I must admit, I don't normally read sci-fi books and yet something about The Ferryman's synopsis captured my attention enough for me to venture into foreign reading territory. This book left me near to speechless it was so unexpectedly amazing!

We follow Proctor, a Ferryman on the island of Prospera, who ushers older citizens who have begun to experience physical and mental decline to the Nursery, an island fortress where they are renewed and reborn into a new life. Prospera is a hidden island utopia where its residents live comfortable, prosperous lives and are free to focus on creative expression and personal excellence. We soon see hidden faults in this seemingly perfect existence as the class of support staff and workers begin pushing against their limitations and questioning their role in society. The sense of unrest is growing and revolution may be on the horizon. This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the epic story within these pages, but to say more would be heading into spoiler territory.

This is an incredibly hard book to discuss without revealing too much, as its a story best enjoyed with the reader knowing as little as possible about the plot. I knew only the basic synopsis and I'm so glad I got to experience this story with no expectations about what the story would be and where it would head. Though I rarely read sci fi and was initially unsure if this book would work for me, I ended up flying thru the almost 600 pages in 3 days. Its that good. Justin Cronin's writing captivated me in a way few authors are able to do. His storytelling so thoroughly immersed me in this tale that I struggled to set it aside. Even when doing other things, I found myself thinking about the people and events unfolding within these pages. The ending-well its just about perfect.

The Ferryman is a complex, moving, thought provoking, at times heartbreaking and at other times hopeful story that is so beautifully told its destined to remain on my Keep Forever shelf. Don't let the sci-fi genre tag scare you away. This book is so much more than I expected and one of the easiest 5 star ratings I've given in a long time. It'll easily be in my top 5 books for 2023.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for providing a copy for me to read and review.

This is a hard book to review without giving away so many of it's twists and turns. It will continue to surprise you throughout until almost the end you won't understand exactly what it all is. I will say however, that it's fantastic!! I loved it! Justin Cronin is one of my favorite writers, I loved The Passage series and waited so long for another book from him and the wait was absolutely worth it!

This was an interesting book and I was really into it when I first started reading it. But there was a LOT happening...maybe too much?

The overall concept was cool (and honestly, wasn't expecting its twist) - but there were just so many "twists" that by the end, it was all just too much for me. I also still don't really understand why most of the passengers were left in the dreamscape when Warren awoke and why the plan was never to awaken the investors.

I really enjoyed the first half of the story in Prospera and the revolution that was brewing. I had a hard time seeing the characters in their new "roles" once they woke up (and identifying who was who previously but who they were in "reality." Though, I guess that could also mimic the confusion of the travelers).

In the end, it was just too complicated a story for me to really love it as much as I wanted to.

I honestly had no idea what to expect from this book, but wow I was blown away. Justin Cronin is so talented and knows how to captivate an audience. The characters were so well-written and felt so real to me. That's what made this book so special... it all felt so real and vivid. Capturing that as an author is immensely hard, but Justin Cronin did an amazing job.

There were so many twists and turns in this book that I flew through the pages. I read this book so fast because it was simply so good and I just had to know what was going to happen next. Justin Cronin blew me away.

I am a huge lover of dystopian science fiction, so I ended up loving this one! If you're a fan of either of those genres, I highly recommend this one!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for this free arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is one of the most powerful books I have read in a long time. While the language was a bit much at times, particularly set against the lyrical nature of the rest of the writing, the fable itself was magical. To say any more would be to give away the plot, but suffice it to say Cronin is an amazing writer and his skill is on display in this work.

HOLY HELL!

Yes that is how I want to start this review. This book was indescribable in so many ways. I was pulled in deeply to the mystery and seriously creeped out throughout the entirety.

This should be a must read for everyone this year and I will completely be buying myself a copy just to read it again.

5 stars because I am not allowed to give 10.

I did not fully finish this book, it started off strong but I got bored with the plot, it needed to be a little more fast paced

I went into this story blind -- I had no idea what to expect. I thought I had it figured out after the first 20% or so, and then WHAM. It changed. And then WHAM. It changed again. Somehow, it kept my interest and kept me engaged.

This was an opus...spanning generations with a complicated backstory and ever-increasing number of potential futures. I enjoyed it -- I didn't love it. This was a world that one could envision, and a future that one could see. Other than Proctor, the rest of the characters seemed pretty one-dimensional, probably intentionally.

Give yourself time to read this -- it is a commitment.

