Stephen King's If It Bleeds is up one position, ending the week at number 7. For more info about this title, follow these Amazon Associate links: Canada, USA, Europe.
This week's New York Times Bestsellers (June 22nd)
Stephen King's If It Bleeds is up one position, ending the week at number 7. For more info about this title, follow these Amazon Associate links: Canada, USA, Europe.
Swan Song
Robert R. McCammon's Swan Song is often compared to Stephen King's The Stand. And though both novels bear similarities, they're also quite different in several ways. They are both post-apocalyptic reads with huge page counts, though this particular apocalypse is nuclear in nature instead of viral.
Both books recount the tales of those unlucky souls struggling to survive in a world where civilization has been brought on the brink of extinction. Both novels also feature a devil-figure antagonist bent on destroying what little is left of mankind. As a matter of course, factions will be created and a good vs evil showdown will be the culmination of each title.
And yet, though their premises are similar, Swan Song and The Stand have very little in common as far as their storylines are concerned. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but I felt that The Stand has aged a lot better than McCammon's bestseller.
Here's the blurb:
Swan is a nine-year-old Idaho girl following her struggling mother from one trailer park to the next when she receives visions of doom—something far wider than the narrow scope of her own beleaguered life. In a blinding flash, nuclear bombs annihilate civilization, leaving only a few buried survivors to crawl onto a scorched landscape that was once America.
In Manhattan, a homeless woman stumbles from the sewers, guided by the prophecies of a mysterious amulet, and pursued by something wicked; on Idaho’s Blue Dome Mountain, an orphaned boy falls under the influence of depraved survivalists and discovers the value of a killer instinct; and amid the devastating dust storms on the Great Plains of Nebraska, Swan forms a heart-and-soul bond with an unlikely new companion. Soon they will cross paths. But only Swan knows that they must endure more than just a trek across an irradiated country of mutated animals, starvation, madmen, and wasteland warriors.
Swan’s visions tell of a coming malevolent force. It’s a shape-shifting embodiment of the apocalypse, and of all that is evil and despairing. And it’s hell-bent on destroying the last hope of goodness and purity in the world. Swan is that hope. Now, she must fight not only for her own survival, but for that of all mankind.
A winner of the Bram Stoker Award and a finalist for the World Fantasy Award, Swan Song has become a modern classic, called “a chilling vision that keeps you turning pages to the shocking end” by John Saul and “a long, satisfying look at hell and salvation” by Publishers Weekly.
Robert R. McCammon's Swan Song was published in 1987 and is a product of the Cold War. The threat of nuclear warfare between the USA and the USSR was a constant premise in various works of fiction, movies, games, etc, throughout the 70s and the 80s. The world's socio-political landscape has changed a lot since then, and I'm not sure if someone who didn't live through those times will get as much out of Swan Song as someone who did. As mentioned, this novel hasn't aged as well as Stephen King's classic and it might appeal less to a younger crowd for whom the Cold War is just something they read about in their history class back in high school.
Although there are quite a few fantasy elements that allow McCammon to push the envelope, there are a couple of plot holes as well, mainly how most of the protagonists are not much affected by radiations and fallout. Still, these are minor nitpicking issues that don't take anything away from the overall reading experience.
Characterization is where the author truly shines, especially where the forces of good are concerned. A more likable yet disparate trio you can never hope to find. Swan is a little girl who has the power to make plants grow. Running away with her mom from an abusive boyfriend when the bombs start to fall, little does she know what destiny holds in store for her. Josh Hutchins, a down-on-his-luck professional wrestler on his way to his next gig, will be given the task of keeping the child safe. And Sister, a crazy homeless woman from NYC, who has found a gorgeous glass ring filled with jewels which seems to possess magical powers. Wandering across the country and looking for fellow survivors, they will cross paths with the Army of Excellence. Sadly, the forces of evil are not as well-drawn. Though they started off as more genuine protagonists, Colonel Macklin, a deranged Vietnam war veteran, and Roland Croninger, a teenage RPG enthusiast, grow into more caricaturesque characters.
Weighing in at more than 900 pages, Swan Song is a doorstopper of a novel. As such, it does indeed suffer from occasional pacing issues. Some portions drag more than others, and I have a feeling that certain scenes could have been removed completely without the book losing much. Having said that, the author keeps the tale moving at a relatively good clip and those rough areas are few and far between for the most part.
Even if it hasn't aged as well as I would have hoped and even if it's not exactly the classic that King's The Stand is, Robert R. McCammon's Swan Song remains one of the very best post-apocalyptic novels ever written. Compelling, vast in scope, and featuring an unforgettable trio of protagonists, I commend this one to your attention.
Highly recommended.
The final verdict: 8/10
For more info about this title, follow these Amazon Associates links: Canada, USA, Europe.
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Kameron Hurley's The Stars Are Legion for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. There is a price match in Canada.
Here's the blurb:
Somewhere on the outer rim of the universe, a mass of decaying world-ships known as the Legion is traveling in the seams between the stars. For generations, a war for control of the Legion has been waged, with no clear resolution. As worlds continue to die, a desperate plan is put into motion.
