written by Mark Tavani, editor of The Passage by Justin Cronin
When Justin Cronin’s agent sent me a partial manuscript called The Passage, my reaction was mixed. On the one hand, she’s a very good agent, she said the thing was great, and she’s usually right about such things. On the other, though she danced somewhat nimbly around the word itself, the story clearly had something to do with vampires.
My direct experience with vampires was limited. I had read Dracula as a kid; I had seen Blade; I knew what Buffy was, though I had somehow managed to avoid her; most importantly, I had edited Charlie Huston’s Joe Pitt series. But the vampires of Charlie Huston and Justin Cronin, they’re…well, different. Let’s put it this way: If there were a steel cage match between one of Charlie’s “vampyres” and one of Justin’s “virals,” the viral would undoubtedly maul the vampyre, but the vampyre would crawl from the ring with a lit cigarette between his lips and a Raymond Chandler-esque quip on his tongue, worse for the wear but kind of charmingly so.
But I digress.
When I began reading The Passage, I was up for liking it but I was skeptical. My skepticism fell off quickly, though, as it became clear after a few paragraphs how well Cronin wrote–and as he surprised me by how he had chosen to begin a story that would eventually involve things like secret military experiments going awry and human civilization getting all but snuffed out by wild apocalyptic events. But it was when I read the final sentence of the second chapter that I got hooked for good.
Through a chain of emails sent from a laptop, we learn that a team of scientists has trekked deep into the Bolivian jungle to uncover a mysterious substance with healing properties, and a military escort has forcibly attached itself to the caravan, inspiring bitter complaints from the eggheads. But the complaining subsides when vicious and oversized bats begin to attack, even killing some of the academics. Finally, as the attacks mount and hope of survival for the group dwindles, a final electronic message escapes from the Andes:
“Now I know why the soldiers are here.”
For me, that was the moment when any fears I had–of a non-genre writer trying his hand at the genre, or of the current saturation of the vampire market making it unwise to acquire yet another novel that messes with the old myths–left me. From that point forward, I believed in The Passage–and not in spite of the vampires but because of them. From that moment on, I felt The Passage had about it the power to use convention to a fresh and frightening end. Or, since it’s the first book in a trilogy, a fresh and frightening beginning.
And looking back now, three years, six edits, and one publication later, I feel the same way.
The ed, eh? how’d you let such a sabre-rattling bit of offensive schtick like ‘iranian jihadists’ slip through?
The Iranians are a sophisticated, highly educated and cultured people labouring under the strictures of an oppressive regime. They’re also Shiites, not Sunnis or Wahhaabis or Taliban or Al Qaeda. You contribute to a grave international misperception, aggravated by the fact that it comes off the cuff from a best-selling book about vampires in the interest of added ‘colour’.
I want my money back.
Interesting! I was pretty much hooked by the end of the first page, for the exact same reason you mentioned: it was clear that Cronin was an excellent writer. He took care with his details; he wasn’t in a hurry to soak the pages in blood. In fact, I was glad throughout that he had the restraint to never dwell on gore—I usually find that lazy—but still created a horrifying story.
I actually reviewed The Passage today … but mostly, thanks for this window into the process.
700+ pages and that is the ONLY comment you have. You want your money back? I am stunned.
This is an incredibly well-written, engrossing story that so many writers would give their eye teeth to have been able to write. I haven’t enjoyed a book this much in years.
Justin Cronin is a genius.
Take your agenda elsewhere.
My version of the book was horribly edited or horribly printed, one or the other.
The book was fantastic; the writing fantastic. The reading was horrible for quite a bit of the book. There were a number of times when the names were wrong – the one I remember the most was Wolfgast(?) – Wolgast. Additionally, there were between 10-30 pages where the next page repeated the end of the last page or just skipped ahead, obviously skipping something. I almost stopped reading because it was very discouraging and incomprehensible for such a great book. A couple of examples: “wheels of the semi-trailers… Peter watched from above as they ap-” (end of page 268 and beginning of page 269). VERY CONFUSING!
Next example: “he sat on his mat in the Big Room… The World, he” (end of page 270 and beginning of page 271).
Last example: “Sara flicked her heels and rode briskly through the gate, leaving him alone.” (end of page 269). “up? What force drove the mysterious impulse to return?” (beginning of page 270).
I do read very critically when I read, but there were a large number of unforgivable mistakes in the book; these were just a few of too many.
New York: Ballantine Books
Copyright 2010
ISBN: 978-0-345-50496-8
First Edition