Virals, Virals, everywhere

Before I write about the new Justin Cronin novel, The Passage, I must note two things: one, I am not a big fan of vampires. Sure I read all the Anne Rice saga, over 20 years ago, but even Rice has given up on those delights who inhabited New Orleans. I have not read any of the latest books or seen the films about Edward or Bella, and I am pretty OK with that. So for me, this vampire-infested, dystopian novel was a bit of a stretch. It is also a stretch for Cronin whose first two novels, amazing in themselves, feature ordinary folks, no one with the blood lust we see in The Passage.

Now onto my second admission, I read this sprawling novel on my Kindle. I suspect some of you are purists and cannot imagine a big, juicy novel read electronically. Well that is a blog post for another time. However, suffice it to say, that Kindle makes reading so easy that it is hard to resist. The problem is in the length. I had no idea the book was 800 pages when I began, and the more I read the more engrossed I became. So it took me days of page-turning frenzy to finish the novel. Don't worry, I won't spoil the plot. But Cronin has said that this is the first in a trilogy, and so in two years he expects another installment.

Now about the book: conceived in a dark future, mankind has fallen prey to a dozen vampires, called virals here, who the Army was trying to build into a super fighting brigade, when the creatures overturned their captors and wreaked havoc on the world. Spawning legions of their kind, the original twelve vampires represent some new world order of disciples. Even the man who will lead the battle against them, Peter, has Biblical overtones. "Upon this rock I shall build my church" Christic allusion Peter represents man. Another central character, Amy is a young girl who has the power to communicate with animals, as well as the virals. She even sees the humanity of these aggressive bloodsuckers. So indeed, a "little child will lead them." Other than the fast-paced plot, the level of detail and thought in this novel is extraordinary. Each facet of the new world is carefully outlined, from energy use to food supplies. Cronin makes this "Brave New World" more believable that many of even the finest dystopians. He fills in gaps and does so with such a deft hand that the reader inhabits the landscape.

Now, what Cronin seems to be predicting is not a world filled with literal vampires, but a world bereft of humanity. Barricades and segregation from The Other does not separate but alienate. Man needs community to survive; we see several manifestations of community in this book. Whether we see a small band of 6 struggling to reach others or a secluded outpost trying to survive, mankind must reach past its safety level. Heroes in this book are small or weak or geeky... they are rash in their actions often following their hearts, abandoning the rigor of seclusion. The best of this cast understands what sacrifice means and what humanity costs.

This book is a lot to digest. It is fresh and thought-provoking for our world with its vampires at the cinema and doomsday- sayers on the streetcorners. I hope you have the chance to settle in for a read of epic proportions. I have read that a film will be made -- don't settle for that. Read the book.

Changing gears, I am going to write about Anthropolgy of An American Girl by Hillary Thayer Hamann next.