Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballantine for gifting me a digital ARC of the newest novel by Justin Cronin, author of The Passage, which I loved. 4.5 stars!

The islands of Prospera is geared towards everyone living their best life. Once they get old or sick and the monitor in their arm falls below 10%, they are ferried over to The Nursery, where their minds are wiped, their bodies renewed, and they can begin again. There is also an island called The Annex, where the support staff live. Director Proctor Bennett is a Ferryman, charged with helping those people pass over to The Nursery. Everything is fine until he has to ferry his father over and there is an incident, including a message from his father that Proctor doesn't understand. From that point on, nothing is as it seems.

As typical for Cronin's books, this is a long, book that will totally transport you to a different reality and environment. It's a complicated world but there are twists and turns that keep you glued to the pages. As with most dystophian novels, there are lots of issues that translate directly to our present day. Intriguing, engrossing read!

Utopia is a popular theme in science fiction and there is typically a dystopian side in the same world. You know that, at some point in the plot, there will be a clash of worlds. The Ferryman, by Justin Cronin, takes those basic elements, leads readers along the expected path and then flips things over and around.

Readers start questioning what’s happening from the start, with a prologue that sets the stage for things not being as perfect as they seem. We then dive right into that world, finding out how things are run on Prospera and what life is like for those devoting their lives to excellence. Then there’s the mystery of the Nursery and the function of a ferryman – sounds ominous and yet residents accept these things as part of life. (And I’m not going further into it, because everything gets spoilery!)

Justin Cronin is a great world builder. The utopia of Prospera is well-developed, as is the dystopian side known as the Annex, populated by the lower classes working for Prosperans. But just as you’re getting immersed in this world, the surface starts to crack and something entirely different shows up. It’s mind-bending at times and there’s a twist that is so obscurely foreshadowed that it’s a surprise when it happens.

Sure, this is a long book at more than 500 pages and it may intimidate some, but if you want a well written and exciting piece of scifi, it is so worth it. It’s always a nice surprise when a book like this keeps a reader wanting more.

Thank you to Random House for sending me a copy of THE FERRYMAN by Justin Cronin. This one is out now!

So I really got into the first 60% of this book. I had to read it pretty fragmented with a busy work schedule, but it still grabbed me immediately. However because of it's length and the fact that the last 40% weren't all that compelling to me, I just didn't love this book. I do think there are many people who will dig this Inception like story, but it just wasn't for me. I'd watch the movie for sure, but my little brain couldn't handle everything that was being thrown at me. Ya know?

#theferryman
#justincronin
#NetGalley published 5/2/2023
#ballantinebooks

⛴️⛴️⛴️⛴️/5

Just an FYI, this dystopian story will turn into a regular soft scifi at some point in the book. Don't want to spoil it but some people don't like scifi. 🤷‍♀️ The world that JC built was very interesting and different to me. He described it in great detail. There is/was no apocalypse at any point. They live on an island that is closed off from the rest of the world. It's almost as if they could fall of the end of the earth.

I was intrigued right from the beginning. I always wanted to keep picking it up. But I wouldn't necessarily say, "wow, I loved it." But I would definitely recommend it. JC will still be an auto-read for me. I put off doing this review bc I just was not sure what to say. I still don't. So, it's just going to be a super short review.

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The archipelago of Prospera is hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. Citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until monitors embedded in their forearms fall below 10 percent. Then they are ferried to the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are readied to restart life afresh. Proctor Bennett is one such ferryman, but some things don't add up. He's dreaming, which is supposed to be impossible, his monitor percentage is dropping fast, and he must ferry his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry. The Support Staff are questioning their place in the social order, and unrest is building. Proctor is questioning everything he once believed, and is desperate to uncover the truth.

Any utopia is someone else's dystopia, and this one is no different. People live charmed lives on Prospera as long as they don't question it or look for more. Once Proctor begins to, he sees how hollow his relationships are, how he has no actual friends, and that his superiors are all too ready to lie and cover up what's really happening. This brings him across different areas of his known world, and more of his life simply doesn't add up. He has few allies in this search, especially with location changes as we continue with the book. The plot twist at the two-thirds mark was fantastic, setting off a number of wrinkles for Proctor to deal with, and I couldn't put the book down.

