Now this was a behemoth of a book. Swan Song is truly enormous, as huge as the Xbox. My copy consists of a whopping 850 pages, and its size makes it extremely cumbersome to carry around. It simply won't fit into a pocket, and when placed in a bag, it takes up a significant amount of space. (One wonders why it was released by a publishing house named "Pocket Books" then.)

It delves into the end of the world. Written in the 80s, a time when terms like the Cold War were frequently used, it's no surprise that in the novel, the relationship between the Soviet and American governments has soured. Soviet and American submarines engage in a game of cat and mouse, India and Pakistan obliterate each other with nuclear weapons, and when reports of an increasing number of Soviet submarines reach the Americans, every base switches to DEFCON 1, and then chaos ensues.

And I mean that literally. Swan Song commences with wild and vivid descriptions of the end of the world. The world ends with a deafening BANG. Everything explodes, buses filled with charred bodies hurtle through the air, DJs at radio stations shriek into their microphones as cities are reduced to rubble. Borders vanish, and the entire United States (since that's where our story is set) becomes one vast wasteland.

Obviously, there are survivors. The situation appears dire, but cockroaches won't be the rulers as a few of our kind are still roaming. The characters we encounter seem a bit too ordinary and stereotypical, but the adventure they embark upon is grand. Similar to The Stand, a group of people must contact another group while striving to stay alive and avoid falling victim to scavengers and the lone Dark Figure, which seems to delight in the destruction that has just occurred.

McCammon is an outstanding writer, and the pace he sets is an accomplishment in itself, as there are no dull moments in the first section. His imagination is vast, and he shares it with us generously. His prose is unassuming and delivers precisely what it promises - a magnificent portrayal of a post-apocalyptic America, along with the people and creatures that inhabit it. The story just builds and builds and builds, and although there are clichés and a few overly sentimental moments, McCammon holds nothing back, and there are shocks that overshadow any eye-rolling moments.

HOWEVER, approximately halfway through the text, the novel takes an unexpected leap seven years into the future. And it never truly recaptures the thrills and the sheer imaginative achievement of the first part, although it maintains a steady level of suspense. But the outcome becomes increasingly predictable, and the suspense slowly begins to fade and eventually disappears completely. The ending leans a bit too much towards the feel-good territory for my taste and is the culmination of all those moments of sentimentality that I disliked.

If I were 13 and hadn't read The Stand - which must be mentioned here, and I'll explain why in a moment - I would have adored this book. Loved it! But now certain aspects of it irk me, especially considering the writer's talent and skill in constructing and pacing his tale. As for The Stand, aside from the basic premise - survivors of a nuclear holocaust attempt to live in a charred world, and there's a Big Evil Guy to stop them - the similarities are largely superficial, and save for a few scenes, Swan Song is a much different work. It's much more...optimistic, and the characterization is much simpler. It's not bad; it just didn't meet my expectations, as I've read that it's a favorite among the author's fans. McCammon is a terrific writer, and both Boy's Life and Gone South are magnificent efforts. Blue World is a great collection of short tales with one sublime novella. Swan Song was his breakthrough novel from the horror genre, and it is an impressive achievement when you consider the theme and the size, but in the end, it fizzled out rather than ending with a bang, and I don't think a re-read is necessary.

I read this book way back when it was initially published in the 1980s. I was still in high school then, with big frizzy hair and way too much blue eyeliner on, and I pretty much loathed my life. I spent most of my free time lurking around the local Osco drugstore, eagerly seeking out the newest horror paperbacks as a means of escaping it all. When I laid eyes on this enormous tome (over 900 pages), I quickly scurried back home with it, convinced I had just struck gold. And indeed I had. It turned out to be one of the very best horror novels I had ever read, and I was reading a great deal back then. This is precisely why I was hesitant to revisit it some 26 years later, fearing that I would somehow taint my memory of what I considered to be fictional perfection.

