Rating: 
Summary: ELECTRIFYING! A definate favorite for all time!
Review: Robert McCammon really outdid himself this time. I had read almost all of his other books by the time I read Swan Song, and let me tell you, just when I thought he couldn't get any better, he blew me away! The characters jumped out of the pages and came to life instantly. You find yourself strangely attached to them right away, and there is no way to put this book down easily for ANY reason! I read this book as soon as it came out, and I can still say that it's the best book I've ever read to this day. I highly recommend this book to anyone whose A LOT adventurous, not afraid to dive right in and get their feet wet, and whose ready to go on the literary thrill ride of a lifetime! Yes, this book is fashioned like Stephen King's "The Stand", but it has Robert McCammon's flair that no author can match up to!
Rating:
Summary: WOW! What an incredible ride.
Review: This book was a gift from friends who had read, and re-read it. They had talked about it for years, and now I can finally say that I now know what all the "fuss" was about.I have never been so moved, so thoroughly taken on the "ride" of a lifetime. You are asked to come along on an incredible journey. You are invited into the lives of people who could easily be your mother, or brother, or even, best friend. You are then involved with these people, you care about what happens to them, you hope for their survival, you cry at the passings, you want good to win over evil, just like life. Never before have I cared so much about what happens to a cast of characters, with so much going against them. The infinite battle to survive, the war between "true" good and "pure" evil. When you read this book you will feel the all encompassing need to carry it with you everywhere. I read it in traffic, I read it at lunch, on elevators, at work, I read it anywhere, and everywhere I could. The roller coaster ride may leave you drained, the highs are extreme, and the lows are devastating, but you will never forget this book. I am recommending it to friends, and giving it as gifts. I feel this book must be shared with the world. Because your life changes, and you feel the hope, that this book inspires, maybe taking it into our everday lives, and maybe learning what it means to be alive. And thanking God for the chance to live, learn, and love. I thank my friends for letting me share in such an exqusite experience. Tell everyone you know to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Page turning reading
Review: This is one of the scariest books I have ever read! I thought Stephen King was one of the only ones that could make me scared of my shadows! This book keeps you interested and scared at the same time. Don't miss it!
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: I have read this book about 6 times. I pick it up at least once a year. It is a must read. It is one the best books I have read.
Rating:
Summary: Best of R. McGammon
Review: Having read all of R.M.'s works, as well as many others rated high in the genre, I can honestly say that this was one of the best. The story takes a while to develop (well, look at the size of the book!), but is well worth the wait. The characters are so well written, that you begin identifying with them immediately. This story reminds me of Stephen King's 'The Stand'. Wish they'd make a mini-series with McGammon, I think they'd have a winner on their hands. If you like being scared, at times horrified, and having your imagination taken for a wild ride...this book's for you.
Rating: 
Summary: McCammon's Stand
Review: Another enjoyable read by Robert McCammon. Story is very similar to Stephen King's "The Stand". The characters are developed well making you wonder how their inevitable meeting will take place. It's a long one but it reads very fast.
Rating:
Summary: Swan Song
Review: Sawn Song is the wonderful story of an apocalyptic time, when the only hope for people lays on the shoulder's of a small girl named Swan. I have read The Stand and Swan Song is far better. The detail is richer but not overblown and the characters are more believeble. I would suggest this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: One of the BEST Books I have read
Review: Swans Song is an incredible book that grabs you and takes you on a journey with the characters. The characters come alive for the reader and its almost a dissapointment when you finish. I have read this book 4-5 times and will definately read it again.
Rating:
Summary: I read this book twice a year
Review: I initially bought Swan Song because there was a blurb on the cover by Dean R. Koontz. (I notice, btw, that in another McCammon book, there is a Koontz street - coincidence?) Koontz was, at that time, my #1 favorite author. Its size was intimidating, and I put off reading Swan Song for several weeks. However, recuperating from a car accident, I ran out of books and was forced to pick up Swan Song. The first time I read it, it took a week to read. I can now read it on a round-trip cross-country flight. I have read it twice a year for the past nine years, and it's falling apart. I also bought a copy for my dear friend Monica, who loves books as much as I do. She also thoroughly enjoyed it. The book is fantastic. It's scary because so much of it *could* come true. (I have always wondered, though, how come people foraging for food never look in offices. If you could see all the snacks in my desk...) Every time I read this book, I never fail to cry when Josh sees Swan at the end, and at the very end of the book. (Trying to be vague so that I don't ruin the book for someone who hasn't read it yet.) As I have mentioned in other reviews, I try to read a book a week. I'm 30 years old now. That makes for a LOT of books. Of everything I have ever read, Swan Song remains my favorite book.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: I've been sitting here trying to think of all the things I didn't like about "Swan Song," and I've decided it comes down to one thing: "Swan Song" is like wax fruit. It looks like the real thing, but once you bite into it, it's all artificial. It looks and acts like a real, meaty story: nuclear holocaust, a cast of diverse characters, Pure Evil running rampant across the land, beautiful young girl-messiah. But for such a long book, it's appalling that it can be summarized in a few sentences and you're really not leaving out anything important. A basic underlying problem with this book is its superficial nature. Not one shred of research appears to have been done to support anything it's about. It seems all co-opted from popular culture's opinion of what would happen if the Ruskies blew us up. Example #1: Everyone's always going insane in this book. Now I have no doubt that total annihilation of life as we know it would be difficult to swallow. But insanity like described here is unsupported. I didn't get any reasoning as to why people would be so "totally insane," as McCammon frequently puts it. Example #2: People would cease to be people if normal society is obliterated. Oh, come on. Dirtwarts? Would you go live in a hole with a tarp over it barely two months after the disaster? I suspect if humanity came to this pathetic state, it would take a little longer than a couple of months! And speaking of the dirtwarts, McCammon has an annoying habit of throwing in descriptions that make no sense whatsoever. For example, after the coup at the trailer corral on the shores of Salt Lake, some people are killed and their bodies thrown outside toward "dirtwart land." We then read something along the lines of "the dirtwarts slowly came out to claim the bodies." Oooo, big dramatic sentence. But why would they claim the bodies? Presumably Macklin & Co. have removed anything of value from them. Are our friends going to eat them, for god's sake? It makes no sense. Toward the end, when our heroes are atop the mountain and the sun begins to break through the clouds, we get a description of leaves blowing overhead like black ravens. Oooo good image ... until you stop and think: we've had a Nuclear Winter for seven years, folks. Think any leaves are going to be hanging around for that long? Another thing: When Roland loses his Job's Mask we get a lurid description of how his ever-present goggles have actually fused to his new, dreadful face. Huh? Now, even if your face is covered with a hideous growth, don't you think you'd be removing your glasses for a quick wash now and again? Yes ... and then the glasses couldn't seal to your face. Ugh. One last example. In Mary's Rest and elsewhere, everyone seems to have become an ignorant hick with a pitchfork, or a peasant beamed directly from the Middle Ages. People are "a-feared" of things and cover themselves with rough woolen blankets, eat from crude wooden bowls, and live in tacked-together shacks. Um, I think there are some houses around, aren't there? We have descriptions of them elsewhere in the book. And the peddler shows up with "antiques" from the lost society (one of the few images I actually liked). Wouldn't everyone else be scrounging similar items? My final two problems (that I'll enumerate!) are Sister's distasteful history (I just couldn't get behind her knowing what she'd done) and #2, as has been mentioned many times, this book's a ripoff of "The Stand." I really wanted to like this book. The story was engaging. But its nasty view of human nature, coupled with it's made-up descriptions just left me hungry for a nice, juicy REAL apple.
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