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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
Just like King's The Stand McCammon's Swan Song wreaks of unexplained supernatural contrivance and the sort of mawkish, non-denominational, fly-over state spirituality USAian film/TV/fiction writers rely on for a cheap, ready-made thematic building block. Add some torture porn and a run-of-the-mill young lovers subplot and…well, it's really all very dumb and routine.
Disclaimer: Maybe I just don't enjoy the post-apocalyptic genre anymore. As novels in that genre go, certainly better than average.
Here's my theory about this particular book. He wrote a post-apocalyptic that was pretty good, but only 500 pages. His publisher was expecting more pages, so for the 2nd draft he throws in some theological themes. Gets up to 700 pages. Publisher still wants more, so he adds a new theme thread: magic. Nearly a thousand pages now, this puppy went to press.
For me, an odd mixture of genres that slogged on (and on). But you have my disclaimer (not to mention other reviews), so don't let me stop you.
Here's my theory about this particular book. He wrote a post-apocalyptic that was pretty good, but only 500 pages. His publisher was expecting more pages, so for the 2nd draft he throws in some theological themes. Gets up to 700 pages. Publisher still wants more, so he adds a new theme thread: magic. Nearly a thousand pages now, this puppy went to press.
For me, an odd mixture of genres that slogged on (and on). But you have my disclaimer (not to mention other reviews), so don't let me stop you.
Some people say this book suffers in comparison to The Stand. That's a lie. This book is a low-quality knockoff of The Stand and suffers under its own heft, bad writing, and wildly unnecessary gore.
This book is a masterpiece. I simply could not put this down. McCammon knows how to write a damn good story. Every element in this book worked and was perfect. The horror was nothing I had ever read before, so captivating and shocking. There were moments when my jaw dropped, where my legs shaked, where I got emotional. This book made me feel every emotion. The story is very fast-paced in Book 1. When we get to Book 2, the story slows down a bit, but it builds up to an explosive finale. Reading this also helped me reflect on my own life and the state of the world we live in. If I could describe this book with one word, it would be terrifying, not because of the horror elements, but because of how real this could be. (Non Spoiler!) The sequence where the bombs begin to fall in the U.S. was one of the most stressful things I have ever read and also one of my many favorite parts in the book. This is the longest book I've read so far, and it was so worth it. I would read it again in a heartbeat. Many different characters to love and to hate. A plot like no other. This story is special and must be read.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I was really impressed with this book. It was huge in scope, but it managed to keep the reader plugged into the thoughts and feelings of the characters. There were some intensely dark and depressing moments that illicited an emotional response--something I rarely experience in the best books. Two reasons it got four rather than five stars: first, while the dark moments were some of the most powerful I've read, the good moments were not nearly as strong; for as invested as I was in the book, the victories, big and small, were rather "meh." I think this was due to the fact that the author never really made me think the good guys might lose; from the beginning, there was a sense that the supernatural or miraculous would save the day. Second, and I know in the age of the 300 page novel this will sound trite, the book was a bit long. The author was (mostly) concise, and all information was relevant. The details painted a vivid picture, and the characterization was great. With that said, it was at times laborious, and I was often more focused on how far I had to get to the end rather than what was happening in the book. Neither the length nor the weak moments are enough to rob this epic tale of a strong recommendation; it connected me to expertly fleshed out characters who lived in a realistic world that abruptly swerved into surrealism. The engaging story kept me trudging through the nearly 900 pages, and left me satisfied and feeling like it was worth the work.
Swan Song is now on my top 10 list.
I waited ages to read this book because I could only find it in mass market paperback, in a book this long mass market books are just cumbersome. I pre-ordered it the second I saw there was a trade paperback coming out.
While I waited for the release day I decided I’d borrow the ebook on Libby. Around 50% in I knew I was enjoying it and wanted to save it for the physical copy, which is my preferred way to read. Anyone else have this brand of illness?
