Subterranean just tweeted that the lettered edition of Swan Song is sold out, and the limited edition is already 80% gone.
Hunter
Subterranean just tweeted that the lettered edition of Swan Song is sold out, and the limited edition is already 80% gone.
Hunter
Founder and publisher of Lividian Publications. My other website is BrianJamesFreeman.com. Please always feel free to email me or send me a PM if you have any questions about either!
This is an exciting announcement for McCammon fans. Subterranean continues to do a steller job on re-releasing Rick's backlist. Can't wait!
Founder and publisher of Lividian Publications. My other website is BrianJamesFreeman.com. Please always feel free to email me or send me a PM if you have any questions about either!
Exciting yes, but I am not a fan of these anniversary editions as signed limiteds, that is, if one has already been done in the past. I love the Dark Harvest one of Swan Song, and I always feel that these newer signed limiteds cheapen the value of an already good collectable book. I do love Swan Song, as I have many of McCammon's works.
I'm glad he's still writing too. My wife loves the Corbett books and I am happy he is writing non-Corbettt books. Man, The Border was a dark book!
It's interesting no one has made any movies based on his books, especially Boy's Life and Wolf's Hour. I wonder if Hollywood is still wary of him after the Nightcrawlers episode which some blame for killing any momentum the 80s Twilight Zone had after it aired. I don't believe that's true though. It was a great epsiode.
I wonder if he doesn't sell the rights?
As far as I read, he's not against selling rights.
With McCammon I'm in a really nice position: I'm still behind with his books. There are plenty I didn't read yet and I enjoy them in a very similar way as I did when I discovered King.
Wanted list:
Ubris
I've been wanting to read McCammon for more than 20 years now!
He does/is willing. Universal bought the rights to Boy's Life before it was even published. They've done nothing with it. Various other books have been optioned over the years, but no one has yet been able to get a studio interested. The Marcus Brothers sold a screenplay based on The Wolf's Hour to Universal in January 2014, and that's the last we've heard of that since then. Frank Darabont spent at least seven years trying to get a movie version of MINE made, but studios weren't interested in a movie with two female leads (go figure).
Time will tell if anything ever gets made....
Hunter
I agree!
That is cool.
I recently learned that John Fusco wrote a screenplay for Boy's Life for Universal back in 1992. John Fusco created and wrote Marco Polo, along with other screenplays for movies. But nothing ever happened with his screenplay.
Hunter
Me too. I couldn't believe a guy like McCammon could have been writing for so long and I had never heard of him. He is every bit as good as King. Hands down better than Simmons, Koontz or any of those types. The biggest difference in popularity is that nearly every King book was turned into a movie and a few have actually been good (thanks mostly to changing them). McCammon also seems like a very nice fellow.
I flew to Birmingham exclusivley for a book signing with Rick 2 years ago and he was amazing. Signed virtually my entire unsigned collection (the UK and American firsts from the 80s) and talked with me for about 10 minutes and posed for a photo. Was a real thrill as I have been reading him since the age of 12. Will go again at some point.
Obviously everyone has subjective opinions on who they like more. I think McCammon is the much better writer. I disagree, however, that McCammon's best work was early on. I think he has become a much better writer in recent years. Books like Night Boat and Baal really pale in comparison to some of his more recent efforts. I like both Simmons and McCammon, but the biggest difference for me is that I could read every McCammon book multiple times while the prospect of reading most of Simmons books again would be a form of torture. Particularly clunkers like Abominable and Flashback. I found Drood interesting but Simmons needs an editor to chop about 200 pages off most of his tomes. The only book of his that I would read more than once is Summer of Night.
Agreed. Even McCammon himself views his early work -- BAAL, NIGHT BOAT, BETHANY'S SIN, MYSTERY WALK -- with some criticism, ascribing his early output as 'learning on the job', so to speak, and showing all too readily an author learning and honing his craft. McCammon's best work is surely his last three quarters of his career, not the first quarter. I do think Simmons came out of the gate a strong, more promising writer than McCammon with SONG OF KALI, SUMMER OF NIGHT, and other early works, but it seems to me that McCammon passed him in that regard about halfway through both their careers, where we see McCammon authoring such works as THE FIVE, the Matthew Corbett series, etc., and Simmons such disappointments as BLACK HILLS, THE ABOMINABLE, and FLASHBACK.
Well, that's true for me as well, and would agree that's a pretty good indicator.but the biggest difference for me is that I could read every McCammon book multiple times while the prospect of reading most of Simmons books again would be a form of torture.
Anybody have any suggestions where else to look online for Swan Song? SP was already sold out when I clicked on the link at the end of the first day.
It's going to be tough. Dark Regions Press posted yesterday morning that they had fifteen copies, and they were all sold in under two hours.
Cemetery Dance usually gets some copies of Subterranean's books. They haven't announced Swan Song yet, but you might try emailing them.
You might try emailing Camelot Books to see if they'll have one.
http://www.camelotbooks.com/
You should also sign up for Subterranean's mailing list. They often have a few extra copies left over when all their orders are shipped (cancelled orders, etc).
Hunter
Both RichardX and RC65 make excellent points, especially the one about McCammon getting better with time and the opposite with Simmons. I like the Hyperion books more than anything McCammon has written but overall, I prefer McCammon. It's not that McCammon can craft a better sentence; I just can't muster up enough enthusiasm for Simmons' lectures on whatever the technical details he wants to beat me over the head with. I respect the research he does for each of his books but only up to a point. Once the story stops and the lesson on ________ starts, I lose interest.
Both authors have what I think are very underrated gems: Mystery Walk, and The Crook Factory.
Thanks for the suggestions, Hunter.
Ranking of my top 10 Simmons/McCammon, in order from 1st to 10th:
S - Hyperion
S - Fall of Hyperion
S - Endymion
S - Rise of Endymion
S - Carrion Comfort
M - Boys Life
M - Swan Song
S - Summer of Night
M - The Wolf's Hour
M - They Thirst
A 6/4 split for Simmons in my mind. Song of Kali, Ilium, and Olympos would be coming right up, then it would get difficult for me. I love the Joe Kurtz noir series for Simmons, but I submit that I have not read McCammon's Corbet series. I will also admit that McCammon has been the more consistent of the two, but it's hard for me to ignore my top five books, and yes, they are worth revisiting. I have taught Hyperion in my high school for each of the past 10 years - my students love it, and most go on to read the rest of the series as well. In the end, two great writers.
That's how I'd rank McCammon's Top Four work as well, with probably STINGER in 5th slot. I haven't started the Corbett series yet (though have them all in signed trade HC, just waiting to be read), so can't factor those in. BLUE WORLD is a helluva seminal collection, though...when I think of the top (enjoyed/influential, etc.) three modern horror collections, my mind immediately goes to NIGHT SHIFT, King, BY BIZARRE HANDS, Lansdale, and BLUE WORLD, McCammon.
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