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The Swan's War #3
The Shadow Road
A century of enmity has ravaged the one kingdom, as the mighty families of the Renne and the Wills have fought for their right to the crown. But now the decades of bloodshed have roused the unquiet river spirits from a timeless sleep, reviving a feud more deadly than any conflict of man. Alliances shift and loyalties are tested in the harsh civil war between the two great families, but a larger threat emerges. For the dark knight Hafydd has made a sinister alliance, leading him to eons old secrets, secrets that should remain hidden lest they destroy all lives they touch. Woken by the wars of man and nagar, even Death himself is preparing to leave his fell kingdom. And if the door to his domain cannot be shut, the feud between men and even the ancient wars of the nagar will be less than nothing besides the coming doom.
Paperback
First published September 26, 2003
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About the author
Sean Russell
42 books143 followersAka Sean Thomas Russell
Sean Russel has co-written, with Ian Dennis, a mystery series called "Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner". The first volume of the series was published by Bantam under their joint pen name, T.F. Banks.
Sean Russell was born 1952 in Toronto. At the age of three his family moved to the outskirts of the city, where they lived in a cottage at the beach of Lake Ontario. At the age of ten he decided to become an author, and the fantasy genre caught him years later, while reading J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. After university, he moved to Vancouver, and two years later to Vancouver Island, where he still lives with his family. He published his first novel in 1991.His first historical naval novel Under Enemy Colours, published in 2007, introduced a new Royal Navy hero, Charles Hayden, and HMS Themis, a fictitious frigate.
Mr. Russell cites history as one of his passions, collects old yachting and sailing books, skis, sails and travels. Past interests include caving, rock climbing, hiking, and racing sailboats.
Sean Russel has co-written, with Ian Dennis, a mystery series called "Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner". The first volume of the series was published by Bantam under their joint pen name, T.F. Banks.
Sean Russell was born 1952 in Toronto. At the age of three his family moved to the outskirts of the city, where they lived in a cottage at the beach of Lake Ontario. At the age of ten he decided to become an author, and the fantasy genre caught him years later, while reading J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. After university, he moved to Vancouver, and two years later to Vancouver Island, where he still lives with his family. He published his first novel in 1991.His first historical naval novel Under Enemy Colours, published in 2007, introduced a new Royal Navy hero, Charles Hayden, and HMS Themis, a fictitious frigate.
Mr. Russell cites history as one of his passions, collects old yachting and sailing books, skis, sails and travels. Past interests include caving, rock climbing, hiking, and racing sailboats.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
November 2, 2014
Previously Published at TheQwillery.com
A co-worker recommend this series to me seven years ago. I attempted to read the first book shortly after that but got caught up in another book and never finished The One Kingdom. Being the dedicated reader I am, I recently returned to the series and I'm glad I did. Sean Russell is a very talented writer, especially when it comes to world-building and character development, which is his his focus in the three books—building a wonderful world that sucks the reader in and then taking time to explore it with some great characters. Russell is also wonderful at writing some great female characters. All of the characters develop and change and no one is left untouched by the end of the series. There's enough variety that anyone can find a character to relate to. I've read that he always wanted to stay away from High Fantasy as he never wanted to appear to be a Tolkien wannabe, but then he came up with a story that had to be told. I, for one, am glad he did. The Swans' War trilogy is a worthy addition to the High Fantasy sub-genre.
The One Kingdom is a great start to the series. The story pace is quick and exciting. At the beginning, we meet three young cousins (Toren, Fynnol, Baore) who seek a little adventure as they plan to travel down a river near their Northern home to the more populated south to buy horses and come back home men of the world. They quickly become entangled in a struggle between three long-dead siblings and two royal houses at war over a crown. The pace slows down a lot in the middle of the book where we're introduced to many supporting characters needed to tell an epic story. Normally, I hate it when a story slows down in pacing, but not this time since there's a lot of world-building and character development. Its the middle of the book that makes the end really matter, as you read as fast as you can to see how it comes to an end. There's a cliff-hanger ending, but thankfully the full series is out, so no waiting.
In The Isle of Battle, the majority of the characters spend their time in one location, which normally would worry me, but its in the second book that we really see the majority of the character development taking place. The second book for me is the most internal book of the series, where we see the effects of the conflicts changing all of our characters. The pace of this book is slow, but, in my opinion, it matches the struggles of the characters and the environment they find themselves in, so I actually enjoyed it. Russell is very skilled at using the terrain to influence the pacing of his story. I don't know if it's intentional or not, but I really felt it creeping into the pacing and the characters as they interacted with it. Book one was a meandering river book, with several different side paths. Book two takes place in a swamp and you really feel the characters struggling to make their way through it, both physically and internally as they struggle with how they are dealing with the war around them. The third book is all about the mountains and plains with highs and lows the characters face as the story comes to a crashing end.
