The Abstracted Engineer reviews: The Passage, by Justin Cronin

First, I really enjoyed this book; it was entertaining. I am looking forward to the sequel. Right off the bat, I'd score it a 7 out of 10. That said, there are two major problems I had with it that I kept thinking about during reading. Also, I assume by reading this you don't mind spoilers. If you do then close your browser now. I won't be offended.

First, Cronin's massive tome reads like a movie. And it is in the movie category that we find that Cronin has essentially troped his way into an 800-page derivation of O.P.P. (other people's precedent). Essentially, Cronin has taken the Will Smith movie "I Am Legend" and sprinkled it over the top of "Resident Evil: Extinction" both of which just happened to come out in 2007, around the time Cronin was writing the first draft. For example, as though directly out of the Will Smith virus-drama, we have: 1) a naturally-occurring virus being hijacked and modified to help humans, which goes wildly awry. 2) infected turn into blood-thirsty, super-strong/agile/aggressive, light-phobic, hairless killers, 3) scattered "colonies" that supposedly survive the apocalypse, and 4) the infected show a surprising amount of organization and cunning. From Resident Evil: Extinction: 1) female protagonist is infected but not turned, develops some of the good but none of the bad qualities of the hyper-aggressive normal-infected, and subsequently turns into a killing machine on the good guy side, 2) America is a vast, uninhabited wasteland, and 3) a visit to the destroyed remains of Las Vegas.
The point is, I don't think anyone can justifiably argue that Cronin broke new ground with this novel.

Second, like when I read most science fiction novels, I am frustrated by the idea that throwing a bunch of science details into the novel means that the reader will consider the scenario plausible. For example Cronin starts the novel by discussing that the virus is found in a species of bats. Sounds plausible, right?
But there are simple breakdowns in the novel, like so many others, where we have to suspend belief. At the end, the female protagonist has successfully been infected with a modified version of the virus that gives her the incredible strength, speed, and agility the "smokes" (the character's nickname for the vampire-like infected) enjoy but without the negative features, like the unquenchable thirst for blood. At one point she jumps nearly 100 feet in a single bound.
And yet, the biomechanist in me scoffs. Such a jump would be impossible with ordinary human musculature. Surely she must have tripled or quadrupled her size in order to perform such a feet. And landing after that would crush a normal humans bones into splinters. Surely her bones are reinforced with some sort of heavier lattice?
Alas, the character appears outwardly unmodified by the virus, save for her sensitivity to light (and necessary wearing of goggles and headgear). And so I have to just sigh. Superhuman strength and agility make great plot devices for thrillers, but in the world of science fiction, an author should do the legwork and make the character...plausible. Throwing science into a novel might be enough to hoodwink the average reader...but come on, the average reader is reading Twilight, not real science fiction. Don't be lazy.

Nevertheless, those two things aside, the novel as a whole was a great read. Cronin spares no expense in character backgrounds, routinely spending pages on a character's backstory only to have them killed off. Inefficient to a fault, perhaps, but great prose in the meantime. And like I said before, the novel ended satisfyingly but openly enough that I am excited for the sequel, expected next year. When the world is controlled by 12 supervillains and you only manage to kill one of them in the first novel...you certainly leave yourself open for some more good narrative.

All in all, I recommend this book.

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