kmt75's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.25
McCammon's first is just dreadful. Badly written, poorly plotted, overtly racist. Can't believe he hasn't taken this out of print.
aira_reads's review against another edition
5.0
This is an epic horror tale that spans on a global scale. The story jumps forward, focusing on Baal a la The Omen style and jumps again with a dark prophet and his own cult. The time jump takes a while to get used to and it’s not as detailed to show the setting etc. But the meat of the story is there and it’s delicious
myweereads's review against another edition
4.0
“Baal moved into the dark veil of forest and the others followed without a backward glance.”
This was Robert McCammon’s debut novel. It is telling the story of an unimaginable evil called Baal. After a women is terribly attacked she falls pregnant and gives birth to her son who comes to be known as Baal. In the orphanage where he grew up, he plays with brutal violence, from here he sets to become a leader and have his followers commit the worst acts.
Reading this with Laura has been fun. Whilst reading this I couldn’t help but have The Omen in mind and like Laura pointed out The Exorcist. Similar in some ways yet faithful to his style of writing is what makes this horror novel addictive to read. You could feel the presence of Baal from page to page. When he was in the forefront his evil was explicit and unnerving. Some of the brutal acts were quite detailed.
I love how the story evolved and how engaging the characters were. I was routing for a few and had no idea what was to happen. Even the ending was like a bang and has an impact on where you go from here.
I enjoyed reading this, I was curious because Baal was mentioned in some of his other novels so Im glad I finally read it to learn where the routes of this evil began.
This was Robert McCammon’s debut novel. It is telling the story of an unimaginable evil called Baal. After a women is terribly attacked she falls pregnant and gives birth to her son who comes to be known as Baal. In the orphanage where he grew up, he plays with brutal violence, from here he sets to become a leader and have his followers commit the worst acts.
Reading this with Laura has been fun. Whilst reading this I couldn’t help but have The Omen in mind and like Laura pointed out The Exorcist. Similar in some ways yet faithful to his style of writing is what makes this horror novel addictive to read. You could feel the presence of Baal from page to page. When he was in the forefront his evil was explicit and unnerving. Some of the brutal acts were quite detailed.
I love how the story evolved and how engaging the characters were. I was routing for a few and had no idea what was to happen. Even the ending was like a bang and has an impact on where you go from here.
I enjoyed reading this, I was curious because Baal was mentioned in some of his other novels so Im glad I finally read it to learn where the routes of this evil began.
ctk0224's review against another edition
4.0
Wow! What a great debut novel. McCammon certainly surpassed my expectations with Baal. I honestly wasn’t excited about reading this one, but it had my attention all the way through.
stevie_2e's review against another edition
2.0
Despite the star rating, if you are a fan of McCammon, you should read this, his first published novel. He wrote Baal as a man with a force but no focus, and it shows, good and bad, in the story and characters.
paulopaperbooksonly's review against another edition
4.0
One of my first books on my huge collection of almost 2000 books was Swan Song by McCammon. I heard it was like Stephen King’s The Stand so I bought it. But as the The Stand it was a massive book of more than 800 pages. So I put the book on the shelf next to Stephen King’s and others large books of 800 pages and they have been there for years. Why didn’t I read it since both those two books have top ratings? Because they are massive and I get scared about their length. But one day I will read it…
So I bought in second hand some other books by McCammons; Baal, Blue World, They Thirst, Usher’s Passing and Bethany's Sin. So I grabbed Baal and Blue World and I read it.
This is McCammon’s first book so I guess it’s not his best. The story begins with the birthing of Baal (which is also the name of a daemon), from a raped woman, and as the story progress we get to know how he lived and how he gather together believers. At the same time we get to know the “good” guys. One is a theology professor, other is an half Eskimo hunter/shaman and a mysterious personage called Michael (name of an angel). Their plain is simple: thwart Baal’s plans.
The pace is not that good and in my opinion quite slow and only in the latter half we are presented one of the major characters. I think the first one hundred pages almost made me wanna quit but I tried and in the end I was pleased by the book. The rating is fair because of the beginning. The images are pretty good and the characters are well portrayed.
You ask me if I would recommend it to you? If you can read past the first one hundred pages, and enjoy horor books, most improtant if you liked those movies/books from the 70’s about an antichrist then I think you will be for a treat.
Even after reading Baal and Blue World (who weren’t the best books I’ve read) I will continue to read McCammon books. Because I believe he can do a lot better. Do not forget that this was his first book so you can’t expect him to be perfect.
I guess Swan Song will be there on my shelf a couple of years more… Maybe I will read it on a long holiday…
So I bought in second hand some other books by McCammons; Baal, Blue World, They Thirst, Usher’s Passing and Bethany's Sin. So I grabbed Baal and Blue World and I read it.
This is McCammon’s first book so I guess it’s not his best. The story begins with the birthing of Baal (which is also the name of a daemon), from a raped woman, and as the story progress we get to know how he lived and how he gather together believers. At the same time we get to know the “good” guys. One is a theology professor, other is an half Eskimo hunter/shaman and a mysterious personage called Michael (name of an angel). Their plain is simple: thwart Baal’s plans.
The pace is not that good and in my opinion quite slow and only in the latter half we are presented one of the major characters. I think the first one hundred pages almost made me wanna quit but I tried and in the end I was pleased by the book. The rating is fair because of the beginning. The images are pretty good and the characters are well portrayed.
You ask me if I would recommend it to you? If you can read past the first one hundred pages, and enjoy horor books, most improtant if you liked those movies/books from the 70’s about an antichrist then I think you will be for a treat.
Even after reading Baal and Blue World (who weren’t the best books I’ve read) I will continue to read McCammon books. Because I believe he can do a lot better. Do not forget that this was his first book so you can’t expect him to be perfect.
I guess Swan Song will be there on my shelf a couple of years more… Maybe I will read it on a long holiday…
kimily's review against another edition
3.0
I am a huge fan of Robert McCammon, but I did not enjoy this book as much as I have some of his others. I could have gotten on board with it if the ending had been better, but it just wasn't. The ending was very anticlimactic and left me feeling like I had wasted my money.
However, since this is his first published book, and I am familiar with his other work, I can wholeheartedly say I still recommend reading through his bibliography.
However, since this is his first published book, and I am familiar with his other work, I can wholeheartedly say I still recommend reading through his bibliography.
balt_immortal's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
This book is awful. Full of plot holes, the characters are nonsensical and unlikable. Seems like it was written by a college freshman.
lckeser7's review against another edition
2.0
I read this book years ago. I don't remember it very well. The one detail that remains with me is that it seems Mr. McCammon had just learned the term prefab and used it somewhere in the ballpark of 9000 times.