
Swan Song
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Narrated by:
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Tom Stechschulte
About this listen
"We're about to cross the point of no return. God help us; we're flying in the dark, and we don't know where the hell we're going."
Facing down an unprecedented malevolent enemy, the government responds with a nuclear attack. America as it was is gone forever, and now every citizen - from the president of the United States to the homeless on the streets of New York City - will fight for survival.
Swan Song is Robert McCammon's prescient and shocking vision of a post-apocalyptic nation, a grand epic of terror and, ultimately, renewal.
In a wasteland born of rage and fear, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, earth's last survivors have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil, that will decide the fate of humanity. They include Sister, who discovers a strange and transformative glass artifact in the destroyed Manhattan streets... Joshua Hutchins, the pro wrestler who takes refuge from the nuclear fallout at a Nebraska gas station... and Swan, a young girl possessing special powers, who travels alongside Josh to a Missouri town where healing and recovery can begin with Swan's gifts. But the ancient force behind earth's devastation is scouring the walking wounded for recruits for its relentless army, beginning with Swan herself.
Please note: Two chapters were originally missing from Part 2 of this book. We were alerted to the problem on 11/21/11 and have corrected it. We're very sorry for any inconvenience. If you had already downloaded the book, don’t worry - your library has automatically updated with the corrected version. Simply re-download from your library, at no additional cost, to get the complete book.
©2009 Robert McCammon (P)2011 Audible, Inc.This book is a must read if you are a fan of Stephen King's The Stand or Justin Cronin's The Passage. I happen to be a huge fan of both and Swan Song is a bit like the love-child of these works.
It has a whole bunch in common with The Stand. The survivors of the apocalypse (which takes the form of a nuclear strike instead of a government-engineered plague) fall into two camps of Good vs Evil. There's a "dark man" figure who is decidedly evocative of King's Randall Flagg, and there are many religious undercurrents to the narrative.
King's work was first published in '78 so it pre-dates Swan Song. Even though the argument could be made that McCammon's work is derivative, I actually don't care. I see it more as one great piece of fiction inspiring another. While King's work is definitely superior, McCammon's story is still a wonderful read. Whole bunches of books have been inspired by great predecessors, and just because they don't measure up to them, doesn't mean they can't be great in their own right.
I guess there was a lot about this book which reminded me of other books, and I know that's not necessarily a good thing. However, in this case I honestly enjoyed every aspect of the book. The situation was gripping, the characters were realistic and the premise was epic. This is one of those books that I'd recommend to people after they'd read and loved The Stand. It's not as good as that, but it's damned decent as a follow-up read! A fab not-so-little read!
A brilliant, post-apocalyptic adventure tale!
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gave this a 4 because there were a few parts tht made me roll my eyes, but i wont mention them off of plot spoilers
EPIC
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Apocalyptic epic
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I bought it because I like long stories and it was sci-fi but I really wasn’t looking forward to it. It was excellent, though, and it never lost pace.
It’s not just another apocalypse story - it has a bit of mysticism added in and I like that.
Fully recommended
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Brilliant
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The narration on the audiobook is outstanding.
A wonderful find.
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What an Epic
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Simply Incredible
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Evocative, visceral and convincing.
2. How credible/believable did you find the narrator to be?
Tom Stechschulte was extraordinary - in my opinion this epic apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic story is incredibly character-driven and his outstanding narration contributed to this.
3. What was your favourite quotes/passages?
- “The outside face is how the world sees you, but the inside face is what you really look like. It’s your true face, and if it was flipped to the outside you’d show the world what kind of person you are....Sometimes you can see a person’s inside face—but only for a second or two—if you look close and hard enough. The eyes give away the inside face, and likely as not it’s a whole lot different than the mask that’s stuck on the outside.” - Leona.
- “....as she’d watched him stagger away Swan had realized that forgiveness crippled evil, drew the poison from it like lancing a boil.”
4. Any additional comments?
This is the first Robert R McCammon novel I have ever read and it certainly won’t be the last - I downloaded ‘Boy’s Life’ midway through ‘Swan Song’.
No wonder this highly original novel is held in such high esteem by many, his writing style is phenomenal.
This was a throughly engrossing read. I in especially liked the supernatural elements contained within it.
Evocative
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The characters are incredibly inciteful - and as lives come together you really do care. The various elements of good and evil are shocking and yet worryingly believable - will find yourself thinking about it between reads. The storyline is disturbing and wasn't convinced about the mix at first but found myself grateful there's just enough magical element to give you hope and intrigue. Not sure if satisfied with explanation but placated with ending not being a dump and run - given just enough of what happens after - I was left with an overall sigh of relief and 'wow'.
The writing style is formidable with pictures effortlessly painted for you and the story moves on at a really satisfying pace. An easy flow, no frustrating parts of over description or lingering - you're not wanting to repeat or scan forward - it's perfect. Noticeably so. Equally the narration is outstanding - character accents and personalities brought to life. Superb performance.
Never read McCammon before - will be reading more.
surprised horrified impressed relieved
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