The Conformity

The Twelve-Fingered Boy Trilogy #3

by John Hornor Jacobs

Mr. Quincrux is dead. Armistead Lucius Priest, founder of the Society of Extranaturals, is now seated uneasily in his protégés flesh, and though Priest's powers are not inconsiderable, the Conformity will not settle for the second-brightest flame in the etheric heights. It will confront Shreve.

But it will have to find him first. Under the protection of Mr. Negata, Jack, and the rest of the Irregulars, Shreve retreats to the wild to face his demons and prepare his mind for one more battle. The Conformity is the breathtaking conclusion to the acclaimed Twelve-Fingered Boy Trilogy.

Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Paranormal, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult Paranormal, Science Fiction

312 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2015

About the author

John Hornor Jacobs, is an award-winning author of genre bending adult and YA fiction and a partner and senior art director at a Little Rock, Arkansas advertising agency, Cranford Co. His first novel, Southern Gods, was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Excellence in a First Novel and won the Darrel Award. The Onion AV said of the book, “A sumptuous Southern Gothic thriller steeped in the distinct American mythologies of Cthulhu and the blues . . . Southern Gods beautifully probes the eerie, horror-infested underbelly of the South.”His second novel, This Dark Earth, Brian Keene described as “…quite simply, the best zombie novel I’ve read in years” and was published by Simon & Schuster’s Gallery imprint. Jacobs’s acclaimed series of novels for young adults beginning with The Twelve-Fingered Boy, continuing with The Shibboleth, and ending with The Conformity has been hailed by Cory Doctorow on BoingBoing as “amazing” and “mesmerizing.”Jacobs’s first fantasy novel, The Incorruptibles, was nominated for the Morningstar and Gemmell Awards in the UK. Pat Rothfuss has said of this book, “One part ancient Rome, two parts wild west, one part Faust. A pinch of Tolkien, of Lovecraft, of Dante. This is strange alchemy, a recipe I’ve never seen before. I wish more books were as fresh and brave as this.”His fiction has appeared in Playboy Magazine, Cemetery Dance, Apex Magazine and his essay have been featured on CBS Weekly and Huffington Post.Books:Southern Gods – (Night Shade Books, 2011)


This Dark Earth – (Simon & Schuster, 2012)
The Twelve-Fingered Boy – (Lerner, 2013)
The Shibboleth – (Lerner, 2013)
The Conformity – (Lerner, 2014)
The Incorruptibles – (Hachette/Gollancz, 2014)
Foreign Devils – (Hachette/Gollancz, 2015)
Infernal Machines – (Hachette/Gollancz, 2017)
The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky – (HarperCollins / Harper Voyager, October 2018)
A Lush and Seething Hell – (HarperCollins / Harper Voyager, October 2019)
Murder Ballads and Other Horrific Tales – (JournalStone, 2020)

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the previous two books in Jacobs' trilogy, he borrowed heavily from existing horror stories, but made his stories unique partly through Shreve's voice. In The Conformity, he mixes up his formula, and I question if it works as well as he thinks it does.

For one thing, what he borrows from horror is a little too distinctive to borrow: He adopts the giant-person-made-up-of-regular-people idea that Clive Barker used in "In the Hills, the Cities". I've never seen that trope used in any other horror story, namely because it's so distinctive, an author wouldn't be able to get away with it without looking like a copycat. It's not the point of Jacobs' story like it was in Barker's, but still, it was impossible to read this book and not think of Barker's story.

For another, Jacobs goes outside of Shreve to narrate parts of the story, and I don't understand why he broke that formula. In regards to the story, it makes sense -- Shreve is knocked unconscious for several days, and it's up to others in the Society of Extranaturals to continue the story -- but since Shreve can now jump into anyone's head and experience their lives directly, I question why Jacobs didn't use this as a way to show what the other characters are doing.