The Shadow Roads concludes the story and doesn't feel the need to give a storybook ending to the tale. One of my favorite quotes from the series is found in the last book and I've included it below. I feel it explains how Russell ends The Swan's War trilogy. It might not be the most satisfying ending to some readers, and my initial response was to be a little bothered by it as well, but the more I thought about the quote and reality I actually enjoyed the ending more. We don't always know why things happen the way they do, and we don't always get an explanation why, and neither do the characters. Now, that's not to say we are left completely in the dark, I feel the readers get enough information to make their own conclusions.
The Swans' War trilogy will not be for every lover of fantasy. For those of you who like stories with elves, dwarves and such, you won't find them here. Neither will you find goblins, dragons, and other monsters roaming the wilderness. Russell uses humans as both the heroes and villains very skillfully. The second quote I have below shows how he sees mankind. The magic system in the world is very basic and limited to just a few people in world, so, for those of you who like a good wizard battle or interesting magic system, you'll need to look elsewhere. Lastly, as I've mentioned above, the pacing can be slow at times, so for those you who like a quick, action-packed read, be warned.
I really enjoyed The Swans' War trilogy and I hope Sean Russell returns to fantasy soon. I recommend that lovers of High Fantasy add these books to their collections and for any other fantasy-lover, look for the books on your friend's shelves or at your local library. I have no problem recommending these books to adult or teen readers. There is mild violence and little to no strong language and only the slightest adult situation.
Favorite Quotes from the Books
“There isn’t one story. There are myriad tales to be told, all different and puzzling. It is vain to ask them to makes sense. Just tell the tales. They will speak for themselves.” Cynddl in The Shadow Roads.
“We are not a peaceful people. It is the great tragedy of our race. War is in our blood.” Toren in The Shadow Roads.
A co-worker recommend this series to me seven years ago. I attempted to read the first book shortly after that but got caught up in another book and never finished The One Kingdom. Being the dedicated reader I am, I recently returned to the series and I'm glad I did. Sean Russell is a very talented writer, especially when it comes to world-building and character development, which is his his focus in the three books—building a wonderful world that sucks the reader in and then taking time to explore it with some great characters. Russell is also wonderful at writing some great female characters. All of the characters develop and change and no one is left untouched by the end of the series. There's enough variety that anyone can find a character to relate to. I've read that he always wanted to stay away from High Fantasy as he never wanted to appear to be a Tolkien wannabe, but then he came up with a story that had to be told. I, for one, am glad he did. The Swans' War trilogy is a worthy addition to the High Fantasy sub-genre.
The One Kingdom is a great start to the series. The story pace is quick and exciting. At the beginning, we meet three young cousins (Toren, Fynnol, Baore) who seek a little adventure as they plan to travel down a river near their Northern home to the more populated south to buy horses and come back home men of the world. They quickly become entangled in a struggle between three long-dead siblings and two royal houses at war over a crown. The pace slows down a lot in the middle of the book where we're introduced to many supporting characters needed to tell an epic story. Normally, I hate it when a story slows down in pacing, but not this time since there's a lot of world-building and character development. Its the middle of the book that makes the end really matter, as you read as fast as you can to see how it comes to an end. There's a cliff-hanger ending, but thankfully the full series is out, so no waiting.
In The Isle of Battle, the majority of the characters spend their time in one location, which normally would worry me, but its in the second book that we really see the majority of the character development taking place. The second book for me is the most internal book of the series, where we see the effects of the conflicts changing all of our characters. The pace of this book is slow, but, in my opinion, it matches the struggles of the characters and the environment they find themselves in, so I actually enjoyed it. Russell is very skilled at using the terrain to influence the pacing of his story. I don't know if it's intentional or not, but I really felt it creeping into the pacing and the characters as they interacted with it. Book one was a meandering river book, with several different side paths. Book two takes place in a swamp and you really feel the characters struggling to make their way through it, both physically and internally as they struggle with how they are dealing with the war around them. The third book is all about the mountains and plains with highs and lows the characters face as the story comes to a crashing end.
The Shadow Roads concludes the story and doesn't feel the need to give a storybook ending to the tale. One of my favorite quotes from the series is found in the last book and I've included it below. I feel it explains how Russell ends The Swan's War trilogy. It might not be the most satisfying ending to some readers, and my initial response was to be a little bothered by it as well, but the more I thought about the quote and reality I actually enjoyed the ending more. We don't always know why things happen the way they do, and we don't always get an explanation why, and neither do the characters. Now, that's not to say we are left completely in the dark, I feel the readers get enough information to make their own conclusions.
The Swans' War trilogy will not be for every lover of fantasy. For those of you who like stories with elves, dwarves and such, you won't find them here. Neither will you find goblins, dragons, and other monsters roaming the wilderness. Russell uses humans as both the heroes and villains very skillfully. The second quote I have below shows how he sees mankind. The magic system in the world is very basic and limited to just a few people in world, so, for those of you who like a good wizard battle or interesting magic system, you'll need to look elsewhere. Lastly, as I've mentioned above, the pacing can be slow at times, so for those you who like a quick, action-packed read, be warned.
