The One Kingdom: Book One of the Swans' War Trilogy (Swans' War S.) [Paperback]

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 lon )

#NAME? ('A master of intelligent fantasy subtle, wellcrafted and gripping.’ )

STEPHEN Donaldson ('This book is the beginning of something big, something very big’ )

DIVERSEBOOKS.COM

'Magic and mystery blend in abundance with an intricate cast of characters. An engrossing read.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

* With wonderful storytelling, great characters and a world as engrossing as any in the fantasy genre, a major new epic begins, backed by a major £20,000 campaign.

From their home in the Vale of Lakes, a group of young traders embark on a quest to make their fortune. Carrying a cargo of ancient artefacts, their journey along the River Wynnd will take them into a world both strange and terrifying. They will meet extraordinary people, witness unforgettable events and discover something that will change their lives for ever. For the world is a far more complex place than the adventurers could have imagined. In the aftermath of a terrible war, political upheaval and family rivalries threaten to plunge the land into a new dark age. The past, it seems, is far from forgotten. And the consequences of that long-ago war are by no means played out. Look out for more information about this book and others on the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

A major new fantasy epic begins with THE ONE KINGDOM, Book One of The Swans' War.

Praise for THE ONE KINGDOM

'A master of intelligent fantasy - subtle, well-crafted and gripping' STEPHEN DONALDSON

'Magic and mystery blend in abundance with an intricate cast of characters. An engrossing read' ROBIN HOBB

'A perfectly plotted, beautifully written fantasy' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Sean Russell was born in Toronto, Canada in 1952, and now lives in Vancouver. He has written a number of acclaimed fantasy novels, but THE ONE KINGDOM is his first UK publication.