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Sword in Exile #3
Sword and Shadow
After generations of exile from their enchanted island home by dark sorcery, the Celae are given a chance to return when twin princes--Prince Rowen the sorcerer and Prince Acaren, the destined ruler--join forces with their soulmates to venture to the forbidden isle to find two mystical swords, Heartfire and Soulshadow, in order to fulfill their destiny. Original.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 2, 2024
sarebbe la copia degli altri 5 se non fosse che almeno stavolta è finita!!!
Ci sono malattie incurabili di cui nessuno parla..
Chiunque canti male si è sentito dire che è solo questione di educare la voce, che tutti possono cantare bene e che non esistono x davvero persone stonate, ma è una bugia e noi stonati lo sappiamo bene, la nostra è una malattia congenita!
puoi contenere un pò i sintomi, puoi sforzarti ma poi alla radio passa quella canzone da cantare a SCHIATTACORE ed ecco la prima stecca e poi la seconda e poi i cani del vicinato iniziano ad ululare!
Un altra malattia congenita e assolutamente incurabile è l'incapacità di mollare un libro..
malattia che si acuisce con trilogie e serie e a cui soccombi definitivamente quando finisci il secondo libro (statisticamente il peggiore)
Puoi fare self-help, puoi chiuderti in bagno e ripetere al te stesso nello specchio che chiuderai un brutto libro x non riaprirlo mai più e a volte ci riuscirai (anche se tormenterà i tuoi pensieri per giorni) ma il più delle volte continuerai a leggere CONTRO LA TUA VOLONTA'
Combatterai fino all'emorragia interna ma sempre leggendo,
ti gocciolerà il sangue dal naso e leggerai ancora,
ti uscirà il sangue dalle orecchie e andrai avanti di un capitolo e un altro,
da ultimo piangerai lacrime di sangue e non vedendo più niente saprai di poter finalmente smettere...
ma in genere a quel punto sarai comunque arrivato alla fine...
FINE.
Ci sono malattie incurabili di cui nessuno parla..
Chiunque canti male si è sentito dire che è solo questione di educare la voce, che tutti possono cantare bene e che non esistono x davvero persone stonate, ma è una bugia e noi stonati lo sappiamo bene, la nostra è una malattia congenita!
puoi contenere un pò i sintomi, puoi sforzarti ma poi alla radio passa quella canzone da cantare a SCHIATTACORE ed ecco la prima stecca e poi la seconda e poi i cani del vicinato iniziano ad ululare!
Un altra malattia congenita e assolutamente incurabile è l'incapacità di mollare un libro..
malattia che si acuisce con trilogie e serie e a cui soccombi definitivamente quando finisci il secondo libro (statisticamente il peggiore)
Puoi fare self-help, puoi chiuderti in bagno e ripetere al te stesso nello specchio che chiuderai un brutto libro x non riaprirlo mai più e a volte ci riuscirai (anche se tormenterà i tuoi pensieri per giorni) ma il più delle volte continuerai a leggere CONTRO LA TUA VOLONTA'
Combatterai fino all'emorragia interna ma sempre leggendo,
ti gocciolerà il sangue dal naso e leggerai ancora,
ti uscirà il sangue dalle orecchie e andrai avanti di un capitolo e un altro,
da ultimo piangerai lacrime di sangue e non vedendo più niente saprai di poter finalmente smettere...
ma in genere a quel punto sarai comunque arrivato alla fine...
FINE.
April 19, 2019
Sword and Shadow is the concluding book of the Sword in Exile Trilogy by Ann Marston. The books is 342 pages long with 35 chapters plus a prologue and epilogue. The cover calls it a spectacular conclusion, I'd call it more of a wrap-up.
First, the book is written in third person. In all of Ann Marston's books that I have reviewed I've mentioned her first person tales are far superior to her third person tales. I also mentioned in my review of King of Shadows I was hoping for more of Iowen and wondering about her romance with Cynric.
Further reading will reveal endings to previous books by Marston. Unfortunately, at the introduction of Sword and Shadows, seven years have passed and Iowen is dead, along with her infant. Everyone holds Iowen in such high regard, but its been so long since I read the previous book, I don't remember her too well. Cynric is still alive, caring for the children of Athelin, Iowen's brother and the current exiled Prince of Skai. One problem I had was Sword and Shadows spoke of Iowen's love of her brothers, Athelin and Caenedd. However, I don't remember them at all from the previous book. Somehow this seemed quite incongruous.
By this sixth book in the series (combining the two trilogies of Rune Blade and Sword in Exile), we've had 6 generations descending from Red Kian of Skai. This is where I appreciate the geneology chart at the beginning because who is who can get a little confusing at this point. Remembering the heroes of the stories and their specific tales also gets a little confusing as well. This book does include bardic tales and "sight" dreams that help the reader remember the important stories.
What are the important stories? Basically the stories of Tiernyn and Donaugh, the twins, the King of Celi and his Enchanter. As well as the stories of the line of Tiernyn and that an uncrowned King of Celi does exist.
Our focus is on twin brothers Acaren and Rowan, sons of Athelin and his bheancoran and wife, Dorlaine. The book starts when they are seven years old, and hearing the stories of Champion and Kaith to the coming King and Enchanter. They know they will be Champion and Kaith. We also learn of the birth of Ceitryn, their sister. Eight years pass and we read the tales of their coming of age (two very condensed years). Then somehow I get lost. I know another 7 years pass, but really cannot tell when or where this happens. It's not specifically outlined until Rowan mentioned his age. The reader is thinking, "I thought he was still 17." This is an annoying flaw to this book.