I really enjoyed The Swans' War trilogy and I hope Sean Russell returns to fantasy soon. I recommend that lovers of High Fantasy add these books to their collections and for any other fantasy-lover, look for the books on your friend's shelves or at your local library. I have no problem recommending these books to adult or teen readers. There is mild violence and little to no strong language and only the slightest adult situation.
Favorite Quotes from the Books
“There isn’t one story. There are myriad tales to be told, all different and puzzling. It is vain to ask them to makes sense. Just tell the tales. They will speak for themselves.” Cynddl in The Shadow Roads.
“We are not a peaceful people. It is the great tragedy of our race. War is in our blood.” Toren in The Shadow Roads.
September 20, 2024
A re-read of sorts, but it's the first time I've managed to finish this series - previously, I got through the first book, The One Kingdom, and beached on the rocks at the end of that volume. This time the river has taken me all the way, from the source to the sea. And what a journey it has been. Yes, we languished in still and stagnant pools for a large part of the second book, The Isle of Battle, and some of the diversionary trekking in The Shadow Roads was less than totally necessary, but Sean Russell meets the climax of this tale with a torrent of blood that subsides to leave some unexpected bodies in the sand.
All of which is a pretty way of saying that Russell sticks the landing. It's a tad patchy in places - there are many characters to tie up, several things that manage to slip through unanswered, more than a couple of convenient coincidences and authorial sleights of hand to get the heroes into the right place at the right time. Russell must have looked at GRRM and thought "there but for the grace of god go I...".
Many things are left in a state of flux, which is many respects is an apt place to leave a story rooted to the course of a river, but the greatest bum note in the last couple of chapters is the way poor Baore comes out of the experience. I can't help thinking of Poochie, from Itchy & Scratchy in the Simpsons.
For the full series? A decent three and a half stars, worth the time of any reader who enjoys Tudor/Lancaster-type shenanigans in their liminal environments and magicians far more powerful than the heroes can ever hope to be.
All of which is a pretty way of saying that Russell sticks the landing. It's a tad patchy in places - there are many characters to tie up, several things that manage to slip through unanswered, more than a couple of convenient coincidences and authorial sleights of hand to get the heroes into the right place at the right time. Russell must have looked at GRRM and thought "there but for the grace of god go I...".
Many things are left in a state of flux, which is many respects is an apt place to leave a story rooted to the course of a river, but the greatest bum note in the last couple of chapters is the way poor Baore comes out of the experience. I can't help thinking of Poochie, from Itchy & Scratchy in the Simpsons.
For the full series? A decent three and a half stars, worth the time of any reader who enjoys Tudor/Lancaster-type shenanigans in their liminal environments and magicians far more powerful than the heroes can ever hope to be.
July 25, 2013
While in general, I enjoyed the series and would recommend it, I had a harder time with this book than the first two. I found myself, on a number of occasions, having to remind myself that this was a trilogy. The further in I got, the more concerned I got about how the series would be completed. As a result, I found the climax / end of the book to be something of a let down, as if Russell woke up one day and figured that was it and wrapped it up. I found that story elements that had been eluded to weren't answered, or even mentioned again and that others finished unsatisfactorily - for me anyway.
I found Baore's death to be almost disconnected from the story, as if it was there simply for shock value. While Russell had Baore leaning to a more depressing outcome, I just found it...I don't know...almost silly.
While I don't need every story to end all happy and unicorns, and ponies, I didn't like this one. It was just left too open for my tastes. Tam being sure that he needs to protect his people from...what? Cynndal telling him that things are fine, go get Elise but Tam being resistant. etc. etc.
Again, I did enjoy the series as a whole, just found the ending to be too much of a let down to give this book 4 stars.
I found Baore's death to be almost disconnected from the story, as if it was there simply for shock value. While Russell had Baore leaning to a more depressing outcome, I just found it...I don't know...almost silly.
While I don't need every story to end all happy and unicorns, and ponies, I didn't like this one. It was just left too open for my tastes. Tam being sure that he needs to protect his people from...what? Cynndal telling him that things are fine, go get Elise but Tam being resistant. etc. etc.
Again, I did enjoy the series as a whole, just found the ending to be too much of a let down to give this book 4 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2025
4.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
War between the Renne and the Wills is joined, but much larger issues are at stake, rising from the ancient plots of dead or sleeping sorcerors and their descendants. Caught up in it all are three young men from the distant hills and a number of other innocents.
Review
I’ve been a fan of Sean Russel since The Initiate Brother . This, the Swan’s War series is easily his most accessible work, and possibly his best. He’s shed some of the opaque philosophizing of his Darwin books, and chosen a relatively standard medieval fantasy setting, which probably helps.
While the outline of the book sounds familiar (a rural trio gets caught up in epic adventure), Russell does far more with the trope than your off-the-shelf fantasy. Not only are the characters well-developed, but the world is complex and interesting in ways that mainstream fantasies often are not.
