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Moontide and Magic Rise #2
Sea without a Shore
Sent by the palace on a voyage halfway around the world, Tristam finds himself led by a mysterious white bird--which may be the ghost of his uncle's familiar--to a remote island in the middle of a vast ocean, where the natives have clearly been awaiting his coming. And it soon becomes all too obvious to Tristam that his course was set by no living man.
598 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1996
7 people are currently reading
383 people want to read
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 - 27 of 27 reviews
January 24, 2017
NOTE: This is identical to my review for World Without End because these two books are part of the same series
World Without End by Sean Russell and its sequel, Sea Without a Shore, were one of my most treasured discoveries of the 90s. They’re a combination of political intrigue, adventure thriller, nautical adventure, and regency set in a world at the dawn of its scientific revolution, and the author pulls it off quite well. This world resembles ours of Issac Newton or Captain James Cook’s day – it even has analogues of our England, France, and Germany – but with one important exception. In this world, mages did exist. They dwelt apart from society, left alone because of their very real power. Then, a generation or two before the events of the story, they stopped training successors, took steps to ensure that their arts could never be recovered, and became extinct. Why, you may wonder, would they do such a thing? This question is central to the story. And the author offers clues so cleverly and well that you owe it to yourself to read it.
The book has several other qualities that make it stand out. The characters are engaging – people you can admire, and wouldn’t mind getting to know. They also behave in a realistic fashion. When someone shoots an arrow at one, he doesn’t suddenly produce a sword from nowhere and turn into Dorgon, the Mighty Warrior. Instead he thinks, “Wow, those chappies just tried to kill us! We’d better clear out!” Finally, in a world full of books about powerful enchantresses, noble knights, stalwart barbarians, sorcerous children seeking their lost inheritance... and yes, Dorgon, the Mighty Warrior... its great to come across a story that really is different, and well-written too.
World Without End by Sean Russell and its sequel, Sea Without a Shore, were one of my most treasured discoveries of the 90s. They’re a combination of political intrigue, adventure thriller, nautical adventure, and regency set in a world at the dawn of its scientific revolution, and the author pulls it off quite well. This world resembles ours of Issac Newton or Captain James Cook’s day – it even has analogues of our England, France, and Germany – but with one important exception. In this world, mages did exist. They dwelt apart from society, left alone because of their very real power. Then, a generation or two before the events of the story, they stopped training successors, took steps to ensure that their arts could never be recovered, and became extinct. Why, you may wonder, would they do such a thing? This question is central to the story. And the author offers clues so cleverly and well that you owe it to yourself to read it.
The book has several other qualities that make it stand out. The characters are engaging – people you can admire, and wouldn’t mind getting to know. They also behave in a realistic fashion. When someone shoots an arrow at one, he doesn’t suddenly produce a sword from nowhere and turn into Dorgon, the Mighty Warrior. Instead he thinks, “Wow, those chappies just tried to kill us! We’d better clear out!” Finally, in a world full of books about powerful enchantresses, noble knights, stalwart barbarians, sorcerous children seeking their lost inheritance... and yes, Dorgon, the Mighty Warrior... its great to come across a story that really is different, and well-written too.
December 29, 2017
Reading this book makes it obvious that this series was probably originally one book that the publishers split into two to make it more manageable. The problem is, it screws with the pacing. The main plot seems to get lost in this book, consumed by the fast-paced political intrigue subplot that barely featured in the first book.
The exciting journey promised by the back of the book never really manifests and Tristam feels more like a side character, caught in someone else's story. The agency robbed from him early in the first book never returns. In fact, most of the characters seem to be acting within the framework of some larger plan, so most of their decisions don't seem to matter. There are even a few random threads that never come to anything because some larger force takes command of the situation.
But my biggest complaint about this book is the random interludes by the male characters chastising themselves for inappropriate sexual attraction, which they then justify by reassuring themselves that they are men and this is normal. Why a man lusting after a character that could be his granddaughter is relevant to the plot, I'll never understand. There's a definite obsession with age and youth in this story, but the sexualization of it is creepy.
If you can get past the wonky pacing and weird creepy interludes, there is some interesting political intrigue and some cool magical lore, and the author's descriptions remain fluid and vivid. But overall I was more frustrated with this book than satisfied.
