Today we are thrilled to be the second stop on Justin Cronin’s official video blog tour to celebrate the paperback release of the first novel in his post-apocalyptic vampire saga, The Passage. As The Passage was Thea’s favorite book of 2010, we were understandably thrilled when we were given the chance to participate on this tour and host one of five exclusive, behind-the-scenes videos about the book and Justin Cronin’s inspirations.
Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for Justin, as he discusses The Passage‘s take on vampires!
The Video:
Justin Cronin on location in the California desert, discusses the vampires in his book.
[hdplay id=1 ]
About the Book:
“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”
First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.
As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.
You can read Thea’s review of the book HERE.
The Blog Tour:
Make sure you check out the next stops on the tour!
May 11 – DAY 3
Gothic Imagination
In Which Justin Cronin on location in Las Vegas, discussing the reactions of his characters on seeing the remnants of their lost civilisation.
May 12 – DAY 4 (and Publication Date!)
Material Witness
In Which Justin Cronin on location in Colorado where the book begins and ends, discussing Amy and her origins.
May 13 – DAY 5
Wondrous Reads
In Which Justin Cronin discusses the themes in the second book in the trilogy, called The Twelve.
The Giveaway:
We have ONE copy of The Passage in all its pretty paperback glory up for grabs, courtesy of the UK publisher! The contest is open to residents of the UK ONLY, and will run until Saturday May 13 at 11:59PM (PST). In order to enter, leave a comment here letting us know what your favorite take on non-sparkly/romantic vampires (sorry, Edward Cullen fans!) is. Only ONE entry per person please – multiple entries will be automatically disqualified. Good luck!
23 Comments
Nikki Egerton
May 10, 2011 at 2:10 amMy favourite take on non-sparkly vampires is THIS ONE! I absolutely freaking love this book and wailed when I got to the end and realised I had to wait till 2012 for the next one!
I already have a hardback copy but would like to win the paperback for my Mum. She would love it too, but she is a much slower reader than me and if I lend her my copy I won’t see it again for months and months, and I’m planning a re-read soon.
Thanks for the giveaway (a UK one too, yey) 😀
sakura
May 10, 2011 at 2:59 amMy favourite is Lestat from Anne Rice’s vampire books. There’s no soppiness there.
Stephanie
May 10, 2011 at 3:27 amI would love to read The Passage, and I love the cover! My favorite take is probably the anime Shiki, adapted from the manga of the same name which is adapted from the novel of the same name. It’s a very visceral and yet human portrayal of vampires, and the contrast and similarities are both tragic and frightening. The characters (both human and vampire) are flawed, human, and monstrous. The music’s terrific too.
Helen
May 10, 2011 at 5:41 amThis looks incredible – I’m so glad to see a UK giveaway!
My favourite take was always Carmilla, in all its soapy lesbian glory; I liked the retelling, The Moth Diaries, as well.
Alexandra
May 10, 2011 at 7:00 amConstantine from Sunshine.
Mel S
May 10, 2011 at 11:00 amI have to confess to being a Lestat fan as well – he was my first vampire and a glorious mixture of fun, melancholy and danger! The Passage looks fabulous.
Maya S
May 10, 2011 at 11:51 amOh my god, this is such a great book! It’s my favorite non-romantic vampire book, but I do so love the vamps of Buffy. Spike is at his most badass when he isn’t pining over Buffy.
Katie W
May 10, 2011 at 12:13 pmMine has to be Eli from Let The Right One In, tragic and yet so very creepy.
Kathleen Brown
May 10, 2011 at 12:24 pmI love Drusilla from BtVS! She is so freaking crazy and evil but in an innocent, childlike way. Great character. I also love soul-free Angellus and Spike and pregnant Darla. Basically The Evil Four but when they’re not together.
Also, this book looks fantastic.
Karen
May 10, 2011 at 1:17 pmI love this book so much, it really is ‘Stephen King’ standard horror, which in my opinion is the best there is… My favourite ‘non-sparkly’ vampires are in Richelle Meade’s Vampire Academy series. They’re not your typical teen vamps as the title could suggest, instead there are a species of souless vampires called Strigoi, and then another species who are your basic ‘good’ vampires with beauty and ‘special powers’ on their side… I love the Strigoi because they are bad ass vamps, and the best one of all is Dimitri… (“,)
Karen
May 10, 2011 at 1:18 pmI love this book so much, it really is ‘Stephen King’ standard horror, which in my opinion is the best there is… My favourite ‘non-sparkly’ vampires are in Richelle Meade’s Vampire Academy series. They’re not your typical teen vamps as the title could suggest, instead there are a species of souless vampires called Strigoi, I love the Strigoi because they are bad ass vamps, and the best one of all is Dimitri… (“,)
Karen
May 10, 2011 at 1:20 pmSorry, don’t know why that published twice… 🙁
jenmitch
May 10, 2011 at 1:27 pmoooo, i’ve been wanting to read this book for a long time (but have put off buying the hardcover, in large part because my unread book pile remains huge, and growing).
so, my favorite vampire story/take is buffy. it might count as romantic, however, what with buffy’s occasional, ahem, relationship, with a vampire or two. 🙂
Stephanie K.
May 10, 2011 at 9:34 pmCassandra from the Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong.
Maryam H
May 11, 2011 at 3:12 amMine is definitely Cassandra from the Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong too!
Jenni
May 11, 2011 at 5:19 amYou really can’t beat the original.. Dracula all the way!
Josephine
May 11, 2011 at 9:58 amIs there something you can do about the video so that it doesn’t start when the page loads?
Anonymous
May 12, 2011 at 2:35 amI’m with Jenni – an old-school Dracula fangirl all the way! He’s creepy and terrifying and brilliant and I think it will probably always be my favourite horror story.
T
May 12, 2011 at 8:29 amGuys, sorry for the whine, but come on, automatically playing video with music IS NOT COOL. I was not expecting it of this site, and it was this video.
(On this particular case now fixed for all sites, I won´t ever see a flv video again)
Thea
May 12, 2011 at 9:07 amT – Thanks for the note. One of our configs was set incorrectly for certain browsers, but is fixed now. Sorry for the confusion/irritation!
notunlikely
May 12, 2011 at 2:16 pmSince I read and fell in love with The Passage, it has been vying with Buffyverse for top spot in my still-beating heart <3!
T
May 13, 2011 at 7:01 amOK! I really did not expect it of you guys, glad to know it was just an accident rather than change in policy.
NantucketSleighRide
May 13, 2011 at 6:57 pmi hope you’ll ask him if there will be a book 2!!!