An epic tale that has a bit of everything: love, betrayal, dysfunction, friendship, a higher calling, rebellion, family by blood, family by choice, etc. I could go on and on. I loved the characters who were well developed and flawed, driven and passionate. The concepts of science fiction were intriguing and kept me guessing. Great story with so much going on, pay attention it’s complicated.

The Ferry Man was amazing! It immediately gave me LOST (tropical island protected from the disintegrating world by some type of "shield") and Jurassic Park (the main island is where the Prosperans live, while the staff live on a second island called the Annex, and the Nursery is located on the third island, where the Prosperans go to be re-integrated). As the story unfolds I also started getting The Truman Show vibes (Jim Carrey movie). I don't want to say too much about the plot other than the main character Proctor Bennett meets a girl, and hears a word uttered by his father "Oronios" that starts a chain of events, causing everything he believes and knows to be questioned.

While The Ferry Man is nothing like the Passage trilogy, the writing and storytelling is clear evidence that Justin Cronin is still at the top of his game. Go read it!

On the island of Prospera, everything is perfect. Cut off from a world ravaged by forgotten tribulations, the Prosperans live a carefully engineered life that allows them to thrive in comfort, health, and creative living. It's all thanks to the Designer: a mysterious entity who created the locals' unique cycle of "reiteration."

The thing is, the locals are never really born and never really die. They emerge as teenagers from the Nursery, are adopted and raised, then live on for decades until such time as their health and happiness monitor dictates that its time for a change. Then a ferryman ushers them onto a boat back to the Nursery, where the slate is wiped clean and they begin again. One of those ferrymen is Proctor Bennett... and as the story begins, he's leading his father Malcolm to the Nursery.

But there are other reasons that this is more than just a run-of-the-mill escort mission. After the suicide of Malcolm's wife Cynthia, he's been different. Now, at the end of his iteration, he's seeing things. The world is not the world. Everything is wrong. And Proctor isn't even who he thinks he is. And there's a mysterious word at the top of it all: Oranios.

Soon, Proctor's life begins to fall apart. His relationship with his wife Elise, an affair with the mysterious Thea, and a run-in with a mysterious, seemingly unadopted teen named Caeli. And in the Annex—the lower-class area housing the workers who support the Prosperans' lavish lifestyle—rebellion is starting. Arrivalists preach something beyond the Designer's design. Strange, ancient documents hint at long-forgotten events. And Proctor finds himself at the center of it all, with the lines between reality and dreams blurring.

THE FERRYMAN feels at once mythological and Shakespearean, even as it dives headlong into its third act twist. Questions are answered, but almost certainly not in the way the reader expects. The truth of Prospera, Oranios, the Nursery, and the Designer unfold in several rounds of genre-bending surprise. A parable of blindness in the midst of excess turns into a tale of grief and redemption. And the ending is surprisingly contemplative.

THE FERRYMAN is a thrilling read, its mysteries carefully paced out to draw readers ever onward to the next page. With shades of THE TEMPEST (and not just in the obvious naming conventions), it feels at once deeply classical and deeply modern. Cronin handles the massive cast of characters deftly—a feat that becomes especially challenging in the final chapters of the book. Stunning and multifaceted right to the very end, THE FERRYMAN demands a second read to soak up every bit of foreshadowing and intrigue.

The Ferryman is Justin Cronin's first novel since The Passage trilogy, and I can safely say it is well worth the wait. I loved everything about it, from the characters to the world-building to the plot. If I'm being honest, I believe it is even better than The Passage trilogy.

The Ferryman is one of those novels that immerses you in its world so thoroughly that you forget what is real life and what is fictional. It might be 560 pages, but it does not feel that way. You become so immersed in the action that the pages fly past.

It helps that there is no lull in the action. The odd happenings around Proctor pique your interest, which never wanes because they keep getting weirder and weirder. Also, Proctor is so damn charming in a nerdy but oafish way that it makes you want to find out what is happening that much more.

The entire cast of characters in The Ferryman is superb. Even the minor characters are memorable with their strong personalities and decisive actions. The fact that you remember these characters as well as you do speaks to Mr. Cronin's ability to build his cast and develop them, no matter how small their role is in the overarching plot.

