- Hardcover: 564 pages
- Publisher: Orbit (18 Jan 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1841490202
- ISBN-13: 978-1841490205
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 4.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,225,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The One Kingdom, the first volume of the "Swans' War" sequence, takes us to a land cut into a myriad of small valleys by an endlessly curving and treacherous river which sometimes wanders out of reality. Selfish nobles have reduced the land to barbarism and poverty with their feuding over what is no longer even credibly a throne--even the honourable Arden and Dease are plotting to kill their much-loved kinsman for trying to make a peace with enemies they will not trust. And into this mess of arranged marriages and evil henchmen and blind minstrel lords wander three young men from the further reaches of the valleys looking for the man who pilfered the minor treasures they had gleaned from old battlefields, a man who is more than he seems and whose enemies are not people to whose attention one wishes to come. Russell is setting things up for the long haul here, and yet this is a book full of set pieces and a sense of the bloody past haunting the present like a nightmare. We find ourselves caring passionately about minor characters: a disfigured noblewoman who attends a ball behind a mask and the minstrels casually butchered by a dark magician's hired thugs. --Roz Kaveney
STEPHEN DONALDSON
'A master of intelligent fantasy subtle, wellcrafted and gripping.'
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First Sentence
Samul stared down at the table before him. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Samul stared down at the table before him. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Like the previous reviewers I was finding much fantasy writing stale (I was reading Stone of Tears at the same time as The One Kingdom which proved a useful contrast). The One Kingdom is a marvellous, leisurely paced book without many of the usual fantasy cliches. You get a real sense that the main characters are being slowly but irresistably drawn into a greater story with its origins in the distant past. The magic is low key evoking mystery rather than wizz bang pyrotechnics. I can't wait for the second part! Knights of the Vow = Knights Templar?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a beautiful book. The plot is intricately woven,layers building one on another, and the characters are believable, flawed, and human. The atmosphere is tense at times, and yet there is something dreamlike and at times idyllic in a relaxed kind of way. A book that will drop images into your mind and induce a variety of moods. I was impressed. And then horrified that I'll have to wait almost a year for the sequel. How can they do that?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ok sometimes a relaxed pace in a book is pleasant, here i found it a little off putting. The main characters are typical every man style heroes out of their depth. The main plot is simple enough and the magic seems suitably mysterious, however I found the world unconvincing and underdeveloped. That aside it is a nice start to an entertain saga. undemanding.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A slow beginning, until all clicks together.
The One Kingdom tells the story of three young lads from the Vale of Lakes, Tam Loell and his cousin Fynnol, and Fynnol's cousin Baore Talon, who set off on the river Wynnd to sell... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Stephanie Noverraz
Very, very good... (A "BOOK SWEDE" REVIEW)
Three young travelers leave their village to see more of the world - that's when the trouble begins. Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2007 by Christopher Halo
Unoriginal but enjoyable.
This is a light weight book with little memorable but nothing bad.
The book has lots of good points but lacks originality, it simply uses parts from other fantasy... Read more
The book has lots of good points but lacks originality, it simply uses parts from other fantasy... Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2007 by plot hound
There is nothing Lame about Sean Russell or The Swan's War.
And how anybody can call The Swans war a clone of Jordan's The Wheel of time, is a wonder to me. I can only think of one explanation for the previous acid review - It must be a bad... Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2005 by Isabella Balkert
Lame clone of Robert Jordan
I'd heard really good things about the book, but as soon as three young male characters appeared - one with a mysterious past, one cheeky and carefree, one strong and silent - I... Read more
Published on 3 Jun 2004
Truly the best series books I have read...
Sean Russell is a genius, let it be known.
Starting with what seems like a peaceful traveller joining their campfire, then robbery, then they become hunted, but who is friend and... Read more
Published on 9 April 2004
The stories that we tell
When it comes right down to it, life is a series of interlocking stories, one of your stories interacting with that of someone else, or maybe those of a few other people. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2003 by David Roy
Simply The Best
I think this book is simply fantastic. The plot is deep, the characters complex and the story is truly gripping and intense. Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2003
Yes Yes Yes
Fantasy in the last couple of years has become a little jaded, with very little written that comes as close to perfection as "The one Kingdon" (with the possible... Read more
Published on 2 April 2002 by Robin Stephens
Looking to be a promising series.
Looking to become a very promising series. The firest book mainly concentrates on the setting, so there don't seem to be much happening. Read more
Published on 1 May 2001
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