Sorry

This is a really bad book, I like his other books but this one is just bad. Sorry

7 people found this helpful

Finally some ORIGINAL scifi action.

I got this book on a whim, and I am very glad i did. I found the story to be very original and let you really use your imagination to decide what some things should look like. It wasnt filled with a bunch of technical fluff that i have found in other books. Its a very entertaining story that keeps you listening. Every time you start to wonder about a certain topic, or why is this happening, or why would they do that, the author fills you in. Its as if he knows just when you want an answer but makes you wait just a bit longer for it to keep the story going.

62 people found this helpful

Finally, an explanation for alien abductions!

Larson has crafted a novel twist on alien contact as well as solving the dilemma of advanced technology within a society temporally close to our own. In Swarm, alien vessels with alien advanced technology, but no aliens arrive on Earth and begin selecting, rather brutally, human candidates to pilot the ships in anticipation of future conflict with another alien enemy.

Our hero is a college computer scientist who is the most successful at deciphering a functional interaction with the alien artificial intelligence powering the spacecraft. The bulk of the tale revolves around bootstrapping a military response to a malevolent alien invasion by what appears to be a machine intelligence, intent on wiping out humanity in order to use Earth as a source of raw materials.

While some of the approaches to dealing with the alien invaders are contrived (and not well thought out), it's clear that Larson is setting up the opening salvo in what appears to a larger and longer story arch that will eventually introduce humanity to a more enlightened view of galactic politics (and lots of interstellar warfare as well).

The writing is tight and the reading is well done making for an overall easy listening experience.

49 people found this helpful

Just don't care...

What disappointed you about Swarm?

Most of it. It's got some decent sci-fi in it but never really makes you care that much. So much of the action takes place inside a windowless ship. I didn't buy many of the plot twists including the very concept of "Star Force."

What do you think your next listen will be?

More Patrick Rothfuss

What about Mark Boyett’s performance did you like?

He actually did a great job.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Swarm?

***Spoiler alert****Probably would not have the kids murdered. It's just so hard to believe that someone could lose 2 kids in a brutal murder and then go on to think about getting a couch or having a new sexual partner within a few days/weeks.

Any additional comments?

Comments saying this is the best thing since Star Wars are just ridiculous.

I stopped listening with many hours to go because I just didn't care what happened to any of the characters or the story.

20 people found this helpful

It's fine

The author has never been in a romantic relationship at the time of writing this novel so that explains the juvenile 'relationship' he set up for the mc and his characters reactions to trauma and loss is unrealistic. The ending was interesting though and the plot isn't bad. Just the characters

3 people found this helpful

Wow. It's really bad.

I have rarely run into a book that I couldn't finish. Swarm is one.

If you like flat characters, terrible dialog, and misogyny, this book is for you. Seriously, I would be suprised to find out the author has had any meaningful interactions with women at all. I enjoyed some John Ringo (aldenata series) but Larson brings writing women to a new low. I quit right after the encounter with the assassin. Horrible.

3 people found this helpful

John Ringo sans the crazy politics...

Mr. Larson's book reminds me a great deal of John Ringo's earlier works, those written before he began letting his politics into his writing (Read: Let the crazy out), the series has a really nice premise and the action is well thought out. In fact, My only issues with the book are:

1) Mr. Larson likes to repeat himself a great deal:
He'll say something once, then again, then spend two pages pounding it into your cranium until you want to yell "Alright! I understood you the first time now can we please see the damn thing blow up now!" I do not mind long explanations of say 'the social impacts of alien tech', but come the hell on!, it began to feel he was pushing for word count rather then advancing the story line.

2) Tactics, tactics, tactics!:
I understand the main character is a college professor but, many of the secondary characters are supposed to be military professionals and you can't tell me that a Colonel or even a Sargent with years of experience on the guy wouldn't tell the nerdy self appointed 'commander' to pack sand if he ordered them to assault a position, over open ground mind you, where a superior enemy holds the high ground. And there is a word for any officer whom takes 6 companies of Marines into battle and suffers 90% losses in a engagement and that word is 'Fired.' I don't care if your the savior of the world your would not lead men into battle after that no one would trust you to.

3) Characters:
(Deleted to brevity) (I'm talking to the author now)
STOP BUILDING CARICATURES AND START CREATING CHARACTERS.
Come on the psychopathic Latin sex bomb? NEWSFLASH! Women like that don't really exist. (No matter how much you want them to)
The dumb enlisted man and the elitist officer? Really?!?

I'm probably going to buy the next book in this series. The story is interesting despite the above drawbacks and the author seems to be getting better at his craft.

47 people found this helpful

The Six Million Dollar Man

The very beginning of this reminds me of the game Portal. Then it becomes kind of (early) Heinleinist. It ends with the Six Million Dollar Man.

The story concept is really good and will keep you listening, even at the times when the writing falters.

Problems: At the beginning the main characters' kids are killed and in a very gross way. His reaction is very lacking. Parts of the book sound like something Piers Anthony would write. We are given information on his wife's death, which was kind of gross and which adds nothing to the story. He is a college professor who teaches computer science and this seems to give him the ability to lead armies, design weapons, be a diplomat and be a military strategist. I believe those that have trained in the military all there life will be insulted by this.

Good: The story is creative. It kept my attention as the miles I was driving just melted by. I have never heard of the (Hope Monkey) before, but I will always remember it. The length of the book is perfect. The ending makes you want to buy the rest in the series.

The narrator was ok, but after listening to Ray Porter and Dick Hill, he was a little lack luster.

51 people found this helpful

If you love military stuff... this is for you

If you're coming for Sci-Fi, this book has plenty of it. Unfortunately, the bizarre, unimaginative and flat dialogue between characters makes for a rather uninteresting listen. If you're super into the whole strong-man-save-weak-woman-woman thing, you'll get that here too. Women are second thoughts at best, one dimensional sex objects at worst. To be honest, it felt more like fan fiction than a novel. There are some really fun sci-fi moments where the main character is forced to use his wits to problem solve and discover the mysteries of alien phenomenon. But for the most part, it's brawn over brains, which I find repetitive. You can only have so many lasers and robots before it gets stale.

But hey, I've never written anything longer than an email, so take my opinion for what it is. Plenty of people seem to like it. I guess I got spoiled with the Bobiverse.

2 people found this helpful

Formulaic and superficial

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A better story. I went on and hoped it was just the fact that it was a first novel syndrome. But no. The characters are flat, cookie cutter, dialog uninspired. Each book is a copy of the next. while I like "monster of the week" kind of stuff I do expect more characterization. Riggs is just a super man at everything with no context as to how this happened. It was just flat. He gets over the death of his family way too early, he suddenly rises to be a military genius for no reason at all.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Not anything by Larson that's for sure. His books are formulaic...but that is what sells the most since it makes production easier to get multiple books a year out.

What about Mark Boyett’s performance did you like?

Brilliant. Love Mark!

What character would you cut from Swarm?

Riggs

Any additional comments?

This would be what my literature professors would call a junk food story.

2 people found this helpful