This was an unexpected treat! I am not usually that big on sci-fi, but The Ferryman really captured my attention. Very creative and engaging!

Many thanks to both Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of The Ferryman.

Expected publication May 2, 2023

This book is a standalone novel about a group of survivors on a hidden island utopia—where the truth isn't what it seems...

There was something so intriguing about the characters, Prospera, and the whole premise in which the ferryman's job is to escort the residents of Prospera who have reached the end of their current iteration to the Nursery. At the Nursery, their memories are wiped, and they are prepared to be reiterated back into society and start a new life. When I read the blurb for The Ferryman, I thought I would LOVE it, and I DID love the first half of it. However, I started struggling to follow the sequences of events when the focus of the book kept changing.

I have a feeling Justin Cronin fans will absolutely love The Ferryman! I have a feeling I just wasn't the target audience.

Science fiction and dystopian readers will enjoy Cronin’s mind-bending new novel, The Ferryman. The story is epic and complex. Each time I thought I had a handle on the plot, Cronin blew me away. I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I did!

In his latest apocalyptic novel, Justin Cronin builds a story around an island in the ocean called Prospera where a group of talented, wealthy, beautiful people live fulfilling lives...that is, until the reading on the embedded monitor in their forearm dips below 10 and they are taken away to be 'reiterated.' Director Proctor Bennett is the eponymous ferryman whose team collects and delivers these people to the ferry which takes them to another island called The Nursery where they will be made new again. There is one more island in the archipelago and that is where the support staff lives. Their jobs are to take care of the more mundane, grubby details of the Prosperians' lives, the cooking, cleaning and garbage disposal, and then are expected to quietly go back to their hovels. But they have had enough of that and are beginning to grumble and revolt.

Meanwhile things begin to fall apart for Proctor when he is expected to take his own father to the ferry. His father makes a break for it and, in the struggle, utters some strange words. The powers that be begin to panic: what if others heard what he said? They have to put out these little fires while dealing with the real threat of insurrection.

And with this, the reader begins to see there is more going on in this strange, crumbling utopia than was at first assumed. There are enough plot twists and turns to keep the most astute reader guessing. I myself found the ending quite satisfying and just.

Not a bad read but way too predictable and cliche for my tastes. I like a little more intrigue and mystery in a story but this was a pretty obvious plot from the start. The writing is fine but the character development was lacking a bit. The ending felt forced.

Thank you to Justin Cronin, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

First off, I am a huge fan of Justin Cronin. I have read all of his books and his writing gets better and better with each book. His writing is so strong and interesting plus I learned a few SAT words!! This time it was about sailing!!

The novel is REALLY hard to describe. It is science-fiction, but actually reality, possibly. Dystopian, but love stories. kind of. Yes, it is THAT hard to categorize. But, it is so, so much in one book and I do NOT want to ruin it for anyone with a spoiler. Just know that I stayed up until 1:00 am to finish it. Thankfully, it was worth the loss of sleep. I know that this amazing novel will stay with me for weeks as I contemplate what I read.

If you like/love/adore any of Justin Cronin's books, like good/great writing, or want an escape to somewhere else for a while, THIS is the book for you!!

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!
5.0 stars

Wow! Really enjoyable! Lots of twists and turns and I couldnt wait to get to the end to see how it all played out! Cant wait to read more by this author!
thank you to net galley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book gets lots of love from so many so my meager 2 star review will make barely a dent which is completely fine with me as I truly hate giving out low star ratings but this one just did not work for me at all. I'm not a huge sci-fi reader but I have read and love some books in this genre so I won't blame it on this. To me the book was confusing and once I got what was happening it changed again and became confusing again. Too much work trying to figure things out and then it feeling really sloggy and so long I was just so glad to get it done. I don't think this author is for me.