The story deals with grief, individuality and after a fashion, the nature of the soul. The people of Prospera have an idyllic life, but often it's passion, pain, and love that drives creativity in the arts or looking for solutions to complex problems. Maintaining the idyll for some means subjecting others to practical servitude, and creating a highly surveilled state to try quashing dissent as soon as possible. Of course, humans would rebel and want the truth, no matter what. I promise that the truth in this one is an interesting twist that makes this more fun to read.

Compelling and engrossing sci-fi novel exploring climate disaster, familial connections and loss, dystopia, and much much more. I don’t want to give it away, because you will be shocked by some of the turns here.

At its heart, it is a story of love and sacrifice. It asks and answers the question all good sci-fi will come around to: if we can, does that mean we should? It magnifies its characters’ good and bad points and makes you see yourself in both. I didn’t want it to end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.

It was an epic story. At first it felt weird, not understanding what is happening. But eventually I couldn't stop reading this. You understand it is a dystopia right away, but have no idea what this world actually is (till way later in the book). It feels like a fantasy mixed with dreams mixed with memories. In the end it all makes sense and I loved the concept. By the end of this book I fell in love with the characters and their stories.

It is a DO NOT MISS kind of a book that explores grief and memories and how lives are affected by things we do not let go.

In the sci-fi book The Ferryman we meet Proctor Bennet, a resident of the island Prospera. As a ferryman, he escorts people who have reached a low number on their implanted monitors for retirement and eventual reiteration. His last job involved one of his most well known clients, his own father. From there, Proctors life took a turn when the transition did not go smoothly.

This was definitely a different book than I have read lately. I would categorize it as a sci-fi book that had very important themes of class structure and political maneuvering. The world building was fantastic, I felt like I was truly located in Prospera for most of the book. When I finished reading I felt like maybe I didn't understand parts of it, but I still really enjoyed it?! It didn't make sense but it was very entertaining and fully immersive. I feel like this book could certainly be created into a limited series tv show as well. Overall I felt it was a wild ride, with so many twists and an ending that had me shocked but also satisfied. Highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

The Ferryman - Justin Cronin

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

In this novel Proctor Bennett serves as a Ferryman, bringing souls to their deaths (to be reborn later.

I have to confess, this novel showed up in mystery and crime, Sci-fi is NOT my primary fare, However, I read this entire novel as I requested a copy, and I am working to catch up on my reviews.

The Ferryman is a very imaginative book about the hubris of man seeking the power of a God.

I think so far most reviewers took this novel at face-value, however I found it to be an indictment of humans who spend their lives serving Capitalism as their only diety.

I am not particularly religious, that is just my personal interpretation of this very imaginative and amazing novel (I cannot imagine Cronin's mental acuity, that he is able to create an entire new world by using only the tool of his imagination).

Until next time...

I have to say this was a surprise because I enjoyed this story. This was out of my comfort zone but I took a chance and this plot was very interesting and I enjoyed it.

The Ferryman takes place sometime in our future when the environmental toll couple with international conflict has made our planet a hellhole. However, a group of people have withdrawn to a few islands where they prosper, at least some of them do. They have created a two-tier society with the people of Prospera living lives of ease and comfort while the other group, the support staff, live hard lives in crowded housing with few comforts.

The Prosperans “retire” when their health monitors drop. Proctor, the protagonist of the story, is a ferryman, helping the retirees on their final journey before they are regenerated as new people. Things began to go awry for Proctor when his father retires. People in the government are concerned his father may have told him something he should not know. He’s having trouble with his wife. He’s dreaming, something supposedly impossible, definitely discouraged. He met a young girl who seems unattached to a family.

Things keep coming at him, faster and faster and the world seems to be falling apart. Why do they want to retire Proctor so badly? Why do they fear him? Is he remembering something he was supposed to forget?

The Ferryman is hard to put down. It’s moving so fast, I had to keep reading. It seems possible that his health really is failing as his world becomes more chaotic. Is he seeing things? What is happening?

Well, probably nothing you will imagine. It took me completely by surprise which I love. I am seldom surprised by the explanations at the end of a book, but this one, it caught me. I love it for that.

I received an e-galley of The Ferryman from the publisher via NetGalley.

