Helpful Score: 5
Took me a while to start this book, I was intimidated by the size. But when I started it, the exciting story swept me right in!
Part I deals with the immediate aftermath of a nuclear holocaust in the United States, and Part II continues, seven years later, with the rebirth of hope.
Highly recommended.
Part I deals with the immediate aftermath of a nuclear holocaust in the United States, and Part II continues, seven years later, with the rebirth of hope.
Highly recommended.
Helpful Score: 5
I kept putting off reading this book because of it's size, but *WOW* what a read it was! This was one of those books that pulled me in from the very beginning and I did not want to put it down - I even lost sleep wanting to read into the wee hours of the night. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it.
Helpful Score: 2
This was such a great story. Could not put it down. LOVED IT. One of those that you will read over and over.
Helpful Score: 2
A very solid post-apocalyptic novel. Wonderful characters, both good & evil. I was pulled in at the very start and loved the whole trip. Great author and a great book.
Helpful Score: 2
When I finish a book, I post it here to The Swap and find my next. However, Swan Song is one of the few books I own and won't give away. I've read it 3 times so far and soon will read it again.
Don't let the size of this volume intimidate you... once you're engrossed by these characters and their converging stories you'll be glad there's so much to the story to tell.
If you loved King's The Stand, you'll love Swan Song: another post-apocalyptic novel with a broad cast of characters in a battle of good vs. evil, but with an even better ending.
Don't let the size of this volume intimidate you... once you're engrossed by these characters and their converging stories you'll be glad there's so much to the story to tell.
If you loved King's The Stand, you'll love Swan Song: another post-apocalyptic novel with a broad cast of characters in a battle of good vs. evil, but with an even better ending.
Helpful Score: 2
I would have to say this is one of my all time favorite books on the planet. Good verses evil with the final battle and all the trimmings. And of course evil get an a** kicking!
Helpful Score: 1
One of my favorite books of all time. I'm a fan of McCammon in general, but this is the best in my opinion. I've read it 4 times over the years.
Wow, what a read. Part one details a nuclear war and its immediate aftermath. Part two takes up with the survivors seven years later, among whom is Swan, a young woman with life giving powers.
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book last summer and couldn't put it down. It reminded me of Steven Kings' "The Stand"... the ultimate good v. evil end of all times book. The characters were very well detailed and the story had some very interesting plot turns.
Probably the best book I've ever read. It starts to drag a bit at the end which was surprising considering how good the rest of the book was but still 100% worth reading. I wish I new more people who read so I could make them read this.
I loved The Stand, but this by far is better. Stupendous. Amazing. You will never forget the story after you have read it. Especially if you grew up during the cold war and nuclear fear. I guess we should never forget the fear of nuclear war, it could still happen.
956 pages of edge of the seat , What is going to happen next. I enjoyed this book because it had all that I like in a survival story. The added bit of Stephan King type horror just made it better.
As World War III begins we meet several characters; Sister Creep, Josh Harnell, Sue Wanda and her mother, the President of the United States, Col.Jim Macklin and Roland an young boy. "Swan Song" is a story of survival and the battle between good and evil after the unthinkable happens. Much like Stephen Kings "The Stand" this book details the horrors of a nuclear holocaust and its aftermath. One of the better examples of Post Apocalyptic fiction.
Well written an excellent read.
Well written an excellent read.
This book is one of my favorites. My poor paperback edition is worn from my reading it many times! It's one book I would not get rid of. The characters are wonderful, the story is gripping. The book is long, but you get so engrossed in it you really don't realize how long it is. I read it in two days the first time. I highly recommend this one!
This rates as one of my favorite top ten books of all time! Scary, intriguing, thought-provoking and as always, well-written by Robert McCammon!
Loved this book - the characters were well-written and the story kept moving. Very litte "down" time. Really an interesting read.
If I could I would give this rating as 100 stars....yes, this book is fantastic. I am on the last 10 or so pages and I absolutely hate to see it end! Do yourself a favor and read this book!
Started out slow and kind of boring, couldn't get into it at first. Picks up speed eventually.
One of the best books I have ever read. It is one of those books that you can read several times and always enjoy it.
I so loved this book. The end has stayed with me for years and years. I first heard of this book because Stephen King recommneded it somewhere, and it was a true find. This isn't a light hearted story, but it's an important moral tale with wonderful characters and vivid imagery.
Fantastic read,was better then the stand, i still have the book
and will read again. recomeneded highly
and will read again. recomeneded highly
I always enjoy this book even more than The Stand. Fantastic.
like the stand, but way better!
Swan Song is rich with such characters as an ex-wrestler named Black Frankenstein, a New York City bag lady who feels power coursing from a weird glass ring, a boy who claws his way out of a destroyed survivalist compound. They gather their followers and travel toward each other, all bent on saving a blonde girl named Swan from the Man of Many Faces. Swan Song is often compared to Stephen King's The Stand, and for the most part, readers who enjoy one of the two novels, will enjoy the other. Like The Stand, it's an end-of-the-world novel, with epic sweep, apocalyptic drama, and a cast of vividly realized characters. But the tone is somewhat different: The good is sweeter, the evil is more sadistic, and the setting is harsher, because it's the world after a nuclear holocaust. Swan Song won a 1988 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel. It's a monster of a horror book, brimming over with stories and violence and terrific imagery--God and the Devil, the whole works.
