Robert McCammon discussion

Ok so I first read this great book back in 1988 or '89, I can't be sure of the year. And there were four things which stuck in my mind.

1, The opening chapters that described the build up to the nuclear war.

2, The launch of the missiles which had Josh watching them go and thinking they looked like burning spears.

3, Josh's battle in the shopping mall!

And 4, Sister seeing the Presidents cuff links towards the end and realising who he was.

I was only 18 when I read this book and it always stayed in my mind and I longed to read it again and finally did last year. It's among my top 10 best ever books.

So please, share you thoughts too.

I first read this back in the early 90's or late 80's and just loved it. When I got my Kindle at the end of 2010, this book was one of the first I purchased, and I still loved it the second time around.

The parts that really stand out in my mind are:

The masks/mutations that formed as a result of the nuclear war.

The scene where Swan brings the apple(?) tree back to life.

Sister's scene at the end. : (

I just loved it.

My favorite scene was when Swan emerged and ran to Josh at the front porch at Mary's Rest.

An amazing piece from the beginning horrors involving Sister.
Around her were the crushed hulks of cars, taxis and trucks, some of them melted together to form strange sculptures of metal. The tires on some of the vehicles were still smoking, while others had dissolved into black puddles. Gaping fissures had burst open in the pavement, some of them five and six feet wide; through many of the cracks came gouts of steam or water like gushing geysers. She looked around, dazed and uncomprehending, her eyes slitted against the gritty wind. In some places the earth had collapsed, and in others there were mountains of rubble, miniature Everests of metal, stone and glass. Between them the wind shrieked and turned, spun and rose around the fragments of buildings, many of which had been shaken apart right to their steel skeletons, which in turn were warped and bent like licorice sticks. Curtains of dense smoke from burning buildings and heaps of debris flapped before the rushing wind, and lightning streaked to earth from the black heart of roiling, immense clouds. She couldn’t see the sun, couldn’t even tell where it lay in the turbulent sky. She looked for the Empire State Building, but there were no more skyscrapers; all the buildings she could see had been sheared off, though she couldn’t tell if the Empire State was still standing or not because of the smoke and dust. It was not Manhattan anymore, but a ravaged junkyard of rubble mountains and smoke-filled ravines.”

The K-Mart scene is a blast and a total freak show adrenalin rush...great stuff.

The Apple scene and the kick ass horse named Mule clearing the way....Awesome.

All the scenes with Killer.....cry cry cry What a cool little pooch.

Swan Song has always been one of my all time favorites. Macklin and Roland are two of the most unforgettable characters in fiction. The cleaver scene. I still get chills just thinking about it. I fell so in love with Josh, sister and Swan that I feel like they are a part of me every time I go back and devour this masterpiece, which is at least every few years.

Swan Song is among my top favorite books ever, too. I recently reread it, and like you, Mark, there were a few things that always stuck with me through the years, and it was so fun to get back to each of those scenes. Kmart was one of my most remembered scenes, too.

This book is beautiful. It's a dark freakin' book, but there is a lot of hope, too. My favorite part may be when Josh calls Swan his daughter.

I have read this book fairly recently (less than a year ago I believe), so much of the book still stands out for me. Here are a few specifics though:

1. Roland walking through the wreckage of the mountain shelter and then helping to save the "king". Gorily awesome! Very eerie stuff right up to the time when they kill his parents and leave the mountain.

2. I also agree with Jason that Sister walking through the destroyed city was amazing! I loved pretty much all of Sister's chapters though (including her burial... I cried my eyes out!). Great character.

3. The Army of Excellence's raid on the shopping mall. Absolutely brutal.

4. The parts in which Josh and Swan are still buried in the store's basement.

Just started reading it for the first time. Let ya know what I think when Im done.

Hope you enjoy it, Benjamin. : )

Just finished it. That was 100 times better than King's The Stand.

Only 100? Glad you liked it, what were your favourite parts?

The kmart episode of course. Also really enjoyed the time spent with Rusty.