But I did it anyway. I can no longer read 900-page tomes because the mere thought makes my brain shut down, but I can listen to them on unabridged audio. Swan Song became my constant driving companion for over three weeks, and now that I'm finished, I already miss the soothing voice of Tom Stechschulte. I'll definitely have to snap up something else he's narrated. Maybe "The Road" if I can bring myself to listen to it.

If you've read this book, you already know that it's one of the greatest end-of-the-world novels ever written. If you haven't read it yet and you're a fan of the new apocalypse books that are flooding the shelves, you really need to do yourself a huge favor and read this one. It is set in the 1980s, and we are at war with Russia. Trigger fingers set off nuclear bombs, and kaboom! The world as we know it is gone. The remainder of the book focuses on a cast of characters as they navigate their way through this entirely new world, devoid of all creature comforts such as fresh water, sunshine, and warmth. But out of the destruction, a little magic also blossoms. Two camps essentially evolve. There are the murdering, raping pillagers, and then there are the decent people who yearn to restore the earth and rebuild. The two have an epic, classic collision of good versus evil. Those are the basic bones of the story, but it's so much more than that. It's heartbreaking and filled with loss, yet also with hope, and it is truly worth your time.

A few notes that you should be aware of before delving in:

1. The book doesn't commence with a huge bang. There's ample setup and character backstory here, enough for 3 or 4 modern-day books. Woo hoo for me because I can never get enough of that kind of stuff (when it's good), but perhaps not for everyone?

2. The action takes a little while to get going, but once it starts, there's a lot of it, and it's described in vivid detail. I'm not a huge action fan, and I admit that I did doze off when the military maneuvers dragged on (and on).

3. The book jumps around from group to group. There are a lot of characters to get your head around, and I was a bit confused here and there, but eventually, you come to know most of them very intimately. Many of them are flawed individuals, and they're all transformed by their time on the road. I think I enjoyed that aspect the most. However, be warned that some of these people whom you will grow to love will die, and you will probably cry. Maybe for a few days.

4. This beast is a 34-hour listen. I thought the narrator did a fantastic job with most of the characters. For the most part, he gave them distinct voices, with the exception of the villains at the very end (to me, they all sounded the same, screeching out their scratchy-voiced commands). You may want to find a sample online and give it a listen before committing. 34 hours is an extremely long time if the narrator isn't working for you.

5. There's a heck of a lot of violence, and it's not the prettified, glossy kind. Be prepared.

6. There is a strong, 50ish female character as a lead. Where can you find that nowadays? If you find one, tell me so I can buy it.

7. There is even a tiny smidge of a sweet romance amidst all of the chaos.

See, there's truly something for everyone! Now go read it.

Seems like everyone who has read „Swan Song“ has compared this book with Stephen King‘s „The Stand“ and has an opinion that it was either much better or much much worse than the illustrious bestseller by „The master of horror“. I might be a bit unpopular here, but I didn‘t find that much of a difference in quality. True, I still think that „The Stand“ is a better book, but that doesn‘t automatically mean that „Swan song“ is bad – it's just different.

Of course, these two are also quite different books, despite most of the reviews trying to deny the difference. So, here are the main differences and my arguments as to why „The Stand“ is a better book:

First and foremost, despite both being post-apocalypse books, the setting is quite different. „The Stand“ is about a viral outbreak that spreads conditionally slow and affects only a few species of living creatures, humans included. Meanwhile, „Swan song“ is about a nuclear holocaust and a huge, immense destruction of unseen scale in just a few eyeblinks. Of course, a full nuclear war is much more shocking and attention-grabbing for the very first book than just a few coughs and infected. However, that also leads to a much more serious problem. I think that Robert McCammon just tried too hard and finally overdid the setting. In his book, the destruction is so complete, so big and total, that eventually the ability of survival and adaptation of those few survivors became less and less likely and realistic. There is no food, no clothes, no clean water, no clean air, and freezing temperature due to nuclear winter. The conditions he created seemed and felt impossible to survive in. On the other hand, Stephen King made a much more viable and realistic setting. If you‘re immune, you‘re ok (theoretically, at least). You can go and pick up everything you need to survive. The infrastructure is largely intact, as well as the wildlife. So it‘s not that hard to believe that people can survive and even create new communities.