The exciting journey promised by the back of the book never really manifests and Tristam feels more like a side character, caught in someone else's story. The agency robbed from him early in the first book never returns. In fact, most of the characters seem to be acting within the framework of some larger plan, so most of their decisions don't seem to matter. There are even a few random threads that never come to anything because some larger force takes command of the situation.
But my biggest complaint about this book is the random interludes by the male characters chastising themselves for inappropriate sexual attraction, which they then justify by reassuring themselves that they are men and this is normal. Why a man lusting after a character that could be his granddaughter is relevant to the plot, I'll never understand. There's a definite obsession with age and youth in this story, but the sexualization of it is creepy.
If you can get past the wonky pacing and weird creepy interludes, there is some interesting political intrigue and some cool magical lore, and the author's descriptions remain fluid and vivid. But overall I was more frustrated with this book than satisfied.
January 8, 2017
It's been 8 months or so since I read the prequel to this book, and I immensely regret it. Despite Tristam Flattery being the main character, he plays a surprisingly small role in the book. The majority of the novel was preoccupied with the politics of Farrland, and I do mean a majority of the book. This made it really hard to get into the book initially, since while I remembered Tristam and his adventures, I didn't remember half of the supporting cast, all who had lead roles in the struggle to reclaim magic. I thought the strongest part of the book was its ending - - all were very satisfying. Still, it took a while to get there and learning to navigate the names of all the people involved in the three different fractions. Overall, I think I enjoyed the first book the most, as it did so much world building and setting up the mystery of the Kingsfoil, while the second book focused mostly on political maneuvering.
December 10, 2016
To be fair, I read this book piecemeal over a long time and it's a very complex book with a lot of political intrigue and characters. So, with long periods of time between readings, I found myself forgetting subplots and characters. If one were to have more time to sit down and read this, it might be rated higher.
November 2, 2024
Sea without a Shore by Sean Russell is a fantasy book which set in a Victoria- esque world, where magic is existed but it is obscure to people in the world. Not like the first, World Without the End, the plots are not only focus on Tristam also on his cousin Jaismy and other characters. World without The End is a story about Triastm’s voyage to seeking the magic seeds from other island. But this book is the conclusion of the whole story about the magic and the other worlds and the forbidden knowledge that should be prohibited using it by any one. The plots moves a little bit faster than the first book. But it introduces multitudes of new characters to readers and what are their motivations behind the throne of the king. I don’t know why the author does it but I don’t think it is good to do so because it is hard to assimilate the info about the new characters which we barely know in the first book. They seem playing the role of concluding this melancholy story to readers. Those characters aren’t appealing to me unfortunately, I think only Tristam is the only character I was interested in the book.
The writing is fluent and fit to the slow pacing story. Some descriptions of the islands which Tristam traverse to are fascinating to me to read. Even the pacing is still slow but I am found of what Russel’s way of telling the story.
Tristam became a magician in the end of the story and it is not a blessing but more like a curse to him, the transformation is the symbol of the results of the two worlds. The ending beautifully portrays a new born magician left the known world behind, following a new world ahead.
Personal rating: 7.75 out of 10.
The writing is fluent and fit to the slow pacing story. Some descriptions of the islands which Tristam traverse to are fascinating to me to read. Even the pacing is still slow but I am found of what Russel’s way of telling the story.
Tristam became a magician in the end of the story and it is not a blessing but more like a curse to him, the transformation is the symbol of the results of the two worlds. The ending beautifully portrays a new born magician left the known world behind, following a new world ahead.
Personal rating: 7.75 out of 10.
October 16, 2020
Fjong og lækker roman. Plottet tager for alvor fart, hvilket måske også er meget fair, da det er afslutningen på serien.
April 5, 2008
Almost from the beginning of this book, I was thinking, "Now the story is *really* getting good." All the ground was laid and the many threads created in the first volume, and at last things really began to move in this second book. I had long spells where I really didn't want to put it down, as the story took another twist or a new character came into play, who you'd thought was involved with one group but turned out to be involved with a different one.
To my great delight, we saw a lot more of Tristam's (the main character's) cousin, Jaimy. In fact he and his fiancee, Alissa, were probably the most realistically-portrayed (and interestingly-portrayed) characters in the book. You got inside them, feeling their emotions, living the story with them.
