Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I did not get the hype with this one. The characters were flat and the plot points, which fly at you with dizzying speed, were often laughably comic bookish. Some scenes in here are pretty great, but the book feels like a cobbled together collection vignettes, most of which did not work for me.
3.5 stars
When people say it's like "The Stand 2.0", they aren't kidding. The plot is nearly identical. It just has a different set of characters and different reason for the destruction of the human race.
I do like that Mr. McCammon fleshed out the beginning and end a bit more than Mr. King, but King's story felt more grounded to me (at least up until the ending).
When people say it's like "The Stand 2.0", they aren't kidding. The plot is nearly identical. It just has a different set of characters and different reason for the destruction of the human race.
I do like that Mr. McCammon fleshed out the beginning and end a bit more than Mr. King, but King's story felt more grounded to me (at least up until the ending).
At 956 pages, this book was long. I don’t mind a long book, but I tend to delay in reading them because they are such a time commitment and 1000 pages of literature can seem quite daunting. But I’d heard rave reviews about this book and I felt like I needed to read something substantial to balance out my somewhat steady diet of literary porn romance novels.
I would compare Swan Song to The Stand. I never read The Stand, but (unfortunately) I saw the movie and these books are pretty similar except in The Stand, it was some sort of plague that wiped out the population and in Swan Song, it is nuclear war.
Despite its length, Swan Song kept my attention from beginning to end. There was a nice introductory period for each character that was sufficient to get a handle on their individual situations without dragging on too long before the apocalypse begins, and there were also just enough characters to keep the story moving without it getting too diluted. Though there are moments where you wonder how McCammon is going to tie all of these characters together, gradually it begins to come into focus and he even throws in a somewhat unexpected twist at the end that kind of comes out of nowhere but somehow also makes perfect sense.
There was an inconsistency to the villain in the story that bothered me a bit. I was confused as to his end game. Sometimes he seemed to want to make sure that the world ended while other times, it wasn’t so much that he wanted it to end, but that he wanted to make sure that everyone kept warring with each other and/or suffering as much as humanly possible. Which is it? Do you want them to live and suffer or do you want the slate to be wiped clean? And then, there were times when he wanted something, and though he seemed unstoppable in every other situation, he would somehow fumble his opportunity and then come up with some justification for why he didn’t need it anyway. And there was absolutely no explanation as to his origins. He was simply the manifestation of evil and McCammon left it at that.
I really liked the juxtaposition of having some characters to root for and some to root against. In the beginning, it’s hard to tell where he’s going with some of the characters, particularly what I'll call his two sub-villains. But as the story develops, McCammon uses those characters to give you a distinctly different picture of his post-apocalyptic world – a world where people are just trying to get by and a world in where everyone is fighting for power.
It was a gritty book. Cringe worthy at times, but what can you really expect from a post-apocalyptic book. If you’ve got a weak stomach, you might want to steer clear. But if you can handle it and a book of this length, then I would highly recommend Swan Song.
Audiobook review: I thought Tom Stechschulte did an excellent job. His voice was strong and easy to listen to, and he had a clear and distinct voice for each main character.
I would compare Swan Song to The Stand. I never read The Stand, but (unfortunately) I saw the movie and these books are pretty similar except in The Stand, it was some sort of plague that wiped out the population and in Swan Song, it is nuclear war.
Despite its length, Swan Song kept my attention from beginning to end. There was a nice introductory period for each character that was sufficient to get a handle on their individual situations without dragging on too long before the apocalypse begins, and there were also just enough characters to keep the story moving without it getting too diluted. Though there are moments where you wonder how McCammon is going to tie all of these characters together, gradually it begins to come into focus and he even throws in a somewhat unexpected twist at the end that kind of comes out of nowhere but somehow also makes perfect sense.
There was an inconsistency to the villain in the story that bothered me a bit. I was confused as to his end game. Sometimes he seemed to want to make sure that the world ended while other times, it wasn’t so much that he wanted it to end, but that he wanted to make sure that everyone kept warring with each other and/or suffering as much as humanly possible. Which is it? Do you want them to live and suffer or do you want the slate to be wiped clean? And then, there were times when he wanted something
Spoiler
like the ring when he first encounter Sister or when he had Josh and he could have killed himI really liked the juxtaposition of having some characters to root for and some to root against. In the beginning, it’s hard to tell where he’s going with some of the characters, particularly what I'll call his two sub-villains. But as the story develops, McCammon uses those characters to give you a distinctly different picture of his post-apocalyptic world – a world where people are just trying to get by and a world in where everyone is fighting for power.
It was a gritty book. Cringe worthy at times, but what can you really expect from a post-apocalyptic book. If you’ve got a weak stomach, you might want to steer clear. But if you can handle it and a book of this length, then I would highly recommend Swan Song.
Audiobook review: I thought Tom Stechschulte did an excellent job. His voice was strong and easy to listen to, and he had a clear and distinct voice for each main character.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was hoping the setting was after the apocalypse, not before and during start.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I always enjoy the hell out of this book. Reads like The Stand but with an 80s horror fantasy pulp vibe.
I’m glad this book didn’t take long to read. It’s fine in it’s own PA fiction way and yes, it really is just The Stand with nukes but, this book was nowhere near a as enjoyable. I’m all for the long, I just destroyed the world, kind of epic novel that this is, but I’ve read better. The characters are 2-dimensional and dull, the themes are simple and derivative, the whole jewel crown thing is a big, fat, steaming bait and switch. You think, okay, at least something’s going to happen there, some kind of big bad endgame showdown but no, no. 2 stars, that’s it. It’s long and gory and gross and there’s just not enough cleverness and redeeming value to make up for it.
It was okay but I had some issues with it. Swan's reaction to Killer's outcome, the lack of depth in several POV characters, rather flat "magic" happening, and other minor things.