This book is just a little too much: too many people, too many plots, too many realities. You know this is all going to be a little bit out there, but after awhile I wasn't sure what was even going on anymore. It's hard to tell who the heroes and the villains are when they change back and forth so quickly. Interesting, but could have been simplified and improved by being shorter.

An Idyllic Society Showing Signs of Stress

Proctor Bennett is an official in the idyllic land of Prospera, an archipelago in the ocean. The archipelago consists three islands: the main island of Prospera is where the elite live, the Annex is the province of the workers, and the Nursery is where the old people go to be reprogrammed. Proctor’s job is to take the old people, either willingly of unwillingly to the Nursery. He enjoys his works until he has to take his father who is unwilling to go. They ugly scene makes Proctor think, and he becomes uncomfortable with some of the aspects of his environment and the stresses between the classes.

The divide between the elite and the servants who are basically slaves bothers him and in fact he learns of unrest in the Annex. The workers are in many respects basically slaves and Proctor begins to see the difficulty of the situation.

This is a long book with a complex plot. There are a great many characters. Some are well developed, but others could have been fleshed out better. There are plenty of twists and the ending is somewhat surprising. However, it’s a satisfactory read. In some ways, it reminded me of Plato’s Republic. Plato sees no conflict between the classes in his ideal society, but perhaps The Ferryman presents a more complete picture of what could happen.

I received this book from Random House for this review.

This is the first book that I’ve read by Justin Cronin, and my mind is still grappling with it. I love dystopian sci fi, and this novel left me reeling a bit.

Proctor is a ferryman on the utopian archipelago of Prosperan, a place set apart from outside destruction, whose inhabitants don’t die. Instead of death, their health is monitored and when their numbers drop to a certain level, they are ferried across to the Nursery, where their bodies are reiterated and they start again at the age of 16. Connected to the Prosperan mainland by a causeway is the Annex, where the workers of Prosperan dwell. These workers don’t participate in reiteration; they live and die natural deaths. But some are not happy about the disparity between these two classes and a general sense of unrest is beginning to spread.

When Proctor has to ferry his father to the Nursery, his father reveals that there is something deeper amiss with Prosperan and the quiet life Proctor has led, putting him in the center of a bigger plot that he cannot fathom, one that others in power will do anything to keep a secret.

This book makes your brain think…. alot. There are many major twists that completely throw you off, and you have to shift your entire mindset to grasp how the narrative changes as each twist unfolds. Cronin paints a very real portrayal of a world battered by the actions of man, while diving into the topics of classism, grief, and loss. I’m a huge fan of dystopian sci fi, so I loved this wild ride of a book. But I did have to reread several technical parts to understand the plot, and I did get lost in some visual descriptions. Overall, it didn’t change my total understanding of the story, but I can see how some readers may struggle with those elements. I think that this book needs to be adapted to either the big or small screen, because my mind was playing it as such the entire time.

Overall, if you love sci fi or dystopian fiction, you should definitely read this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine for this advanced copy!

The island of Prospera is hidden away from the rest of the world that has begun to deteriorate. The citizens of this haven have their physical and mental health monitored by a bit of tech embedded in their bodies. When their monitor registers below 10% they are ready for reiteration. Proctor Bennett is a ferryman who guides people toward the Nursery when they are ready for reiteration, where they will have their failing bodies renewed, memories wiped clean and be ready to start their life anew. Meanwhile the "support staff" who are ordinary people entrusted to keep Prospera functioning have started to question their role on the island and are starting to form an uprising. When Proctor assists his father onto the ferry for reiteration, he is given a cryptic message during their final moments together, which lead him to start questioning everything he knows.

This book was mind bending in the most wonderful way. Every time I thought I knew where this story was going, I was surprised by a twist I didn't see coming. There were so many different elements going on in this novel, that had someone told me ahead of time, I would not have been able to understand how Cronin could make it into a cohesive story, but he did it and did it really really well! It was an amazing mix of Utopia/Dystopia/SciFi with a dash of mystery/thriller mixed in and I loved every second of it.