Second, the characters. The leads are well written in both books, but the secondaries in McCammon‘s book felt more like tools for the progression of the story than real persons. Some „cases“ also were created so stereotypical as to the extent of becoming a laughing stock. For example, one of the first „baddies“ – it‘s not enough that the guy is an asshole, he had also been created as a pedophile and a nazi. Oh, and yeah, he also was extremely obese. In a nuclear aftermath where everybody‘s starving.

King‘s characters might also be subject to critique, but they still feel real, live people.

The Main Villain. Randal Flagg, well, he was spooky. Spooky, full of mysticism and generally, throughout the whole book, you were unable to make a final decision who or what he is and what is his agenda and if there really is something paranormal or unexplainable about him or it‘s just the mass Stockholm Syndrome that his followers are experiencing. The same can be said about Mother Abigail, too.

„The Friend“, (that‘s how the arch-nemesis of Swan is called), on the other hand, feels like a lower level demon from b-movies. All he‘s interested in is killing, ruining, destruction and gore. He‘s a very one-dimensional baddie, compared to Flagg, who, at times seemed quite a nice guy with quite a real goals and aims and ultimately that makes him much more creepier than Friend.

Timeline. I really don‘t understand the jump in time in „Swan Song“. Remember me telling you about extremely harsh conditions, mass starvation and absolute lack of supplies before? So, McCammon decided to solve this by jumping 7 years forward. How those thousands upon thousands survived those seven years is The Question. The Answer was something like „They all had a hard time and had to try really hard“. Oh really? You don‘t say. Ok, enough with sarcasm, but the point about overdoing the setting still remains.

Unnecessary bloodbaths. In „The Stand“, if someone is doing something violent, whether it is Flagg or any random highwayman, it usually has some reason. To force obedience on the masses, to illustrate why someone hates all the men, etc. Violence in „Swan song“ serves only to illustrate how everything‘s ruined and rotten and horrible. It makes a really chilling and uneasy atmosphere at first, but later it just makes no sense anymore because the reader already knows it all and read it all.

Now, based on all I‘ve written here, you might get an impression that „Swan Song“ is an average book. It's not. It still is a very strong, very gripping, very interesting book. All those shortcomings I‘ve listed serve only one purpose – to illustrate that „The stand“ is a better book. A BIT better, I should say.

And if you‘re into this genre, odds are on that you will like the Swan Song. I did. I cannot rate this book 5*, because it had those petty shortcomings I‘ve mentioned, and in the end it might‘ve been just too long, but I‘m quite sure that this book fully deserves a very strong 4*.

Wow, just WOW!!!

My husband has been deeply researching nuclear war for months because of the conflict in Ukraine and the current threats from Vladimir Putin. We both have watched numerous documentaries on nuclear weapons to enhance our knowledge and familiarize ourselves with the terrifying consequences if nuclear war were to become a reality.

He had a dear friend who recommended I read this book, and I'm extremely grateful for the suggestion. The author's portrayal of the events is eerily realistic. Besides the magical realism, this book could very well depict what life would be like after a nuclear war. It was written in 1987, and as a fan of the 80's, that made it even more enjoyable for me.

The book commences with the apocalypse, where the U.S. and Russia bomb each other. The U.S. is now a desolate wasteland, and those who survived the multiple missile attacks face a long and arduous journey ahead. From there, the book is divided into sections that describe the journeys of multiple groups of people, both good and evil. All of these groups will eventually encounter one another.