The pacing of the novel feels off, too. The ending comes rather suddenly, when Jacobs spends pages and chapters showing us a side-quest that never serves a purpose to the overall story. It feels like Jacobs was padding the story to get to a certain page-count, which is still odd, when he could have spent more time drawing out the ending of the book instead.

I didn't thing The Conformity was bad, but I can't deny I was disappointed, either. Jacobs started out telling a unique, if familiar, story, and then ended it in a way that was weaker than the first two books. I still liked the trilogy enough to want to read more of his fiction, and I would still recommend the series to readers looking for a unique take on a coming-of-age story, but I feel like the author didn't quite stick the landing here. Consider this book a 7.5 performance from a 9.8 athlete.

[donna_ehm · Rating 2 out of 5]

A solid 3.5 for the trilogy but at most a 2.5 for this one.

The strength of this series is the compelling voice of its main character, Shreve. His energy really drives the forward momentum of the story and its through his evolution from incarcerated teenager to an extra-natural being within which live multitudes that we understand the forces at play in the book.

Through the first two books we experience these momentous changes from Shreve’s POV. We understand how he changes inside, what it feels like, how it affects his perception of the people and the world around him, and, most importantly, his perception of his own purpose and humanity. There’s a great sequence in the second book when Shreve, incarcerated in a mental health facility, gets locked out on the roof of the building with no way to escape, no food, and little water. While trapped there he experiences what I thought of as a kind of hallucinatory spirit walk, that feeling when your physical self falls away and all you’re left with is pure spirit and pure mind:

It’s there, on the ledge, standing between two worlds, one of sky and wind and pain and heat, and the other one, dark and limitless, that I feel the eyes behind my eyes open and I’m out above it all, looking down on the wasted mongrel-ape clutching the stone with one good hand and then falling away, higher and higher until I’m where the raven might fly, far above Tulaville and the Arkansas river winking like hammered silver in the bright light of day and then beyond that, higher and higher, until I can see the curvature of the earth far below me and taste the coldness of the silent void of space, airless and limitless, the cold silences between the stars.

It’s a blazing sequence during which Shreve makes a huge leap in his extra-natural evolution: he senses everyone around him, thousands and thousands of people, the multitude, “my brain conjuring images from each.” (I look out from a thousand eyes. Listen with a thousand ears. Whereas before this type of sensory perception was too much for him, now “...that part of me, the part that would erode and wash away - that part of me that was soft and unyielding - has become stone. The memories wash over me and recede.” After this he’s able to enter anyone’s mind and take into himself their fears and terrors. “All of it I eat. I ingest the cancers because I can take it all now and not be hurt. I am no longer human.”

So it’s a interesting choice on the part of Jacobs to shift away from Shreve in the third book and split the narrative among several supporting characters. On the one hand, it does let other characters share their perception of events and also of Shreve himself who spends most of the middle of the book in a coma. But it comes at the expense of Shreve’s inner voice and perspective. There was a great opportunity for Jacobs to use that outsider’s view and explore Shreve’s ever evolving inner multitude when Ember, the only other extra-natural in their group with the ability to access someone’s mind, gets inside Shreve’s in order to find out what’s wrong with him and try to get him out of the coma.

But the encounter is relatively brief and in the end we don’t really learn anything new about Shreve or what’s going on inside his head that we didn’t already know or at least suspect. He’s trying to deal with massive guilt at what he feels is his responsibility in the deaths those who he’s directly affected and hurt, not to mention the thousands and thousands sucked into the essence of the alien Conformity.

Damn. This kid is drowning in a sea of guilt and remorse. How he can even get up in the morning, I don’t know.

And that’s about as close as we get to inner Shreve. Shortly after this he blasts Ember out of his mind as she tries to convince him that the fates of those people aren’t his responsibility, their deaths not his fault. Then not too long after that, Shreve comes out of the coma and we learn he experienced another one of those momentous evolutionary shifts. Frustratingly (from a reader perspective at least) this is because he tells the group what happened (versus the scene described above from the second book where we experience and learn alongside Shreve).