I did not choose this book, this book chose me. I think for that reason, it was not meant to be my book. The first chapter was magically underwhelming. It was a hard pass sadly.

The description for Justin Cronin’s recent novel, The Ferryman caught my attention with elements that reminded me of some of my favorite dystopian and science fiction novels, dating back to my elementary and middle school days. Though it took me a while to really get into it and though the description was (necessarily) a little misleading, the story picked up enough by the halfway point to carry me through to an ending that made the early slog worth it.

Proctor Bennett has been enjoying his current iteration on the island of Prospera – he and his wife, Elise have been happy with their marriage contract and he’s a director at the Department of Social Contracts where he works with retirees as they ship out for reiteration. Sure, he’d like for them to take on a ward and his meter shows his percentage has been dropping, but he’s still a long way from needing to retire and things are fine enough. But then he’s tasked with managing his father’s retirement under the eye of a new trainee and things start to go sideways. There’s also unrest as the support crew for Prospera have been growing increasingly discontented with their treatment. As Proctor’s world begins to fall apart, it looks more and more like someone is purposely pulling and loosening the threads, but to what purpose?

The Ferryman is a novel that requires patience and perseverance. I found the first half to be scattered and gesturing at certain themes, but without enough coherent force to really feel worth it (it had the feeling of something that was trying to be edgy and profound but wasn’t quite hitting the mark and was getting closer to landing on ‘tedious’). Around the halfway point, however, the larger picture began to take shape and the pacing picked up making it easier to power through to the point where the story had genuinely sucked me in. The themes that were hinted at early in the novel took on greater meaning when the proper context was added (still less genuinely profound than I feel like was being aimed at but at least more relevant than it seemed early on).

What surprised me about The Ferryman was how engaged I became by the end even though I wasn’t particularly drawn to the characters. It was the plot and the premise that ultimately carried the story for me. At the same time, I think this novel would make a fantastic television limited series adaptation, especially with the right casting. I feel like the characters were generally underdeveloped but also that they were probably written that way in order to preserve a lot of the key twists and reveals surrounding the story – so, understandable but a little disappointing to me personally as a reader who tends to prefer more character-driven stories. The characters who were largely cast in “villain” roles, in particular, felt flat and though motivations were outlined, they weren’t presented in ways that gave them the emotional weight I think they deserved (but in the hands of the right writers and actors adapting the material…).

Overall, I enjoyed the novel enough that I’m going to check out some of Cronin’s other work and probably add one or two to my virtual TBR pile.

The longer I read this book, the less I enjoyed it. I normally create my own synopsis at the top of each review I write – but just know that if the synopsis intrigues you, I promise you it won’t have any effect on the story whatsoever.

This story is told in rotating 1st person POV from the main character, Proctor, and a plethora of 3rd person POVs from characters both supporting and very very minor. They blended together more and more as the book went on, to the point that I would realize a page into a chapter that Proctor was narrating, so long had the story unfolded without the quintessential “I” required. Additionally, a personal pet peeve of mine is exclamation points used outside of dialogue. And Proctor freaking LOVES narrating with exclamations. There were more and more with every passing page and I lost what little was left of my mind.

The world we’re given is ever so close to our own, with just a few key differences that are either overexplained, or never explained fully. If you are a reader who likes answers, you will get them, but you will have to wait until the very end of the tale. This novel may make you question your sanity, or your ability to understand the English language; I have to hope that that was an intentional authorial choice. You will want to keep reading because you have an innate need to UNDERSTAND – and when you finally do, you will likely be disappointed that that’s all it was, and angry that you’ve spent so long reading a book that bears practically no resemblance to the one marketed at you.

2 stars for potential, I guess.

Content warning: blood, guns, death, violence.

Wow this was a beautifully written book! There was a lot going on and I was confused for parts of it but it all came together so well. I think I may like this one even more than The Passage!