There is Sister Creep, one of the toughest characters you'll encounter in a book. Her journey begins as a homeless woman in the NY city subway system. After the apocalypse, while traversing the streets of Manhattan, she acquires a mysterious and beautiful glass ring that grants her the ability to see into the future. There is Swan, a young girl who starts her journey with a man named Josh Hutchins, formerly known as the Black Frankenstein from his wrestling days. Josh's main mission is to protect Swan due to her special capabilities and powers. Then, there is the purely evil Army of Excellence, led by Colonel Macklin and his protégé, Roland Croninger. The things they do during their journey are repulsive and sickening. And of course, there is the man of many faces, also known as the man with the Scarlet Eye. His mission is to destroy Swan because with her magical abilities, she might just be able to save the world.

The writing in this book is outstanding and captivating. You'll quickly learn which characters to love and hate. McCammon did an excellent job of depicting what one would have to rely on for food sources after a nuclear war, what the environmental conditions would be like (nuclear winter), even going as far as including characters with Job's Mask, which are black growths and warts caused by radiation that covered the entire faces of many characters. There is the involvement of wildlife and what it would be like for wolves to go hungry and the impact that had on the remaining human life. He considered the fact that vehicles would no longer have access to gasoline, people would no longer have fresh water, and how that affected their bodies and daily lives. Of course, there is the factor of mental illness. Some people transform into completely different individuals just trying to survive. There are the groups that form and the mistrust you feel when initially encountering a new group and having to ask and depend on them for food and water. The details are endless and truly incredible. To say I was impressed with the book is an understatement. If you're into post-apocalyptic books, this one is the best of the best!

Even though this book is a hefty 956 pages, don't let that deter you from picking up this gem! It reads quickly and keeps you engaged throughout the entire book. It took me about a month to finish it, but that's only because I had so many work projects that consumed all of my time. Do yourself a favor and read this masterpiece!

This book is truly remarkable and ranks right up there with The Stand. In fact, it might even be a little bit better. The author presents a great perspective from a kid's point of view, which adds a unique charm to the story.

However, what I like the most about this book is the sense of place. It feels so real and authentic that it immediately draws you in. Once the place is established, it makes it much easier for me to believe most anything the author wants to throw at me.

I also loved Speaks the Night Bird by this same author. It's one of my favorite historical novels from the past five years, and the writing craft level in this new book is just as high. Swan Song has now joined my favorites shelf, along with some of my other all-time favorite historical novels like Pillars of the Earth, A River God, and Lonesome Dove. I'm already looking forward to taking it down and savoring it all over again.

David Putnam, author of the Bruno Johnson series.

d.

Comparisons to ‘The Stand’ have been made to ‘Swan Song’ for as long as I can remember.

In my opinion, Swan Song is better. However, at the same time, they don't really compare as they are completely different stories.

This is another one of those books that Stephen King purists say it's a rip off of ‘The Stand’. I can see their point, but I believe this book deserves the respect it's gotten and more.

Don't take that as a shot at King. I enjoy King and enjoyed ‘The Stand’. But these two books are NOT the same.

Let me disclose that I listened to this on audio book and it was fantastic. I'm normally against audiobooks as it removes you from the story. There's something different about listening to a book vs reading it.

Once the story gets over the hump of getting you associated with what's going on, the story, the world building, and the character development are good, and the storyline gets moving fast.

I won't bore you with another long review. There are plenty out there that are far better than mine.

The only thing I will say is why I deducted a star, and that's because I felt the ending was anticlimactic. It was good, don't get me wrong. I love Swan's character and hope that if the world were to ever end, the world deserves good people like Swan to heal it.

Overall, Swan Song is a great book that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys post-apocalyptic stories.

The sky was a breathtaking spectacle, filled with waves of moving, blinking stars. Wheels of light rolled across the darkness over the trailer court, and streaks of yellow fire zigzagged upward into the haze that obscured the moon. Thousands upon thousands of fireflies passed overhead like galaxies in motion, their signals forming chains of light that stretched from west to east as far as Swan could see.

