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tom_collins 's review for:
Swan Song
by Robert R. McCammon
Too much of the story is too contrived. Some of it just doesn't make sense. And too many parts of the plot, that never did get explained.
Spoilers below.
For instance, during the nuclear winter, it snows in August in at least the top half the US. But no one tries to go south where it would be warmer. This continues for 9 years.
Also, in those 9 years:
-No plants grow at all, but there are still deer to be hunted (I wonder what they eat).
-There's still canned goods and gasoline to be found.
-Snow has not continued to accumulate.
-Animal mutations occur (because of the radiation) that would not really be able to survive.
By the end
-The purpose or use of the ring is never told, except for a few visions, even though it was very central to the story. The ring might have made the wearer immune from harm, but this is never tested.
-One person has the power to get crops to start to grow in the inhospitable ground, it's a little bit time consuming, and it's implied she has to travel the whole country (maybe even the whole world) to bring the world back to growing things again.
-Some people get these hard masks growing on their face for years, to later fall off and reveal the person even prettier than before, but no explanation is ever told on what this has to do with the story.
-Towards the end, the bad guy seems to be able to travel great distances in a short time (flitting back & forth between cities), but in the beginning can only travel as fast as a human can.
-And too many character threads that were just left dangling and never picked up again.
Spoilers below.
Spoiler
For instance, during the nuclear winter, it snows in August in at least the top half the US. But no one tries to go south where it would be warmer. This continues for 9 years.
Also, in those 9 years:
-No plants grow at all, but there are still deer to be hunted (I wonder what they eat).
-There's still canned goods and gasoline to be found.
-Snow has not continued to accumulate.
-Animal mutations occur (because of the radiation) that would not really be able to survive.
By the end
-The purpose or use of the ring is never told, except for a few visions, even though it was very central to the story. The ring might have made the wearer immune from harm, but this is never tested.
-One person has the power to get crops to start to grow in the inhospitable ground, it's a little bit time consuming, and it's implied she has to travel the whole country (maybe even the whole world) to bring the world back to growing things again.
-Some people get these hard masks growing on their face for years, to later fall off and reveal the person even prettier than before, but no explanation is ever told on what this has to do with the story.
-Towards the end, the bad guy seems to be able to travel great distances in a short time (flitting back & forth between cities), but in the beginning can only travel as fast as a human can.
-And too many character threads that were just left dangling and never picked up again.