I think the biggest thing that you can take out of this book is come into it with a super open mind. Nothing is going to be as it seems. Either you are going to embrace what is revealed or it is going to throw the story off for you. Personally, it kind of threw the story off for me. Some plot twists aren’t always the best. That being said, I did enjoy the writing style and I liked the character development. I think that readers will be swept up in this fantastical world. I just don’t know how some people will respond to the reveal. I will be interested in recommending it to patrons and see what their thoughts are.
Thank you so much to Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

Excellent. I was unsure this would be as good as his novel, “The Passage” but it better! Characters, plot, dialogue all engrossing. Interesting subject matter. I will read anything Justin Cronin writes.

DNF. This book is just not my thing. I’m not big into sci-fi dystopian type books and instead of forcing myself to finish this I’m just going to DNF. I find it much too long/boring in some parts and I get far too confused too quickly in other parts. It’s a me thing.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

Justin Cronin wrote an excellent world-building book in The Ferryman . This post-apocalyptic science fiction novel features a world founded by The Designer and consisting of three islands. Prospera is where the administrators, enforcement personnel, and wealthy live. The Annex is where support staff live and the third is the Nursery. Prospera’s citizens live long lives in luxury until the monitor embedded in their forearm falls below 10 percent indicating that their physical and/or mental health has deteriorated significantly. They are then retired and take a ferry ride to the Nursery where their bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped, and they restart life.

The main character, Proctor Bennett, is the managing director for District Six of the Department of Social Contracts, Enforcement Division. He’s a ferryman, who helps people through their retirement process and onto the ferry, using enforcement when necessary. But Proctor finds he has problems. He’s a tortured, but capable protagonist. Then, one day he is summoned to retire his father, who gives him a cryptic and confusing message before being forced on the ferry. Meanwhile the support staff are questioning their place in the social hierarchy and rumors of a resistance group spread.

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin combines elements of fantasy, science fiction and dystopian drama to create an absorbing story that touches upon a multitude of themes ranging from social distinctions and power struggles, the climate crisis, family and loyalty and grief among others. A running theme in this story is how one perceives life and happiness. Is a perfect life truly a life of contentment? This is a complex, layered story but not too difficult to follow. The writing is powerful and immersive. This is the first time I read from this author, and I am sure this will not be the last time I read from this author. I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of Blake Crouch then you will like this one as well.

This was a brilliant written story that pulls you in the world as you follow along with a rich engaging plot. The details are there in the development of the islands, the people and of course the ferryman in his tortured soul. This is what makes science fiction really good. I find I like science fiction more and more with immersive world building that pulls the reader into an interesting place to be with all the detailed descriptions to keep the reader engaged and turning the pages. This one checked all the boxes for me what I expect in a well written science fiction novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Ballantine Books for a free copy of The Ferryman for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

Whoa. The Ferryman is a tough one to review without spoiling it. Let me first say that it is exceptionally well written and edited. I enjoyed some delicious vocabulary and even had to look up a few words because Cronin doesn’t take his readers for granted. After a quick read through the book’s description, I expected something dystopian, maybe with echos of Logan’s Run. It’s not. It is more The Matrix meets Inception, but isn’t those either. It is creative and held my skeptical mind at bay long enough to invest in the characters and their course.

The Ferryman is set on the island paradise of Prospera, a protected grouping of three islands where residents live their best life. It was founded by a mysterious genius known only as “the Designer.” The Designer gives the community its personality, values, and dare I say, a soul? The Designer is seen and felt in all the details while residents make time to pursue personal passions and develop talents.

Main character Proctor Bennett was easy to identify with. He was logical and naturally empathetic. All his next steps made sense to the reader, so going on his journey with him was effortless. Proctor is the Director of the Department of Social Contracts and has a satisfying career as an experienced “ferryman.” It’s his job to help people retire, to leave Prospera and the life they have created. As noted in the official description, “Prospera’s lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms, meant to measure their physical health and psychological well-being, fall below 10 percent.” They take the ferry to the “Nursery,” another island in the grouping, where their body is rejuvenated, their memory wiped, and they start over with a new life. It is a kindness that people don’t have to go through that process alone. As the book begins, Proctor must ferry his own father who leaves him with a cryptic message. That message starts a ball rolling which only picks up speed.

