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Robert R. McCammon

Robert McCammon

Swan Song Kindle Edition

by Robert R. McCammon (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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New York Times Bestseller: A young girl’s visions offer the last hope in a postapocalyptic wasteland in this “grand and disturbing adventure” (Dean Koontz).

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick

Swan is a nine-year-old Idaho girl following her struggling mother from one trailer park to the next when she receives visions of doom—something far wider than the narrow scope of her own beleaguered life. In a blinding flash, nuclear bombs annihilate civilization, leaving only a few buried survivors to crawl onto a scorched landscape that was once America.

In Manhattan, a homeless woman stumbles from the sewers, guided by the prophecies of a mysterious amulet, and pursued by something wicked; on Idaho’s Blue Dome Mountain, an orphaned boy falls under the influence of depraved survivalists and discovers the value of a killer instinct; and amid the devastating dust storms on the Great Plains of Nebraska, Swan forms a heart-and-soul bond with an unlikely new companion. Soon they will cross paths. But only Swan knows that they must endure more than just a trek across an irradiated country of mutated animals, starvation, madmen, and wasteland warriors.

Swan’s visions tell of a coming malevolent force. It’s a shape-shifting embodiment of the apocalypse, and of all that is evil and despairing. And it’s hell-bent on destroying the last hope of goodness and purity in the world. Swan is that hope. Now, she must fight not only for her own survival, but for that of all mankind.

A winner of the Bram Stoker Award and a finalist for the World Fantasy Award, Swan Song has become a modern classic, called “a chilling vision that keeps you turning pages to the shocking end” by John Saul and “a long, satisfying look at hell and salvation” by Publishers Weekly.

Length: 929 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled	Audible Narration: Audible Narration Switch back and forth between reading the Kindle book and listening to the Audible narration. Add narration for a reduced price of $3.99 after you buy the Kindle book. Ready	Language: English

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Review

"A wild ride into terror....A grand and disturbing adventure."--Dean Koontz

"A chilling vision that keeps you turning pages to the shocking end."--John Saul

-A wild ride into terror....A grand and disturbing adventure.---Dean Koontz

-A chilling vision that keeps you turning pages to the shocking end.---John Saul --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Robert McCammon is the New York Times bestselling author of fifteen novels, including the award-winning and critically acclaimed Boy's Life. There are more than four million copies of his books in print. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN : B005T54IAY
Publisher : Open Road Media (18 October 2011)
Language : English
File size : 4522 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 929 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 43,389 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
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jan05

It is my all time favourite book. I am a big fan of all ...

Reviewed in Australia on 13 June 2017

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I have just finished reading this book for the 4th time. It is my all time favourite book. I am a big fan of all of Robert McCammon's books and I am surprised that he is not more popular in Australia. He is just the best storyteller and anybody buying Swan Song will not regret it. I look forward to reading it again in a few years time. I have all his books in paperback (which I will never part with) and now kindle.

One person found this helpful

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Darren

Loved this novel

Reviewed in Australia on 17 July 2017

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Loved this novel, have read a few of Robert R. Mc Cameron novels and this is by far the best one so far. If you are into apocalyptic storys then this one is a must read.

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What If?

Reviewed in Australia on 6 February 2020

Voted one of America's 100 favorite books by PBS, it was fun to re-read this post-apocalyptic novel from 1987. Swan Song is often compared to Stephen King’s The Stand from 1978. Both are long, clocking in at 960 pages and 823 pages respectively. This could be a review of comparing the two as there are some fascinating similarities, however, I want to cover McCammon’s work on its own.

He wrote the novel when the threat of nuclear war was omnipresent. I, too, thought about it often through the 70’s and 80’s. The pace of the story takes off and never slows after the buttons are pushed. As much as the story propels, it is the characters that keep you engrossed. From Swan, a young girl that comes from a troubled family and who has a secret gift that the world requires to her large-size protector named Josh. He makes sure no post-apocalyptic nightmare harms her. They are joined by Sister, a bag lady from New York who carries an invaluable object.

Those are the core of the good people. On the other side are the evil ones. McCammon creates Colonel Macklin, a former U.S. Air Force P.O.W. with a few demons, including one that follows him around. Then there is Roland Croninger, a young sociopath who over the course of the plot grows up to be a sadistic killer. If you remember the Walking Dude from The Stand then you will be happy to know of The Man with the Scarlet Eye (also a denizen of dark power).

