12 Adult Fiction

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

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Published: 2023
Author: Justin Cronin
Genre: Science Fiction / Dystopian Thriller
Audience: Adult (Ages 18+)
Number of Stars: ★★★★★ (5/5)
Goodreads Link: The Ferryman
Content/Trigger Warnings: Graphic descriptions of death, extreme blood and gore, self-harm, and suicide.
Review by: Evan Waugh

Publisher’s Summary

Goodreads Choice Award: Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Science Fiction (2023)
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Passage comes a riveting standalone novel about a group of survivors on a hidden island utopia–where the truth isn’t what it seems.

Founded by a mysterious genius, the archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. In this island paradise, 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. Then they retire themselves, embarking on a ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are readied to restart life afresh.

Proctor Bennett, of the Department of Social Contracts, has a satisfying career as a ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process–and, when necessary, enforcing it. But all is not well with Proctor. For one thing, he’s been dreaming–which is supposed to be impossible in Prospera. For another, his monitor percentage has begun to drop alarmingly fast. And then comes the day he is summoned to retire his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry.

Meanwhile, something is stirring. The Support Staff, ordinary men and women who provide the labor to keep Prospera running, have begun to question their place in the social order. Unrest is building, and there are rumors spreading of a resistance group–known as “Arrivalists”–who may be fomenting revolution. Soon Proctor finds himself questioning everything he once believed, entangled with a much bigger cause than he realized–and on a desperate mission to uncover the truth.

Review

Being a massive fan of Justin Cronin’s incredible Passage trilogy, I was naturally very excited to pick up his newest standalone novel, The Ferryman. Of course, life responsibilities (and a mountain of other books) continuously got in the way, meaning the book sat waiting on my bookshelf until a Book Cafe selection finally gave me the perfect opportunity to dive in. While reading The Ferryman, I quickly realized that it was one of those rare, spectacular novels where you constantly find yourself asking why on earth you hadn’t read it sooner. Better late than never!

The narrative baseline begins a little slow, but I was quickly intrigued by the strange, ostensibly futuristic world that our main character and narrator lives in. Living on the elite island paradise of Prospera, Proctor Bennett works professionally as a Ferryman. His daily duties involve physically ferrying aging citizens to “the Nursery”—an adjoining island facility where the residents of Prospera are prepared for their next youth-restored life cycle, or “iteration.”

However, after a dramatic, unsettling encounter during a routine retirement, Proctor is forced to confront the chilling reality that his world may not be at all as it appears. This specific development strongly reminded me of the classic film The Truman Show, in the sense that the reader is suddenly confronted with the realization that Proctor’s seemingly perfect, harmonious surroundings could all be nothing more than a carefully crafted, artificial facade.

As Proctor aggressively pushes his way to the center of the mystery that anchors the island he calls home, the story eventually arrives at a massive plot twist that was completely and totally unexpected on my part. I willingly stayed up many (school) nights far past my bedtime reading this book, and every single ounce of sleep lost was entirely worth it. Whether you are a dedicated fan of high-concept science fiction, dystopian literature, or somewhere in between, you absolutely need to read this book!!!

🎒 Classroom & Curricular Connections

  • High School Philosophy & Literature (The Allegory of the Cave):
    • Activity Idea: “The Prosperan Cave.” Pair reading selections of The Ferryman with Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Have students write a comparative essay analyzing how Proctor Bennett acts as the escaped prisoner who realizes that the “shadows” on the island wall are a curated deception, discussing the psychological burden of discovering an uncomfortable truth.
  • Sociology & Political Science (Class Warfare and Institutional Labor):
    • Activity Idea: “The Annex Manifest.” Analyze the relationship between Prospera and the Annex. Have students debate the socioeconomic dynamics of the text, mapping how elite societies frequently isolate their supporting labor forces on the margins of geography while using media or corporate mythology to prevent organized rebellion.

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