The City of Mirrors

A Novel (Book Three of the Passage Trilogy)

By: Justin Cronin

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Number-one New York Times best seller

“A thrilling finale to a trilogy that will stand as one of the great achievements in American fantasy fiction.” (Stephen King)

You followed The Passage. You faced The Twelve. Now enter The City of Mirrors for the final reckoning. As the best-selling epic races to its breathtaking finale, Justin Cronin’s band of hardened survivors await the second coming of unspeakable darkness.

The world we knew is gone. What world will rise in its place?

The Twelve have been destroyed, and the terrifying hundred-year reign of darkness that descended upon the world has ended. The survivors are stepping outside their walls, determined to build society anew - and daring to dream of a hopeful future.

But far from them, in a dead metropolis, he waits: Zero. The First. Father of the Twelve. The anguish that shattered his human life haunts him, and the hatred spawned by his transformation burns bright. His fury will be quenched only when he destroys Amy - humanity's only hope, the Girl from Nowhere who grew up to rise against him.

One last time light and dark will clash, and at last Amy and her friends will know their fate.

Look for the entire Passage trilogy:

The Passage
The Twelve
The City of Mirrors

Praise for The City of Mirrors

"Compulsively readable.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“The City of Mirrors is poetry. Thrilling in every way it has to be, but poetry just the same... The writing is sumptuous, the language lovely, even when the action itself is dark and violent.” (The Huffington Post)

“This really is the big event you’ve been waiting for... A true last stand that builds and comes with a bloody, roaring payoff you won’t see coming, then builds again to the big face off you’ve been waiting for.” (NPR)

“A masterpiece...with The City of Mirrors, the third volume in The Passage trilogy, Justin Cronin puts paid to what may well be the finest post-apocalyptic epic in our dystopian-glutted times. A stunning achievement by virtually every measure.” (The National Post)

©2016 Justin Cronin (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Superb... This conclusion to bestseller Cronin’s apocalyptic thriller trilogy ends with all of the heartbreak, joy, and unexpected twists of fate that events in The Passage and The Twelve foreordained.” (Publishers Weekly [starred review])

“Readers who have been patiently awaiting the conclusion to Cronin’s sweeping postapocalyptic trilogy are richly rewarded with this epic, heart-wrenching novel.... Not only does this title bring the series to a thrilling and satisfying conclusion, but it also exhibits Cronin’s moving exploration of love as both a destructive force and an elemental need, elevating this work among its dystopian peers.” (Library Journal [starred review])

After reading approx 10,000 books over my lifetime

...yes, ten thousand books. This is my favorite trilogy of all time.

Notable aspects about the final book (some of which seem to be bones of contention, judging by other reviews):

1. Scott Brick’s narration
2. Fanning’s backstory
3. Massive jumps in time
4. My minor quibbles

1. Narration: I love Brick’s voice and cadence. No, he doesn’t do character voices (just southern accents for Anthony Carter and Rachel, which I quite liked). I think you either love Brick’s voice or hate it.

2. Fanning (Zero): Personally, I loved hearing Fanning’s pre-virus backstory. I found it interesting and found him to be a likeable though flawed human being. As are we all. But I’m guessing it was there to explain why Fanning comes to do what he does. (See minor quibbles)

3. Time jumps: Yes, there are 1000+ year jumps in time, but they serve the story.

4. Quibbles:

a. I didn’t really buy the reasons for why Fanning does what he does in the part of the post-virus story where most of the action takes place. It wasn’t enough to stop me listening or annoy me too much but…

b. Uh…was one critical character’s storyline NOT wrapped up? It’s possible it was just one line, “And so-and-so was never seen again” and my attention was diverted at that moment in the audio book and I didn’t even realize it.

All in all, while not everything is exactly “happily ever after” for some of our characters, I felt their stories were wrapped up in a satisfying way.

As I said, my favorite trilogy of all time. Throughout these 3 door-stopper books (what’s the audio book equivalent?), I was always completely drawn into the world and characters Cronin created—and so glad that there are a few writers out there who write giant tomes, even if we sometimes have to wait a while for the next book.

