Robert R. McCammon

Being a sucker for apocalyptic stories, I always felt an emptiness never having read Swan’s Song. Finally, faced with it once again at the bookstore, I finally caved in and started it within days, eager for some morbid thrills and end of the world depression.

First off, the novel is alive with strong characters – from the intriguing, kind hearted Swan; the hermit you have to love, Paul; the determined, previously homeless Sister; the warped, demented Roland; the power hungry, self show more centered Colonel Mackley, and the rest, it’s easy to drown in their personal lives and trials. The rich characterization is a giant leap from what could have been a more mediocre book to what it turned out as. I cared about nearly everyone and, for a change, almost all of his or her back-stories. Usually I become more involved with one character’s plight more than another’s, causing me to start feeling antsy when too much time passes where they’re not mentioned in detail. Here I enjoyed all the subplots, something that’s unusual for me, but another sign of the book’s power.

The pace for a novel of this size is ideal. Around the same page size as the Stand, the pace is swift and something’s always going on both behind the lines and on the current page. Almost constantly there’s something going down that involves the main plot and something intimate to each character involved. The beginning shows needed character description while setting up the right mood – from the presidents’ guilt and indecision, to the little girls’ abusive situation, to Roland’s morbid fascination with the underground ‘cave’. Then, finally, the blow hits and all is chaotic from there. This is a bomb that blew up from the get go, not from smoke, then a fizzle, followed by as slow burning. The ending was a great wrap up with loss, irony, and peace too – a nice morbid mixture that manages to leave the reader with the empty feeling they love, but the happy, warm one as well.

In terms of plot, bravo! Having the two internal armies against each other and all fighting for survival (for different reasons) worked well. I especially enjoyed the little unique tidbits about the group of people stealing from the dead and the strange disease names. It all created a sense of more realistic tragedy than would have existed otherwise. The motivations of the villains wasn’t what I would have expected if I were plotting the story or thinking it out myself – a true side of human nature that hasn’t been explored enough.

McCammon’s writing style is admirable; his words flow together in rich prose, easy to understand, the right words chosen to draw the right picture. Multiple POV is used, which is almost mandatory for a novel of this size and direction.

Despite that, though, one can never delve into enough apocalyptic warfare tales. Pick it up immediately to rid yourself of your own empty feeling. show less

Attention pépite.

Sud des Etats-Unis. Alabama. Années 60. Ici, les supermarchés n’ont pas encore pris leur place, le lait est encore dans des bouteilles en verre et le racisme est enraciné comme une mauvaise herbe.
On suit Cory, 12 ans, à travers les saisons, dans la résolution d’un meurtre insolite, celui d’un homme précipité dans le lac à bord de sa voiture, étranglé par une corde de piano. Bam bam bam.

Ce livre est un coup de coeur. Du genre de ceux que vous posez en vous show more disant que vous n’avez rien à redire, qu’il résonnera encore longtemps en vous et dont vous n’avez qu’une hâte, le relire dans quelques temps juste pour retrouver encore toutes ces sensations qu’il vous a fait vivre.

Parfait croisement entre Blackwater pour l’ambiance parfois un peu horrifique, Stranger Things pour ce retour à l’enfance, cette imagination débordante ces moments tranches de vie ponctuées de fantastique.

L’énorme point fort de ce livre repose sur sa palette de personnages tous plus atypiques les uns que les autres. Son personnage central reste Cory qui nous embarque dans ses aventures ponctuées de fantastique et rythmées par son imagination débordante. Toutes ses réflexions sonnent juste pour son âge et on le suit dans ces moments qui vont le construire en tant qu’adulte, qui vont le faire grandir.

Un coup de coeur qui m'a procuré un torrent d'émotions pendant toute ma lecture. Je n'avais aucune envie de quitter Zephyr, de quitter Cory, de quitter ces petites tranches de vie teintées de fantastique qui m'ont tantôt transportée, émue aux larmes, fait rire. Tout est écrit avec justesse, poésie, malice et nous fait voir la vie à travers les yeux pleins d'imagination de ce petit garçon qui sera écrivain ou laitier ou vétérinaire. Pépite.

En bref, si vous voulez un roman tranche de vie avec des moments Stranger Things, une ambiance du sud qui peut faire parfois penser à Blackwater et des personnages inoubliables alors n’hésitez plus !

Je n’ai qu’une hâte découvrir Swan Song en mai 2023 ! show less

First book this year to make my "all time favorites" list. For a lot of us, books like this are why we became life-long readers. I only wish that there were more of them. Boy's Life not only entertained me but reminded me of why I love reading (and movies). McCammon's masterpiece deserves to sit on the shelf with other classic "coming of age" novels like Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dandelion Wine, and IT. It taps right into that magical stage in life when we are about 12 and we learn show more about the fallibility of adults, mortality (even our own), that evil exists in many forms and that the monsters in this world are not vampires or werewolves but are quite real and sometimes mean to hurt us, and that time is passing---even for us. We learn of the persistence of evil and of good, and that sometimes magic can change the rules. You may find yourself stopping, setting the book down for a minute, and smiling at a particularly beautiful passage or a great scene, or remembering your own youth--maybe even shedding a tear or two and when you leave these wonderful characters behind at the end of the story you will remember them. Because they are us. show less

At points terrifying and hilarious, this old-school vampire story felt almost cinematic, somehow capturing the feel of a high budget 1980s horror film.

Even if the carefully constructed imagery reminded me of Kubrick's rendition of The Shining, the writing was leagues beyond King's workmanlike prose.

I often found myself pausing to enjoy the balance the author struck with the language, finding a point where the writing is vivid, beautiful, clever, and well paced. Imagery and wordplay abound, show more and even when the writing is absurd, it is so in that deliciously overwrought camp horror way. Case in point the title drop halfway through, ("EVIL. THEY THIRST." writ loud across a ouija board) which is enhanced rather than spoiled by how easy it was to see it coming. Anticipation is the mother of suspense, and McCammon has a firm grasp on that art.

That's not to say I found the plot predictable- instead I kept being surprised as the story seemed to redefine itself in scope, building towards an unexpected cataclysm that reshaped everything I'd come to expect.

Of course, some might decry the ending for involving a Deus Ex Machina, but I disagree-- the final events were at least lightly foreshadowed, and insomuch as they involved a godly intervention, well-- when the opposition is as demonic as this one, who else does humanity turn to? That's not to say victory was easily won-- characters die for the cause, making sacrifices that seem meaningless until the moment they all pay off at the end.

Overall, even when the evil in the story was horrifying me I couldn't turn away, kept reaching for the next page. And that ending -- very well done. show less