This was my first Justin Cronin novel, and it had me engaged by the very first chapter. This book is difficult to summarize. It starts off as futuristic/dystopian-leaning literary fiction but turns heavily into sci-fi by the half way point. It does an excellent job of exploring different types of relationships and having multiple story threads all come together and tie up at the end. The world building is very well done, and the story flow had me finishing the last 50% of the book in one day.

So why only three stars? The epilogue ruined a lot of the character building and goodwill for me. I hate saying that, because I'm a firm believer of the journey being bigger than the end, but the end of this left a really bad taste in my mouth and made me think harder about how the female characters in this book were written/represented. I'd like to try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, but spoilers beyond this point.

One of the only main female characters does a complete 180 when true relationships are revealed at the end. Never mind the fact that the male character she' suddenly remembered she's obsessed with cheated on his grieving wife with her, resulting in a one-night stand pregnancy, that's clearly ok and he is clearly the best man for her and she is ecstatic about this pregnancy. Prior to this, she was a bold, spy-like resistance fighter. Now I'm simplifying this a lot, but after reading close to 500 pages of complicated relationships, pasts clashing with the present, incredible world building, and well-paced story telling, it was really disappointed to have the ending all wrap up with "and then she had a miracle baby and she was happy." WHY! Why is that how tons of female characters are written in epilogues. It's so frustrating!

So that's why it's only 3 stars. The journey was incredible but the end made my eyes roll so hard in my head I'm surprised they were able to come back around again. I will read The Passenger though.

This book was so different. I really enjoyed the writing style of this one. The author did a good job creating a world and a “utopian” like society with little to know details about the outside world or before. And yet you felt like you knew all the insides and outs of the society.
The opening was my favorite when she makes a choice because her time was up. I really felt her love for sparing others pain as she made and took ownership of her own ending.
And then the rest of the story didn’t disappoint in drawing you in and wrapping you in the rationale of how things should be.

I almost bailed on this, and then it got better, and then it got weird, and then it got familiar, and then the main character thinks “I exhaled a breath I hadn't realized I was holding” (chapter 29 of the advance reader copy), and I finished it but it wasn’t great. I give the ending two stars.

(Seriously, how can any author use that trite overused “exhaled a breath I/he/she didn’t know I’d/he’d/she’d been holding” phrase? How can any editor let that pass in a manuscript? Enough already with the breaths we didn’t know we’d been holding!)

I know people love this author but I was thoroughly unimpressed by his unoriginal overly long tedious novel. It reminded me of my least favorite episode of Star Trek: Voyager. (That might be considered a spoiler.)

"And what is a dream if not a story we must tell ourselves?"
*eyeroll*
(chapter 39 of the advance reader copy

I read an advance reader copy of The Ferryman from Netgalley.

A brilliant dystopian sci-fi story that kept me reading until late. I was intimidated by the size a bit, but I'm so glad I read it. I'll be picking up a copy and will be recommending it to many! Thank you Ballentine for the ARC of this one.

The Ferryman was a good book .

Not my typical genre but I was really intrigued.. Earth has been destroyed by pollution and has built a space ship to travel to a planet over two hundred years in the future . If people couldn’t dream they would go crazy . The passages about the dreams threw me off a bit .

The characters were well developed .

A good tale set in the future .

A well written dystopian / sci fi read .,

I was beyond excited to be pre-approved for this novel, as I love Justin Cronin's previous books. This one lived up to and exceeded my expectations of him and was an easy 5 stars for me!

In The Ferryman, we are presented with Prospera, a dystopian society, where people live on an isolated island system, pursuing lives of luxury and wealth for 100+ years, when their live span monitor runs low, they retire to be reiterated as a young teenager on the Nursery island. Proctor Bennett is a Ferryman, someone who escorts the retirees to the Ferry for retirement. He's had a staid life, the only notable thing that happened to him was the suicide of his adopted mother when he was a young man. The book opens with him escorting his adopted father to the ferry for voluntary retirement, when his life goes haywire from there.

We meet a wide cast of characters and narrators who live on Prospera, and as in The Passage, Cronin's world building skills are phenomenal, with each character having a unique perspective and voice. This book sucks you in from the very early pages, and keeps you guessing until nearly 75% of the way in. As a reader, you know that something is off, a world this perfect has to have a secret underbelly, but what exactly is truly happening is the mystery. Honestly, I feel that any review I give beyond what I have already say may reveal too much. Fans of Cronin's previous works will love this book, but I do think it stands alone as fresh science fiction.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free advance e-reader copy of “The Ferryman” by Justin Cronin in exchange for an honest review.