When we did get back to the main character, off on the distant island, there was the same uneasy feeling that although he was supposed to be experiencing huge emotional upheavals himself, we were observing them from outside rather than being inside his head with him. So although I loved the character, and felt quite bad for him at the end, I could never quite escape the feeling that we were reading ABOUT him, while we were living WITH Jaimy and Alissa.
But what actually happened to Tristam, and to the people back home, was intriguing and complicated. Even though I felt that the "bad guys" were shoved aside a bit too easily before the final intriguing, complicated, and magical stuff happened, I still just couldn't lay the book down till it was all over. So after the rather slow, overly-gradual beginning in the first volume, I felt that the second book redeemed the story considerably.
To my great delight, we saw a lot more of Tristam's (the main character's) cousin, Jaimy. In fact he and his fiancee, Alissa, were probably the most realistically-portrayed (and interestingly-portrayed) characters in the book. You got inside them, feeling their emotions, living the story with them.
When we did get back to the main character, off on the distant island, there was the same uneasy feeling that although he was supposed to be experiencing huge emotional upheavals himself, we were observing them from outside rather than being inside his head with him. So although I loved the character, and felt quite bad for him at the end, I could never quite escape the feeling that we were reading ABOUT him, while we were living WITH Jaimy and Alissa.
But what actually happened to Tristam, and to the people back home, was intriguing and complicated. Even though I felt that the "bad guys" were shoved aside a bit too easily before the final intriguing, complicated, and magical stuff happened, I still just couldn't lay the book down till it was all over. So after the rather slow, overly-gradual beginning in the first volume, I felt that the second book redeemed the story considerably.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 14, 2009
Magic passes from the world. Sort of. They might have to kill Tristam. I really like Sean Russel's characters' non-bloodthirstiness. Made me realise how amoral most fantasy characters are, even the supposedly good ones. His take after Frodo.
Like the previous set, left me slightly cool: interested in what was happening, but emotionally unengaged. Although, I did stay up til 4 am reading it... Maybe not so unengaged. Or maybe I was just sleepless.
I really liked Kent, and the prince. I would have liked to have seen more of the prince.
The sea did have a perfectly good shore. They didn't even have much trouble finding it. And the idea that they'd spend the whole book aboard a boat had put me off reading it for quite a while... Oh well. The boat was OK but I preferred the land scenes, the court, the politics.
Like the previous set, left me slightly cool: interested in what was happening, but emotionally unengaged. Although, I did stay up til 4 am reading it... Maybe not so unengaged. Or maybe I was just sleepless.
I really liked Kent, and the prince. I would have liked to have seen more of the prince.
The sea did have a perfectly good shore. They didn't even have much trouble finding it. And the idea that they'd spend the whole book aboard a boat had put me off reading it for quite a while... Oh well. The boat was OK but I preferred the land scenes, the court, the politics.
June 7, 2008
The second half of the story started in World Without End, Sea without Shore is the part with all the payoff. When I first read the books, I remember loving them, but having a vague feeling of dissatisfaction with the finale. As I have rereead the book through the years, I have isolated the source of my disquiet, and I realize it's the desire for a slightly more happily ever after ending. This book doesn't have one, not really.
Some of the antagonists don't end as badly as you'd hope. Some of the protagonists are definately not rewarded for their struggles. Some of them are. It's above everything, a real book. This is the way things really end, and I think Sean Russell went a long ways towards priming me for George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones.
Some of the antagonists don't end as badly as you'd hope. Some of the protagonists are definately not rewarded for their struggles. Some of them are. It's above everything, a real book. This is the way things really end, and I think Sean Russell went a long ways towards priming me for George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones.
February 22, 2009
This book was pretty different than the first. It was told from other character's points of view much more. Tristam was on the other side of the world, and events were happening that affected both places. It also took longer to read because there were so many characters plotting, and I had to pay attention to who was on what side. I guess the author is Canadian and is well known, though I hadn't heard of him before.
September 25, 2014
This book was fascinating (you have to read both, it's one story). The premise was interesting, the cast of characters was eclectic, the mysteries were both explained enough by the end and also left mysterious enough. It's a tough balancing act, especially in a book where all the characters are pretty ordinary (almost all of the extraordinary characters are off-screen). I really liked it, and would read it again.