The story grows and the mystery deepens. Just when you think it’s going to crescendo, it folds in on itself. Cronin successfully does something which he writes about in the book, he gives The Ferryman a soul. The story is what it is because Cronin is the author. It’s simplistic to say that it would not have been the same book if another author had conceptualized it, but that truth is exceptionally evident by the time you are at the end of the book. The ending is 95% satisfying. Sometimes the whole happy ending isn’t the right ending even if we want it. Cronin gave it the right ending. Seriously, a great, distracting, invested, stop what you’re doing read.

My Rating: A Loved It

Welcome to the world of Prospera - citizens live long lives surrounded by luxury and are encouraged to embrace the arts and wellness….but of course, things are not what they seem.

The first half of this book was a solid five - beautiful writing, intriguing characters, compelling story. But then something happened and it was almost as if the rest of the book was written by a different person. It did not possess the same crafting and careful storytelling as the previous half of the book. Maybe that was on purpose?

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Justin Cronin, the New York Times bestselling author of “The Passage,” returns with a haunting tale of capitalism, the ecological crisis, and preservation of our species in “The Ferryman” (Ballantine Books).

For years, Proctor Bennett has served as the Director for the Department of Social Contracts, where he is assigned to shepherd the citizens of Prospera to a new life. Prospera is a hidden Utopia, where life is magical and where, upon their retirement, its citizens are ferried to the Nursery—to be reborn with a fresh existence with no memories of the past.

Proctor never gave his mildly satisfying job a second thought until he is assigned to ferry an important person to the Nursery—his estranged father, a famous lawyer and inventor. On Prospera, every citizen is sterile, and Proctor developed a close bond with his adoptive mother who committed suicide many years ago. The suicide haunts him, and his father’s indifference to his mother’s death has been the source of their estrangement. However, as Proctor chaperones his father to the ferry, things go askew. On the dock, his father panics, becomes hysterical, and babbles nonsensically about how Proctor “didn’t really know his mother.” And about Oranios, which sounds like gibberish to Proctor.

Proctor’s life spirals into a deep dive when the government investigates the incident. The government discovers that Proctor has been dreaming, which is forbidden in Prospera. His fashion designer wife leaves him. His best friend betrays him. He loses his job, and he is on the run from the murder of a guard who tried to Taser his father at the scene. The plot kicks into high gear as Proctor runs for his life and becomes witness to the other side of Propera—the Annex—where the unhappy laborers live and are planning to rebel against their wealthy suppressors.

These events cause Proctor to reconsider his life and choices, and propel him along an unexpected path. What was his father talking about? What is Oranios? And why does the hierarchy desire to suppress any knowledge of it? What do his dreams mean? A recalcitrant teen named Caeli appears to be the key to solving the mystery, but she, too, has disappeared. Can Proctor find her?

Justin Cronin is a master storyteller. His unique world building immediately draws the reader into a complex sci-fi fantasy, where the people are beautiful, everyone is happy, and no one is ever ill. He’s created Prospera as an archipelago of contradictions. Superficially, Prospera appears perfect, but chaos is simmering beneath the surface. Across the causeway in the Annex, people are starving, underpaid, and live in squalor. Prospera is a world divided by wealth and opportunity; and whether you are born Prosperan or human.

The third act of this complicated story, Cronin transforms it from a techno-thriller into a true science fiction nightmare for Proctor. Readers will stay up late to turn the page as he searches for Caeli, deals with his past, and helps determine the future of a dying society.

In Shakespeare’s “Tempest,” Prospero, the Duke of Milan and the main character in the play, said, “We are the stuff as dreams are made of, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.” Clearly, this evocative phrase served as Cronin’s inspiration for “The Ferryman”. His characters appear to be trapped in a “Ground Hogs Day” cycle as they relive life after being reborn in the Nursery. Proctor, the ferryman, Thea, the art dealer, Elise, Proctor’s wife, Caeli, the teenager, and Elise’s powerful mother, Callista—all live multi-dimensionally, defying time and space in this sci-fi opera.