It is a simple story of good and evil, hope, and rebirth. The latter theme is explored in many ways including key characters going through physical reconstruction under horrendous keloid growths. Meanwhile, survivors are just scraping by. And, human nature being what it is, roving armies attack communities and plunder them for supplies.

The plot stretches over many years and I wished it had continued. While the resolution satisfies, I wanted more. Yes, more than 960 pages as the novel is that entertaining.

One person found this helpful

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IamOneill

Don't hesitate buy it now!

Reviewed in Australia on 24 June 2018

I write this review in the knowledge that probably no one will read it - there are already over 700 reviews and almost all of them are five star. This review is part of that legion and that's fine by me.

So given I am writing this review for me - I will take some licence. Firstly I have read loads of PA ficton ( favorite so far is The Old Man and the Wasteland), but I hesitated with my purchase of Swan Song. I kept coming across references and praise of Swan Song. At $10 is was a lot more than many Kindle reads I buy. Then I thought, the last few books I read were only a couple of bucks - but they were c#%^ and pretty short too. So I thought, Swan Song is over 800 pages - so even if it is just okay it is still better value. So I bought it and have not experienced buyers remorse.

Swan Song draws you in. It is a different type of PA novel as it as a mystical undertone. Not in the kind of 'roll your eyes, give me a break' way - but a spiritual side to the story that adds to its depth and humanity. There are several concurrent plots which weave together as the story unfolds. Each sub plot is interesting. What surprised me was that I became so engrossed with one story line, I literally forgot about some other characters and was surprised when they reappeared. It was ' oh of course, I had completly forgotten about you guys'. That is a really good thing showing just how easy it is to become lost in the story.

If I was being ultra critical I would say that there was a certain 'convenience' of events towards the end. Also - and yes this is just a personal bugbear, the author has obviously had limited exposure to horses. Horses do not lap water like a dog - they suck it. They also really don't behave in the way Mule did. Yes, yes I know it is a minor point - but it was one of the few times in the story where an inaccuracy brought me out of the story and back to reality.

I see many reviewers have compared this to other books ( and no I am not going to reference the books). This really gets my goat. Swan Song is an original work that stands high in its own right. It is , in my opinion, almost insulting to say 'its just like xyz', 'it's as good as xyz'. Swan Song is a great read - enough said.

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Samrosie

Undeservedly overshadowed by The Stand

Reviewed in Australia on 9 April 2015

I actually like this much better
( I REALLY hate Fran and Stew!)
THE quintessential post apocalyptic novel with characters you can care about and a truly nasty villain

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Toni

Wow.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 March 2019

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We are quite fussy about what we listen to (we got the audible version) when we are in the car together. We both like different genres. I am not going to go over the plot or dissect the story there are plenty of reviews that do that. All I am going to say is that if you enjoy post apocalyptic fiction books of a decent length (this is not one of those disappointing small books) and listen to audible then this is the book for you. This book does not hold back!

4 people found this helpful

Warren Stalley

Boom! Crash!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 May 2015

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Swan Song by Robert McCammon is an epic post-apocalyptic novel with a similar scenario to Stephen King’s dark and omnipresent The Stand. In the aftermath of a nuclear war between America and Russia assorted survivors struggle to live among the ruins while a sinister demonic man stalks the land. Horror, magic and tragedy all combine in a sweeping saga of lost humanity. Along the way we meet a variety of characters - Sister (Creep) a homeless woman who finds new strength and purpose in the aftermath of the disaster, Josh Hutchins (Black Frankenstein) a wrestler who protects Swan an orphaned young girl. Elsewhere Colonel Macklin and Roland Croninger (King’s Knight) the son of survivalists, are thrown together forming an uneasy despicable alliance. The hypnotic story grows with every page, slowly and steadily building to a nail-biting climax with a satisfying conclusion. Swan Song is an ambitious encompassing saga that skillfully doesn’t lose focus on the central characters. To conclude this is a sizeable (over 850 pages) yet enthralling piece of work which is not to be missed by any curious reader looking for one of those rare and treasured books that you never forget and or want to end. Enjoy.

11 people found this helpful

Mark Norman

Post-apocalyptic rollercoaster

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 March 2014

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I stumbled across Robert McCammon about twenty five or thirty years ago when someone gave me Wolf's Hour, which I loved. It was like discovering Stephen King was a triplet and Dean Koontz and McCammon were his brothers. I read and loved Boy's Life and others and then, suddenly and for reasons I still don't fully understand, he disappeared from the bookshelves and it's been years since I read one of his novels.