September 24, 2018
I very much enjoyed Russell's previous foray into fantasy (Gatherer of Clouds, etc.), and this story has all the pageantry and epic scale of that one. I'm very impressed yet again with his ability to quickly move from what seems a smaller, less involved tale into an expanded multiple-level plot.
I will certainly be continuing the series. It's not as good as Gatherer, I think, but it's worth the read.
I will certainly be continuing the series. It's not as good as Gatherer, I think, but it's worth the read.
April 7, 2013
This duet of books had an at times annoyingly ponderous pacing and yet was a worthwhile read. The main character, Tristam, is engaging and I rather enjoyed the novelty of setting a fantasy story in the European age of exploration (or something like it).
May 20, 2008
Not quite as good as World without End, but still very worth while. Don't bother reading this unless you've read the first - this is NOT a series you can pick up in the middle.
May 3, 2011
See my review of World Without End....
August 4, 2011
Well, I liked this one better than part 1, and was compelled to keep reading. However, when I was done I felt rather "meh" about the whole experience.
March 6, 2012
Second of two. Not quite as good as the first book - mainly because the first book came first.
October 7, 2018
Love how Russell writes. He is usually quite good with character development and storyline. World Without End was better than Sea Without a Shore. He had a great set up in book one and then failed to deliver. The most annoying aspect was his ongoing "getting old is awful" theme. Half of his characters openly obsessed about aging, over and over again. Ok, we get it. It was beaten to death. There were a lot of plot points that were dropped, or barely resolved. Without spoilers - towards then end one character asks another, "Hey, that thing that happened in that place - what exactly happened?" "Dunno." That "thing that happened in that place" was long and actually a really important part of the book - until it wasn't. The book was 598 pages - he had plenty of room to explain things. I will still continue to read Russell. I have liked his stories, character development, and writing up until this point.
September 18, 2025
This was just the second half begun in *World Without End*. After eight months, I was struggling to remember details and nuance. That’s on me, since I left it so long, but it really does pick up just where WWE left off.
That said, I liked it but I was disappointed by it. The world, politics, intrigue, and adventure were super cool and really well done. But the scope was so broad, the cast of characters so big, that I was left dissatisfied by what was left out. Though fitting, the ending was melancholy, and seemed poor repayment for 1000+ pages of commitment. I’m not sorry I read it, but it was kind of a bummer the way things ended.
That said, I liked it but I was disappointed by it. The world, politics, intrigue, and adventure were super cool and really well done. But the scope was so broad, the cast of characters so big, that I was left dissatisfied by what was left out. Though fitting, the ending was melancholy, and seemed poor repayment for 1000+ pages of commitment. I’m not sorry I read it, but it was kind of a bummer the way things ended.
December 19, 2024
This part sees a bit more action than the first one. That is good.
But the part of Tristan is a lot smaller. Instead the focus lies more on the intrigue at court, which I found less interesting. You are also kept in dark about what is really going on too long and that made it less interesting for me.
I liked his Initiate brother series better.
But the part of Tristan is a lot smaller. Instead the focus lies more on the intrigue at court, which I found less interesting. You are also kept in dark about what is really going on too long and that made it less interesting for me.
I liked his Initiate brother series better.
February 15, 2021
I stumbled across this book 10 or 15 years ago..
The writing was so good I didn’t care that I understood any of it. ( second in a series also)
I need to get the rest of them and read in order to see if I get it this time.
The writing was so good I didn’t care that I understood any of it. ( second in a series also)
I need to get the rest of them and read in order to see if I get it this time.
November 2, 2025
Very well written and therefore I am sad to see the Moontide and Magic Rise series come to an end (although the ending was quite satisfactory). Thank goodness I have the "prequel" series (River Into Darkness) ahead of me!
did-not-finish-or-start
June 19, 2023DNS 6/19/23
May 5, 2024
Pretty freaking sweet
April 26, 2009
The first book (World Without End) was captivating, but this book left something to be desired. It just went on and on bringing in numerous characters that I couldn't bring myself to care about. I wish he had stuck to the format of the first book.
June 13, 2024
Tristam is on a voyage to a faraway island, a land of legend, which defies his rational beliefs and plunges him into a magical world, where he finds that it is up to him to decide whether to open a dangerous door which had been closed at much cost, or to keep that magical gateway forever locked.
July 6, 2024
Read again July 5,2025
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews