Robert McCammon discussion

Enjoy let us know how its going.

I recently listened to the audible version of SS and it blew me away, the nuclear war description is, well
horrendous.

Its been a few years since I read it but it was epic and I loved it

Looking forward to reading it, but still reading Gone South. :).

Scott wrote: "King doesn't count because he did it first...."

Did what first? The Stand was by no means the first post-apocalyptic novel. Alas, Babylon, I Am Legend, Earth Abides (which used an epidemic almost 30 years before The Stand was published) were all published decades before The Stand.

I'm not saying there aren't similarities between The Stand and Swan Song, but to say that The Stand was the first of its kind is completely wrong.

Hunter

I much prefer Swan Song compared to the Stand. The stand started good, and huge potential, but king took the tame way out with a lot of the characters instead of going the dark route. And the ending was just lame.

I think that they're both great books, though quite different from each other. It's hard not to compare the two, since they are both PA novels.
I don't really care too much about how accurate the portrayal of the nuclear detonation was. Like Captain Trips, it was a means to an end, IMO.

Charlene wrote: "I think that they're both great books, though quite different from each other. It's hard not to compare the two, since they are both PA novels.
I don't really care too much about how accurate the p..."
I love to just have a barrier between the Swan Song and The stand discussion.
The stand is one of my best and first big reads that I love along with Lord of the Rings but Swan Song is also a top read that is so much different.
There is really probably no one original story thats never been told before. Their inspirations and Genisis could be traced back way before SKing probably in religious scriptures around camp fires, Elizabethan, Shakespearian and Greek tragedies, Paradise lost, Moby Dick and Homer.
Swan Song is a great achievement by Robert McCammon written in the way unique to how he tells stories.

No one is going to blow you up, Scott. Maybe just challenge you a little bit. : )
I agree with some of what you said. But (and you knew there was a but coming), I would like to make a point or two.
It could be said that The Stand was derivative of I am Legend. Every story is somewhat derivative of previous stories.
I agree regarding your points about King's strengths. I think his strongest point is his character development-hands down. I remember almost every single character in TS and I feel like they're my friends. That being said, King himself equates his writing to the literary equivalent of a Big Mac.

McCammon, on the other hand, is a wordsmith. As much as I LOVE SK, McCammon, IMO beats the heck out of King with his use of language and just the way he strings the words together.
After you finish Boy's Life you may agree, at least with this particular part of my stance. : )
It's one of my favorite books of all time, right up there with The Stand. I would love to hear your thoughts when you're done.

Charlene wrote: "No one is going to blow you up, Scott. Maybe just challenge you a little bit. : )
I agree with some of what you said. But (and you knew there was a but coming), I would like to make a point or two...."
lovely couldn't have put it better myself :)
Wordsmith indeed.

Thanks, Lou. : )

I happen to love Swan Song. The part that sticks with me might have to do with the quality of the audiobook, but I tend to think it's the prowess of the authro, is the moment of destruction. Planes crashing bombs going off, trucks fying...temporarily. That was great. We might quibble over what is Character development and what is plot, but I also loved how McCammon drew the weak and damaged into health, through tragedy.

Sistah Creep, of course, but more than that. There were these little people, here and there, maybe in a burned out village or at a cross roads where they found a way to hang on to their humanity, and, instead of brawling everyman for him/herself (though there was plenty of that too) they helped Swan and Josh.

The mirror between what was happening in camp evil and camp Swan, well the contrast, was really interesting. I also think King had difficulty allowing "hope" to shine through. That's so hard in something the scale of the Stand or Swan Song, and something that McCammon did very very well.

I thought King's best sequence (though it's in a horror vein, that I am looking) was when they made their way through the Tunnel to get out of Manhatten. Still, that doesn't compare so well to the Appocolypse as McCammon wrote it. That was

My old review (I read it a few months ago).

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Nice review, Curmudgeon. : )

Thank you Charlene!... I struggle along with Reviews. I'm glad you like this one. I sure loved the book.

I, Curmudgeon wrote: "Thank you Charlene!... I struggle along with Reviews. I'm glad you like this one. I sure loved the book."

I struggle with writing reviews as well, but I try to do my best. What I liked about yours was that your passion was showing through. To me, a book that inspires passion in a reader is important. : )