Fantasy Book Critic: Book review: Swan Song by Robert McCammon

Book links: Amazon, Goodreads

AUTHOR INFO: Robert Rick McCammon was a full-time horror writer for many years. Among his many popular novels were the classics Boy's Life and Swan Song. After taking a hiatus for his family, he returned to writing with an interest in historical fiction.

McCammon resides in Birmingham, Alabama. He is currently working on the eighth Matthew Corbett novel, The King of Shadows.

First published: 1987 Length: 960 pages Awards: 1988 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel and the 1994 Japan Adventure Fiction Association Prize for Best Translated Novel.

When I sat down to review Swan Song, I tried a few introductions, but nothing seemed quite right. I had a stab at something snappy and at something serious, but with little success. So, here’s the naked truth: I loved it. It’s a masterpiece of post-apocalyptic fiction.

I’ll try to explain why.

Cooked properly, fantasy and horror, seasoned with post-apocalyptic ideas, taste great together. McCammon mixes those ingredients with a chef’s kiss. The beauty of this book is that nothing in its pages is accidental. The author has a clear vision of the story, from the small details to the rhythm of character arcs. It’s almost 1000 pages long, and such length usually makes me scream in terror and run in the opposite direction. But not here. I loved every single page of Swan Song.

The story opens with a nuclear exchange between States and Soviet Union that turns the world into toxic wasteland. Survivors suffer from illness, dwindling food supplies, and endless nuclear winter. Everyone struggles.

Swan Song puts its characters first; It follows individual journeys of the good guys and the bad guys, combining them at the climax. We witness the brutal aftermath of the nuclear apocalypse through their eyes. Sue Wanda Prescott, or Swan, has many gifts, including speeding up the growth of plants through physical contact and waking up the Earth. Josh Hutchins, an African-American wrestler, becomes Swan’s protector and father figure throughout the book. Sister Creep survived a nuclear attack on New York City deep underground in the New York City subway. She guards a mysterious glass ring. She no longer remembers her real name or much of her life before New York.

The villains include Colonel Macklin, a survivalist and former U.S. Air Force P.O.W., and Roland Croninger, who becomes a monster under Macklin’s tutelage. There’s also The Man with the Scarlet Eye - a creature of evil and chaos. He can shape-shift, control minds, has super strength, and the ability to control animals. It’s possible he has caused the nuclear war for his own amusement. He wants to destroy Swan and the glass ring that Sister carries, because they bring hope, and for him hope equals cruelty.

Swan Song moves at a quick pace, but it also contains more introspective moments and passages. The world it introduces is terrifying and McCammon doesn’t shy away from descriptions of violence. There’s a scene here, an important one, where a soldier cracks a baby’s skull open because it won’t stop crying. The scene is not graphic, just shocking. It also plays an important role in the arc of one of characters. But it can be too much for some readers. No one, including characters you love, is safe. Swan has many gifts, but resurrection isn’t one of them.

I loved the world-building and descriptions of the wastelands. The idea that impressed me a lot is Job’s Mask - a sickness that touched many survivors and caused growths overtake their faces. SPOILER AHEAD: Once these growths fall off, they reveal the true face of the person. Good guys end with beautiful faces, bad guys with hideous ones. I realise some readers may find such imagery problematic, but personally, I loved the symbolism and the scenes revealing "true faces" of various characters.

I've discovered McCammon recently and fell in love with his writing through a brilliant Matthew Corbitt series. He's one of a few authors able to carve images of the scenes into my mind's eye. They're extremely vivid and memorable (even if I'd rather forget some of them!). Swan Song's incredible and symbolic imagery blew my mind.

If the book has weak points, it is in the relatively simple emotional arc of Macklin, some shortcuts and simplifications (bad guys mirror WW2 Nazi Germany troops, beauty inside finds its way outside, etc.). Some readers can find Swan Song too long, but I haven’t felt it, now even for a second.

Swan Song is a skillfully crafted, cleverly executed, often terrifying, and highly entertaining book. Parts of the story are deeply unsettling. Anyone can die, and since there are so many characters, they usually do. It's sharp, exciting, epic, and dramatic, with memorable characters and breathtaking ending. A must read.