AMAZON.COM REVIEW
AMAZON.COM REVIEW
In a nightmarish, post-holocaust world, an ancient evil roams a devastated America, gathering the forces of human greed and madness, searching for a child named Swan who possesses the gift of life.
This book is 956 pages long and I read it in 3 days. That's how good this book is. This is the most interesting book, I've ever read.
This is McCammon's ode to Stephen King's "the Stand". It is equal in terror and in length, but a fantastic read of good against evil in the midst of a nuclear winter left after man destroys man. The characters are so well developed as he always does, that you cant stand for a single one to die, however as you know most do in awful ways. Awesome Book.
Thi sis one of my favorite books. I have read it over and over about 6 times and my copy is well dogeared. It is a well woven story of what is to be the end of the world and how one small insignificant child made a difference to everyone around her bringing about hope and strength to the communitee she settled in........a must read.
Awesome read it in the 80's and waited a very long time to read it again finished it on 2/9/2007 my 15 year old daughter read it and loved it.....Can't wait for the next 20 years so I can read it again.
Not nearly as good as "The Stand", but a fairly good read, nonetheless.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
An ancient evil roams the desolate landscape of an America ravaged by nuclear war.
He is the Man with the Scarlet Eye, a malevolent force that feeds on the dark desires of the countless followers he has gathered into his service. His only desire is to find a special child named Swan -- and destroy her. But those who would protect the girl are determined to fight for what is left of the world--and their souls.
In a wasteland born of rage, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, the last survivors on earth have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil that will decide the fate of humanity....
~~~~~
Excellent book-- If you enjoyed 'The Stand' by Stephen King you will enjoy this book
An ancient evil roams the desolate landscape of an America ravaged by nuclear war.
He is the Man with the Scarlet Eye, a malevolent force that feeds on the dark desires of the countless followers he has gathered into his service. His only desire is to find a special child named Swan -- and destroy her. But those who would protect the girl are determined to fight for what is left of the world--and their souls.
In a wasteland born of rage, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, the last survivors on earth have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil that will decide the fate of humanity....
~~~~~
Excellent book-- If you enjoyed 'The Stand' by Stephen King you will enjoy this book
An amazing post apocalyptic epic tale! There are some unique characters to cheer for or abhor and a little of everything in this book. It is an emotional roller coaster ride, from scary to uplifting. I love all McCammon's books and I don't know why it took me so many years to get around to this one. It is dated and sometimes I was taken aback by things that reminded me how different the world is in some ways. The World Trade Center was still standing, the cold war was the fear in those days and bottled water wasn't in every household. I enjoyed this from beginning to end!
A very, first, disturbing, horrific journey and then enlightening book.
A story that takes you from the personal horrors of the individual characters to the more horrific horrors of a world changed forever. Their personal horrors plague them as they try to figure what to do and how to survive the global nuclear winter that comes after everything they knew is gone.
This book pulls no punches in the awful conflict that occurs or how individuals choose to deal with the aftermath. There are those that do awful, horrific, unimaginable things that most of us couldn't ever think of, to those that are just trying to survive and try to help each other in the smallest of ways. The descriptions bring pictures to your mind that you don't want to see but are needed to propel the story forward. You don't want to believe that these things would ever happen but in the back of your mind you know would happen...many are graphic and in many places the characters themselves voice how awful it all is.
A very difficult read but in the end it becomes hopeful and you understand the journey through the book. In the end there is a rather surprising way that may or may not seem possible but it lends to the conclusion in the way the author saw it, which gives the reader a different view point.
I almost put this book down a few times while reading it because the material was so difficult and disturbing to read. I'm glad I read it all the way through now because it was a very good story. As for all the disturbing parts, which is most of the book, its what nuclear war would be most likely and sadly the way survival after the war would be, as hard as it is to say that. If it weren't for the awful we would forget to not push the buttons and have to remind others that what would come after doesn't mean it would be better than what we have now.
A story that takes you from the personal horrors of the individual characters to the more horrific horrors of a world changed forever. Their personal horrors plague them as they try to figure what to do and how to survive the global nuclear winter that comes after everything they knew is gone.
This book pulls no punches in the awful conflict that occurs or how individuals choose to deal with the aftermath. There are those that do awful, horrific, unimaginable things that most of us couldn't ever think of, to those that are just trying to survive and try to help each other in the smallest of ways. The descriptions bring pictures to your mind that you don't want to see but are needed to propel the story forward. You don't want to believe that these things would ever happen but in the back of your mind you know would happen...many are graphic and in many places the characters themselves voice how awful it all is.
A very difficult read but in the end it becomes hopeful and you understand the journey through the book. In the end there is a rather surprising way that may or may not seem possible but it lends to the conclusion in the way the author saw it, which gives the reader a different view point.
I almost put this book down a few times while reading it because the material was so difficult and disturbing to read. I'm glad I read it all the way through now because it was a very good story. As for all the disturbing parts, which is most of the book, its what nuclear war would be most likely and sadly the way survival after the war would be, as hard as it is to say that. If it weren't for the awful we would forget to not push the buttons and have to remind others that what would come after doesn't mean it would be better than what we have now.
Awesome book, 100 times better than the similar "The Stand" by King (IMO.) Would love to see a movie adaption made of this great novel.
