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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good book., February 14, 2007
I really enjoyed reading The Swarm. It kept me engrossed from start to finish with only one or two slow bits that I still found interesting. The characters are very well written so you can get into their heads. I thought there was plenty of action interspersed throughout the story, but the non-action was just as good. Excellent explanation of the problem at hand and how it was discovered etc. I will admit this book is quite preachy and bashes America a little bit. Mostly though it slams all of the non-3rd world countries and their populations for what they (we) have done to the planet. However, while I'm sure the author was getting a point across with this, the book is a work of fiction (science fiction at that). He succeeds in making it sound plausible for our destruction to be carried out by our own actions. He obviously writes the president to be George Jr. and writes it like a cartoon version which I can't really object to as the real Bush is a joke. I'm not personally a tree hugger and am a proud American. I also was not offended by this book in the least. Maybe it hit too close to home for some of the negative reviewers. I would recommend it to anyone.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and thought provoking, July 31, 2006
Frank Schaetzing's "Der Schwarm" has been so immensely popular in Europe because it combines technological (science) fiction with characters who think (and don't constantly just act) and thought provoking passages between the action pages. If you forgive me this comparison, this novel is not for the fast food pizza consumer, but a delicate feast that requires deliberate tasting and chewing. I was disappointed, yet not suprised by some reviews that complain about volume, style and scarcity of heavy action. Sorry my friends, this ain't AVP or StarWars. I recommend this novel only for the ones amoung you who still like to use the brain they have. You'll love it.
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28 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The penultimate summer beach book, August 4, 2006
This is the best beach book to come along in a while; if you dare to read it on the beach. It concerns deep ocean threats, but is much more than a common eco-disaster thriller. There are elements of horror, science fiction and thrillers/political intrigue, all mixed together in a briny stew. I love environmental disaster books, and The Swarm is one of the best. The translation is, for the most part, excellent, and the "Britishisms" are easy to understand. Unfortunately, some typos exist (not very many for an 880 p. novel), in addition to some "unusual phrasings" that show mistranslations. For example, remember the scene in Die Hard 3 when the guy gives himself away by saying "it's raining dogs and cats"? That sort of thing occurs 3-4 times, and should have been caught by the American proofers. There is also some "eco-propaganda", including one 3 p. "insert" that should have been omitted. But this is not the overwhelming kind, and the story flows, at breakneck pace, with only a couple of small bumps. All-in-all, this was one pleasurable read, and my only regret is that there aren't another 15-20 novels by Schatzing. Maybe this will open the door to translating some of the new German horror writers (hint hint). Pegleg
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