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A review by zurpel
Der Schwarm by Frank Schätzing
4.0
The Swarm is one of the few books by German authors that reached real popularity, so naturally I was curious about it. So I grabbed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.
The story follows several characters that start out in different places but will eventually all arrive at the same place and focus their efforts. The reason for this is the necessity to research a threat that comes from the sea. Formerly peaceful whales are beginning to attack humans, worms are destroying the ice in the north and seafood poisons everyone coming into contact with it. At first all these occurrences seem to be random, but then the researchers discover that all seems to be directed by an intelligent being, which seems to be living in the sea.
I liked the book well enough. The characters were round and easily distinctable from each other (the audiobook was dramatized, so that might have helped as well) and the plot fast-moving.
However, this sort of book is generally not my thing and as such this will probably never get onto my favorite-ever shelf and I’ll probably not re-read it. Descriptions of whales attacking people and icky stuff coming out of seafood freak me out, so one time is really enough.
Still, the book included some thought-provoking aspects (are humans really the only “intelligent” species on the planet?; how far can we go in maltreating nature, especially the oceans?) and I really liked this about the book.
So for a book not in my comfort zone of reading it was surprisingly enjoyable.
The story follows several characters that start out in different places but will eventually all arrive at the same place and focus their efforts. The reason for this is the necessity to research a threat that comes from the sea. Formerly peaceful whales are beginning to attack humans, worms are destroying the ice in the north and seafood poisons everyone coming into contact with it. At first all these occurrences seem to be random, but then the researchers discover that all seems to be directed by an intelligent being, which seems to be living in the sea.
I liked the book well enough. The characters were round and easily distinctable from each other (the audiobook was dramatized, so that might have helped as well) and the plot fast-moving.
However, this sort of book is generally not my thing and as such this will probably never get onto my favorite-ever shelf and I’ll probably not re-read it. Descriptions of whales attacking people and icky stuff coming out of seafood freak me out, so one time is really enough.
Still, the book included some thought-provoking aspects (are humans really the only “intelligent” species on the planet?; how far can we go in maltreating nature, especially the oceans?) and I really liked this about the book.
So for a book not in my comfort zone of reading it was surprisingly enjoyable.