Customer Reviews

Forests of the Night (Daw collectors No. 918)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read part of this book (and loved it) about six years ago, but forgot the author and title. It was only recently that I was able to find it again.

It was a wonderful book; a hard-boiled P.I novel ranging from gritty (the shoot-outs throughout the story) to touching (when the protagonist recieves the gift of a kitten after his pet cat is killed). Character development is strong, and the storyline never fails to excite. The futuristic setting and the fact that many of the characters are "furries" (anthropomorphic animals) could have become a "Sam the Cat"-style gimmick; instead, it actually adds to the storyline.

I've read all of his books except "God's Dice", starting with this one. And I must say that after a letter response and an email or two, he is a genius, and has a very active imagination. It is quite easy to fall into the minds of the characters and live the story through their eyes!

I especially liked how these three books (Forests of the Night is #1, then Emperors of the Twilight, and finally Spectres of the Dawn) carry the timeline so well. The characters are shared but they (the books) are not a "trilogy".

If you liked these be sure to read his next series which is a more traditional trilogy, "Hostile Takeover"

This book is simply astounding. The best thing I've read in nearly ten years. Okay, I originally picked this one up because I'm a furry fan (if you don't know what that means, well... go search for it), but I was pleasently surprised to find one increadible story loaded with deep characters, a super-complicated plot, dark social comentary, and a touching love story to boot.

What makes the story so great is Nohar. At first you wouls expect the hero to be the strutting, macho, "no man can stop me" action hero kind of guy. Like Rambo, only that he's a tiger. This just isn't the case. Nohar is humble, he's poor, he gets nervous in certain situations, and at times he can be very vulnerable.

Swann does a spectacular job of putting Nohar in a horrible situation that just gets worse after every corner. Just when you think Nohar's hole couldn't get any deeper, it does. In a word: Intense. I was in a cold sweat reading this book, it was that good. The action and suspence are mindblowing, but what really made it for me was the suble, yet touching love story that quietly develops, and gives a sign of hope for a dark, dark furture.

A tour de force. Read this book!

One of the best Detective novels ever. Swann's book combines the traditional gumshoe with a political thriller and the racial paranoia of the 50's and 60's to create a truly unique literary experession. Yet inspite of all the complex intertwinning of governmental intrige, multiple murder plots, and a few space aliens for good measure; Swann never looses site of his characters. The increadable detail that Swann puts into his characters draws the reader into their world, their lives, and their emotions. This truly is one of the best.

Forests of the Night is a fine book that portrays the main character as a tiger derived geneticlly engineered private investigator. Set about a century from now it is an exellent and overdue quantum leap for the old detective stories that have been so popular in years past. Within the story there is some entertaining violence, sex and ventures into multi-cultural cohabitation and relations. I recommend this book even if you have never had a "thing" for detective tales. This evolved thriller is so much more, it could be a whole new genre in itself. I give Forests of the Night four out of five stars.

I'd been given a copy of the novel by a friend because the lead character was a tiger (long story) and rather enjoyed it. The author creates a believable origin for his anthropomorphic characters and the political world around them. The storyline was not altogether satisfying at some points and had an overly complicated conclusion. But it is the author's ability to draw on the lead character's animal nature that pulls me back to reread the book. 'Forests of the Night' is a fine furry novel and I would recommend it to anyone out there with an inner tiger. Obey your hidden stripes and read the book.

This book is the start of a great trilogy. Swann paints a future that isn't warm and fuzzy without slipping into a typical cyberpunk future. The characters are fascinating, as is the technology and history. The reader can identify with the problems of the future - they feel like solid extrapolations of existing trends.

I don't re-read many books, but, after reading Swann's Prophets: Apotheosis: Book One, I wanted to return to the same universe, so I started again at the beginning.

I wasn't disappointed. This book still holds up with the exception of some outdated computer technology, but science fiction fans should be able to overlook that. With this, his first novel, Swann was already a master of plotting, of doling out information at just the right time, of writing cinematically vivid action scenes that are multi-sensory - particularly here where one of the prime senses of the hero is smell.

That hero is one Nohar Rajasthan. Nohar has a couple of crosses to bear. The first is that his father was a revolutionary who died in a gun battle with police. The second is that he's a moreau - a genetic chimera of human and animal designed as a soldier. Nohar happens to be a human/tiger hybrid. But Nohar's more immediate problem is that he's almost broke. A private eye in Cleveland, his most recent client gets shot in a bar by a gun toting Afghan dog, and Nohar finds himself breaking one of his most basic rules - taking a case that involves a human. Said human, now dead, was the campaign manager for a virulently anti-moreau politician. And Nohar's new client seems to be one of the few Americans more despised and with less rights than a moreau - a "frank" aka frankenstein, a genetically altered human. Throw in lots of gunfights, political intrigue with a surprising revelation, and even some interspecies sex and you have a very fast-moving, entertaining novel. (Swann handles the usual mystery/thriller cliché of the protagonist bedding someone he meets during the course of the investigation so well I didn't mind much.)

i enjoyed this author's 'dragons of the cayahoga' and wanted to read more of his work. he has a polished writing style (i love anyone who can handle the perfect tenses perfectly), and a truly impressive imagination. his world building is well thought out and holds together. his characters feel real. but i gave this book a three star rating for the amount of bloodshed. the body count is horrendous.

i have read a lot of the noir mysteries this is loosely based on, from hammett to chandler and on. but this work outdoes the genre. there are at least two deaths that were unnecessary, which really were not necessary to plot development, and which were apparently included only to allow the main character to emote and suffer and to elicit an emotional response from the reader. there was torture that was also unnecessary.

also, the identity of the villains came as no surprise--i'd guessed it several chapters before it was revealed.

so, while there are many good things to say about this book, be warned that the gratuitous violence level is high.

This is a great book! This book explains the problems of someone who is different, even though he is much more different then you can imagine. He deals with the problems of life, a job, and a gang of mutant rats that chase him around and kill his pets. The plot is very interesting and believe me, after you've read about 100 pages, every other page is filled with eye popping, entertaining action.Great for Sci-Fi fans!