Mr. Cronin applies the same amount of attention to building his unfamiliar world of Prospera. It doesn't take too long before it is as familiar to you as your hometown. There isn't much to it, which makes it easier, but when the action is most intense, it helps to have a clear mental picture of who is where doing what.

I loved The Ferryman. I did not want it to end. Yet I could not stop reading it. The story is fascinating, and I did not expect it to go in the direction it did. The twist is such a game changer that it became the point where I refused to do anything else until I finished reading. The Ferryman is so well-written and perfectly executed as to be Mr. Cronin's best novel yet.

4.5

This is one of those books that's hard to review. I enjoyed it immensely, though it started off a little slow at first. Once it picked up I was speeding through it trying to figure out what was going on. I made a couple of guesses as to the reality of things, and I was only partially right. I didn't see most of it coming at all, which was both surprising and pleasing. This definitely isn't your teenager's dystopia; it's well thought out and executed without all the silly tropes you see so much in YA. There are hints of other sci-fi and dystopian stories that you can pick out, but it is still enough of its own story that they don't overwhelm it. I think most people who are fans of sci-fi and dystopians will enjoy this, but I recommend going into it with little knowledge in order to fully enjoy it.

The first two thirds of this book were really well done: clearly some utopia with cracks in the foundation, also clearly Deep Hidden Secrets that need to be uncovered. However, that last third's pacing and structure felt off - almost as though the author wanted to come up with some trick to surprise readers and then hadn't fully fleshed it out.

Life in Prospera may feel perfect, even with the unhappiness of the inhabitants of Annex, and then there's the mystery of what happens in the Nursery. That part of the book is really well detailed, but when we move to the Nursery things begin to fall apart a little... and then a lot. A little more editing and thought at that point would have make this a clear 5-star instead of a rounded-up 3.5.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

DNFing at 16%. The dystopian elements were really interesting, but it's too much of a slow burn for me.

I had been greatly looking forward to this book for months, but unfortunately found the writing to be overly descriptive and flowery.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine for an eARC of The Ferryman in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first Justin Cronin book and I am definitely a fan now. I read the description of the book when I first received it, but by the time I got to it, I forgot what it was about and went in totally blind, This is the way to do it! The book starts off very interesting and the writing flows very well. By the time I hit 30% I was hooked. When I hit 70%, I couldn’t put it down. The complicated science (which I will remain vague about so you can also go in totally blind) was explained really well through an interview at about 77% using layman’s terms and metaphors to help grasp the science concepts. I appreciate when the science is heavy, but it is explained to me thoroughly like this.

I thought this was a really well thought out dystopian novel and I can’t wait to start diving into other works by Justin Cronin.

I did not want this book to end! So many twists and turns and times I thought I knew what was happening only to be proven totally wrong! I admit there were times I was very confused about timelines and dreams vs. reality, but it only made me want to keep writing. I am envious of people who get to read this for the first time!

4.5/5. Thanks to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

I could not put this story down!! Once you dive in it will not let go and you feel compelled to figure out just what the heck is happening and you'll find yourself thinking about it long after you're finished. It's a masterful combination of science fiction, fantasy, dystopia, and suspense all rolled into one fantastic package. I won't be able to go into plot detail because that would completely spoil things, just be prepared for a journey that has terrific twists, turns and tugs on the heartstrings.
The story is set on Prospera, a group of islands separated from a world falling apart, where the elite citizens live long, full lives in luxury. Each citizen is monitored by the society and when age and mental decline becomes apparent, the citizen is taken by the Ferryman, Proctor Bennett, to the Nursery where they are essentially recycled and begin life anew. But all is not as idyllic as it seems as Proctor's life begins to unravel and everything he thinks he knows turns out to be an illusion.
Proctor is a wonderful protagonist and so easy to root for and as his story unfolds you get hints and reminders of The Truman Show and Logan's Run. Then it all turns and goes in a completely unexpected direction. I thought the pacing of the story was excellent and each new hint and revelation just added to the tension and then BOOM.....what a twist!!!! It's like WHAT NOW??!! Can't say any more other than buckle up and enjoy!!!

What in the world did I just read?? I’m still processing. I thought it was going a certain way, but then that completely changed at the 60% mark. This book definitely gave me The Giver, Lost, and Inception vibes. I never really knew for sure what was going on. It was a wild ride for sure! It’s best to go in completely blind on this one, so I won’t say anymore!