The Ferryman at Ballantine Books | Random House
Justin Cronin

'The Ferryman' by Justin Cronin (Ballantine Books, 530 pages, May 2)

Few books, and their authors, can earn attention from the likes of Stephen King (“totally satisfying”), Chris Bohjalian (“brilliant hybrid”) or Andy Weir (“mind-bending”), but Justin Cronin is one of the elect. And “The Ferryman” shows us why (or to be more precise, why again: Cronin is the best-selling author of “The Passage” trilogy and a world-building style unique to his oeuvre). But as good as his current canon is, "The Ferryman" is better. Cronin's latest tops the charts in the "post-apocalyptic-science fiction" category, but it's not really that public consensus that shows its worth. It's more than that. Prospera, founded by the mysterious Designer, is an archipelago hidden from the ravages of time and an outside world. Those who live there enjoy inordinately long lives, and when they retire (as determined by implanted health monitors) they take a ferry ride to the Nursery, where their bodies are rejuvenated, their memories wiped and life begins anew. You can imagine the story lines that develop from here, but it's unlikely you'll see what Cronin has planned. A long, engaging book, the story moves as fast as the movie it's destined to be from an author who keeps improving, even as he inches toward his own ferry ride.

Wow. I'm not quite sure what I just read. It was dark, trippy, kind of sad, dystopian and twisty. Not my usual book genre. All I can say is I read it.

This is a new novel from the author of the Passage. In this standalone book, he examines the truth and how things are not always as it seems. Proctor Bennett is the ferryman who helps people "retire". When he notices big changes that are not supposed to be able to happen, he starts to question everything, Will the utopia stay perfect, or will everything fall apart?

THE FERRYMAN
Justin Cronin

Superbly narrated, expertly written, and mind-blowing from start to finish.

On Prospera, a utopian island, life is perfect. And anything that isn’t is quickly removed or eliminated. Every person on the island of Prospera has a monitoring device that measures their health and wellness.

As they age or deteriorate in some capacity, their meter goes down. Once they are at 10%, they are retired to THE NURSERY where they are unwound and made new again.

For Proctor, a ferryman, life on Prospera is idyllic, until it isn’t. His job on Prospera as THE FERRYMAN is to transport those who were retired from Prospera to THE NURSERY. We meet up with Proctor on a fateful day that will change the course of his life and change his feeling about Prospera forever.

This book took such a varied course each chapter felt like a new adventure. A new world. I envisioned it as a glass-walled elevator where while ascending you experience different realities.

As the book progresses, more and more truth is revealed yet instead of feeling better, more knowledge feels worse. And you find yourself wanting to go back to a time when things were simpler, and everything made more sense.

I appreciated the writing and the feeling of doom I felt for certain characters. I also liked how twisty and windy the story was. It was just enough outside of my comfort zone to feel like a good stretch.

THE FERRYMAN is out now where books are sold.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Audio, Netgalley, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for the advanced copies!

THE FERRYMAN…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

It has been a while since I have read a true Sci-fi novel. This book constantly had me going "what?!" with all the intricately detailed world building in this dystopian fantasy. Our main character is Proctor, but there are a lot of supporting characters. While all the characters were well written, I sometimes felt like I should be making a chart to keep track of everyone and their roles.

There are a lot of twists and turns, mystery, action and suspense, and so much stuff that simply blows your mind! I enjoyed the book, but honestly, I was almost exhausted by the end. There is a lot of information to unravel...and just when I thought I had figured the direction of the story...nope!

4 stars

Unfortunately I was unable to finish the book. I do appreciate the Advanced Reader copy from NetGalley and the publisher.

Ah Dystopia, that most homogeneous of subgenres.

I’ve never been a fan of Dystopia for Dystopia’s sake, and if you are, you’ll probably like this more than I did. But it’s a shopworn genre that mostly just recycles the same plot over and over, and this book is unfortunately no different.

For Dystopia to be truly good for me, it has to be both action-heavy and scary. Otherwise, it’s just depressing, particularly post 2016, since when we’ve been living in a Dystopia of sorts. There are two that come to mind for me that are truly good: The Hunger Games books, of course, and Justin Cronin’s Passage trilogy.

Which is why I decided to give this book a shot despite being pretty much over Dystopias. Sadly, this doesn’t have much in common with the Passage stylistically, atmospherically, or in terms of plot. The Passage was good because it was both unique and terrifying, and this book is neither. The story is slow, the world building is derivative, and the creepiness is non-existent.

Cronin is still a far better writer than most in the genre and the book has some solid subtle humor, but otherwise, it’s one more in a large pile of forgettable dystopian novels.

I feel like Cronin can only write epics. His style is long, poetic, and not for everyone. But it is for me. The characters move the world, and he does a great job with those characters.

I wanted to like this book, but found this book to be overly complicated and confusing. The plot was hard to follow and I was not sure what was their reality and what was a dream, which may have been the point.