This novel doesn't really allow the reader to become attached to the characters well, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Because the title is called The Twelve, it is possible to take the novel as a kind of pluralism. In light of all the variety we see among the characters, we see two meta-narrative observations: In The Twelve, the story is simply the compilation of many interwoven, tangling stories, and silently, the stories are important mostly for their aggregate qualities, not for their individual qualities, which is what the characters struggle to understand in the text.
In other words, the various characters allow for a series of thought experiments, and therefore, the characters are all foils for one another, allowing the reader to curiously explore the ethics of the apocalypse. Look for instance at the moment when Peter, a battle-scarred warrior, encounters his foil, a hypnotizing witch lady who uses her magic instead of getting her hands dirty. What is the dichotomy that their encounter illustrates? It is honor versus deception. Certainly, that dichotomy is more important in the plot than the actual character's accomplishments.
These dichotomies continue throughout the plot. For instance, it is obvious that Guilder and Lawrence Grey are nemeses. As soon as Lawrence became unlimited in youth and vitality, Guilder was there like a tick on a deer to drain him of it. But, from this dichotomy, we see there are two modes of life: The sublime (which although it is a prison, it is a prison well-suffered—look at Grey's unimaginable clarity, after 100 years of imprisonment. That would have driven a normal person mad, no doubt); and the parasitic, like Guilder and the witch who have to steal and exploit people, and who enforce power by fear and terrorism. This dichotomy leads to an unfortunate death of Grey, but the reader must contemplate for themselves whether fate was more cruel to Grey or to Guilder? Perhaps the punishment for Guilder's parasitic behavior is his insanity.