This complex and satisfying work of science fiction in the tradition of Stephen King and Isaac Asimov kept me up well past my bedtime several nights running to read “just one more chapter.” Protagonist Proctor Bennett is a “ferryman,” a sort of death doula who works on the not quite Utopian island of Prospera ushering elder retirees to their next stage of life: iteration into a 16-year-old body for another lifetime. The island is only paradise for its wealthy denizens, however; those in the servant class living in “the Annex” are disgruntled workers who are increasingly bent on rebellion. Over the course of the novel, we learn that things and people on Prospera are not what they seem. With psychological and philosophical underpinnings, “The Ferryman” is one of the most original stories I’ve read in a long time. Four solid stars.

This was not my usual genre, although i do like a good sci-fi/dsytopian novel once in a while. Although it was long and detailed, that helped the background and i did not see the twist coming.

The offspring of an acid-laced union between The Matrix and WALL-E, The Ferryman is a sci-fi mindf**k of the first order. A cautionary tale about a future reality that is perhaps only slightly exaggerated, wrapped inside a vastly creative but alarmingly nightmarish world created by Justin Cronin.

Welcome to the island paradise of Prospera, where a small but lucky populace enjoy extended and gratifying lives within a beautifully cultivated and seemingly perfect environment. The best part? As individuals' physical and mental health start to deteriorate, they retire themselves to the nursery, where they are reborn and reinserted to start a brand-new life with no memory of their prior one. Proctor Bennett is in the middle of this circle of life, employed as a ferryman who guides people through their retirement. Lately though, Proctor has been dreaming, which is concerning given that’s not something that is supposed to happen in Prospera. Combined with some strange behaviors he’s witnessed lead Proctor to become paranoid and believing something is drastically wrong, with his subsequent questions and investigation putting him at odds with the powerful leadership of the island. Concurrently, unrest is building within the population of the Annex, a separate island that houses those who provide the working-class labor for Prospera’s wealthy citizens. It all comes to a head in a big clash with massive implications…and the realization that absolutely nothing is as it seems.

The Ferryman will repeatedly mess with your head. At first it seems like normal life events and personal drama. But then it kicks up to another level as strange things happen, kind of like glitches that would happen in a video game rather than real life. And just when you’re trying to wrap your mind around what’s happening…BAM! The weird shit meter pegs all the way to the right and you start to mutter WTF repeatedly as you try to figure out what’s real and what’s not. Oh, but wait there’s more. Because next on the agenda is something so completely wild and unhinged that your frontal cortex becomes scrambled eggs. However, the craziest thing of all isn’t this insane story that Justin Cronin has thrust into your skull. It’s that after completing this novel and pontificating the events that have unfolded, you conclude that it’s actually not as outlandish and improbable as you first thought. Which is the precise moment your brain explodes.

If you’re into Sci-Fi, dystopian worlds and novels that make you question your psychological fitness, then don’t miss The Ferryman. And if you’re just looking for a creative, well-written story to escape the mundane and make you ponder the meaning of life, then this book is also for you. It’s guaranteed to make a strong impression with everyone who reads it.

While I finished the Ferryman some time ago, I've been struggling for some time with my review of it. Mostly this hesitation comes from my own feelings mixed feelings regarding the characters, setting, plot, and pacing, but a larger portion is my desire not to give away any of the twist or turns, for the intrigue of the book makes up its very core, but I'll do my best here while speaking vaguely.

From the beginning, the setting of this novel is rather odd with a strong undercurrent to there being more to the world/society than the surface presentation of it. But what? And so the intrigue begins right from the first few pages. You're kept guessing continuously: what is the nature of this world and how does it fundamentally work? Are the flaws of the society poor worldbuilding on the part of the author or an indicator of something else? I found the first half of the book to be interesting but increasingly also plodding, a little too soap-opera-esque for my liking, a little too YA in its simplicity, a little too slow given my burning questions. I was preparing to give the book a 3/5 for some interesting ideas with little substance and unlikable characters.