I loved the cover. The colors and composition spoke to me. Kudos to the designer.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From the time I started this book I was sucked in. The characters were believable and well fleshed out and as the story progressed I found myself fully invested. Unfortunately, the time allocated for me to read the book expired before I could finish it but I thoroughly enjoyed the part I read. This book wasn’t one I would normally pick up and was suggested to me by the Publisher. Although I wasn’t familiar with the author they picked right and it was a definite fit. I’m gonna check out other books by this author. This was a cool read that I’d recommend others give a try.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin is one of my most anticipated releases of 2023 after reading and loving The Passage series several years ago. Thanks to Ballantine Books, @penguinrandomhouse and @netgalley… I got to read it early! You’ll be hearing a lot more about it by the time it releases in May.

As I’ve been trying to write this review, I realized the more specific I get about the plot, the closer I am to revealing some of the twists… and I don’t want to spoil it so I’ll just say if you like dystopian and science fiction, just go into this blind.

It’s set in an island paradise known as Prospera where citizens live long, healthy lives and rarely want for anything. But of course there is another side to this utopia. We meet several different characters in the beginning whose stories and histories overlap and we gradually start feeling some atmospheric disturbance. This set-up may sound a little familiar, and yes, there are a few nods to well known dystopian tropes, but just when you think you’ve figured it out, it goes in another direction. Cronin writes his stories in such a way that make you feel a little unsettled until you really get into the groove and he finally decides to tell you exactly what’s going on.

I loved this one! The Ferryman is scheduled to release on May 2, 2023.

Mesmerizing and very thought provoking.
Many thanks to Random House and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This dystopian novel begins at some unknown point in the future with a group of humans living on an archipelao consisting of three islands. One, Prospera, is where the elite live - people whose sole reason for existence is to enjoy and create beauty, art, and pleasure. Each citizen has a monitor embedded in their arm that keeps track of their physical and psychological health. When your monitor gets below 10%, mandatory retirement, or reiteration, is necessary. One can always choose reiteration at any time if they so desire. "Retirement" means you travel to the island known as "The Nursery" where your memory is wiped, your body renewed, and you begin life again as a teenager. These teens are brought to Prospera to become wards of couples under contract (married) who desire to become parents. The third island is known as "The Annex" and it makes everything else possible. The Annex is where the servants live - in squalor and poverty and filth. They provide all the manual labor, including production of food and materials, for Prospera, as well as filling all the blue collar jobs. They are conceived, born, live, age, and die like regular humans.

Proctor Bennett is what is known as a Ferryman - he helps those ready to retire as they make their way to the ferry to return to the Nursery. Throughout his entire life Proctor has had dreams, unusual dreams that cause sleepwalking and that are supposed to be impossible in Prospera. Then, he monitor starts dropping alarmingly fast with no apparent cause. Meanwhile rumors are spreading of strike and unrest among the Annex population and when Proctor is called to take his own father to the ferry, things rapidly go downhill. His father gives him several cryptic messages and Proctor ends up having to force him onto the ferry.

These messages are disturbing and lead Proctor to question everything he's ever believed. He must uncover the truth behind the unrest and the dreams before it's too late.

As is to be expected in a Cronin novel, the plot is intricate and twisty and very well done. The characters are believable and intriguing and you want to keep reading. While I really didn't like the end, the twist was fantastic and I definitely recommend this book to fans of dystopian and mystery stories. 4 stars


Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Proctor Bennett is living his best life. On Prospera everyone does, no sickness no death. All the people on this hidden island are content and happy with their lives. Everyone wears a monitor, the monitor keeps a check on the health and well being of al the citizens. Proctor is a Ferryman. The Ferryman takes citizens who are aged or unhealthy to the nursery. The nursery is where you go to be reborn. Its and island all its own and no one really knows what goes on there. The citizens choose when to go to the nursery to be reborn. In this way all goes smoothly, until one day when someone puts up a fight.

The events of that day will follow Proctor for the rest of his days, and the way things are looking they're aren't going to be to many days left. The events on the dock that day are bad enough, but things are starting to get out of hand on the Annex as well.. The Annex is where all the people who maintain Prospera live. People of the Annex carry out the menial tasks for those on Prospera. They do not have health monitors and they give birth to their own children unlike those on the Annex. The mystery deepens as Proctors world begins to crumble around him. As Proctor searches for answers he is pursued by those who wish to silence him. There is something much darker at work here and Proctor must race to find the answers before it is to late for him and everyone else.

This is Cronin at his best. I promise this book does not disappoint. It is twisted in all the best ways and keeps you guessing until the very end.

