The Swarm: A Novel

by Frank Schätzing

While no one could offer a solution to the problem, everyone was certain that the others were wrong. It was fertile ground for mavericks.

They’re closing ranks against us. Somewhere something has been decided, and we weren’t part of it.

Towering underwater mountain ranges and deep ocean valleys replicated themselves on the surface with only a few metres’ difference in height.

Not even her death could undo the betrayal.

Whenever Nature had allowed man to approach, her trust had been betrayed. Since then, so the legend continued, man had been attacked by polar bears.

Just as there are fundamental principles underlying mathematics, I am convinced that a code of universal rights and values, most notably the right to life itself, exists independently of human ethics.

Math is life’s way of explaining its own origins.

did it win without seeing the point?

It’s as though we’re trying to preach the Gospel to our Maker in the hope that He might spare us.