Dystopian Society discussion

I've always wanted to get around to this one and I hope everyone enjoys it. Pitch in and discuss!

I think you will love it.
The characters are well defined and it manages to make you care about the outcome. Pretty scary subject material too given the pace science is moving.
Could it be a great filter (checkout the Fermi Paradox).

I got the audiobook version and I'm almost halfway through the book so I thought I'd give you guys a heads up that the narrator isn't great. It's not dealbreaker bad but noticeably not excellent if that makes sense. It's ok and could be better. Wouldn't recommend it.

Also, I was surprised there are supernatural elements to the story since the cause of the ... whatever is a virus. I expected it to be more scifi than horror. But with the .... whatevers (vampires??) being very supernaturalish and the whole chosen one thing it feels much more like a horror novel. I love horror so I'm not complaining!

It's a real page turner like Simon says (wink) and it's not slow like I expected it to be. Very nicely paced.

I've only read the first few chapters, and I was thinking - "is this a VAMPIRE story?" Not far enough into it to be sure but glad to know my Spidey sense was right.

Sandhouse wrote: "Also, I was surprised there are supernatural elements to the story since the cause of the ... whatever is a virus. I expected it to be more scifi than horror. But with the .... whatevers (vampires??) being very supernaturalish and the whole chosen one thing it feels much more like a horror novel. I love horror so I'm not complaining! "

The way you wrote that made me think of The Stand. Starts off with a virus and then it gets supernatural.

LOL - you are right, but somehow I just can't get into vampires and especially zombies. I picked it up again last night and will give it a shot.

I read this when it first came out so I don't remember enough of the details to have a proper discussion about it but I know it never struck me as a 'vampire' book. It was more of a good (Amy) versus evil (the twelve) story.

Thanks - that sounds more up my alley

What if science and genetic engineering went wrong? This book is more akin to that, with the legend of the vampire thrown in.
The 'supernatural' elements...are they actually stretching that far? More scifi than anything.

I finished it last night - phew, it's a long one! But the pacing was good and I stayed up WAY too late reading for the past week or so. I am glad we are continuing the series - I'm going to start right in on The Twelve.

I'm really surprised I liked this as much as I did. I usually don't like vampires or zombies or supernatural, but I agree with Rose - this is not from the point of view of the vampires (the bad) but from the fighters and Amy (the good). And I agree it has a lot of horror elements in it. It's still, at the heart, a post-apocalyptic story. Only the virus makes vampires who then kill most of the population - those that they don't make into vampires. It has that great "can't put it down" feel a good horror tale has.

(view spoiler)[ That last chapter blew my mind! Here I was happy - Amy and Peter and Alicia and the army dude are heading off to kill more "smokes", and the rest of the band is safely in the hands of the Army, in a fortified town. Sara is writing in her journal and discloses she is pregnant...and then the journal ends, and it states it was found at the site of the Roswell Massacre. PHEW- blew my mind! (hide spoiler)]

Your timing is great Jane. The final installment is due to be published in May. I read them so long ago I'll have to re-read so I'm not lost when I pick up The City of Mirrors

Yes, I may have to save my pennies (and dollars!) and buy that one when it comes out. I'm still surprised I liked a vampire book that much. I just got The Twelve from my library's EZone, so I'll start that right away. I wonder if that will be as long as The Passage?

Yes it will (be as long).
The pace is much slower too, but it addresses a really obvious outcome/challenge of such a scenario. :)

Thanks - I started it last night and it seems to be hopping all over the place, and I'm trying to patch together what's going on. I'm sure it will become clear eventually. Pace is slower but not too slow so far.