There’s still a certain amount of confusion here. I often lost track of which side was which in the background political and military struggles – who was allied with whom. It’s the individuals who captured my attention. And the fascinating backstory (which I wish had been a little further explored) hinges in part on a complex family tree. Every time you look, a new branch has been added, and I had trouble keeping it all straight.
But, by and large, this is a really fun, fast-moving fantasy where all the right things happen, the loose ends are mostly tied up, and yet it’s not all Hollywood. I liked it, and it’s interesting that this is one of few series that got better as it went on. I highly recommend it.
While the ‘what has been before’ for this book is far better than its predecessor, the disappointingly sloppy conversion to e-book is not.
For what it’s worth, here’s my interpretation of the sorcerous family tree
Tusival & Meer (Tusival rival Mea’Chi/Death)
-Wyrr & unnamed wife
--Caibre (Hafydd/Eremon)
--Sianon (Elise)
--Sainth (Alaan)
-Aillyn & unnamed wife
--Unnamed son
-Sianon
Summary
War between the Renne and the Wills is joined, but much larger issues are at stake, rising from the ancient plots of dead or sleeping sorcerors and their descendants. Caught up in it all are three young men from the distant hills and a number of other innocents.
Review
I’ve been a fan of Sean Russel since The Initiate Brother . This, the Swan’s War series is easily his most accessible work, and possibly his best. He’s shed some of the opaque philosophizing of his Darwin books, and chosen a relatively standard medieval fantasy setting, which probably helps.
While the outline of the book sounds familiar (a rural trio gets caught up in epic adventure), Russell does far more with the trope than your off-the-shelf fantasy. Not only are the characters well-developed, but the world is complex and interesting in ways that mainstream fantasies often are not.
There’s still a certain amount of confusion here. I often lost track of which side was which in the background political and military struggles – who was allied with whom. It’s the individuals who captured my attention. And the fascinating backstory (which I wish had been a little further explored) hinges in part on a complex family tree. Every time you look, a new branch has been added, and I had trouble keeping it all straight.
But, by and large, this is a really fun, fast-moving fantasy where all the right things happen, the loose ends are mostly tied up, and yet it’s not all Hollywood. I liked it, and it’s interesting that this is one of few series that got better as it went on. I highly recommend it.
While the ‘what has been before’ for this book is far better than its predecessor, the disappointingly sloppy conversion to e-book is not.
For what it’s worth, here’s my interpretation of the sorcerous family tree
Tusival & Meer (Tusival rival Mea’Chi/Death)
-Wyrr & unnamed wife
--Caibre (Hafydd/Eremon)
--Sianon (Elise)
--Sainth (Alaan)
-Aillyn & unnamed wife
--Unnamed son
-Sianon
August 8, 2022
Really fun read. First I will tell you reasons I liked it and would recommend. The characters are diverse and interesting, the settings and writing are beautifully aesthetic and most of the magic is in the locations of the story. Battles scenes are light, not overly detailed and not drawn out light some other fantasy series I’ve read. I liked the story-within-a-story-within-a-story and I thought it was uniquely done. I would definitely recommend these to fantasy readers who want a light fun *finished* trilogy.
I’m only giving 4 instead of 5 stars because I felt there were a few plot holes, and the names of the characters: multiple characters have multiple names and some characters having the same name as other characters or a name one letter different was so annoying, honestly took away from the story a little. I also *wish* so hard there was a map of the land between the mountains to reference, I know a comprehensive map would be silly to wish for but a regular map seems achievable. Last complaint is reading 3 books where a magic system exists but is still entirely unknown even at the end. How does it work? Why can only these 3 people use it? So many unanswered questions, which I feel is atypical for this genre.
I’m only giving 4 instead of 5 stars because I felt there were a few plot holes, and the names of the characters: multiple characters have multiple names and some characters having the same name as other characters or a name one letter different was so annoying, honestly took away from the story a little. I also *wish* so hard there was a map of the land between the mountains to reference, I know a comprehensive map would be silly to wish for but a regular map seems achievable. Last complaint is reading 3 books where a magic system exists but is still entirely unknown even at the end. How does it work? Why can only these 3 people use it? So many unanswered questions, which I feel is atypical for this genre.
March 3, 2016
De laatste van deze trilogie. Wederom 5 sterren waard. In dit slot akkoord van de zwanenoorlog volgen we de verschillende queestes van verschillende helden. We volgen Elise die nog steeds vecht tegen de nagar in haar, Tam, die met zijn vrienden Boare en Fynnol de rivier afgevaren waren om een avontuur te beleven, Toren en Prins Michael, Hyfed de slechterik en Alaan die samen met Elise probeert de waanzin te stoppen. Zelfs tot aan de poorten van de dood. Zeker zijn 5 sterren waard.
March 30, 2023
I really enjoyed this series. This is one of my first introductions to fantasy. I worked above a college bookstore that was run by B&N. I stopped by in on my way back from lunch and this series caught my eye. I glazed through the first book and it looked very interesting. I got it and have been a Fantasy reader since. I remember how much I enjoyed reading this. There has not been another to compare it to. Well Done!