In “The Ferryman, “ Cronin takes his characters and the readers on an intriguing dreamlike journey through space and time. And he presents a chilling warning about our own future, if we do not preserve our planet and respect our fellow man.

I’m a fan of Justin Cronin, he’s a master at his craft and I loved The Ferryman. I’m a fan of dystopian sci-fi and have been so let down recently, so I was delighted when TF was a page turning multifaceted piece of brilliance that I’ll be raving about until his next masterpiece.

One of the things I loved was how utterly complex yet understandable the plot is; this is no small feat to pull off in a sci-fi. Getting lost in the tech details or extreme (insert boring) world building can ruin a book for me, not so in this case. The entire world of Prospera is one giant fascinating tale with mind blowing twists that kept me riveted and engaged.

Just, Bravo to this wholly unique and extraordinary story.

The Ferryman is a lyrical, moving story of time, perception, and grief. Set in world where the haves and have nots are separated by an archipelago of islands Prospera. One class lives in a utopian society, while the other toils endlessly serving their daily needs. The ‘haves’ ease through a life filled with art, music, literature, beauty. When their monitors indicate a low number they are sent to the ‘Nursery’, a separate island for rejuvenation. Here they receive a new, younger, healthy body, a wiped memory, and start life fresh hosted by a family as they learn what children normally would. The working class continues to experience life, birth, illness, and death.
Proctor is a Ferryman. He accompanies people when they have either decided to move on to the Nursery, or it is decided for them and he must take them. A dystopian death doula, it’s an emotionally difficult job, where many in his class lack empathy, but he is good at it. Proctor has always felt different, and from a very young age he dreamed…something that was often viewed as irregular, undesirable, in his class. There’s been an unrest recently, an unsettling in the balance, and things threaten to become more violent between the classes.
Cronin expertly balances a story that’s moving, propulsive, holds the reader close, and yet slightly off kilter. The further the fabric of Prospera tears apart, the more confusing it gets. Who/when/where are these people? Are the dreams metaphors, premonitions, memories? There’s a tipping point where you get a much clearer picture and it’s a mind-bender, so hang in there!
I highly recommend reading when you can power through, leaving as few gaps as possible. It helps keep continuity in a story that requires much of the reader. The payoff is outstanding and well worth it. It’s a great choice for a buddy read or Bookclub as there’s a lot to pick apart on choices society makes ‘for the greater good’.
I received an early review copy from @randomhouse and @jccronin via @netgalley

Well, that was a rollercoaster! The Ferryman is my first Justin Cronin book, so I don't know how it compares to his others, but as a newbie to his writing, I clearly have been missing out! The Ferryman is a sci-fi adventure full of so many twists and a couple of odd turns! Reality may not be what it seems! At the heart of it is a deeply devastating tragedy that guides the storyline. I'm not typically all that excited about sci-fi, but this one fits into a lot more genres than the one. Loved it and highly recommend!

TW: I won't say here as it may be a bit of a spoiler, but I imagine others have mentioned why there would be a need for a trigger warning, so investigate if you feel you need to!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Justin Cronin's Passage series so when I got the opportunity to read this book, I jumped at it. To say that it left me never quite sure what was "real" and what was part of a dreamworld is an understatement. At first, I was reminded of George Orwell's "1984" with two totally separate classes of people. As the book progresses, it morphs into a much more complex and richer storyline.
Cronin is a masterful storyteller. I got absorbed into the book and couldn't put it down. Even the main characters are presented differently in various parts of the book. The ending left me wondering what's true and what isn't. All in all, an exceptional read.

This book was just too slow for me, and the twist was not really as unexpected as all the reviews claim it is. I was disappointed in the ending, which is fine. If a book is amazing, I can deal with an ending that I don't like. This one was just too slow, and I was so bored, that then I wanted to be rewarded with my persistence with a great flash bang of an ending, and I just didn't feel like I got that. Overall, it was a 2.5-3 star read for me.