I am a huge fan of The Passage trilogy and was wondering when Justin Cronin's next book was coming and would it be as good. I'm happy to say that it is. I am enjoying The Ferryman. The book begins setting the scene for the idyllic Prospera, only to have it's perfect facade cracked open by a tragic death that reveals not all is perfect. The lives of citizens are monitored by the government through implants that track a person's health and age (and invariably an expiration date), and those whose time is running low are escorted by a Ferryman to ship that will take them away to finish their lives away from Prospera.

Themes of classism, elitism, and questioning authority are strong through the story. One of the things I enjoyed about The Passage trilogy was the way Justin Cronin developed characters, and this is the same for The Ferryman.

I am enjoying The Ferryman immensely, and I cannot wait to recommend it to our library patrons. It has elements of science fiction that will appeal to our sci-fi/fantasy readers, and it is also something that could appeal to our readers of general fiction because it's not hard-core sci-fi and has so many humanistic elements that could bring new fans to Cronin's work.

What a terrific writer Justin Cronin is and The Ferryman is evidence. This is a story that intrigued me from the get go. As I get older I find myself thinking about what would I do if I had a chance to start my life again after this one was over. That’s just one part of the story, which is rich in detail and plots, including grief and dreams. Unfortunately in the last part of the book, I was getting lost. Perhaps it was me, but I wasn’t able to fully understand it all and it kind of took away from the ending. Still, what led up to that point is great storytelling and vivid characters.

Publishes on May 2, 2023

Grade: B+

I loved The Ferryman. I was hesitant to pick it up after the final book of The Passage series turned into a political tome, and while the politics are still there, it was very little and it all part of the plot - it did not dominate. The Ferryman's utopian setting was intriguing from the get go, I wanted to know what was up. It was world that was too perfect - until it wasn't.

This was...so slow. It started out really interesting and I was like oh I've seen this move. Like, it felt familiar. But this book was too dang long!!! I was bored for about half of it. It started to pick up at 50% but then it got sloggy again. The ending just wasn't a good enough payout for me. And some things went unanswered. Cynthia/Mother? Did she have anything to do with anything?! I've read this book before except it was YA and that was a better book. Sorry. This was my first Justin Cronin book and I was disappointed.

I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of this book and it really held my interest. The pacing was great and I was sucked into the world Justin Cronin built, as I have been with his previous novels. Towards the end it got a little sluggish for me, but it was still a fantastic read and I loved the concept!

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

In the future, the citizens of Prospera live in an island utopia community. Their health is monitored by meters embedded in their arms. When their health declines, they are escorted by the Ferryman to the nursery, where their memories are wiped clean and their health is restored, allowing them to start life anew. But not all is as it seems in this island paradise...

This book had a lot going on and was very long. It is difficult to review without spoilers, but I do feel like the reveal came very late in the story, and there were a lot of parts that didn't make sense until the reveal. I had to think about what I had read for awhile after the reveal and I felt like my head was spinning. Overall this was an enjoyable book that did make me think, but it is not a quick or light read.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I was familiar with Mr. Cronin’s work but this was the first book of his I’d read. I don’t read a lot of what I’d call sci-fi, but when I do I always appreciate the world building which this has done well. It’s a very long book and was a little slow to start and perhaps a little slow to end, but overall it was enjoyable.

It’s the kind of story that takes time to settle into in order to understand the what is happening since it takes place in the future. There were times when I wasn’t sure if I was lost or if I wasn’t supposed to know what was going on just yet. The book peels away layers and reinvents itself during different stages of the novel which I appreciated for the creativity and world building. However, by the end I was a bit uncertain of the rules and internal logic of the world, but it didn’t stop me from liking the book overall.

And as the true story reveals itself the narrative becomes more personal and touching which I also appreciated.

My first Cronin, this one was a bit of a mixed bag for me.

Wonderful writing, interesting characters, imaginative world building, these are what I enjoyed about the book. However, it was a complicated journey and at times difficult to imagine what was described. Also, mostly towards the end, there was some back and forth of narrators that was sometimes distracting/confusing.

There are lots of recognizable issues from today (socio-economic, environmental, etc.). Forgot to mention, this is set in the future and as such has some amazingly inventive imagining, but as remarkable as that was, as I said before, I was sometimes lost while trying to visualize it all.