”I understand a lot of things now that I didn’t before,” he says. And in his voice, there’s this alarming calmness I’ve never heard there. He’s changed.

”I had some housekeeping to do,” he says. “I had too many guests and needed…” Shreve learned that it was the fact he could hold a multitude within him (just like the alien Conformity) that was what drew the Conformity to him; his ability was like a flaming beacon. So Shreve had to go back to being what he was at the start of the series: just a regular human with only one person inside: himself.

”I had grown too large,” he says, and looks from me to Negata. “Inside. At all times there was...a congress in my head. And I needed to lock it all away. So that the Conformity can’t see me.” For an instant there’s a flash - one of those disjointed images we get from sharing minds, being one with each other - I see a hall, an infinite hall stretching away into the distance, but it’s not a hall, it’s a cellblock with many doors, each one with bars, and Shreve leading thousands of people into individual cells and locking them away. It’s just a single moment and then it’s gone and I’m not even sure I experienced it in the first place.

Shreve pats my knee. “it’s hard to explain. But now I’m jut me for the first time in a long time. And I have to stay that way. Otherwise…”

I couldn’t help but think that I wanted to have experienced that from Shreve’s POV, like before. How much richer that would have been especially for such a major shift. It didn’t seem like so much just laid out like that on the page. I just thought, “Huh. Well. Sure, okay.” I mean, how did he come to understand that that, trapped as he was inside his own personal cellblock with all those people and those emotions to work through? How was he able to shut them all away? How does he know it’ll work and he can maintain it? These are all things that in the other two books would have been shown from Shreve’s perspective and I think would have made for a deeper, richer experience for the reader.

The other drawback of splitting the narrative and POV amongst the other characters is that those plot threads run to dead ends. As in, you follow the characters to different places and through a variety of encounters and action sequences, all of which mean absolutely nothing in the end. Jack and Tap fly to a nearby town to try and find a doctor for Shreve only to encounter a group of religious zealots (and isn’t that an overused trope when it comes to post-apocalyptic types of settings and stories?) I didn’t even bother investing any energy in getting to know these characters; I knew they’d be gone from the story as soon as Jack and Tap have their inevitable narrow escape. They did find a doctor but when they get her back to the camp, Shreve, Casey, Ember, and Negata are gone.

The only point of that entire side-plot is one of the zealots manages to tap into Jack’s power and put out a call to the Conformity which Shreve, having come out of his coma, picks up on and decides they have to leave their camp before the Conformity homes in on him (”It’s coming. The Conformity. It can’t sense us yet - it can’t sense me yet - but it will soon. Even if I’m running silent.”).

But for whatever reason, they can’t wait for Jack and Tap to come back. Which is odd because Shreve’s plan is to stay under the Conformity’s radar for as long as possible until he’s ready to take it on - in Maryland. Their travel options are pretty limited so he proposes getting to Maryland from where they are (somewhere in the Midwest) on horseback. Yes, spend two or three months negotiating winter conditions, not to mention Conformity soldiers, across the country on horseback. But yet waiting for Jack and Tap for another day or two can’t be done? What’s the rush, exactly? I mean, whose to say what would be left of society in three months given there are Conformities all across the world?

Like with the doctor trip, this little side plot takes up precious narrative space as we meet Nelson, the farmer with the horses, and then conversations and scenes about convincing him to part with his horses, then riding and learning to ride, and finally actually getting out on the road and doing some travelling for a few days...only to have it all just end as the Conformity finds them anyway and Shreve - at long last - does battle with it.

In the end, what comes out of the layover in the Midwest is Shreve learns (somehow) to not be a conformity (his inner multitude, not to mention the fact he was able to telepathically link the group together, has de facto turned him into a Conformity), that he has to focus on being just one person for as long as he can in order to get as close to the Conformity as possible without being spotted by it. The story didn’t need to be split amongst religious nutjobs and planning a horseback ride to the East Coast to establish this.

