Rating: 
Summary: This is the BEST book I've ever read!
Review: This is not a book report and I'm not going to tell you what this book is about. I only want to recommend it with all my heart and let you find out for yourself what an awesome journey it is. The first time I read this book was in the late 1980s and I was a teenager. I waited 15 years to read it again so that I would not remember the details. It was so worth the wait. I enjoyed this book the second time just as much as the first and I am already looking forward to reading it again in 15 more years. This book grabs you from page one and and draws you into it's pages and into the lives of the rich and vivid characters. Whether they are good or evil, they seem so real and alive...it's scary. And I do mean scary. Your view of the world may never be the same after Swan Song. If you want to read a fantastic book, pick this one!!
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Summary: WOW! What a ride!
Review: I absolutely LOVED this book and hated to see it end. It started off a little slow, but really cranked up after the introduction of the many players in this apocalyptic fairy tale.A motley crew of WWIII survivors - a 7' pro-wrestler called Black Frankenstein, a NY baglady, a deranged Army colonel, a cruel teenage boy and a young girl who holds the key to life in her hands - all become players in an epic battle between good and evil. I won't pull any punches - the violence and cruelty is horrific and hard to stomache, but the hope and beauty that manage to peak through the clouds outshine the ugliness. Robert McCammon does an extraordinary job of character development considering he has an enormous cast of characters to work with. I will certainly read more of his books. I can only hope that they are half as good as this one! Now I think he needs to start work on a screenplay of Swan Song - Hollywood could sure use a movie or miniseries like this!
Rating: 
Summary: Satan on a bike?
Review: This is wonderful book for probably 3 quarters of the way through. I loved the characters espically Sister, Swan and Robin. The setup was great and the conflict between an army led by an insane ex-military man and an army led by an ex-televangelist was parturlarly interesting(it was even funny in a morbid sort of way). The destruction was sceans were great and you really do eventually start to care weather or not these people live or die. Suddenly at the end of the book the plot line just runs of steam like the author got tired or writing. It is still overall an enjoyable read despite its flaws. The book had me totally hooked until the "Job Mask" started breaking and people's "true souls" appeared in their face(????). Also the fact that the "Satanic" character in this book is so comical as to border on the asinine. Overall-You will like the vast majority of the book some parts may be a bit bumpy
Rating:
Summary: A Great Novel!
Review: Written in the mid-eighties, the book describes in chilling detail the nightmare of the times, i.e., nuclear holocaust. Some of the background events may be a bit outdated, but in light of the recent terrorist attacks we know there is still the threat of mass destruction. So my point is that the book is still pretty darn scary! The first couple of hundred pages that describe the nuclear attack and immediate aftermath are terrifying. The horrors that are described throughout the book are gruesome. America has become a scorched and barren landscape. The survivors miraculously scratch out an existence and somehow keep alive the hope of a future in which the sun will shine again and the land will bear fruit again. Ultimately, the story is about the struggle between good and evil, and how the stress of tragic events brings out the best in some and the worst in others. For a book of over 900 pages, it is a surprisingly fast read, and there are no lulls. McCammon is a superb storyteller who has created memorable characters and a detailed setting. Swan Song is a great book that I think ranks along side The Stand, which for years has stood as my favorite horror novel.
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Summary: A Glass Crown All By Itself
Review: Those with King's THE STAND fresh in their minds may find it easy to compare events/characters with those in McCammon's SWAN SONG. Which each have relatively similar central characters (Flagg/Friend, Swan/Mother Abigail(sp?)), these two books stand alone in their own rights. Swan Song is a beautiful book, a story of the unmistakable strength of the human spirit against all odds. Characters such as Swan, Sister, and Josh will pull on your heart, and at times, I even found myself crying for the characters' pain or their gladness. The story itself takes place in a post-nuclear war America, where the few survivors must create a new life for themselves. We meet the warmongrels, the children, the weak, the humane and the in-human who all try to find their place in the new barren world. The story's central character is Swan, a young girl with the power of life--that is, the power to make things grow. The story is her struggle, her plight to be free from those who wish to destroy her or those that wish to use her to further their own personal goals. Along the way we meet her protectors, her enemies, and those that are seeking her, and we travel along with them to, in many cases, their deaths. SWAN SONG will brighten your heart and hold you, as you turn the pages with the endless question of "What happens next?" You'll find yourself dazzled, repulsed, but nonetheless entranced as you travel along with Swan and the others across America, in search of a new hope.