The dawn of the e-reader has changed that and now, of course, much of McCammon's work is available again. Eager to reacquaint myself with him, I bought Swan Song.

The premise of the story is what happens to three different groups who survive total nuclear destruction and how one fearsome enemy affects all their lives and destinies.

I'm not going to go into plot details because to do so would be to risk spoiling the story, but at the centre of all the hope and despair stands one nine-year-old girl called Swan - a girl with a very special role to play in whatever future life awaits the survivors. Ranged against her are enemies whose own actions conspire, unwittingly in some cases, to destroy her and consequently cut the slender thread of hope that exists in a desolate new America. With her stand a few brave but ordinary men and women who understand that Swan represents a new beginning; and drawn inexorably to her through a chance discovery in the ruins of what was once Fifth Avenue is a New York bag lady with a tortured past.

These worlds collide in one final, terrible confrontation which will ultimately determine how - and if - man will survive to face a new dawn.

Many reviews - here and elsewhere - have compared this book to Stephen King's The Stand, but I think the two are markedly different, even though they occupy very similar territory. King's strength lies in his ability to breathe life into his characters and his environments. I think McCammon's lies in his ability to drive a narrative.

At 1300 pages, The Stand takes a myriad of interesting and disturbing diversions along the way. By contrast, and even though it weighs in at a little south of 900 pages, Swan Song is economic in description (it could be I missed it, but it wasn't until quite a way in that I realised one of the main characters is Black - not that it mattered at all, other than requiring a little bit of cerebral gymnastics to re-set my mental imaging!) but big on plot.

It's inevitable, of course, that within 900 pages some of the events will seem superfluous, but these really are at a bare minimum and the whole thing rockets along at quite a lick.

It gets four stars rather than five because, if I'm being totally honest, you can see the book improving as it gathers pace. It's almost as though even McCammon wasn't entirely sure how to get his characters moving in the first hundred pages or so. I also wasn't entirely convinced by McCammon's anti-hero. For me, he demonstrated a frailty in the face of adversity that didn't entirely gel with the aura of invincibility he's given in the early part of the book. But I'm being picky.

As a story, it's thought-provoking and as good an argument as I've seen for global nuclear disarmament. The wasteland that McCammon described is vivid and bleak and devoid of hope, save for the small bands of survivors who populate it. There is an almost religious dimension to the book as well. Whether deliberate or not - and only Robert McCammon knows for sure - the stand-off between good and evil has Biblical overtones - something that is quite subtle yet makes you think a bit more.

From a personal point of view, it was great to re-acquaint myself with McCammon and this was a stonking read which makes me eager for the next one.

11 people found this helpful

Elaine

Superb

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2021

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I hadn't read this for years, but after watching The Stand (the new one) I decided to go back to Swan Song. It was just as good the third or fourth reading, as the first. It will ultimately always be compared to The Stand, but Swan Song is a masterpiece in itself. Wonderfully written, characters and terriers and a horse, that you fall in love with. A beam of light in the dark days we're enduring at the moment. If you haven't read it yet, do so. I'm jealous that you'll be coming to it new! You won't regret it

A. Linton

Stunning novel which kept me gripped the whole way through

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 April 2015

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The trouble with post apocalyptic novels is that while the opening chapters which set the scene may be gripping stuff, boredom often sets in once we are left with a group of plucky survivors trudging across a dreary landscape. I gave up on 'The Stand' about half way through (though I love most of King's early stuff) tired of his over-detailed, bloated prose and I must admit I didn't have high hopes for this one either - but I was wrong. I will admit it bears more than a passing resemblance to The Stand - both feature a satanic villain in conflict with a saintly heroine - but there it ends. McCammon keeps the action exciting all the way though with surprises coming right up until the dramatic climax at the end.

I have to say that it works better as fantasy than an actual description of what would happen after a widespread nuclear holocaust- I doubt that anyone or anything would survive 7 year of nuclear winter - but setting that aside it is probably the best post apocalyptic novel I've ever read - the closest contender being Simon Clarke's 'King Blood'. It reminds me of how good horror novels were in the 80s, where you were gripped the whole way through instead of giving up in boredom after a few pages. I'm going to read/re-read all his past works now, only wish I could get them all for £1.24!

4 people found this helpful

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