May 23, 2019
Such a disappointment after the build up from the first two books. Introduces random new characters (so many it's difficult to keep track of them all) and seems very disjointed, jumping around from place to place. It reads as though Russell was rushing to finish without a clear idea of where he was going. A shame because I greatly enjoyed the preceding novels in the series.
January 16, 2020
A fine conclusion, though the ending battle felt a bit rushed. Still, I admire the decision to not wrap up everyone's stories in happily ever after while also giving a satisfying and believable ending. I'm glad I read the series, but it was still the most low-key save-the-world fantasy story ever. Not on my re-read list.
December 15, 2023
Ein guter Abschluss der Trilogie. Ich hätte mir allerdings ein bisschen mehr Sorgfalt gewünscht. Wenn man derart viele Protagonisten an so vielen Orten hat, sollte man als Autor immer wissen, wer sich wo befindet.
3 1/2 * großzügig aufgerundet.
3 1/2 * großzügig aufgerundet.
March 8, 2019
Probably the weakest of the three books but still a great series.
did-not-finish-or-start
June 19, 2023DNS 6/19/23
May 28, 2014
It always saddens me when a series ends – especially if it’s a series that I’ve enjoyed. I’ve spent time following these characters, applauding their triumphs and mourning their losses, getting to know their personalities and rooting for their success. So, when the story ends, when the final chapter closes, I invariably feel some sort of sadness. Usually, it’s mild, but sometimes, it’s flowing along a tinge of frustration, and that usually comes when I’ve got questions that were not answered.
There’s a bit of that with this series, but as I sit here, pondering everything that happened to the characters I grew to like, I’m realizing that I’m more sad than frustrated (though claiming no frustration would be an outright lie).
Knowing that this was the final book of the trilogy, I had a ton of expectations going in. The second book didn’t wow me the way the first book did, and I thought to myself, “If this book is a continuation of chase scenes, I’m tapping out.” Luckily for me, though, there was far more action in the first three chapters than there was in the entire second book, and I was quickly hooked – again.
As a reader, I can appreciate the author’s vision, and the history that he gave the people and the places. The many folktales that were hinted at, discussed and brought to life were so incredibly interesting to me, and I would have loved to have been given more of those, along the way.
I can also appreciate that he had a lot of characters to keep track of, and that it probably grew very unwieldy, very quickly, and that because of that, some of the storylines of certain characters were truncated or lost completely. It’s disappointing when one main character’s fate is relegated to a footnote at the end of the book, but I guess I understand how that happened.
The pacing of this book is much like the ending of the first book – fast. There are so many different – yet intertwining – storylines, and they all lend a good amount of importance to the story. Each character is there for a specific reason, so you’re not left wondering, “Did that really have to be included in the story?”
This was a great ending to a series, and though the two major problems were rather easily handled (and I’m using “easily” as a relative term, here), it was still very enjoyable. I would have liked to have seen a little more detail about some things, and maybe be given a bit more insight as to some others, but it’s nothing that detracts from my overall enjoyment of the story.
And now, if you’re interested…those things that bothered me.
There’s a bit of that with this series, but as I sit here, pondering everything that happened to the characters I grew to like, I’m realizing that I’m more sad than frustrated (though claiming no frustration would be an outright lie).
Knowing that this was the final book of the trilogy, I had a ton of expectations going in. The second book didn’t wow me the way the first book did, and I thought to myself, “If this book is a continuation of chase scenes, I’m tapping out.” Luckily for me, though, there was far more action in the first three chapters than there was in the entire second book, and I was quickly hooked – again.
As a reader, I can appreciate the author’s vision, and the history that he gave the people and the places. The many folktales that were hinted at, discussed and brought to life were so incredibly interesting to me, and I would have loved to have been given more of those, along the way.
I can also appreciate that he had a lot of characters to keep track of, and that it probably grew very unwieldy, very quickly, and that because of that, some of the storylines of certain characters were truncated or lost completely. It’s disappointing when one main character’s fate is relegated to a footnote at the end of the book, but I guess I understand how that happened.
The pacing of this book is much like the ending of the first book – fast. There are so many different – yet intertwining – storylines, and they all lend a good amount of importance to the story. Each character is there for a specific reason, so you’re not left wondering, “Did that really have to be included in the story?”
This was a great ending to a series, and though the two major problems were rather easily handled (and I’m using “easily” as a relative term, here), it was still very enjoyable. I would have liked to have seen a little more detail about some things, and maybe be given a bit more insight as to some others, but it’s nothing that detracts from my overall enjoyment of the story.
And now, if you’re interested…those things that bothered me.