Let me preface this to say that I read The Passage series (all three books) TWICE! I had a lot of high hopes for this book. After reading a masterpiece like The Passage series, of course I thought The Ferryman was going to be on the same level or even better. I was really disappointed and writing this makes me so sad. I really, really, really, wanted to like the book. Some parts did grab me but for the most part I was bored. So like me, please do not go in thinking you're gonna get The Passage level storytelling because it was not. I did not connect with the characters and believe me when I tell you that I love me a good dystopian. I didn't care whether they went to The Nursery, got blown up, drowned, etc., The premise of the book is spectacular, however for me it was just all over the place. Even the twist did not satisfy me. I'm sure this review may be all over the place because I'm just really sad. I waited for several years for Mr. Cronin's new book, and I feel let down. I want to thank NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book! #theferryman #netgalley

Proctor Bennett is a ferryman, a person who guides people into "retirement" on the island of Prospera. The people of Prospera have monitors in their arms that measure the psychological and physical well-being and when the monitor reads at less than 10 percent, they voluntarily retire themselves. Then they are taken to the Nursery, where their bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean and they can start over in an entirely new life. But recently Proctor's monitor has been dropping without explanation and he's also been dreaming - something that's not supposed to happen to the people to Prospera. The support staff of Prospera, the people who keep things running smoothly, are starting to question the social way of things and are unhappy. There is a resistance group developing and challenging everything about the way of life in Prospera.

I am an unabashed fan of Cronin's The Passage series. The Passage series is one of those where I own multiple copies of these books in all the formats available. So I was so excited when I was approved for this ARC that I stared at my phone unbelieving for a full minute when the notification came in. I wanted to give myself time to read The Ferryman, because at 560 pages, it's not a short read. But I l could not put it down and loved every page. There's a lot of unpack and digest in this book and the story takes turns I never expected. It's different from The Passage series, but so so good.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available May 2, 2023.

The Ferryman is a brilliant novel and deserves more than five stars! The story is mind bending, intelligent, complex and challenging. It's a long book at 560 pages but it kept my attention while I read it at the beach. The writing reminds me of Blake Crouch in that's it's very smart sci-fi about a world just a little more advanced than ours.

The big twist was shocking and yet it made perfect sense. The main character Proctor was a great everyman hero for our story.

After this one, I can't wait to read whatever Justin Cronin comes up with next.

The Ferryman is the story of Proctor, a man who lives in a "perfect" society, where people are scientifically reborn over and over as they do their sweet nothings on a secluded island. If course, Proctor starts to find the dark truths behind his not so perfect life, and the story gets more twisty and complicated from there.

What this book reminded me most of, in tone and premise, was The Giver. We've got this protagonist that is listless and sad, and the more they discover about their not-so-perfect world, the more melancholy things get. Throw in some mystery-box and isolation feelings of Lost, and what you get is this book.

After a few chapters, none of the characters felt real to me. They all felt like satellites to Proctor, doing the jobs that the narrative needed of them. The wife is micromanaging, the mother in law is part of the evil conspiracy, the trainee is much too clingy and makes the job harder; but none of them seem to have any emotions or independent thoughts.

It's a fine book. Perhaps a little too long, a little too boring. I would recommend it to fans of snow dystopian tales.

A video review including this book will be on my Youtube channel in the coming weeks, at youtube.com/@ChloeFrizzle

Thanks to Ballentine Books and Netgalley for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

Where to begin? There is a lot going on in this story that will make your head spin. In fact, I am still trying to put all the pieces together. It will mentally exhaust you, in a good way. Cronin knows how to create a story about an eerily pleasant utopian society that harbors secrets. It is impossible to explain the story without giving too much away ( Be sure to read the synopsis) . I did feel it lost some momentum about 60% into the story and I wasn’t a big fan of the shocking twist. But overall, a unique story that I recommend if you are a fan of Cronin’s The Passage, A Blake Crouch fan, and enjoy sci-fi and dystopian novels.

