37 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
The One Kingdom (Swans' War)
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

The One Kingdom (Swans' War) (Hardcover)

by Sean Russell (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


2 new from £5.91 30 used from £0.01 5 collectible from £5.90
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 9 used & new from £2.04
Paperback (New edition) £7.99 £5.99 94 used & new from £0.01
Mass Market Paperback (Reprint) £4.85 £4.88 21 used & new from £0.54

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Isle of Battle (Swans' War)

The Isle of Battle (Swans' War)

by Sean Russell
3.8 out of 5 stars (9)  £7.99
Shadow Road (Swans' War)

Shadow Road (Swans' War)

by Sean Russell
2.8 out of 5 stars (8)  £5.99
The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow & Thorn)

The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow & Thorn)

by Tad Williams
4.3 out of 5 stars (34)  £6.98
Stone of Farewell (Memory, Sorrow & Thorn)

Stone of Farewell (Memory, Sorrow & Thorn)

by Tad Williams
4.1 out of 5 stars (11)  £6.48
Siege (Memory, Sorrow & Thorn)

Siege (Memory, Sorrow & Thorn)

by Tad Williams
4.2 out of 5 stars (22)  £6.48
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 560 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 (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 896,250 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #11 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > R > Russell, Sean

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

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.'
See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(19)
(12)
(10)
(8)
(6)
(4)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The One Kingdom (Swans' War)
57% buy the item featured on this page:
The One Kingdom (Swans' War) 4.4 out of 5 stars (16)
Shadow Road (Swans' War)
19% buy
Shadow Road (Swans' War) 2.8 out of 5 stars (8)
£5.99
The Isle of Battle (Swans' War)
19% buy
The Isle of Battle (Swans' War) 3.8 out of 5 stars (9)
£7.99
The Briar King (Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone)
3% buy
The Briar King (Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone) 4.5 out of 5 stars (17)
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy fresh air, 5 Jun 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The One Kingdom (Swans' War) (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?
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Yes Yes Yes, 2 April 2002
This review is from: The One Kingdom (Swans' War) (Paperback)
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 exception of a "Fools Errand" by Robin Hobb).

A fabulously deep story, with some very good charachter development, one is left gasping for more.

I wont give too much more away - If you like fantasy - buy this book. If you don't like fantasy - buy this book it will change your perception of fantasy.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly the best series books I have read..., 9 April 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: The One Kingdom (Swans' War) (Paperback)
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 who is foe? Then the genius that is Mr Russell really comes into a different league, forget Tolkien, Russell is simply incredible.

The locations are discribed in such a way that they force you to take notice, in case you have read past a tiny detail, but it is those details which are specks of gold.

This is also true of the charachters, each so different and yet they are so simillar, written with such passion and clarity that you feel you are there with them.

There is also magic, but not the miracle magic that you see in such titles as Harry Potter, but magic that has an effect which cannot always be seen, and superstition also. This, combined with the political intrigue of two warring families, who are about to plunge the nation into a civil war, a princess who flees to escape a union which would anhiliate a whole generation of family, an evil sorcerer and his brother, desperate to stop him, and a group of traders who get caught up in it all.

It may sound complicated but once you read the first page, you will never want it to end... then read the second and the forthcoming third book. Just expect to lose all your friends and not see the sunlight for a long time

Enjoy

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars 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

3.0 out of 5 stars 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
Published on 2 Sep 2007 by plot hound

3.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant read that lacks pace.
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. Read more
Published on 30 May 2006 by genejoke

5.0 out of 5 stars 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... Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2005 by Isabella Balkert

2.0 out of 5 stars 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

5.0 out of 5 stars 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 25 Nov 2003 by David Roy

5.0 out of 5 stars 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

5.0 out of 5 stars A dream of a book
This is a beautiful book. The plot is intricately woven,layers building one on another, and the characters are believable, flawed, and human. Read more
Published on 29 May 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars 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

4.0 out of 5 stars Complex story line building to great tension
This story takes place in an original world unlike his earlier books which have some basis in our own world. Read more
Published on 24 Mar 2001

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject








i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.