The One Kingdom: Book One of the Swans' War

The One Kingdom clearly has flaws. I am not giving it five stars based on its flawlessness. I am giving it five stars because I had a wonderful time reading it, and because of the skill Russell exhibited in updating the traditional high fantasy plot. The prose is well-paced and well-crafted, if not poetic. The story and the characters work at the appropriate levels. wThe plot contains just enough of the hint of the larger story that winds through the series (presumably) and keeps the reader engaged with the diverse threads. I have read a LOT of fantasy in my lifetime. Particularly where high fantasy is concerned I am awfully hard to impress these days. I was impressed. The One Kingdom is a good read for fans of high fantasy: ancient feuds, mysterious destinies, malevolent and timeless powers. If that is not your cup of tea, do not drink this book.

I don't understand how people had trouble reading this book or got confused or whatnot. If you can read Roberts or Tolkien, this is a breeze! Not to say that it isn't a good book or isn't complex, its just not that hard to get.This is the first Sean Russell book I've read and gotten into. World witout End was too scientific. The One Kingdom, however, with the more mystical element, seemed much easier to follow. I love the three cousins (esp, Fynnol, who is endlessly entertaining). It became a real page turner for me. The drawback to this book is the same with every one in a trilogy: you want more. Russell gets a lot of information out in the first book and he has to so that the story moves along in the second and third part.I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an entertaining, well-plotted story with in-depth characters who seem to have lives outside of where the story first starts. But be careful: once you read this book, you'll be hooked on reading two more.

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. Every one of them means something to you at the time, though if it's not a very interesting story, it may fade into the mists of time. If it's particularly interesting, and affects a lot of people, it may be recorded and become part of society's memory, which will allow it to live past the end of your life.The One Kingdom, by Sean Russell, is a book that is about, ultimately, stories. Neil Gaiman writes about stories and how they affect us, but Russell is writing about how we write stories with our very actions. He wraps this in a story of his own, an epic yet strangely personal story about a group of young men from a remote village, out for a little adventure, who find a lot more than they bargain for. Also included is a story about a young girl who is a pawn in an evil scheme, and a mysterious man who is trying desperately to avert a war. Russell does a marvelous job of tying all these disparate stories together into a tight narrative, engaging the reader's interest as we wonder just how they are all going to come together.Russell uses the ultimate story of two warring families to bring this unity. The Renné and the Wills have been divided for over a hundred years, with the land never having a true ruler. Instead, it's just been two factions in an unsteady peace that's been rife with conflict and tension. As the book begins, a murder is being plotted, as the cousins of Toren, head of the Renné family, try to avert what they feel is a fatal mistake. Toren is about to give back the legendary Isle of Battle to the Wills, who they took it from all those years ago. The cousins plan to kill Toren to prevent it. Meanwhile, plots abound on the Wills side, with the Prince of Innes allying himself with Sir Eremon, an evil knight with more to him than just an evil smirk. Eremon has a long hatred of the Renné and also lives for war, both of these coming together in the fact that his alliance with Innes will produce the armies he needs to make war on his bitter enemies. He also plans to bring the Wills over to his side by forcing Prince Michael, the son of the Prince of Innes, to marry Elise, daughter of the head of the Wills family.Russell uses these stories to illustrate the fact that we all have stories to tell or to live, or maybe just to hear. He uses one more story to do this, by using the time-honored tradition of a group of people going out in search of adventure and finding that adventure isn't always something you want to go looking for. Sometimes, you stumble into stories that you had no intention of writing, much less starring in. Tam and his friends, Baore and Fynnol, meet up with a group of Faél (a band of gypsy-like people) who ask them to accompany a "Story-finder" named Cynddl down the river, to record its stories from generations long-past. Ultimately, t

I really enjoyed this book quite a lot. I really liked his initiate brother and the follow up, but I found it a bit hard to keep everyone straight, but I did enjoy it.With this book, it flowed so easily and well that it was one of those books that you read the last page and utter "ACK! That's it?" and immediately jump on the internet to find out when the next one is coming out....Read it, it was great! M@

Sean Russell's voice reminds me of the great fantasies I read in the late 1970's and early 1980's, before everything sounded and looked the same - 800 page novels in 15 book series, where the story never seems to progress and there is nothing to distinguish one character from another.The story in "The One Kingdom" progresses quickly, and each of the characters has a unique voice and the story is driven as much by the characters themselves, and not by long passages of exposition. I read most of this book while trapped for three hours on a small commuter flight from Atlanta to New York, and the time passed very quickly. "The One Kingdom" is both literate and accessible. I can see myself re-reading this ten years from now and still enjoying it.