Another confusing bit is surrounding Iowen's death. At first, we are led to believe she died during a Maedun raid on Skerry. Well, this is partly true, but it wasn't the cause. Later we find out she died during childbirth, but not really during; she died afterward from bleeding. It was quite confusing for much of the book.
Marston does a good job of laying certain twists and hiding them, for awhile. When she starts including the random thoughts of Caenedd, the truth becomes clear, even though it isn't revealed until much later in the book.
From the beginning we know that the uncrowned King of Celi will return and drive the Maedun from Celi. I was waiting for that part of the story the whole time. Those type of scenes in Martson's previous books, specifically The Western King and Broken Blade, were really good writing and quite emotion provoking. Unfortunately, those parts are a few page wrap-up at the end of the book.
This book really is the tale of young Acaren and Rowan. Marston strove to make those characters their own people with their own stories. We get only a small view of Celi after the King emerges. It was an ok book, but a little disappointing. I also really did not feel emotionally involved. Previous books caused me to cry and laugh out loud. I did neither with this book. I probably wouldn't recommend this book by itself. However, I so highly recommend the very first book in the entire series, Kingmaker's Sword, that you will eventually feel the need to read this one.
First, the book is written in third person. In all of Ann Marston's books that I have reviewed I've mentioned her first person tales are far superior to her third person tales. I also mentioned in my review of King of Shadows I was hoping for more of Iowen and wondering about her romance with Cynric.
Further reading will reveal endings to previous books by Marston. Unfortunately, at the introduction of Sword and Shadows, seven years have passed and Iowen is dead, along with her infant. Everyone holds Iowen in such high regard, but its been so long since I read the previous book, I don't remember her too well. Cynric is still alive, caring for the children of Athelin, Iowen's brother and the current exiled Prince of Skai. One problem I had was Sword and Shadows spoke of Iowen's love of her brothers, Athelin and Caenedd. However, I don't remember them at all from the previous book. Somehow this seemed quite incongruous.
By this sixth book in the series (combining the two trilogies of Rune Blade and Sword in Exile), we've had 6 generations descending from Red Kian of Skai. This is where I appreciate the geneology chart at the beginning because who is who can get a little confusing at this point. Remembering the heroes of the stories and their specific tales also gets a little confusing as well. This book does include bardic tales and "sight" dreams that help the reader remember the important stories.
What are the important stories? Basically the stories of Tiernyn and Donaugh, the twins, the King of Celi and his Enchanter. As well as the stories of the line of Tiernyn and that an uncrowned King of Celi does exist.
Our focus is on twin brothers Acaren and Rowan, sons of Athelin and his bheancoran and wife, Dorlaine. The book starts when they are seven years old, and hearing the stories of Champion and Kaith to the coming King and Enchanter. They know they will be Champion and Kaith. We also learn of the birth of Ceitryn, their sister. Eight years pass and we read the tales of their coming of age (two very condensed years). Then somehow I get lost. I know another 7 years pass, but really cannot tell when or where this happens. It's not specifically outlined until Rowan mentioned his age. The reader is thinking, "I thought he was still 17." This is an annoying flaw to this book.
Another confusing bit is surrounding Iowen's death. At first, we are led to believe she died during a Maedun raid on Skerry. Well, this is partly true, but it wasn't the cause. Later we find out she died during childbirth, but not really during; she died afterward from bleeding. It was quite confusing for much of the book.
Marston does a good job of laying certain twists and hiding them, for awhile. When she starts including the random thoughts of Caenedd, the truth becomes clear, even though it isn't revealed until much later in the book.
From the beginning we know that the uncrowned King of Celi will return and drive the Maedun from Celi. I was waiting for that part of the story the whole time. Those type of scenes in Martson's previous books, specifically The Western King and Broken Blade, were really good writing and quite emotion provoking. Unfortunately, those parts are a few page wrap-up at the end of the book.
This book really is the tale of young Acaren and Rowan. Marston strove to make those characters their own people with their own stories. We get only a small view of Celi after the King emerges. It was an ok book, but a little disappointing. I also really did not feel emotionally involved. Previous books caused me to cry and laugh out loud. I did neither with this book. I probably wouldn't recommend this book by itself. However, I so highly recommend the very first book in the entire series, Kingmaker's Sword, that you will eventually feel the need to read this one.
June 10, 2013
Picked this up for a buck at Goodwill. It's a solid example of fantasy set in a Celtic-themed world. It was slightly disappointing to find out this was the last of the series (I hate spoiling the end for myself) but I picked up sale versions of both the first trilogy and the first two books of this trilogy.
I did find myself occasionally tripping over some of the terms in the novel (which were clearly established earlier in the series), and I wouldn't say the writing blew me out of the water, but it was solid and worth a read if you're not feeling particularly critical.
I did find myself occasionally tripping over some of the terms in the novel (which were clearly established earlier in the series), and I wouldn't say the writing blew me out of the water, but it was solid and worth a read if you're not feeling particularly critical.
June 23, 2015
I enjoyed all 6 of these books, but I don't think they should be read one right after the other because the author overuses some adjectives and phrases and there is a little bit of redundancy if you read them all together in a block. Take a break between books so you can forget how often she's already used "like a wraith" or "where he ended and she began" or, "*name*, Your back!" Just a few little annoyances that probably wouldn't have been so annoying had I taken a break in between books.
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March 23, 2025Amazing! My absolute favourite fantasy series
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews