Customer Reviews

Swan Song

5 star:		(478)
4 star:		(53)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

The apocalyptic genre is an endearing phenomenon in fiction. Even after the collapse of the Cold War, authors are still pumping out new novels about the end of civilization. That's probably due to the fact that nuclear war isn't the only way to kill off the human race; Stephen King got a lot of mileage out of a killer virus in "The Stand." This book, by the excellent storyteller Robert McCammon, resembles King's classic novel in several respects, but McCammon sticks with the classic nuclear annihilation scenario in "Swan Song," a book written as the Cold War was winding down in the late 1980's.

"Swan Song" starts out on a bleak note, and quickly goes down hill from there. The world is in turmoil as terrorists use nuclear bombs with impunity, the U.S. and the USSR constantly engage in skirmishes around the world, and the economy does a nosedive straight into the ground. Inevitably, the bombs are launched and the world erupts in a thousand mushroom clouds. This is all within the first hundred pages or so. What follows is the real story, and McCammon pulls out all the stops introducing us to the characters that drive the story.

Just like McCammon's novel "Stinger," there are many major characters in "Swan Song." McCammon introduces us to Sister Creep, a New York bag lady fostering a horrific personal tragedy; Josh, a 7' black wrestler (known as Black Frankenstein) with a heart of gold; Colonel "Jimbo" Macklin, a former war hero with an ominous shadow dogging his every move; and Roland Croninger, a wise beyond his years child who grows into Macklin's sadistic acolyte.

This is post-apocalypse, so there is the unavoidable good vs. evil theme running through the book. The good is Swan, a young girl who has the power to renew earth's ecosystem. The bad is the man with the scarlet eye, a shape shifter who makes King's Randall Flag look like the Osmond family. The other characters revolve around these two figures as the grand finale of the novel nears.

McCammon has the ability to make his characters endearing and genuine. There are no cardboard cutouts in this book. Even tertiary characters are developed with loving care. It's relatively easy to draw evil characters because evil is easy to see. What is difficult is to craft characters on the other side of the moral coin, and McCammon does it with seeming ease. You learn to really care about these people, something that doesn't happen often in books of this genre.

The atmosphere in "Swan Song" is bleak and oppressive. McCammon has no qualms about presenting life in a post-nuclear world. Cruelty is presented as normal behavior, and characters are mutilated or killed off quite frequently. Warlords battle for control of the country while little villages try to recreate a sense of community. The endless description of a shattered world slowly instills in the reader a sense of despair. McCammon's vivid portrait of a world gone mad certainly resurrects images of the Cold War and its shrieking insanity, when the world lived under the constant shadow of agonizing death.

While "Swan Song" clocks in at a hefty 950 pages, its pages pass by like a swift summer breeze. In the final analysis, McCammon's message in this book is one of hope; no matter how badly the human race messes things up, salvation may still be within reach. That is a message that transcends any age, and that is the significance of "Swan Song."

Written in the mid-eighties, the book describes in chilling detail the nightmare of the times, i.e., nuclear holocaust. Some of the background events may be a bit outdated, but in light of the recent terrorist attacks we know there is still the threat of mass destruction. So my point is that the book is still pretty darn scary! The first couple of hundred pages that describe the nuclear attack and immediate aftermath are terrifying. The horrors that are described throughout the book are gruesome. America has become a scorched and barren landscape. The survivors miraculously scratch out an existence and somehow keep alive the hope of a future in which the sun will shine again and the land will bear fruit again. Ultimately, the story is about the struggle between good and evil, and how the stress of tragic events brings out the best in some and the worst in others.

For a book of over 900 pages, it is a surprisingly fast read, and there are no lulls. McCammon is a superb storyteller who has created memorable characters and a detailed setting. Swan Song is a great book that I think ranks along side The Stand, which for years has stood as my favorite horror novel.

My aunt lent me this book and I figured it sounded a lot like the Stand, which at the time was my favorite novel. I read Swan Song every night for a week and a half. It was way better then the stand, and wasn't anything like it aside from the 'end of the world' scenario and an evil rising to threaten the survivors, so I'm not even going to compare the two books. The characters in Swan Song are so richly developped that you begin to feel for them. It's almost like you want to protect Swan just as much as the characters do. The last hundred pages or so are simply outstanding. It was so suspenseful that I could hardly sit still, and when it was over, I wished there was more to it then its 956 pages. The ending is what got me the most. There couldn't have been a more fitting end to this amazing story. I enjoyed everything about this book. It never gets boring, it doesn't have seven hundred characters in it all doing different things (like another novel i already said i wouldn't compare it to), but instead three main groups. The symbolism is just amazing, and the underlying themes and story is incredible. I can't say enough about it, so read it for yourself.

..but it comes pretty close. Sure, we don't know every detail of everyone's personality. Some of the minor characters seem sketched in without a lot of detail (but that's inevitable.. don't we all think of some people that way?). Some of the parts seemed to follow obvious formulas. But it was easy for me to look past those few flaws: this is after all, a work of science FICTION. Does anyone really believe God has some hand in the effects of nuclear radiation that will give everyone a different face? God isn't even mentoined or dwelled on too much, something I and any fellow agnostics find refreshing in such an epic book. But I digress.

Basically, you'll love Swan Song if you don't have the wrong expectations. It's an apocalyptic thriller, it's an action/adventure story, it's got some human drama, and there's some supernatural horror. I haven't read very many books that made me imagine so vividly what it would be like to be there.

By the way: this is in no way a ripoff of "The Stand." Are some people so devoid of imagination that they label all apocalypse-themed books as the same regardless of all their differences? Unlike "The Stand," this book has character growth, a real villain (a competent one, no less), and a real conflict at the end. And unlike King, McCammon doesn't rely on a (literal) Deus ex Machina ending to save his story. Pick up Swan Song if you're looking for a good read.. but be warned, it's hard to put down.

Most of the United States is wiped out after a nucleur holocaust. The Devil aka "Man With The Scarlet Eye" sees this as his opportunity to take over the world. However, there is a special girl named Swan with extraordinary powers that is standing in his way. "Swan Song" takes the reader on a ten year journey that follows the war of Swan and others around her, fighting against the Devil and his followers.

The first thing that I would like to get out of the way is that I absolutely hate to read. However, a friend of mine told me how great this book was, so I decided to come on Amazon to check out what others thought of it. I was amazed when I discovered that it received nothing but 5 star reviews. To put all that positive feedback to the test, I decided to give in and read the book. The book is over 950 pages long and I read it in just over two days. I was spellbound with just how great this book was. "Swan Song" is the only book that I have ever read, that I wanted to read more than once. The different settings, the outstanding characters, and the overall suspense and terror make it an epic masterpiece. The book reads at an extremely fast pace and the 956 pages fly by. This is one of the rare occasions that you end up begging for more after a novel of that size. The different settings that McCammon illustrates are incredible. All add a background of suspense, courage, love, and terror. The size of the story is great because it spawns over 10 years, and you get to see the characters develop not only in age, but in personality as well.

McCammon has the story unfold like a chess match between The Devil and God. They each have their respective pieces, and the board is the United States. God's main pieces are Swan, a courageous bag lady named Sister Creep, and a professional wrestler named Josh. Swan is amazing with her display of power and love. Sister Creep is the story's main hero with her courage and determination to never give up. Josh survives with Swan and becomes her guardian. The love that he shows for Swan never dies, and he posseses super human strength and a big heart. The Devil's main pieces are - the psychotic Army Col Macklin and his protege' Roland Kroniger. Macklin and Roland are the two lone survivors of an underground army camp. Macklin takes Roland under his wing, and the two fight to build an army based society with them giving the orders. The Devil himself is a great character who will terrify you with his actions and array of different powers. The book offers many other memorable characters that all possess cetain strengths and different personalities that make them all enjoyable.

So take it from a guy who hates to read. If I was able to make my way through this book and love every minute of it, anyone can. Many readers become hesitant to take on a book of this size or magnitude. Don't be, because it will be the best time that you ever spend on a novel.

What happens after a global nuclear war? The author does an exceptional job at creating a series of inter-related stories, that demonstrate the different mindsets of individuals as they are faced with surviving in radioactive waste and destroyed cities and landscapes.

Swan Song is an excellent book - and recommend it highly to individuals for literature discussions and school assignments. I thought it was a horror story, but found it to be a modern tale of survival, compassion, greed, love and friendship. Written in the spirit of Frankenstein, where evil characters were not motivated by evil - but by the need to survive.

I found it strange (in a good way), that one of the hero's in the book (Sister Creep), starts out in the book as a homeless "bag lady".

It Hard to put into words how good this book really is. Swan Song stands as one of the greatest horror novels ever written in my opinion. It is over 950 pages long but you will find yourself tearing through them.

The story was very intriguing, and it sucks you in. I would sit hours at a time caught up in this story. I would read till my eyes dried out and started hurting.

There wasn't a character in this story that I wasn't wrapped up in. They all seemed so real to me. There wasn't one wooden character in this book in my opinion. They all had a realness to them that some in other books don't have.

I HIGHY recommend Swan Song to anyone who loved The Stand, or any Horror fan for that matter. It is trip to a terrifying world that I can promise you will never forget.

I absolutely LOVED this book and hated to see it end. It started off a little slow, but really cranked up after the introduction of the many players in this apocalyptic fairy tale.

A motley crew of WWIII survivors - a 7' pro-wrestler called Black Frankenstein, a NY baglady, a deranged Army colonel, a cruel teenage boy and a young girl who holds the key to life in her hands - all become players in an epic battle between good and evil.

I won't pull any punches - the violence and cruelty is horrific and hard to stomache, but the hope and beauty that manage to peak through the clouds outshine the ugliness.