July 31, 2012
The swans’ war trilogy by Sean Russell concludes with volume three The Shadow Road in which this captivating, complex mystery comes to its dramatic conclusion. Beginning with The One Kingdom wherein readers are introduced to the author’s world that is truly unique, original and highly distinctive followed by The Isle of Battle. Here we enter the land of Ayr that has been left in utter turmoil to find that a deadly feud from the past is now being awoken from its slumber. The once predictable plot is now turned on its head with such surprise and tension, that is so fast-paced and dramatic you will not be able to put it down. An exhilarating, thrilling conclusion to a truly epic series that is full of electric tension and suspense that is testimony to how great an accomplished writer Sean Russell is. Much anticipation and expectation preceded his last work with standards raised high that he has now crushed, by producing something of outstanding caliber to end his saga. This book by a universally loved writer captures your imagination, taking you on a fast-paced action packed rollercoaster of a ride that maintains its momentum throughout. The truly unique, original storyline is so unpredictable as to make you want to read on, leaving you sat on the edge of your seat whilst it builds up to a striking and magnificent climax that astonishes. An inspired tale that took me on a journey of magical, fantasy imaginings with such creativity as to enthuse and move me. I cannot enthuse enough about an author who has risen to new heights, pushing the boundaries by excelling once more.
To those readers who love authors such as Stephen Donaldson, Janny Wurts, Robin Hobb and Raymond E Feist I can grantee that you will love Sean Russell who has such depth and fluidity to his work. Just like author Kate Elliot who wrote the outstanding, remarkable series Crown of Stars, Sean goes into such background detail and design with his books surrounding a world that is beautifully ingenious. Subtle, understated and completely gripping this well-crafted story will delight many fans of this genre standing out on the bookshelf for its individuality and noticeable contrast to other works. If you love thrilling journeys, stirring battles and memorable characters in a luminous world that is full of drama and excitement then look no further as here is a trilogy that will send chills down your spine.
To those readers who love authors such as Stephen Donaldson, Janny Wurts, Robin Hobb and Raymond E Feist I can grantee that you will love Sean Russell who has such depth and fluidity to his work. Just like author Kate Elliot who wrote the outstanding, remarkable series Crown of Stars, Sean goes into such background detail and design with his books surrounding a world that is beautifully ingenious. Subtle, understated and completely gripping this well-crafted story will delight many fans of this genre standing out on the bookshelf for its individuality and noticeable contrast to other works. If you love thrilling journeys, stirring battles and memorable characters in a luminous world that is full of drama and excitement then look no further as here is a trilogy that will send chills down your spine.
April 19, 2008
I just recently reviewed the second book in this series, and since I've finished the concluding volume of this trilogy, I figured I might as well review it too. Russell covers a lot of ground in this book, and I wasn't entirely sure that he could do it, because it was clear all the way through just how much there was to cover--epic fantasy like this takes a lot of pages to get right! Russell does a good job, though. As in the previous volume, he continues to expand the scope of the battle that rages in this series, so that different levels grow from others or mirror them in some ways, but at the same time none of them is ever completely lost. There were times where events seemed to unfold in a rather-too-abrupt manner, and if I had one complaint, that would be it. Maybe an extra 100 pages would have made this a 5-star book.
Still, it's quite good, both as the conclusion to this trilogy and in its own right. The characters continue to be well-drawn, interesting, and varied. They continue to hold their reality--even though some things were sacrificed to get the events to fit into this novel, characterization wasn't one of them. They remain true to the natures we've seen them have previously, and true to the depths which were shown us before.
Of course, even if this review interests you, you won't want to start reading this book. The place to start is with The One Kingdom, the initial novel in this series. And if you take your time reading through the first two books, you might be able to get this volume in paperback.
Still, it's quite good, both as the conclusion to this trilogy and in its own right. The characters continue to be well-drawn, interesting, and varied. They continue to hold their reality--even though some things were sacrificed to get the events to fit into this novel, characterization wasn't one of them. They remain true to the natures we've seen them have previously, and true to the depths which were shown us before.
Of course, even if this review interests you, you won't want to start reading this book. The place to start is with The One Kingdom, the initial novel in this series. And if you take your time reading through the first two books, you might be able to get this volume in paperback.
April 25, 2014
“The Shadow Roads” is the third book in the “Swan’s War Trilogy”, and it presented a satisfying conclusion to the series. It took until the last book, but the author finally revealed more of the backstory for the children of Wyrr and what they were fighting against. I found the past was more interesting than the current story, and I would have enjoyed learning more about what took place to cause the situation; however, the author only provided a glimpse from time-to-time throughout the main story.
It felt like parts of this story in the “hidden lands” were disjointed with large leaps of time and distance as Wyrr’s three children traveled toward a major confrontation. This dramatic meeting sets the stage for the conclusion of the two main story arcs – saving the One Kingdom from doom and destruction at the hands of Wyrr’s children, and the looming battle between the Wills and Renne families.
I maintain my three-star rating for this book and the series as a whole for the same reasons that I’ve mentioned in previous reviews. It is an interesting story, but I didn’t find anything great or anything that provoked some kind of response in me as the reader. Many of the characters seemed flat with little growth throughout the series, and the side stories were not that relevant to the overall storyline.
It felt like parts of this story in the “hidden lands” were disjointed with large leaps of time and distance as Wyrr’s three children traveled toward a major confrontation. This dramatic meeting sets the stage for the conclusion of the two main story arcs – saving the One Kingdom from doom and destruction at the hands of Wyrr’s children, and the looming battle between the Wills and Renne families.