It was a beautiful yet eerie sight. All those missiles streaking across the midnight sky, the end of the world wrapped in a gossamer of sparkling, awe-inspiring enchantment. Once the guidance system told these glowing tubes to descend to the earth, they would explode into nearly perfect, cylindrical, fiery mushroom clouds that reached for the sky.

The end of the world as we know it. Some might say they feel fine, like in the song by R.E.M. released in 1987, the same year as this novel. But perhaps not so fine really. There have been many debates about end of the world scenarios. People talk about survival strategies, but the narrator hopes to be at ground zero. After all, the narrator likes culture and civilization and doesn't want to scramble about in a Mad Max-like world. However, if by some chance the narrator's book-lined ivory tower were to survive, a bit of food and a bottle of red wine dropped off occasionally would be much appreciated.

Josh Hutchins, a world-weary professional wrestler known as the Black Frankenstein, was on his way to Garden City, Kansas, for a match when the world ended. Kansas might seem like a good place for a post-apocalyptic event, with its small population and lots of desolation. It would be the narrator's state of choice, especially for a zombie apocalypse, for those reasons and the fact that the horizon goes on forever in every direction, providing a good line of sight. But unfortunately, there were strategic military reasons why the Russkies would want to blow up Kansas, and they had enough of these glowing tubes of destruction to cause chaos in every state of the Union. After the fallout, Josh found himself the guardian of an orphaned nine-year-old girl named Sue Wanda, but fortunately nicknamed Swan.

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Well, an apocalyptic event will surely reveal it. Swan is a very special young lady. As she grows up over the next seven years, her natural affinity for growing plants evolves into something quite spectacular. She can bring apple trees back to life and make corn grow in infertile, radiated soil. She is the most important human being on the planet, and there are people looking for her.

There is Sister Creep, who, despite her name, is not as creepy as it might suggest. She has visions and knows she must find Swan to give her something she will need desperately in her coming battle against pure evil. There is also Colonel Macklin, who, with the help of his teenage henchman, Ronald Croninger, has built the Army of Excellence (AOE) and is marching across the Midwest, killing those who refuse to join them and stealing food and supplies from everyone they encounter. Their motto is "Assimilate or perish."

But there is one creature more insidious than Macklin and Croninger and their entire army combined. He can be called Friend, or The Man with the Scarlet Eye, or The Man of Many Faces, or Doyle Holland if you want to think of him as something more human. He knows he has to destroy Swan because she is a beacon of hope in the chaos.

Doyle is not a man. He is a demon? The devil? He can shape-shift, manipulate, and control minds. He takes credit for all the chaos and evil in the world. He can feel the power of Swan, and she can feel his weaknesses. Their meeting is unsettling. Swan is also suffering from a radiation-inspired malady called a Job's Mask. The growths on her head have covered her skull like a knotty helmet, enclosing her facial features and leaving only a small slit at her left eye and a ragged hole over her mouth for breathing and eating.

The epic post-apocalyptic novel The Stand by Stephen King was published in 1978, and Swan Song was published in 1987. Some might say Swan Song is an ode to King, or that it owes a lot to The Stand. Others might say they enjoyed The Stand more. However, the narrator, who has recently read The Stand, must say that they enjoyed Swan Song much more. The writers chose different ways to destroy the world, but the important thing in post-apocalyptic stories is what the writer makes of the wreckage and hopefully the redemption. King had his religious prophets, but McCammon had, for the narrator, a much more compelling character in an earth goddess trying to lead humanity back on the path to civilization. The narrator liked the plotting and flow of Swan Song better than that of The Stand.

Both novels are epic in length, weighing in at around 1000 pages each. But for the narrator, Swan Song was a smoother read. The narrator read Swan Song extremely quickly, in just a few days, while lingering over The Stand for a couple of weeks. In this heavyweight bout, the winner is Swan Song in the glowing green trunks.

May there really be an earth goddess among us waiting to save us from ourselves. If you wish to see more of the narrator's most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com. The narrator also has a Facebook blogger page at: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten.