Zan wakes with no memory, prisoner of a people who say they are her family. She is told she is their salvation - the only person capable of boarding the Mokshi, a world-ship with the power to leave the Legion. But Zan's new family is not the only one desperate to gain control of the prized ship. Zan finds that she must choose sides in a genocidal campaign that will take her from the edges of the Legion's gravity well to the very belly of the world.
Zan will soon learn that she carries the seeds of the Legion's destruction - and its possible salvation. But can she and her ragtag band of followers survive the horrors of the Legion and its people long enough to deliver it?
In the tradition of The Fall of Hyperion and Dune, The Stars are Legion is an epic and thrilling tale about tragic love, revenge, and war as imagined by one of the genre's most celebrated new writers.
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
If you missed it last time, you can once again download Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. There is a price match in Canada.
Here's the blurb:
The Emperor needs necromancers.
The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.
Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense.
Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.
Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service.
Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will be become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.
Of course, some things are better left dead.
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
You can now download Peter F. Hamilton's Salvation for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link.
Here's the blurb:
Humanity's complex relationship with technology spirals out of control in this first book of an all-new trilogy from "the owner of the most powerful imagination in science fiction" (Ken Follett).
In 2204, humanity is expanding into the wider galaxy in leaps and bounds. A new technology of linked jump gates has rendered most forms of transporation--including starships--virtually obsolete. Every place on earth, every distant planet mankind has settled, is now merely a step away from any other. And all seems wonderful...until a crashed alien spaceship is found on a newly-located world 89 light years from Earth, harboring seventeen human victims. And of the high-powered team dispatched to investigate the mystery, one is an alien spy...
Bursting with tension and big ideas, this standalone series highlights the inventiveness of an author at the top of his game, as the interweaving story lines tell us not only how humanity arrived at this moment, but also the far-future consequences that spin off from it.
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
You can now download Marlon James' Black Leopard, Red Wolf for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link.
Here's the blurb:
In this epic, internationally bestselling novel from Marlon James, the Man Booker Prize-winning author of A Brief History of Seven Killings, myth, fantasy and history merge in the stunning story of a mercenary's quest to find a missing child.
Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: "He has a nose," people say. Hired to find a mysterious boy who has disappeared, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group assembled to search for the boy. The band is a hodgepodge, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as the Leopard.
As Tracker follows the boy's scent, he and the band are set upon by creatures intent on destroying them. As he fights for survival, Tracker starts to wonder: Who, really, is this boy? Why has he been missing for so long? Why do so many people want to keep the boy from being found? And perhaps most important of all: Who is telling the truth, and who is lying?
Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written a saga of breathtaking adventure that's also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf is both surprising and profound as it explores the fundamentals of truth, the limits of power, the excesses of ambition, and our need to understand them all.
US cover art for Joe Abercrombie's THE TROUBLE WITH PEACE
Joe Abercrombie just unveiled the US cover art for his forthcoming The Trouble With Peace.
Here's the blurb:
Savine dan Glokta, once Adua’s most powerful investor, finds her judgement, fortune and reputation in tatters. But she still has all her ambitions, and no scruple will be permitted to stand in her way.
For heroes like Leo dan Brock and Stour Nightfall, only happy with swords drawn, peace is an ordeal to end as soon as possible. But grievances must be nursed, power seized and allies gathered first, while Rikke must master the power of the Long Eye . . . before it kills her.
The Breakers still lurk in the shadows, plotting to free the common man from his shackles, while noblemen bicker for their own advantage. Orso struggles to find a safe path through the maze of knives that is politics, only for his enemies, and his debts, to multiply.
The old ways are swept aside, and the old leaders with them, but those who would seize the reins of power will find no alliance, no friendship, and no peace, lasts forever.
For more info about this title, follow these Amazon Associate links: Canada, USA, Europe.
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Mark Lawrence's One Word Kill for only 1.99$ through the following Amazon Associate links: Canada, USA.
Here's the blurb:
In January 1986, fifteen-year-old boy-genius Nick Hayes discovers he’s dying. And it isn’t even the strangest thing to happen to him that week.
Nick and his Dungeons and Dragons-playing friends are used to living in their imaginations. But when a new girl, Mia, joins the group and reality becomes weirder than the fantasy world they visit in their weekly games, none of them are prepared for what comes next. A strange—yet curiously familiar—man is following Nick, with abilities that just shouldn’t exist. And this man bears a cryptic message: Mia’s in grave danger, though she doesn’t know it yet. She needs Nick’s help—now.
He finds himself in a race against time to unravel an impossible mystery and save the girl. And all that stands in his way is a probably terminal disease, a knife-wielding maniac and the laws of physics.
Challenge accepted.
More inexpensive ebook goodies!
Just realized that you can download Peter McLean's Drake, which I reviewed recently, for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. There is a price match in Canada.
Here's the blurb:
Hitman Don Drake owes a gambling debt to a demon. Forced to carry out one more assassination to clear his debt, Don unwittingly kills an innocent child and brings the Furies of Greek myth down upon himself.
Rescued by an almost-fallen angel called Trixie, Don and his magical accomplice The Burned Man, an imprisoned archdemon, are forced to deal with Lucifer himself whilst battling a powerful evil magician.
Now Don must foil Lucifer’s plan to complete Trixie’s fall and save her soul whilst preventing the Burned Man from breaking free from captivity and wreaking havoc on the entire world.