I maintain my three-star rating for this book and the series as a whole for the same reasons that I’ve mentioned in previous reviews. It is an interesting story, but I didn’t find anything great or anything that provoked some kind of response in me as the reader. Many of the characters seemed flat with little growth throughout the series, and the side stories were not that relevant to the overall storyline.
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February 15, 2011This series was enjoyable, but disappointing. I absolutely loved the characters of Toren, Lady Lynn, and Lord Carral. Alaan was a likable rogue. And contrary to some other reviews, I loved the inclusion of Carl's adventures. Some people thought it was too complicated to introduce and dwell on yet another side story, but his bravery and compassion for his friends were some of my favorite parts of the story.
Elise was beautiful, but to me, she died when she dove into the river. The contrast of her character, resisting Alaan's advances though it was so difficult--and then jumping into bed with Tam, created a believable but much too disturbing paradox for me. I mourned for the loss of Elise's innocence, though it was admirable how Elise's influence prevented Sianon from wreaking too much horror.
I did not like that it was implied that Lady Lynn's scars were healed, as I thought the whole point was that she accept Carral's love despite her scarring.
So overall, I really enjoyed the characters created, but I felt that specifically the end between Tam and Elise/Sianon was very patchy and disappointing.
Elise was beautiful, but to me, she died when she dove into the river. The contrast of her character, resisting Alaan's advances though it was so difficult--and then jumping into bed with Tam, created a believable but much too disturbing paradox for me. I mourned for the loss of Elise's innocence, though it was admirable how Elise's influence prevented Sianon from wreaking too much horror.
I did not like that it was implied that Lady Lynn's scars were healed, as I thought the whole point was that she accept Carral's love despite her scarring.
So overall, I really enjoyed the characters created, but I felt that specifically the end between Tam and Elise/Sianon was very patchy and disappointing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2013
By now I have become completely immersed in this world, with its large cast of heroes, innocent victims and evil villains. I begin to understand why this is a book about groups more so than individuals. Each group, depending on the task at hand, is made up of characters vital to that quest. In addition, the group dynamic makes for an interesting study in human nature. It becomes easy to see who is a natural leader, a loyal follower, a potential problem or simply a reluctant participant. Even though I tend to favor character-driven fantasy, experiencing a story centered around groups was a fascinating alternative. I got to observe as the various groups broke apart, then reformed anew. Some with basically the same members as before but almost always with new members from another group. How that person or persons fit into their new group gave me insights into their character I might not have seen otherwise. In my opinion, it was very well done.
Read Complete Review @ Dragons, Heroes and Wizards
Read Complete Review @ Dragons, Heroes and Wizards
November 17, 2017
(Review for the whole trilogy)
I was in the mood for an epic fantasy saga, and this series turned out to fit the bill quite well. Sean Russell doesn't have the sheer brilliance of Tad Williams or Lois McMaster Bujold, but he is pretty good. Tis trilogy had many of the typical elements of fantasy: young adventurers from the country, ancient magics, mysterious rogues, heroic nobles, lots of exciting battles, etc. But Russell manages not to use them in entirely predicatble and cliched ways. I also liked the way he sidesteps the "powerful evil being as villain" trope. The real enemy of the tale is a set of intertwined hatreds and feuds (with the accompanying thirst for revenge) that have been carried on too far and for too long, to the point where they no longer have any real purpose or meaning. Russell also does a good job with the characterizations. I greatly liked the way the ending wrapped the story up satisfactorily but still gave me the sense that the characters would continue to have interesting lives after the big adventure was over.
I was in the mood for an epic fantasy saga, and this series turned out to fit the bill quite well. Sean Russell doesn't have the sheer brilliance of Tad Williams or Lois McMaster Bujold, but he is pretty good. Tis trilogy had many of the typical elements of fantasy: young adventurers from the country, ancient magics, mysterious rogues, heroic nobles, lots of exciting battles, etc. But Russell manages not to use them in entirely predicatble and cliched ways. I also liked the way he sidesteps the "powerful evil being as villain" trope. The real enemy of the tale is a set of intertwined hatreds and feuds (with the accompanying thirst for revenge) that have been carried on too far and for too long, to the point where they no longer have any real purpose or meaning. Russell also does a good job with the characterizations. I greatly liked the way the ending wrapped the story up satisfactorily but still gave me the sense that the characters would continue to have interesting lives after the big adventure was over.
September 18, 2014
I wanted to give this book 4 stars, but I just couldn't do it. I liked the overall story from book one too three, but the last book left me unsatisfied. In the series as a whole i felt there were one too many characters. A few of them could have been left out. They made the third book drag a bit.
There could have been more travel in 'the other lands' to fill this space. The weird love quadrangle thing between Llyn, Carral Willis, Toren, and Dease was kinda dull and wasted a lot of time. It felt like a love story thrown in just to have one.
This book had a lot more action and I liked that aspect. A lot of questions were answered.