Absolutely outstanding.

This book is truly a masterpiece that has quickly become a new all time favorite for me. From the moment I picked it up, I was completely engrossed in its captivating story and well-developed characters. The author's writing style is engaging and flows seamlessly, making it a joy to read from start to finish.

I can't wait to reread this book multiple times in the years to come. Each time I read it, I'm sure I'll discover new details and gain a deeper understanding of the story. It's one of those rare books that you can read over and over again and never get tired of. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read that will leave a lasting impression.

The percentage composition of previous or later works of a sort of postapocalypse in the DNA of R. McCammon's enormous horror epic "Swan Song" is an interesting analysis. 41% comes from "The Stand" novel, which is a significant influence. 10% is from "The Road" novel, and it's important to note that it has some elements similar to "Mad Max" which can't be ignored. 10% is from "Blood Meridian" novel, so about 60% of "Swan Song" can be traced back to King and McCarthy alone. 10% is from "Lord of the Rings", with 6% from the battle in "Two Towers" and 4% from the magic ring emblem. There are also smaller percentages from other works like "Lonesome Dove", "Dawn of the Dead" films, "Cold Mountain" novel/film, "Death Race/Death Race 2000" film, "Battle Royale" film, and the "Hunger Games" franchise.

The story involves the country being nuked by the Russians. After everything is destroyed, the survivors start to form feudal groups and new power structures. Evil forces unite, heroes emerge, and characters meet their fates in a way similar to "The Walking Dead". The vigilantes face many hardships, and the story contains gruesome details. However, the book is quite long and starts to lose momentum towards a rather tepid conclusion that the reader may have already anticipated, but it occurs even later.

Despite its flaws, "Swan Song" is still a significant work in the horror genre, and the monoliths of horror it presents are something to be admired.

This is definitely old school PA, and by old school, I mean BZ (before zombie).

Folks of a certain age will vividly remember the old days of the cold war. There were ICBMs, nuclear arsenal buildups, and that rather idiotic idea of crawling under your desk at school to protect yourself in the event of an attack.

It's a familiar trope with multiple groups and points of view that converge for a final confrontation, where the whole world seems to teeter precariously on the edge of either chaos or hope.

The characters lack much subtlety. They are either clearly good or evil, with only a moment or two where some shades of grey manage to come through.

The book was quite long, over 900 pages. I believe several hundred pages could have been removed without sacrificing the essence of the story.

While this never gripped me as tightly as "Boy's Life" by Robert McCammon did, it was still very enjoyable. And it was kind of fun to be able to cheer wholeheartedly for one group and despise another.

7/10

**Title: An Outstanding Experience Rated 4.5 Stars**

I recently had an experience that truly deserved a 4.5-star rating.

From the moment I walked in, I was greeted with warm smiles and excellent customer service. The staff was knowledgeable and eager to assist, answering all of my questions with patience and expertise.

The ambiance of the place was inviting and comfortable, making it a great environment to relax and enjoy. The quality of the products or services provided was top-notch. They were not only of high standard but also showed great attention to detail.

Every aspect of my experience was carefully thought out and executed to perfection. I left feeling satisfied and impressed.

I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a great experience. It truly stands out among the rest with its 4.5-star excellence.

4.5 to 5.0 stars.

I am a die-hard fan of The Stand by Stephen King and I firmly believed it to be the "benchmark" in apocalyptic fiction...UNTIL NOW. Swan Song is, without a doubt, THE BEST apocalyptic science fiction book I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Spanning over 950 pages, one might have expected this book to be a laborious read, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I breezed through it, completely engrossed, with my attention never once straying and my interest never waning. It is a truly magnificent novel, boasting a superb cast of both really good people and REALLY BAD PEOPLE!! I cannot recommend it highly enough!!!

Winner: Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel (1988)

Nominee: World Fantasy Award for best Novel (1988)

Nominee: Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (1988)