I really loved this book! I’m a long time fan of Justin Cronin from The Passage series and couldn’t wait to get my hands on this new book. The plot was very well paced and the twists and turns were placed perfectly. The reveals were very effective. There were just enough characters to keep the story interesting without overwhelming the reader with personal details to keep track of.

This is my first Cronin book, and having not read his popular Passage series, I wasn't sure what to expect.
What I liked:
The dystopian setting had enough unique aspects and mystery around it to stay engaged with the world and I was eager to tease out what exactly was going on.
There are good resolutions and payoffs for a lot of the plot choices that made me look back at some of the book in a new, better, light. Cronin captures the intense emotions of being a parent in a way that hit deep, often with the mostly delightfully simple turns of phrase.
What was neutral:
There are a fair amount of action sequences- primarily car chases and riots. This is content that I tend to skip over in books no matter the genre. This is a me thing and not a book thing, so zero judgment there.
There is a very formal tone to the writing. At first I thought it was intended to conjure a kind of "bygone era" style that one might associate with the 60s in this dystopian world, but I think it might be more about the author's voice. Hard to say, it was neither good nor bad, just a noticeably different style from the more contemporary/colloquial tone of other novels.
I'm wary of dreams as tools in storytelling because generally it's a piece of non reality that while potentially informing us of the character's state of mind, usually doesn't add anything to the story. In this case the dreams are important to the plot so I'm trying to make my peace with all the dream content.
A lot of boat content. I have never wanted to know what anything on a sailboat is called and I have retained none of the names or details of the various boats in this novel. If you love sailing, you may be thrilled by all the nautical details.
What didn't work for me:
The book feels a little long in some places. Admittedly, I like a sharp and lean book, so this is veering into personal preference territory, but I do think that paring down the story just a little bit more might have helped with pacing.

Thank you for the opportunity to review The Ferryman by Justin Cronin. I've read a bit of this author's catalog before and was quite excited to sample this new offering. I'll start by saying that it wasn't as enjoyable to me as The Passage, but I think that is on me rather than any fault of the author. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood for a particular book, and I will likely revisit this title in the future and give it another go. This novel is well written and I believe that Cronin's fans will be largely quite happy with The Ferryman.

I found the author's writing style and his voice just weren't landing with me. While I was reading this work and life were busy and I wasn't finding as much time as I usually do to read and every time I came to this my mind would be wandering, I'd reread the same page several times, I'd be asleep soon after starting a chapter, so on and so forth. So I finally put it down for good after about 15% and picked up something more entertaining. Hope the books finds another audience who can appreciate it for what it is.

@netgalley thank you for the ARC. I read a Justin Cronin novel several years ago and liked it, so requested this ARC. But this is a scifi future type of book-not my favorite. So unfortunately I did not finish this. It was not for me.

"A group of prisoners is chained in a cave facing the wall. Behind them is a group of puppeteers, and behind them, a fire. The puppeteers move their puppets back and forth, creating shadows on the wall. The prisoners can’t turn around, so all they see are the shadows. Look at the dog, they say, look at the house, look at the lady walking her dog by the house. They have no way to know that the shadows aren’t the things themselves, but reflections of them."

Proctor Bennett is a ferryman. He lives and works for Prospera, an enclave that's separated from the rest of society. On Prospera, people aren't born, and they don't die. Instead they are "retired" when their time comes, and that's where Proctor comes in, to take them on the ferry to the nursery.

But then he's asked to take his father on the ferry, and and he tells Proctor that he isn't real, that nothing is real, taking Proctor away from the safety of his neat life and into something much greater.

I really enjoyed this even though I was confused for the first 2/3. But it really came together. There are lots of homages to other sci Fi books/movies but it's still original.

Thank you netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This latest offering by Justin Cronin once again takes on a journey to a unique way of life.. In the islands of Prospera, some people live in paradise, with their every need met by a small army of workers who...don't live in paradise.

People don't die of natural causes. Instead, they are 'recycled' to return in a new body as a teenager when their health and well-being fall below ten percent measured by the implants in their arms. Proctor Bennett, the main character, serves as a ferryman to transport people back to the Nursery to have youth restored as a new person. But from his dreams to his wife's behavior to his treatment by other people, Proctor realizes something is not right.

The servant classes become angry and demand more rights and a bigger share of the good things. Calling themselves 'Arrivalists,' the lower class begins to agitate for more power. Soon, Proctor is enmeshed in a class struggle where he can't be sure what is real or who to trust.

Proctor, and the reader, are in for some surprises when the situation is resolved. This book could be a standalone or could have a sequel. Those who enjoy books about complicated relationships with a twist of science fiction will really enjoy this one.