Robert McCammon does an extraordinary job of character development considering he has an enormous cast of characters to work with. I will certainly read more of his books. I can only hope that they are half as good as this one!

Now I think he needs to start work on a screenplay of Swan Song - Hollywood could sure use a movie or miniseries like this!

Having previously read only one of Robert McCammon's books (the brilliant "Gone South"), I knew I would be entertained by this book, which won the 1988 Bram Stoker Award. I had NO IDEA how I would be BLOWN AWAY by this mammoth classic. Although compared to King's "The Stand," this novel goes a little bit further into examining the people behind the terror. McCammon's post-apocalyptic view of the world is frighteningly realistic. But what this horrifying novel so brilliant is the richness of the characters he has created. There are so many wonderful characterizations in this novel that it's hard to begin writing about them. The ultimate battle of good vs. evil is convincingly and yet "fictitiously" told. Some of the things that do stretch credibility feel quite at home in McCammon's hands. And oh what hands!
To me, the character who stands front and foremost, and upon whose shoulders this novel truly stands is Sister Creep. A combination of Whoopi Goldberg/Carol Burnett and Rosie O'Donnell, this woman is truly a heroine to be admired and respected. Starting out as a bag lady in the pre-nuclear New York, Sister Creep shows such fierce dedication, loyalty and strength that you can feel her reaching out of the book to embrace you. I don't think there's ever been such a rich female characterization as Sister Creep in any horror novel I've read so far. And I've read plenty!! The way she and her ragtag crew of survivors forge ahead to find the mysterious Swan is heart-rending, encouraging and downright amazing.
Close behind is Josh, the Black Frankenstein of the story. A Professional wrestler (i.e, actor), Josh embodies the strength of his gigantic size with the gentle heart of a child. Like Sister Creep, Josh feels the need to "protect the child" and goes through several visions of hell to do so. His relationship with Glory and Aaron in Mary's Rest is simply beautiful. McCammon is uncanny in his capture of what characters feel and don't express.
And then of course, there is Swan. What a remarkable character. We first meet her as a helpless but magical child, who is left parentless after the apocalypse. Her fate has been decided and she is the one to save the world. As she matures into a young woman, we can see the confusion, fear and doubt in her mind, sort of a Gethsemane, but she grows so much in her resolve, her love of mankind, and her belief that there is good in the world. Simply a beautiful creation, no doubt.
The other characters, both good and evil are outstanding: the manic Corporal Macklin; the blood-thirsty boy Roland Croninger; the ill-fated Leona; the happy Rusty Weaver and Artie; the evil Lt. Lawry; the prostitute Sheila; the demented Alvin; even the President of the United States. There are SO MANY I can't begin to let you know how good they are.
And, of course, there is the evil one...the man with the scarlet eye...never has a creature of such evil and malevolence wormed its way into the pages of modern horror. He is worse than Hannibal Lechter; Jason; Freedy; Michael Meyers; he is closer to the devil than anyone in this genre.
This book is outstanding; it will move you and will stay with you long after you've closed the pages. And even after 956 pages in paperback, you still wish there was more!!
BRAVO MR. MCCAMMON
HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I'm very suspicious of books with cover blurbs shrieking it's "a stunning tale of sheer fright and terror", and usually my suspicions are justified and result in very negative reviews of such "masterpieces". But as it was some time since I've read a horror flick, I decided to give the book a try. The opening 60 pages of tale how the nuclear holocaust was unleashed aggravated my suspicion of stumbling at another old-fashioned book using concept of cold wars and slogan "Wipe them Ivans off the map!". How passé!

But flicking through the pages I trudged on. And it happened: after some 80+ pages it got me hooked! I did put down this book several times, for a normal person with sound psyche can withstand only a certain number of macabre imprints of destroyed and poisoned world, of people gone low worse than animals, piles of corpses and all horrible deaths galore. Images that the book has produced even gave me a bad dream once (!).

The plot is has been described by other reviewers in details: not many survive the Bang, but all clutch to survival as best as they can: some help preserve crumbles of life and light (and Swan is one of them, the girl with the gift of bringing back life), some get to established their own "Neu Ordnung" by means well described in "Mein Kampf" (the Man with Red Eye is the Biggest Baddie of them, but to my mind, Roland, the boy King Knight gone berserk with blood lust and Colonel Macklin, eternal soldier haunted by war ghosts are even worse, for they are of human tribe). However, Swan seems not to be the person no 1 in the Book, without other human helpers (Sister, Josh, Robin) she would never make it to the end of the book. Some scenes touched me in unusual way - right to the heart, I felt such compassion to the characters. It is a rare thing in books like that. Several final chapters spun quick action movie-like sequences that somehow lessened the effect of doomed civilization and tragism created before. But the author had to end the book somehow, didn't he?

It's not a bedtime story: I have not read the Stand, but its TV adaptation is kids' babble in comparison with Swan Song's creating an ugly, violent, depressing and morbid picture. But still this book is better than many of King's inflated creations.