Rating: 
Summary: If you've read The Stand, you've already read this book...
Review: This isn't a bad book, but it's almost exactly the same as The Stand, by Stephen King, only not nearly as good, in my opinion. I was really disappointed by the fact that it was basically the exact same story not told quite as well.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing. A page turner of frightening speed.
Review: Swan Song was the first book I had ever read by Robert R. McCammon and I must say that after this one I was hooked.
I had read The Stand by Stephen King and though it was a real long winded bore. I picked up Swan Song becouse I remembered my mother reading it years befor and telling me it was a good book.
The book is about the struggle between good and evil. The main players range from a bag lady, to a wrestler, a broken down millitary man and his phycotic young side kick, a little girl who can make things grow out of mothing, and a demond looking forward to the end of the world.
The book takes place in two halves. The first the bombs drop and the surviors struggle to come to grips with the reality of life know. We are introduced to the magic of a little girl and a jewel encrusted ring that guides some of our heros toward salvation, and a monster who will stop at nothing to destroy it.
The second takes place seven years later and, unlike The Stand, becomes even more interesting when the players start comming togehter.
Every time I give this book to somone they always tell me it's one of the best books, if not the best, they have ever read. One reviewer said don't let anyone borrow the book becouse you'll never get it back. In truth that may be the case but spead this book around to all you'r friends becouse the more people who read this book the better.
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Summary: Sure it's not perfect...
Review: ..but it comes pretty close. Sure, we don't know every detail of everyone's personality. Some of the minor characters seem sketched in without a lot of detail (but that's inevitable.. don't we all think of some people that way?). Some of the parts seemed to follow obvious formulas. But it was easy for me to look past those few flaws: this is after all, a work of science FICTION. Does anyone really believe God has some hand in the effects of nuclear radiation that will give everyone a different face? God isn't even mentoined or dwelled on too much, something I and any fellow agnostics find refreshing in such an epic book. But I digress. Basically, you'll love Swan Song if you don't have the wrong expectations. It's an apocalyptic thriller, it's an action/adventure story, it's got some human drama, and there's some supernatural horror. I haven't read very many books that made me imagine so vividly what it would be like to be there. By the way: this is in no way a ripoff of "The Stand." Are some people so devoid of imagination that they label all apocalypse-themed books as the same regardless of all their differences? Unlike "The Stand," this book has character growth, a real villain (a competent one, no less), and a real conflict at the end. And unlike King, McCammon doesn't rely on a (literal) Deus ex Machina ending to save his story. Pick up Swan Song if you're looking for a good read.. but be warned, it's hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Of course this is not The Stand...
Review: This is more like Sci-fi. There is a mix of horror, but damn this is some scary s*it! Swan Song does have some of the trends of The Stand, but I think Swan Song is a little better. It has sort of the good versus evil, but except for a deadly virus, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R (which of course does not exist anymore), but the world dies in nuclear war except for a couple of people. Sister; a homeless woman from NYC survives, Josh; a wrestler who then meets the girl Swan who he is to protect. Roland; a little kid who is the bad guy and who is with Colonel Macklin. Now, as they go through hell, there is a hidden evil and he is trying to kill the child named Swan. The book is rather well written, but of course it was not as popular as The Stand, but it is still worth reading. So if you liked or love The Stand, read Swan Song. You will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A story you can't forget
Review: I first read this book about 10 years ago. I'm a huge fan of Stephen King and I love post-apocolyptic fiction also. Yes-There are similarities to The Stand, but while I loved The Stand--this is much better!I've probably purchased this book about 5 times because I recommend it to people frequently, loan it out and it never comes back! It's one of those books you will read every couple years. I highly recommend it!!! But you can't borrow my copy!!!
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