A little disappointed

I am a huge fan of the Passage books but the first was clearly the best. Second was okay. The third? Not so much. I felt like there were 3 books inside this one. Didn't care to learn so much about Fanning. It was a waste of time and completely unnecessary. Again- too much detail on Logan that wasn't needed. Would have rather learned how the survivors rebuilt civilization.

Phenomenal!

What did you like best about this story?

Simply put, Justin Cronin is an AMAZING author!!! I loved all 3 books in the series. It's deep. It's dark. and it's poetically beautiful. He puts so much detail into the story that it truly feels like you are there. He is a master of revealing the soul of a character just by describing the room they reside in. It's absolutely awe inspiring. I highly recommend reading this entire series.

Why did it have to end????

I cannot remember the last time I gave a book, let alone all THREE in a series or trilogy. This trilogy, all 90 hours was listened to in a week and a half. There really are no words to describe the scope and depth of this body of work. At first glance it is quite the downer. I cried so many times...and I am NOT a soft or emotionally vulnerable person. I wanted so badly to know how it turned out yet never wanted it to end.
Now, about Scott Brick... I am probably his biggest fan. I've heard lots of people lament that he's overly dramatic and arrogant. I would have never ever remotely considered this trilogy had someone else narrated it. Not my genre at all. Only because of the narrator did I attempt this epic. So glad I did! And speaking of narrators that people love or hate... I despise the ridiculousness of Julia Whelan and have missed out on lots of good books because of her. But, I digress. AMAZING TALE. I don't think I'll ever forget these characters nor their plight.
DO NOT SKIP ANY PART OF THIS TRILIOGY. READ IN ORDER OR YOU'LL BE LOST

Loved it

Loved it - great ending to a great series. Really well done on all fronts - narration was just as good as the first two.

Exceptional Story Exceptional Performance

Fantastic conclusion of this incredible trilogy with a very, very moving performance. I will be looking for more work from both the author and the Performer.

A fitting conclusion to an excellent trilogy

It's the best of the trilogy. For those not familiar with the books they are not independent. They have to be done in order to make any sense. It is the tale of an apocalyptic virus that wipes out the majority of the human population and turns the majority of those left into “virals”, super fast and super strong animalistic killing machines who only have light as their main weakness. But, like most of these stories the real story is about human survival in the face of incredible odds. There is another storyline that I won’t spoil that develops slower and takes on religious symbolism. For Audible subscribers, it’s a great use of credits. For 3 credits, you get 3 really good books and around 90 hours of entertainment. Scott Brick is the narrator of all 3 and gives his normal outstanding performance

Superb conclusion to a riveting story!

Rarely have I read a more beautifully written story about human perseverance, love, loss, terror and joy. Though I knew it had to eventually come to a close, reaching the end of this volume engendered feelings of satisfaction as well as sorrow that the story is over. Thanks to Mr. Cronin.

A wonderful end to a great series, but...

Good end to a great series, fabulously read by Scott Brick, sorry Cronin had to spew global warming nonsense in a story that was so well done, if only in the epilogue

Great conclusion

Any additional comments?

This ended the series in a way that is definitely satisfying for readers. There were no open questions hanging around, and the experience feels completed in a natural way rather than the forced endings that sometimes happen whether by reader or author wishes. All the characters that the books introduce are properly accounted for and their stories never feel unfaithful to the personality that Cronin has so beautifully portrayed with his writing style and skills with the written language. One of the conversations between characters touches on the concept of language as art, and the way a perfectly phrased statement can fully present something just as tangibly inspiring as a painting or other common artistic products. Cronin's writing is definitely a perfect example of that.

Since I've been a fan of Scott Brick from other narrations (though I can't remember specifically which ones now), I am not surprised that he made the experience of this series in audio form enjoyable. I feel that his voice is emotional enough to convey every tone that the series called for and there was a very good differentiation between characters. He is very adept at gender differentiation without sounding like he's trying and jarring you out of the story.