The Swarm: A Novel of the Deep: Amazon.co.uk: Frank Sch�tzing: Books

Review

'A suspense-packed ecological thriller' (Financial Times 20040221)

'A rip-roaring monster movie of a plot with unexpectedly credible human characters' (The Times 20040325)

'An international blockbuster . . . But think twice about making it your beach book. However hot the vacation sun, this novel may give you the shivers . . . enjoy' (Evening Standard 20040221)

'Good fun, written in fluent thrillerese, and there are some vivid action-thriller moments' (Metro 20040221)

'Having sold more than 800,000 copies in Germany, this riveting eco-thriller is well placed for a repeat performance in the English language.' (Publishing News 20040221)

'An effervescent cocktail of adventure' (Der Spiegel 20040221)

'A gripping thriller starring nature unleashed' (Stern 20040221)

'A gigantic thriller' (Die Welt 20040221)

'A massively good read. A gripping marine biodiversity thriller the like of which I have not seen since "Jaws". I particularly liked the portrayal of biologists as interesting, sexy human beings, rather than just evil or hopelessly mistaken gene-manipulators.'

(Dr James Mallet, Professor of Biological Diversity, University College London 20040221)

'A mind-bending, Crichton-esque fate-of-the-planet thriller that whiplashes the reader from micro- to macro-terrors faster than you can say 'ecosystem'... never ever predictable... enormously entertaining science fiction / horror epic... I recommend you dive right in' (Fangoria 20040221)

'A gripping novel with fast-paced action, interesting and believable characters, and a fascinating look into the uncharted depths of the ocean . . . Enthralling, I was on tenterhooks throughout . . . Comparable in quality to Stephen King, Martin Cruz Smith, and Elmore Leonard' (Peter Constantine, award-winning translator of Thomas Mann's SIX EARLY STORIES 20040221)

'The world could collapse around you [while reading DER SCHWARM], and you wouldn't notice.' (Die Welt 20040221)

'A monster of science-fiction, rich in facts' (Stern 20060715)

'After these 1000 breathtaking pages you see the sea with different eyes.' (Focus 20060806)

'This book wants to be read from beginning to end, morning, noon, and night. The outside world could disintegrate and the reader would not notice because of the spellbinding power of the collapsing world in Frank Schätzing’s apocalyptic thriller.' (Die Tageszeitung 20061118)

'With THE SWARM, Frank Schätzing lifts the German suspense novel up to the international level.' (Süddeutsche Zeitung 20061207)

'THE SWARM must be read quickly because before the reader can finally get to sleep, he must wander far and wide before crossing the finish line happy but exhausted. . . .Whoever has read Frank Schätzing’s novel will be thankful for every inch of dry land and will certainly avoid waterbeds.' (Die Zeit )

'With THE SWARM, Frank Schätzing competes with the likes of Michael Crichton.' (Brigitte )

'One thousand pages of extraordinarily stimulating mental images. At once intellectual and intoxicating, this novel is alarming, unnerving, and overwhelming in every respect. Its composition has a precise grasp on rhythm, language, and lustrous action scenes.' (Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger )

'Topical and thought-provoking' (The Canberra Times )

'Highly entertaining' (The Daily Telegraph, Australia )

'A timely warning and a jolly good read to boot' (South Coast Register )

'Schätzing may be telling a story that relies on his vast imagination, but the research he uses to back it up remains firmly in the realm of facts...fascinating' (Herald Sun, Australia )

'Admirably informed...riveting...an engaging summer read...except that after reading THE SWARM you may want to avoid beaches forever' (Globe and Mail, USA )

'A work of eco-sadism par excellence.... The Swarm isn't just clever and engrossing. It deftly and entertainingly manipulates all the clichés of disaster drama' (Chicago Sun-Times )

'Great stuff' (The Times )

'May be closer to reality than we would like' (Science Magazine ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"* 'An effervescent cocktail of adventure' - Spiegel * 'A gripping thriller starring nature unleashed' - Stern * 'The world could collapse around you [while reading DER SCHWARM], and you wouldn't notice.' - Die Welt * 'A monster of science-fiction, rich in facts' - Stern * 'After these 1000 breathtaking pages you see the sea with different eyes.' - Focus"

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Customer Reviews

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

Science thriller with real depth 15 April 2007

By T. Kus

Format:Paperback

This book was a surprise bestseller in Germany and the paperback verison I got for Christmas was already the 10th reprint edition within a year. So I took it on a one week holiday in January and despite the 700 densely packed pages it ran out well before the return flight. This is not only a riveting read ala Michael Chrichton it is also an introduction into a huge number of current scientific theories that are brought across with both ease and depth alike. Not only will you be turning the pages to find out how the story unfolds you will also learn a great deal about marine biology, geology, genetecis, intelligence theory and numerous other scientific advances without actually realising it on the go. This is a book I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone and when the next holiday comes along I might just read it again...

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

Unstoppable reading treat 22 Mar 2006

By "spr47uk"

I have read this book in German. Even though the theme of deep sea science does not match my usual fields of interest I simply could not put the book down and I read it as fast as no book in the recent past. The plot is intelligent, extremely well researched (as I found out after watching a documentary on this book and author on German television) and reasonably plausible. The story is gripping, the characters compelling. I was also astonished to find out that most of the leading scientists mentioned in this book are real people and experts on the field of deep sea exploration and that Frank Schätzing extensively conferred with them during his researches.
I can highly recommend this book to anyone, even outside the Sci-Fi community.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

A long-winded disappointment 22 Sep 2007

By Mikko Saari

It all starts innocently enough: some missing fishermen, some whales acting strange, some strange worms found in the bottom of the ocean. Of course, things start getting serious, when these aquatic troubles spread around the globe and problems get bigger and bigger. Eventually the survival of the whole human race is threatened.

The premise of this book sounds quite exciting. The problem is, the author has spread all the excitement over 911 pages (at least in the Finnish edition), and there's at least 300 pages too much. He spends some time on his main characters, and I didn't care about a single one of them. There's endless lecturing and preaching. I'm sure a skilled script editor will make a really great movie of this book, but as it is now, there's so much dead weight it took some real effort to make it to the end.

I made it, though, and found the ending ultimately disappointing. I mean, was that why I went through the 900 pages? The book was interesting enough to keep me reading, but in the end, felt like a disappointment. If you can read Finnish, Risto Isomäki's Sarasvatin hiekkaa has a similar theme, but is much superior (at least three times better, with just one third of the pages!). (Review based on the Finnish translation.)

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