Both side stories were, essentially, entirely pointless. The story could have gone from crash landing in the Midwest to finally taking on the Conformity without them. The pages could have been put to much better use spending more time inside Shreve’s head with Ember, then after he comes out of the coma, sending Jack, Tap, and Ember off to find Reese (The Liar) when they were all still together in the cabin. It doesn’t take long for that to happen and the Conformity to be twigged to Shreve’s presence so just keep the rest in the cabin. They don’t have to go anywhere.

At least when the final confrontation starts happening (Part Three: Storming Heaven) it’s Shreve’s POV that’s in control and the rest of the book is a rushing, emotional ride for the characters and the reader.

I’d definitely check out more by this author. In this series as a whole I really liked how Jacobs really got across the visceral darkness of the Conformity. Not many authors could describe a construct so vile without it coming across as a joke or so over the top as to be unbelievable, but Jacobs manages it easily. You will be horrified at this alien being; you’ll smell it and hear it, practically taste it. You’ll believe in it and without that I don’t think the series would have been as successful.

[Liviania · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Twelve-Fingered Boy trilogy comes to a conclusion with THE CONFORMITY. This is one where it is best to read all of the books in order, so it might be best to stop reading now if you haven't read the first two books.

Shreve has survived Mr. Quincrux. But as terrible as Quincrux was, he had a point. The Conformity is coming, and Shreve and the other extranatural teens must be prepared to fight it. It particularly wants Shreve, for his powerful telepathy and mind control. Shreve is mostly over his stealing-other-people's-memories-to-feel-good thing, but people still don't rest easy around him. (Which is, admittedly, a smart move.)

THE CONFORMITY really gets back to the horror elements of the first book in the trilogy. It takes the physical form of people bonded together into a giant, something impossible to fight without harming the innocents that are being sucked into its being. The stakes are also very high. For the first time, Shreve shares narrating duties, both because the characters have to split up and Shreve isn't always in state to observe and report what's happening.

In the end, I think the Twelve-Fingered Boy trilogy is a little shaggy, yet a lot of fun. The plot takes a lot of detours, many of them unnecessary rather than helping to build the story up. (In this book, several chapters are devoted to one group of characters finding help that gets casually rendered useless shortly after it is acquired. It's more like reading about the characters doing busy work than actually getting things done.) Shreve's voice is as compelling as always, hardened by his time in juvie but still vulnerable due to his youth and the extreme danger he's in.

I think THE CONFORMITY finishes the story aptly. It might leave any new readers confused, but it works well for the series as a whole. THE CONFORMITY ends with a rather bold choice, but a fitting one. I feel like it clearly worked with the themes of the trilogy rather than being thrown in for a cheap shock.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 3 out of 5]

The weakest entry in the trilogy. Still good, but a lot of wasted opportunities. I didn’t really think Shreve’s coma amounted to anything, I didn’t think Jack and Tap’s run in with the town of cultists was really needed. I had sort of expected some sort of sacrifice on Shreve’s part but the ending didn’t feel satisfying.

[Krista Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Bummed that the last book was the lowest rating for me! I DID like the end of it all, but the way it was written changed a lot (ex. multiple perspectives when there was only one before) and in my opinion diluted the journey a bit.

Also, if body horror is not for you, avoid this book at all costs. 🙃

[Kira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting end to a weird trilogy. I never fully got into the writing or characters, so I didn't really care what happened to them in the end, but I guess it ended decently. Not likely to recommend the series but I don't regret reading it.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my lord this book was amazing. I don't understand why it is only getting 4 stars most of the time. I was crying by the time i finished this series. 100% recommend

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is some dark YA but it's so good.

[E.S. Wesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angsty superheroes, depressed gods, human filth, and a whole lot of darkness. Welcome to The Conformity, by John Hornor Jacobs.

