I loved The Passage and the first half or so of this was amazing - I found it engaging and thought-provoking. Unfortunately it started to go downhill and I just didn't enjoy the end. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This post-apocalyptic/sci-fi/morality tale mash-up will keep you guessing even after you "figure it out."

The initial idyllic caste-system setting definitely leaves you wondering about what it is that's not-quite-right. Cronin deftly assembles his characters and setting in a beautiful post-modern utopia but don't think you know whom to trust. There's lots of foreshadowing sprinkled in; and, hold onto your seat, because Cronin does an excellent job of tying things together - much preferred to a novel where you're constantly following white rabbits that disappear down the hole never to resurface.

Cronin's characters are real and flawed and not exactly who you think they are, but that's OK. There's redemption and a few surprises in the end!

Although I often hesitate to recommend post-apocolyptic fiction to just anyone (there is a certain group of us that LOVE it, but it's not everyone's cup of tea); this novel has broad appeal without dire hopelessness so I think it will definitely be one I recommend to draw others to the dark side.

Kudos, Mr. Cronin - an all-around satisfying read!

The Passage trilogy is one of my all-time favorite series, so I was thrilled to get to read The Ferryman. This new book solidifies Justin Cronin's status as a Master Storyteller. The story is so incredibly creative, layered, human and deeply emotional. When characters from other books have long faded from my memory, Cronin's stay deeply rooted in my mind and my heart. I do not want to spoil ANYTHING about the plot because experiencing this tale's unfolding is an incredible journey you should take yourself on.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for access to this arc.

Wow! I thoroughly enjoyed the “The Ferryman” by Justin Cronin. It’s a stand alone for him and the less you know going in, the better. I loved the characters and the plot twists. I was truly shocked by the twists at the end. Bravo!

I want to preface this review by saying I am a huge fan of Cronin’s Passage Trilogy. His ability to create stories that are horrific yet hopeful, tender yet terrifying is unmatched. Unfortunately, The Ferryman is not one of those stories. In fact, it’s difficult to determine exactly what type of story The Ferryman is—a dystopian thriller? A meditation on what it means to love and to be loved? A tale of family, both blood and choice? The twists and turns of The Ferryman are, at first, unexpected and move the plot forward quickly, but are also very reminiscent of The Truman Show and Never Let Me Go. As the novel develops, the connections between these are almost too strong, but also grow to include elements of Neal Shusterman’s YA novels, Scythe and Unwind. In other words, while the first half of The Ferryman is interesting, it’s noticeably derivative, especially for a reader that is familiar with many of the tropes found in these types of novels/movies. Where the story really goes off the rails, though, is the almost laughable second half—for readers of a certain age, all I need to say is, “who killed Bobby Ewing” and The Bob Newhart Show series finale. As the kids say, iykyk. There are shades of Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves and even Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary…in other words, nothing about this story is fresh, interesting, or even original.

SciFi at its absolute best! The Ferryman is my first book by Justin Cronin, but it certainly won’t be my last. Think Upload meets Inception meets Snowpiercer. The ultimate dystopian fantasy, this book will make you question your reality with its brilliant world building and relatable characters. An addictive and unpredictable read from start to finish. I cannot recommend this book enough!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Imagine a place, part of our world, but separate. A place behind the veil. An island named Prospero where people live their lives in close-to-ideal circumstances, with just enough imperfection to make their lives interesting. Now imagine that those people, once they begin to reach the end of their lives, start to feel the aches and pains and heartaches of the elderly, can choose to “retire”. But instead of death, they are regenerated and get to begin life again as a teenager and, once again, live a full life. They won’t have any memories of a previous life but will be secure in the knowledge that they will always have a new life after this one.

Proctor Bennet is a ferryman. It is his job to ferry those ready to “retire” to another island for the beginning of the rejuvenation process. But when he finds himself in the unenviable position of having to ferry his own father to the next life, his will falters. He pushes on with the task but not all goes according to plan, launching Proctor into a rapidly spiraling out of control series of events that makes it clear that not everything is at it seems.

This novel by Justin Cronin, slated for publication in May of 2023, begins almost like a fantasy novel filled with a marvelously wonder-filled environment. But it’s a genre bending story written in a superb fashion. There are elements of fantasy, certainly, but also a deep mystery, some excellent action-adventure, all wrapped up in some very realistic science fiction. From the very beginning, the reader gets the impression that we are merely cruising along the surface of what the real story is. The feeling of wanting to know just what is actually going on here is like the proverbial siren call; we need to keep reading to uncover just a little more of this deep mystery. Much of the time, in the first half of the novel, I was reminded of that same feeling I got when I first watched episodes of “The Prisoner” TV series starring Patrick McGoohan. The protagonist, as well as the reader, knows we don’t have the full story and we are compelled to learn the truth.