It’s very hard to review this book without spoilers and the less you know going in, the better. Just know that the plot is interesting, thought-provoking, and full of well-rounded characters. For readers who want to know a little more, I’ll add that the story is set in a dystopian future where some people lead awesome lives and others suffer a lot. This world is at once familiar and strange. People don’t die or catch diseases. They also have no children. When it’s time to go, they “retire” to the nursery to get recycled and come back as teenagers, who will then be assigned to a guardian. Proctor, the titular Ferryman who takes people to the ferry that will take them to the nursery when they retire, feels like there’s something wrong. The dispossessed are becoming unsettled, especially when a new religion spreads. There is a deeper message about dreams, reality and human nature. I realized what was going on almost from the beginning, because it’s similar to a movie I love and to other books I’ve read. Good job how the author raises the stakes in the end, when I thought that I had stopped being invested in these characters. That said, the author uses some tropes that felt like cheating. Again, I can’t say more or I’ll give away parts of the plot. I would recommend it, even if it was a little too long.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine!

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Random House Publishing- Ballantine for an advance copy of this book of speculative fiction on growing old, being replaced and the horrors that the future holds.

Science fiction for something that always looks to the future, has a big obsession with youth. Quite a few books have dealt with societies dealing with their aging population in ways, that well sound like the stories about putting people on ice bergs and letting them float away. Star Trek had a few stories about people aging out of groups, and becoming outcasts. Maybe writers fear obsolescence, being replaced by those coming up from behind. Or maybe like all of us they don't like seeing what is in the mirror every morning. A wrinkle, a grey hair, more skin. Justin Cronin in The Ferrymen uses this fear of getting old, becoming a burden in a science fiction about what sounds like a magical, wonderful place to live, until youth fades, and secrets become revealed.

The archipelago of Prospera is a eden for its people, surrounded by a world they don't care about, but is breaking down. People live long lives, full of sports and companionship, and great foods. Until people start to notice that they are getting tired, and the monitors on their arms show that their vitality is fleeing. And they have to retire. Proctor Bennett, is a ferryman, one who helps people retire, helping them settle affairs and taking their last trip to an island known as the Nursery, where they can be reborn young, fresh, and unknowing of their past. Bennett's father is due to be retired, and Bennett's father does not take it well. There is a scene, words are said, as well as a lot of blather, that at first Proctor ignores, but slowly starts to make sense. Adding ot Proctor's problems is the fact tha Proctor dreams, something that should be impossible in Prospera. However there is much going on behind the scenes, and soon Proctor's dreams are becoming a reality.

The Ferrymen has a lot of ideas that will be familiar to readers of science fiction. Logan's Run, The Island, Soylent Green, even a bit of the Matrix and others. However unlike Ready Player One, Cronin knows how to take familiar ideas and makes them his own. The story is good, the setup takes a bit, but once things start to make sense the story really does move. I liked the characters, they didn't seem stupid like many writers would make them out to be, but more trapped in something that they know is odd, but just have no reference to even know how to get out of it. There are a few jumps in the story, but again Cronin makes everything make sense. And some horrible things happen to nice characters, just a warning. An engaging story that keep me entertained.

I should start by confessing to almost be a Cronin fangirl. Fell for his writing in his literary works, Mary & O’Neill and The Summer Guest, books totally in my wheelhouse. Then he wrote the Passage Trilogy. Most all my readers know that I am not a sci-fi fan… I want things based in real worlds and real emotion. I credit both Cronin’s skill and artistry for giving me a sci-fi apocalyptic trilogy that yes, I could love. Literary Sci-Fi is obviously a thing! I eagerly anticipated each volume and was never disappointed.
And now he brings us The Ferryman. Literary Sci-Fi? Yes. Maybe even post-apocalyptic. But what shines brightest in this gorgeous novel are the unforgettable, flawed but endearing characters and settings that change with a page turn to be first what we think they are, and then something else entirely. It’s frightening, and it’s magical.
Ultimately, this book is a tribute to dreams, and those who work to make dreams come true. It is a tribute to storytelling, and the value stories provide to make life understandable, bearable. It is also a tribute to art, and love, and family, and the sea, which frames the story. It makes the reader ask Big questions, about humanity, religion, history and the future. You will not soon forget the people you come to know and care about in this book. I can’t wait to read it again. And you know I never re-read books!
Best book so far this year. Thank you NetGalley and Random House- Ballantine for the ARC. The book will be released on May 2, 2023