Considering the content of Swan Song it feels wrong to say I loved this book, but I LOVED THIS BOOK, it is post-apocalyptic horror (w/fantasy elements) at its absolute peak. Swan Song is dark, violent, and frequently bleak, but also has themes of hope, redemption, and resilience. We have all read these themes before but Robert McCammon did it better, I will immediately be moving on to more of his work.
I waited ages to read this book because I could only find it in mass market paperback, in a book this long mass market books are just cumbersome. I pre-ordered it the second I saw there was a trade paperback coming out.
While I waited for the release day I decided I’d borrow the ebook on Libby. Around 50% in I knew I was enjoying it and wanted to save it for the physical copy, which is my preferred way to read. Anyone else have this brand of illness?
Considering the content of Swan Song it feels wrong to say I loved this book, but I LOVED THIS BOOK, it is post-apocalyptic horror (w/fantasy elements) at its absolute peak. Swan Song is dark, violent, and frequently bleak, but also has themes of hope, redemption, and resilience. We have all read these themes before but Robert McCammon did it better, I will immediately be moving on to more of his work.
I couldn't think of a good reason not to give this book five stars. I'm not a huge fan of post apocalyptic stories for some reason, still, the book itself was very good. The story was very well written with great characters, pacing, and scale. I don't feel as though I felt the emotional weight at the end of the story that was intended but I think that may have more to do with me just not favoring this type of story than the story itself. I've heard a lot of people comparing this to Stephen King's The Stand, and there are a lot of similarities, so I can see why. I will say that I liked this a lot better than The Stand. I always felt like the characters in The Stand progressed into a nice little civilized community far too quickly. Maybe I'm cynical, but, I think there would be a lot more brutal, horrible, human behavior in a post apocalyptic world than Stephen King apparently did. In Swan Song though; we get a good look at the ugly human nature that I imagine would emerge in a lawless land and it made for great conflict! So overall: Strong story but not one I'd re-read or necessarily recommend. My Robert McCammon book recommendation remains the amazing "Boy's Life".
Really good read.
I wasn’t sure about this book at first, but I’m so glad I stuck with it. It’s a long book, but worth the effort. Very reminiscent of “The Stand”. —Nuclear war breaks out and millions are dead, civilization is destroyed, the earth is a wasteland, and the few survivors are disfigured with boils that harden and reshape their faces. In the middle of this there is one child that can help the world heal, and there is one woman who knows what the child is to do to start the world over again, but there’s miles upon miles between them. So begins a 7 year journey for the two to find each other and overcome the evil that seeks them both. —Not light reading.
I wasn’t sure about this book at first, but I’m so glad I stuck with it. It’s a long book, but worth the effort. Very reminiscent of “The Stand”. —Nuclear war breaks out and millions are dead, civilization is destroyed, the earth is a wasteland, and the few survivors are disfigured with boils that harden and reshape their faces. In the middle of this there is one child that can help the world heal, and there is one woman who knows what the child is to do to start the world over again, but there’s miles upon miles between them. So begins a 7 year journey for the two to find each other and overcome the evil that seeks them both. —Not light reading.
This was a phenomenal read. The details, the character development, the transitions between various narratives completely smooth, the underlying message of hope and soul searching were so unbelievably intriguing I had a difficult time putting this book down. I had started, stopped and started this book about three different times. Perhaps due to the unfair comparisons between this novel and The Stand by Stephen King and the length is to what I can attribute my hesitancy. Sidenote: I love Stephen King and the Stand is one of my favorite novels but there is very few comparisons to be made. The length is to what much of my delay can be blamed upon. It is a new year and I sincerely didn't know if I could dive right in a spare time for a 900 page novel. But the length seemed irrelevant once you are immersed into the story. The pages fly by; it's not at all complicated language to be analyzed nor will you miss much if a word or two are skipped. That being said, I would highly recommend this for an intriguing end of the world story.