It’s difficult to divulge more of the plot, particularly of the second half without giving away spoilers, so I won’t. But it’s incredibly thought provoking, on many fronts. There are some references to what our planet is going through today regarding climate change, and some logical extrapolations as to where that may lead, but this is handled matter-of-factly, and is in no way preachy or political. It’s just part of the setting against which the plot takes place. The characters are fully realized and complex, and fascinating to watch. This is “smart” speculative fiction, to be sure, but the author never stoops to trying to make us feel dumb. Rather, we are swept away in a torrent of compelling events, both emotional and gratifying.

A thoroughly satisfying read.

“The Ferryman” is set on an isolated archipelago, cut off from the rest of the world. It consists of three islands: “Prospera”, “the Annex” (connected to Prospera via a causeway) and “the Nursery,” reachable only by ferry. Prospera is an affluent island populated by the wealthy who reside in mansions overlooking the sea, where they are served by residents of the Annex, a poor working class who cross the Causeway each day to serve the Prosperans.

The residents of Prospera don’t bear children, but instead foster “wards” that come from the Nursery, where they have been “reiterated” (reborn) from previous existences. When they arrive the wards are not children but adolescents, and are taught in an academy until they reach adulthood. All residents of Prospera wear a monitor that keeps track of their health. Once it falls below a certain level, they are “retired” to the Nursery, where they will be reiterated as wards. The main character, Proctor Bennett, is a “Ferryman,” whose job is to pick up the “retirees” and take them to the ferry, which carries them to the Nursery for their reiteration.

Proctor’s world is shaken when he is tasked with picking up his own “father” who took Proctor in when he was a ward. At the ferry, his father becomes agitated and has to be chased down. His final words to Proctor are: “the world is not the world. You’re not you…” and the cryptic word “Oranios.” With these words, Proctor and the reader realize that things on the three islands are not what they seem.

“The Ferryman” is an intricately plotted and meticulously crafted novel that will grab the reader and won’t let go. Cronin mesmerizes with his beautiful prose style, drawing the reader in to the wildly imaginative world he has created. This is the first Justin Cronin book I have read but it certainly won’t be my last. I highly recommend this exquisitely written, visionary book.

(Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for providing me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.)

The Ferryman is a unique and engaging story with an interesting premise. Though the story started a little slow, once things ramp up…I could not put it down. I really enjoyed this one!

There is so much going on with this… and I'm pretty sure I liked it? I don't even know where to begin.

Think of the fighting forces in ‘The Stand,’ mixed with the reality of ‘Inception,’ filled with the space adventures of ‘Project Hail Mary’ and the atmosphere of ‘Westworld.’ I told you - there's a lot going on in this! I will admit that it did take me awhile to not feel overwhelmed by it all and to find my stride with the story and the characters.

But one thing is for sure - die hard sci-fi lovers are going to eat. this. up.

Whoa…that was unlike anything I've read in a long, long while. The author put together an absolutely riveting story, start to finish - about two thirds of the way through, I was unable to put it down. There's so much to mull over here…what's real and what isn't, and whether the distinction even matters as we are living through our experiences - both the shared and solitary. I loved The Passage series, but I think this is Cronin’s best work yet. It is tough to give much of a review without including a spoiler, but wherever I was expecting the story to take me - it wasn’t where it led. This will be one of my favorite books of the year, and I am so grateful to you for allowing me to read and review it!

Thanks to Random House through NetGalley, I was granted a copy for review. I truly never read books categorized as science fiction, so this was a very different read for me. Parts of the system that the people lived under were quite confusing for me, but I got swept up in the tale of events and characters in the island paradise getting skewed or off kilter. With attention centered on one particular man I was able to enjoy the narrative as he adjusts and changes. It was something new and different for me.

The Ferryman is absolutely a beautifully written book. As an avid reader, I appreciated the prose, the concept, and the manner in which the plot gradually bloomed into a complex exploration of grief, love, and humanity. I really wish that I had loved this book as much as I initially expected.

However, my experience with this story was colored by two things: my expectations and my experience. Having read Cronin before, I entered into this knowing that it would be beautifully written, slowly paced, and a well-thought-out world. In addition to this, I have read multiple books with similar concepts. The combination of these two things in comparison with The Ferryman left me....underwhelmed. While the prose and the emotional depth to the story were absolutely gorgeous, the execution of the plot and the concept itself left me feeling unenthusiastic.

Overall, I liked this novel, but I would recommend Cronin's other works far more passionately.