The Conformity is the third in John Hornor Jacobs’ Twelve-Fingered Boy trilogy, a series about a boy, and the group of damaged teens who surround him, learning to deal with the terrible things that have happened to them while simultaneously using their over-the-top psychic superpowers to blow holes in things, jack people’s memories, fly, and do all of the other things that people with superpowers do. The Conformity is the final book in this trilogy, and brings the story of Shreve to its conclusion (but I’ll let you decide what that conclusion is).

First off, John Hornor Jacobs has done a very good job with his ensemble in this book. The characters, though all depressed and filled with end-of-the-world angst, all feel very fleshed out and real. Each has a unique voice, which is a praiseworthy feat in itself, and even the unlikable among them have a place in the story that made me care.

The book’s plot, however, and the way the author handles that plot, is very dark. Gruesome. Sickening in places. Jacobs really accomplishes what he set out to do here, but what he set out to do is definitely not for everyone. A feeling of hopelessness pervades every moment, so much that I found myself carrying a dark cloud away with me from my reading sessions. If you’re someone who doesn’t like dark, or doesn’t like vulgarity, recognize that this will probably not be your next great read (though, if you’re thinking of grabbing this book, it’s likely you already know that from the previous two).

I also found myself a bit disappointed with the beginning and the extremely fast ending. The middle two-thirds of The Conformity was engaging and full of depth, but the bookends left me wanting more.
In all, a well-written action novel with intriguing characters, and a dark side that is as big as the Conformity itself.

Read The Conformity if you love dark superheroes with interesting, unpredictable voices, you read the previous two books and fell in love with Shreve, and/or you like the grotesque, the vulgar, and deeply angry and damaged.

Do not read The Conformity if you are easily offended, didn’t read the previous two books, or if you find it hard to stay engaged with intentionally unlikable characters.

NOTE: My reviews find both the good and the bad in the books I read, so take the information at face value, and use the rating as my own personal response to the value that is in the book. The effort of the author is valuable, and all audiences are different. Find what works for you.

[David Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a whole, I enjoyed these books, yet I was surprised at the short shrift Jacobs gave the ending...chapter after chapter of character perspectives, yet the ending was essentially "this happened, then this happened, the end". Really surprised it turned out like that. We had fight scenes that lasted 50 pages, but the finale of a trilogy was only a couple pages...disappointing.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last entry in the Twelve Fingered Boy series. In this volume, we set aside all the ways in which "The System" can discard, abuse or torture society's lost boys (basis for the story in previous volumes) and settle in on a truly nightmarish concept of the world's end. Shreve, the hero-super-telepath and his small group of telepathic/telekinetic misfits must find a way to end "The Conformity" or the world (maybe the universe?) is toast.

The end came abruptly, right in the middle of a Companions Quest, with a major character or two seemingly overlooked/discarded without a resolution to their part of the story. Maybe there was a looming deadline here, but it seems that the story wrapped up a bit too quickly, albeit skillfully.

[Kurazaybo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this entire saga! It was intriguing and exciting from start to finish. This third volume and conclusion brings a much more powerful sense of desolation and powerlesness to the team of kids with superpowers who have been taken captive and trained in order to confront the mysterious force that is felt in the country.

There were moments when I completely connected to these characters and hated when they fought each other and formed factions. This I believe speaks of the hability of Hornor Jacobs to create solid characters that connect with the reader, even if you are in your thirties reading a novel for young adults.

I greatly recommend this saga to everyone interested in young adult fiction, superpowers and teens in trouble.

[Albert Llop · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book as a whole, the whole trilogy is a beautiful story. But I didn't understand some of the plot decisions. Why go through so much trouble to find horses, and then just leave them there and start flying? Why go through so much trouble to find a doctor, only to not be necessary? Beautiful writing and deep thoughts aren't enough. I was a bit disappointed :(

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://somethingwickedcomesofage.tumb...

[Victoria Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

really wasn't big on losing Shreve as a pov for so long. But hey! It turned out good in the end.

[Elyse · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Beggining was muddled/confusing and a bit boring. As soon as the story started to be told from others points of veiw it picked up and was much better.

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just could not get into this book. I only completed it to finish reading the series