From the Bookshelf of Apocalypse Whenever…

Swan Song

Robert McCammon

Start date: August 1, 2011

Finish date: September 19, 2011

Discussion: AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

Discussion leader: Gertie

Why we're reading this: This is an epic book for fans of apocalyptic fiction. The story is very much about Good versus Evil, with…more
[close] This is an epic book for fans of apocalyptic fiction. The story is very much about Good versus Evil, with the occasional mysterious supernatural element, and full of interesting, often eccentric characters - all attempting to survive in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust.

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AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

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What Members Thought

Oct 29, 2008 Unapologetic_Bookaholic rated it it was amazing

Shelves: horror-monster-creature, horror-apocalyptic, complete-bc-readers, books-read-2010, chubby-chunkster-500-pages-plus, author-robert-r-mccammon

A massive journey you’ll end up loving or hating. Robert McCammon does not waste time padding his chapters. He sets a rapid enough pace with a story that needs to unfold rather quickly. Characters that need to be introduced and understood fairly fast. Granted, this was written in the 80’s. So no cell phone, iPODs or Internet. Yet he still maintains a vivid connection between characters, worlds’ away.

The beginning is the end and people are bracing nuclear war. Fallout shelters are built, the Pres ...more

22 likes · Like · see review

Oct 27, 2008 Jak rated it really liked it

Shelves: post-apocalypse

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I found Swan Song to be a curate’s egg of a book. It had some really good moments and some pretty bad ones as well.

For the bad the writing was some what simplistic but at least that made it a quick read. Many of the characters were not terribly well drawn and despite being intelligent often struggled to put two and two together plot wise. The book also seemed unnecessarily long (just under 1,000 pages) and parts of it felt formulaic.

Then there are a few technical points. How come humanities su ...more

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Apr 09, 2018 Missy~ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-keeper-books, classics, science-fiction

This review if for the audio version of the book. Narrated by Tom Schechschulte.

"I was captivated the entire 34 hours."
This was a mammoth story of post nuclear world desctruction. A staggering 34 hours in length and I was engaged the entire audio journey.
This story has already been reviewed so many times, I'm not going to try to describe the twists and turns that comprise this tale.
Laughing and crying at times. Encouraged and repulsed at other times.
So many many memorable characters.
Swan and Si ...more

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Apr 13, 2008 E.J. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: post-apocalypse

After a week, I decided to change my review for this one. Originally, I thought it was a poor man's THE STAND, but after giving it some thought, the characters have resonated with me longer than I thought they would. Yes, the author throws in a lot of plotlines, but what I like about the book is that it takes you places you're not expecting. I'm not suggesting the ending isn't predictable, but McCammon is inventive and creative without being overbearing. If you like post-apocalypse stories (or L ...more

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