Gripping, fascinating. You don't want to put it down once you've started. There's so much you want to figure out.

I loved the Passage trilogy and there is always that fear the next story from your favorite new author will let you down. The Ferryman did not. I could not put this book down. It was thrilling and very satisfying to read.

I love this author. The Passage series is a favorite and I was very excited to receive this advanced copy of The Ferryman. It reminded me quite a bit of The Giver, which is my all time favorite book.

This book is set in a dystopian society. There are no pregnancies, children or death in this world. Couples sign 15 year marriage contracts and then have the option to adopt a teenager into their homes. They all have monitors embedded into their arms, and when their health drops below 10%, the ferryman helps them sign their lives and possessions away and then guides them to the ferry which takes them away. They are taken to the Nursery, where they are reborn and kept there until they are teenagers again.

Proctor works as a ferryman and he hadn’t thought much about how difficult or sad his job is, helping people end their lives. But that all changes when his estranged father shows up on his list. While escorting him to the ferry, his father starts acting agitated and tells him “the world is not the world” and “you are not you” and the word Oranios. Proctor is determined to find out what these last words from his father mean.

I’d give this one a 4/5. I liked the concept and the beginning, but I got a little lost towards the end. I felt like I would really need to reread a few chapters to fully understand the story. It will be out in stores on May 2nd of next year!

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I read The Passage YEARS ago when it was first released and I will admit that I was probably too young to really "get" it, but from the vagueness of my memory, I remember liking it. That being said, I was intrigued to return to this author after all these years.
The plot was fascinating and from the synopsis I got Bioshock vibes and I wasn't disappointed. The underlying mystery had me hooked from the beginning until the end.

The Ferryman

[Blurb goes here]

This is the story of Proctor, a section director for the Department of Social Contracts. His job is to gather people and put them on a ferry, people who's mental and physical health monitors, have dropped, meaning that both have deteriorated enough for them to be retired. These people will be sent to the Nursery, where all memories will be striped from them. Soon after, they'll return to the city as younger versions of themselves, to start a new life in the care of their charges.

Propspera is a small city built on an archipelago. It is the perfect city, except for one small detail. It's located next to the Annex, where all workers of Prospera live. There's unrest at the Annex, there's talk of strikes, and even of fighting against their oppressors. Prosperians live on luxury, while everyone in the Annex is starving, living a life of hardships. All exacerbated by the resistance, a group that calls themselves "Arrivalists."

When Proctor's charge, his father, decides to retire to the Nursery, everything changes for Proctor. His monitor starts to drop faster, his mental state one of confusion, the meeting of a strange teenage girl, which seems at times to be a concocted fantasy of his, driving him further away from reality.

This character driven story is a mix of sci-fi and mystery thriller. As it progresses, it takes unexpected turns. You'll be all too invested on Proctor and on the allies he finds on the way, for nothing is what it seems on Prospera.

Masterfully written, this novel is one hard to put down.

Thank you for the advanced copy!

It's been a while since I've had a book hangover. I finished this days ago and am still unsure how to articulate a review.

This book landed in my inbox unsolicited from the publisher and Netgalley. I had never heard of the author or any of his other books, but it seems he's kind of a big deal, and now I get it.

BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS FLIPPING AWESOME.

It's like all the best parts of Inception and Westworld smooshed into one book with a dash of Matrix and LOST - and it is very cinematic, so I expect Hollywood will be on this like white on rice before long. Mindbending, unique, and mysterious, with plot twist after plot twist and no sense of what is real and what isn't made this unputdownable. I read a chapter before bed every night and it did give me some weird dreams of my own. Definitely an interesting reading experience.

The story follows Proctor Bennett, a ferryman of Prospera, which is an island utopia shielded from a rapidly deteriorating outside world. His job is to ferry people to 'retirement', which is a reiteration with memories wiped and a shiny new body and he's there to make the transition smooth and not scary or in worse cases, to enforce it. It's hard to explain further without spoilers I am itching to talk to people about and exchange theories with.

It kinda stinks that this isn't out until May 2023 and I have no one to talk about it with until then and I get a copy and start force-feeding it to people.

In a world where people don't die, they are merely ferried away to be regenerated into a 16 year old with no memories of previous lives - Proctor is responsible for making sure the "retirees" go quietly without a fuss. But he is quickly drawn into a mystery that foes to the heart of their whole society.
I loved the multi layered quality to this book, it moves from poignant story into Science Fiction thriller into Classic world exploring Science Fiction.
I would say its a little slow in parts and the end is far too long and drawn out. But all in all I did greatly enjoy this book and I would highly recommend it.