The Swarm: A Novel

by Frank Schätzing

‘Good friends like us,’ he said, ‘should never be lovers.’

‘Because it’s all about fear - fear of being alone, fear of never being asked and, worst of all, the fear of having a choice and making the wrong one.

People are losing their significance. Everyone’s replaceable. There are no ideals any more, and without ideals, there’s nothing to make us more important than we are. Everyone’s trying desperately to prove that the world’s a little better with them than it would have been without them.

What else have you got for me?’ ‘Shit and more shit,’ he said. ‘I’m used to that.’

Your life doesn’t stop unfolding because you take a longer route. No time is wasted.’