Der Schwarm

Der Schwarm (English: The Swarm) is a 2004 novel by German author Frank Schätzing (who is also the author of Limit).

The plot: Sea life has gone crazy! Marine worms cause devastating tsunamis, whales attack ships, and crustaceans invade the coasts in order to infect everyone with deadly micro-organisms. All in all, the creatures of the ocean seem to be hell-bent on exterminating mankind. Scientists all around the world try to determine the reason for all these events, and of course hope to find a way to stop them. The main characters are maritime biologist Sigur Johanson and whale researcher Leon Anawak, who have to deal with human opposition and the maritime threat at the same time... ...


 * Animal Wrongs Group: The group around Greywolf, harassing whale watchers. But they disperse after the whales have gone postal.
 * Apocalypse How:.
 * Assassin Outclassin':
 * Berserk Button: Anawak has THREE of them: Greywolf flanderizing his Native American heritage, interrupting him while explaining his research, and saying the 'Indian' word in front of him.
 * Big Damn Heroes:
 * Everything's Even Worse with Sharks: and whales and lobsters and worms and jellyfish and ...
 * For Want of a Nail: Johanson blames himself for
 * Freudian Excuse: Stone has one.
 * Gaia's Vengeance
 * General Ripper: Judith Li is a female version.
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia:
 * Manipulative Bastard: Judith Li.
 * Multinational Team: Due to the global scope of the events, people from numerous nationalities have to work together.
 * Noble Savage: Jack O'Bannon, who calls himself "Greywolf", sees himself as one, even though he is only one-quarter Native American. Meanwhile, Leon Anawak (a full-blooded Inuk) hates this stereotype.
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: Averted, although the persons involved are not that famous. They are scientists who helped Schätzing do his research. Mostly minor roles, although one of them even fights a shark!
 * Nuke'Em:
 * Pungeon Master: The author's acknowledgements are FULL of puns related to the word "yrr", at least in the original German version.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The discussions between Anawak and Greywolf consist mostly of these.
 * Redemption Equals Death: It's similar with.
 * Shown Their Work: Many scientists in the cast = many Mister Expositions. And Schätzing did so much research that he was even able to publish a second (non-fiction) book about the themes dealt with in Der Schwarm.
 * Southern-Fried Genius: Stan Frost is quite a cliched Texan, boisterous and plucky. And a very capable scientist.
 * Stop Being Stereotypical: It irks Leon Anawak to no end that Jack Greywolf intentionally Flanderizes his Native American heritage.
 * The Swarm: Well, duh!
 * Unwitting Pawn:
 * Whoopi Epiphany Speech: Early in the novel, a Magical Native American lampshades this with the closing words of his own speech.
 * Southern-Fried Genius: Stan Frost is quite a cliched Texan, boisterous and plucky. And a very capable scientist.
 * Stop Being Stereotypical: It irks Leon Anawak to no end that Jack Greywolf intentionally Flanderizes his Native American heritage.
 * The Swarm: Well, duh!
 * Unwitting Pawn:
 * Whoopi Epiphany Speech: Early in the novel, a Magical Native American lampshades this with the closing words of his own speech.
 * Unwitting Pawn:
 * Whoopi Epiphany Speech: Early in the novel, a Magical Native American lampshades this with the closing words of his own speech.