But then, as the ending neared and clear answers started coming, I was thoroughly re-engaged. Aspects of the book I'd found banal, overused, or insubstantial, well they started making a whole lot of sense. The ending was not without its flaws, but the method by which the ending reframed the earlier portions of the book and breathed new life and purpose into certain scenes and exchanges stuck with me and continues to do so to this day. I applaud Cronin for this execution and find myself recommending this book to friends. Unfortunately, its best to not even tell them the genre they are reading for maximal effect.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me access to this digital ARC

I liked this book but I got confused between some of the dream sequences. It is the story that the Green Movement will adore. Earth has been destroyed by pollution and has built a space ship to travel to a planet 200+ years away. They discovered that people went mad over time if they couldn't dream or repeated their own dreams too many times. Proctor is the ships captain and has a lead role in the dream. A good story set in the future with humans as the main characters. I did enjoy Justin Cronin's world of vampires in his previous trilogy. A good solid story for the science fiction lover.

While this isn’t my usual genre, I was intrigued by the premise. The world building is impressive and the writing is immersive. Ultimately, I found this a bit too intense and eerie (and lengthy) which prevented me from fully enjoying the read. Would recommend to anyone in the mood for a mysterious, thrilling (and eerie) sci-fi read.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

This book had me hooked from 10% on; the tension was palpable and I absolutely wanted to know what was going on in the world I was reading about, and the world(s) beyond it. But somewhere along the way, the world of Prospera became too confusing for me to follow. It is almost impossible to discuss this book without spoilers so I’ll just say this: “The Ferryman” is an intriguing book about dreams, rebirth, grief, and the balance of perfection and imperfection; but I felt like the execution along the way was wobbly and the ending seemed like a cheat to me after all the work I put into reading Justin Cronin’s complicated dreamworld.

Unfortunately this book does not knock my socks off like the Passage. Although well-written, the plot and the characters did not live up to my expectations. and it was a bit boring. I do not recommend it.

This book has a lot going on and will keep you guessing until the very end.

I just reviewed The Ferryman by Justin Cronin. #TheFerryman #NetGalley

Having devoured Justin Cronin's The Passage trilogy, I was very excited to receive an ARC of his new novel, The Ferryman, to preview and review. The Ferryman clocks in at 560 pages, though not a quick read, the attention to detail and world-building involved makes it worth the effort. The main character of the story, Proctor Bennett, is introduced as "a ferryman," tasked with transitioning people back to the Nursery (at about the age of 50), from the island of Prospera, to be re-born as a brand-new 16 year old with no memory of their previous iteration. Glitches are rare, but begin to occur with more frequency. Proctor starts to question his existence as he examines his own experiences. More is revealed about halfway through the book, leading the reader on a wild mind/time/reality bending journey, ending with difficult choices on the part of Proctor and other characters in the book.

Full disclosure, I am not generally a fan of time/reality-bending sci-fi, but Justin Cronin's writing is superb, as usual. I enjoyed the book overall. For fans of The Matrix and/or Inception, this is a must read.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

I usually start these reviews with a synopsis, but this one is hard to do without spoilers! It was a great sci-fi novel that kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat. I enjoyed it but it's one of those books where you finish it and then think, what the hell did I just read? It gives my the same feelings as the movie Inception.

If you are a Justin Cronin fan, then you will enjoy this book. It was a fascinating story - well written and very timely. It definitely has a lot of sci-fi elements to it. I can't say too much about it without giving the full story away. The end gets a little confusing but it overall it was very good. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Proctor Bennett is the Ferryman who guides people to the next level of their development when their time on the idyllic island of Prospera is over. The citizen is transported from there to the NURSERY where their memory is wiped clean and they begin life again as an 18 year old.

This is a novel way outside of my general reading scope. I have never read a Justin Cronin book before so was not at all sure what journey I was about to take. The story reeled me in at the very beginning and it slowed down in the middle then got my interest again to the end. It was a long and tedious read and I felt I would have enjoyed it more if it had been shorter. I really do not know how to review this without spoilers so will just say that if you like sci-fi then this is a must read for you. I know it will have lots of great reviews from those fans. I really liked the characters and the actions scenes were brilliantly written. This book keeps you guessing.

Justin Cronin has done it again. This book was simply astounding.

He brings us into a dystopian world that seems amiable on the surface – but looks can be deceiving. The plot unfolds to reveal a startling climax that was utterly captivating to the very last page.

My thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.