The worst part was the Death of Baore at the end. It was kinda like, 'eh, he died later on, what ever'. it was too thrown in and wasn't very powerful for a character that was in the entire series and survived until the end.
So in my opinion, not the best trilogy out there, but not bad. Worth the read if you find yourself running out of decent trilogies to read.
There could have been more travel in 'the other lands' to fill this space. The weird love quadrangle thing between Llyn, Carral Willis, Toren, and Dease was kinda dull and wasted a lot of time. It felt like a love story thrown in just to have one.
This book had a lot more action and I liked that aspect. A lot of questions were answered.
The worst part was the Death of Baore at the end. It was kinda like, 'eh, he died later on, what ever'. it was too thrown in and wasn't very powerful for a character that was in the entire series and survived until the end.
So in my opinion, not the best trilogy out there, but not bad. Worth the read if you find yourself running out of decent trilogies to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 22, 2008
This is the conclusion to Russell's Swan's War trilogy, and while I generally adore Russell, this book failed to satisfy for me. It could have been the lack of well-drawn female characters, or the lack of a vivid setting, or the confusing number of (mostly male) main characters one had to track. Really, I think it was a bit of all of those in combination with the fact that Jason and I were reading this book aloud to each other over the phone. When that works it's an amazingly vivid and wonderful way to enjoy and share a novel, but it only works for novels of a particular style that are particularly good. This novel had neither the style nor was it quite good enough. I will still buy almost anything that Russell writes in the future just on the strength of his past accomplishments, just not anything in this particular universe.
March 3, 2013
Really. THAT is how it ends??! ><
I really enjoyed this book, up until the end at least. This is the last book in th Swans' War series. This book was full of action and suspense, just like the previous two. That being said, I am not someone who enjoys "up in the air" endings. Endings don't have to be happy necessarily, but I want to know what happens!!! I feel like after all the time I spent with these characters, and all the strange things they went through, that I deserved a better ending than this. Even the "end battle" was a little rushed and anti-climactic for how much set up there was over the three books. And the ending was equally rushed.
I really enjoyed this book, up until the end at least. This is the last book in th Swans' War series. This book was full of action and suspense, just like the previous two. That being said, I am not someone who enjoys "up in the air" endings. Endings don't have to be happy necessarily, but I want to know what happens!!! I feel like after all the time I spent with these characters, and all the strange things they went through, that I deserved a better ending than this. Even the "end battle" was a little rushed and anti-climactic for how much set up there was over the three books. And the ending was equally rushed.
August 7, 2011
c2004.So this book had some lovely comments on the back cover by personally liked authors such as Robin Hobb, Kate Elliott, Dave Duncan etc. However, the comments were for Sean Russell and the Swans' War as a whole. I do not think that they read this final. I personally found this book to be a little tedious and overpopulated with characters. The ending appeared to be contrived as well and perhaps the author just ran out of steam. FWFTB: unquiet, river, spirits, sinister, eldritch. FCN:Alaan, Elise Wills, Hafydd , Toren Renn, Cynddl.
October 7, 2012
The concluding volume of the Swan's War trilogy. The Shadow Roads continues the story of the previous two books, with the families of the Renne and Wills pursuing their ancient feud and the otherworldly powers of the dark knight Hafydd complicating matters. As the characters attempt to navigate the treacherous world they inhabit, many characters are forced into unexpected roles and others encounter situations which test their bravery and courage. While an okay read, I am disappointed with this series overall and can't say I could recommend this to others.
November 3, 2012
While I enjoyed the series as a whole, I found the ending slightly anti-climatic. Perhaps I was expecting a real clash for the inevitable battle scenes at the end but found them a little underwhelming. Then again, battles are usually better viewed than written about and perhaps it was not the author's intended focus as they were so abbreviated. I did enjoy the history of the world Sean Russell created, the storytellers and myriad mythos.
February 26, 2008
I finally finished this series today and overall I would say I was disappointed with the series. There were intriguing elements, but I feel the author attempted to have too much going on so at times the book was muddled. This third book in the series was probably the best and I was looking forward to the end, but when it came, I again felt it was overly complicated.
October 10, 2012
It's been a very long time that I felt sad because there are no unread pages left in a book. It's been a wonderful read. Great story, wonderful language, lovable characters with a real development. I want to read more about all of them.
These books go to my favourite-books-forever-list right now. :)
If you like fantasy and love good writing, get the books and read them right away.
These books go to my favourite-books-forever-list right now. :)
If you like fantasy and love good writing, get the books and read them right away.
April 18, 2012
Good ending. Almost And they all lived happy after. Except some died, other are struggling with the meaning of life, and the whole kingdom was turned upside down. It was cool to see all paries converge, although the final epic battle could have been more epic.
August 14, 2014
I struggled to work my way through this book as I was simply reading it to see how the whole trilogy tied together at the end. The only reason I managed to take the book to its slightly disappointing/predictable conclusion, was because I had a Robin Hobb book waiting for my attention next.
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