transforms from meek scholarly mastermind to Harvard socialite. The emotional fulcrum of the book rests on us caring that he fell in love with his friend's girl and they only unmute their secretly matched affections as she dies en route to see him at New York City's Grand Central station. It's a stirring distraction from the Texas-themed Little House on the Prairie saga, but as Fanning taunts the pioneers of Kerrsville, he fails to convince of us his grim motivations in his new form as the fanged and overly-theatric Zero the Devourer.It's seems strange that this massive story intending to highlight a badass girl who saves the world fails to find much to do with Amy, who has spent most of the trilogy's pages weak, aimless and prey to the book's myriad of visions and allusions of fate and destiny. I struggled to remember the last point in the saga where Amy wasn't just a lead Macguffin hauled around by the saga's protagonists. They seem to find something in her preservation, even as everyone around them is slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands.The City of Mirrors isn't entirely without merit as a finale, though. Cronin may love building universes, but he also loves to choreograph elaborate action sequences that only a Michael Bay-like could bring visual justice to. If you can push through the book's first turgid third, the ramp up to Kerrville's citizens packing up in the midst of a violent viral hurricane and racing toward a nearly Biblical ark that will keep them safe at sea is intense. Cronin knows how to be precise with his gorey violence and when bullets and fangs fly, you won't stop flipping pages until the survivors are stumbling into the daylight to reassemble their lives. It's unfortunate then that this action is tied to the whims of a villain who may as well be twirling a mustache.Far better than the trilogy's soggy middle book, The City of Mirrors wraps up the Amy/Twelve/Viral saga in a way that reminded me a whole lot of Peter Jackson's myriad of endings in Return of the King. It seems that in the case of this book, ditto the whole trilogy, Cronin gets lost in the lore connecting these stories which require a thorough review to keep all of the tos, froms and characters in line. Six years later though, I feel that The Passage trilogy lost sight of its grandiose scope early on and Cronin, well, he just kept writing.

This just didn't do it for me at all. It felt sluggish and unfocussed with story lines that kept being added or some that were just tailed off and were left hanging, and much of the book just seemed to drift. I know many have enjoyed it and found it a worthy conclusion to the trilogy but I was left feeling disappointed. 'The Passage' was one of my favourite books - the action, plot and characters all hit me with a gut-punch and left me breathless and wanting more. Wow, what an amazing book. But whereas I loved 'The Passage' and tolerated 'The Twelve', I just couldn't handle the dithering of 'The City of Mirrors'. For me, it just didn't live up to its predecessors.However, the part that most reviews seem to dislike the most (Fanning's backstory) was the part that I found the most intriguing as this was where Cronin played to his strengths again, in building characters. Characterisation was part of what hooked me in the first novel, and Fanning's backstory seemed to focus on this once again.

I read the first one a few years back and recently realised the author had written the last two. Bought book 2 and couldn't put it down. On finishing Book 2, had to buy Book 3 immediately and could not put that down. An absolutely wonderful dystopian trilogy. Was shedding tears on the tube in the last quarter of the final book. The characters are so beautifully rendered - so 3 dimensional. I always get a bit bored with too much action type stuff and these books have a fair amount of it, but even that didn't stop me loving them all. Again, it's the characters being so well written - the beauty of the writing, the perfect story telling. For those who haven't read any, it is an interesting take on the vampire mythology - not very much into vampire stuff as a rule but this trilogy takes it to a whole new level. If dystopian fiction is your thing, read it. If great characters with wonderful story arcs are your thing, read it. If you have thought about reading a genre like this before, read it.........I generally finish one book and pick up the next but struggling to start anything else right now as still lost in that world.

I have just finished reading this and I feel bereft. What an epic journey to have been on, I don't know where to go from here!I have read all three books, voraciously, putting other things aside, now I have to return to the world around me.The story of Amy, Peter et al, has been, at times, challenging, heartbreaking, hopeful. Very cleverly written, intense, detailed and a joy to read.I will now see if I can lose myself in another story by Mr Cronin, an incredibly talented man.Highly recommended if you like adventure, science, fantasy, horror, romance, apocalyptic, or just losing yourself in another world. The best I've read for a long time, and I read a lot!

The City of Mirrors is the final book in the trilogy The Passage.In the second book, the twelve were felled, and this changed the outcome for mankind. Or so they thought. Zero was still out there somewhere. He is the one who must be destroyed if mankind is to have a future.All I can say is that this third and final book in the series didn’t disappoint, and the finale is not what I expected. Even though each book stands at around 700 to 800 pages, the author outdoes himself with fresh material at every turn. While these three tales make for epic reading, I cannot recommend this trilogy or the author highly enough. I rate The City of Mirrors a solid five stars. Go out and buy this series. I’ll be looking out for more books by Justin Cronin.***NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

This is a brilliant trilogy, a really, really good story. However this third volume left me disappointed two thirds of the way through. It was just botched, I am sorry to say. The characters dying and undying so many times that I lost count. The artifical devices employed to keep the reader at the edge of the seat, some scenes ending after what felt like less than a page to hurry off to another scene and return again in a while. That gave me the opposite effect - I got turned off so badly that I nearly dropped the book and only persevered because the work overall deserves to be finished. The ending somewhat made up for the lame semi-ending section though and left off at a nicely rounded note. To me there was way too much of delving into the dreams of the characters without providing solid ground as to where those dreams connect up to what the story is really all about. All in all it is a great and recommended read for dystopia fans but this last one could have been better if some editor or outside influence had not pummeled the author into trying to pump up the action and the drama to a point where it became cliche and unenjoyable.