Overall, the good outweighed the perplexities, and it was a good read.

My thanks to the author, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing the free early arc of The Ferryman for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

On the utopian island of Prospera, Proctor Bennett leads a rewarding life as a ferryman. Tasked with guiding those ready to "retire" onward to a mysterious island called the Nursery when their embedded monitors fall below 10%, Proctor believes in the Prosperan way: live, retire, and be born anew, with a restored body and a mind wiped of all previous memories. By this process, Prospera has order. And life is good.

That is, until Proctor receives the call to retire is own estranged father. Riddled with unease as he accompanies his father to the ferry, Proctor soon realizes something is very wrong. His father leaves him with a disoriented, unsettling message: "Orianos, it's all Orianos." But what does it mean?

From that moment on, Proctor finds himself propelled into a ceaseless pursuit for the truth. Life on Prospera may not be all that it seems; the same goes for its neighboring island called the Annex. All around, unrest is growing, mysterious "echoes" are pinging into Prospera's utopian paradise, and Proctor can no longer turn away. But at what cost will the truth come? It may not just be his future as the ferryman that hangs in the balance.

An epic behemoth of the most impressive proportions, "The Ferryman" will have to come up against something quite special to be dethroned as my top book of 2023. Here, Justin Cronin weaves an almost impossibly-creative, compelling, deeply-emotional story into the kind of page-turner that will cause you to sacrifice an entire night's sleep.

To dive into the plot much more would be to rob readers of what is truly a once-in-a-generation reading experience, but prepare for the floor to drop out from beneath you during this--and not just once, but several times. The sheer magnitude of Cronin's plot and how it seamlessly weaves together is remarkable; this is a sci-fi masterpiece.

Highly enjoyable dystopian fiction! I love Justin Cronin!! I am a huge fan of his writing style, which is complex, rich, and completely satisfying! After reading his trilogy, the Passenger, I knew I would read anything by this author in the future. This standalone novel did not disappoint. The surrounding dystopian, as well as utopian, themes in this book spoke to me on many levels and was scary reminiscent of “what could be” in our own future! Highly recommend!

A sci-fi book that doesn't seem too outside the realm of possibilities, this book reminded me of Blake Crouch book's, which I love. Set on the paradise Island of Prospera where many are living a perfect life, we meet Proctor Benett. Proctor is a Ferryman. Everyone living on this island is born with a device installed in their bodies and this device allows for a window into their health and life span. When a person reaches a low health percentage it is Proctor's job to lead them onto a ferry that takes them to another island where they will be reborn and then brought back to Prospera to lead another perfect life.

Bennet has always been the exception to the rule and even though he has what seems to be a satisfying life, it has not been perfect. As with all utopias, things are not always what they seem (dun, dun, dun). As Bennet's life starts to unravel, he learns about the underbelly of this perfect world and where the truth really lies.

I was immediately sucked into this book. It's obvious the utopian vision of this world is a facade and I enjoyed trying to figure out where the story was headed and what the plot twists were going to be. A couple of the twists I didn't completely see coming and was loving the fast-paced plot in the second half of the book. However, I have extremely mixed feelings about the ending. At first, I didn't like it at all and immediately wanted to discuss it with someone.

Even though I didn't love the ending, the fact that I wanted to discuss the book right away and kept thinking about it shows that is a good book with a compelling story. I think this would be a fantastic book club read when it's released on May 2nd.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an advanced copy of this book. This will make a great bookclub pick when it comes out on May 2nd.

I would like to preface this review by saying I loved Justin Cronin’s Passage Trilogy. The Passage is one of my favorite books and The Passage Trilogy has a special place in this reader’s heart. So when I received an advance copy of The Ferryman, I couldn’t wait to dive in. However, The Ferryman is not The Passage and after a strong Prologue, I struggled to get into this book. It was slow going and did not hold my interest. I finally dnf at 20%. Fans of The Passage trilogy should still give this one a try, it just wasn’t for me.