L. W. Currey, Inc.

Cronin, Justin. THE PASSAGE: A NOVEL. New York: Ballantine Books, [2010]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Signed by Cronin on the recto of the credits leaf. The first book of The Passage sequence, followed by THE TWELVE (2012) and THE CITY OF MIRRORS (2016). The Passage sequence "presents a complexly plotted set of interweaving stories, beginning in the near future, mainly in an America savagely afflicted by pollution and ecological degradation; a contagious virus, whose source is a South American bat, creates vampire-like creatures who transform this already mutilated world, savagely reducing the human population to small, beleaguered cohorts of survivors. Various characters are variously exposed to the virus, some developing superpowers, others evincing signs of potential Immortality, others dying. The main action, about a century later in a ruined Earth America, follows various individuals, some of whom falteringly join their talents in order to survive and fight back against at least one mad scientist, and the military. Keeps are inhabited, serve as prisons, are escaped from. The complexity of personal interactions among "samurai" and others make the series difficult to read in young adult terms, though some of the conventions fitting to that market are fleetingly adhered to. Given its huge cast and the ensuring complications, the success of The Passage depends to an unusual degree on the final volume, much of it set in an icon-choked New York, and during the course of which a chastened Homo sapiens gradually reoccupies the North American continent. The last section of the tale presents a quasi-archaeological lecture, couched as a ruins and futurity examination of the bewildering past; illustratory documents include previous volumes of The Passage." - John Clute, SFE (online). A fine copy in fine dust jacket with bookstore's "signed copy" sticker affixed to the front panel. (#158468).

Price: $75.00