Isle of Battle (Swans War 2) [Paperback]

Sean Russell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2003 | Series: Swans War 2

In THE ONE KINGDOM, a group of young traders embarked on a quest to make their fortune. Journeying along the River Wynnd with a cargo of ancient artefacts, they soon discovered the world to be a far more complex place than they could ever have imagined. Alaan is trapped in the Stillwater - an eerie, fog-bound place hidden from the sun and shrouded in mystery. Tam and his friends must find him before it is too late. For Alaan is wounded and close to death, and his enemies, if they reach him first, will show no mercy. Set in a world in which magic and political intrigue collide, with unforgettable characters and brilliant storytelling, THE SWANS' WAR is a series destined to become a classic. Find out more about this title and others at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

With The Isle of Battle, the second book of the high- fantasy Swan's War trilogy, acclaimed novelist Sean Russell returns to the world of the Wynnd, a great river that does not always follow the maps and has tributaries in other worlds. The Isle of Battle continues the story of the archer Tam, his fellow Valemen Fynnol and Baore, and several other characters from The One Kingdom. The Valemen gain mysterious new allies and enemies as they search through otherworldly swamps and mountains for their fallen friend, the demigodlike Alaan, and seek to elude Alaan's more-than-mortal enemy and brother, the powerful and ruthless warrior-wizard, Hafydd.

Readers should not start the Swans' War with The Isle of Battle. It suffers the common trilogy malady of middle-book-itis: it doesn't greatly advance the overall plotline, and though it spends some time bringing readers up to speed on the backstory, it still swamps newcomers with multiple plotlines and characters. Also, the big cast means characterizations are often sketchy; the Valemen become almost interchangeable, and the powerful and intriguing Alaan rarely demonstrates these virtues, since he spends much of his time senseless from critical wounds. Furthermore, many readers will not be pleased that the book's vast cast includes only four women, with only two of them spending much time onstage (in the same body!). --Cynthia Ward --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In this enjoyable follow-up to the well-received first book in the Swans' War series, The One Kingdom (2001), Canadian author Russell (River into Darkness) offers more superior high fantasy, with a large cast of fully developed and carefully observed characters, many familiar from volume one. In order to escape a forced marriage, Lady Elise Wills has merged with the dark river spirit, Sianon, to the dismay of her intended, Prince Michael of Innes. With the three Valemen Tam, Fynnol and Baore she sets out to find the mysterious wanderer, Alaan, whom she hopes will help to reconcile her to her new powers and to defeat her enemy, the dark knight Hafydd. In his own quest for Alaan, Hafydd is not above using treachery, sorcery and guile to achieve his sinister goals. As the action ebbs and flows around the known lands of the Kingdom of Ayr as well as the hidden magical lands, the author explores traditional themes of good and evil, though not everything is strictly black and white. Just as all paths led to Westbrook Fair in the previous book, so do all the principals come together at the Isle of Battle, with the fate of the warring Renn‚ and Wills clans hanging in the balance. Despite the many disparate story threads, the narrative flows easily, building in intensity from a firm steady pace to a powerful climax that will keep the reader happily waiting for the next installment of this classically composed fantasy.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Orbit & Abacus (April 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841491934
• ISBN-13: 978-1841491936
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.6 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,058,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Trilogy, Really?????., September 6, 2003

By 

David "dtstrange" (Pleasant Hill, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Isle of Battle (The Swans' War, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is the second in the Swan's War Trilogy and should not be read without reading The One Kingdom first. Like the first book, The Isle of Battle follows the exploits of people in the mythical "Land Between the Mountains" as they try their best to deal with the resurgence of three ancient sorcerors who have all risen from the beyond to wreck havoc and discord upon the land. Or maybe not. The beauty of the story is that you are never quite sure who to trust or what their hidden motives are. The only sure thing is that the really, really bad sorceror (the others range from sort of good, to not so bad in some situations) is really, really bad and it is obvious that it will take the usual extreme effort of those involved to defeat him.

It's a pretty good book, full of adventure and a great deal of it takes place in an interesting enchanted swamp over which none of the characters have any control. While the book does not have a "cliffhanger" ending, it does sort of just stop as if it were the end of a chapter. I will look forward to reading the third one. The author has a nice writing style and his characters are interesting and believable. My only complaint is that toward the end of the book, the author threw in a subplot involving a fleeing noblemen which seemed unnecessary at the time and this story line was not brought to a proper conclusion in this book. I am sure that it will resurface in the next, whenever it comes out. Since the book is titled, "Book Two of the Swan's War", I was not sure if this story was going to turn into some Jordanesque neverending story, but the inside cover refers to the series as a "Trilogy", thereby giving me hope the story will actually end with the next book. Why don't more Fantasy authors try this approach?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Book 1= River; Book 2=Swamp. River Good; Swamp Bad, October 4, 2002

By 

"reedekullervo" (Edina, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Isle of Battle: Book Two of the Swans' War (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed Russell's opening book in the Swan's War Trilogy, The One Kingdom. It had a meandering pace that paralled his water and river themes with action coming fast and unexpected like rapids, or twisting through a quiet backwater and reveling some interesting character developments. If book 1 is about the magical River Wynnd, then unfortunately book 2 is all about a swamp, the aptly named Stillwater. And just like a stagnanting swamp his plot goes nowhere, his character development is as stunted as the trees and you are left thinking did I really need to spend 400+ pages slogging through this morass?

For all that the plot basically goes nowhere, the book does read suprisingly fast. Quick shifts to multiple story lines and short chapters disguise the basic dearth of plot. His language and descriptions are first rate and manage to carry you, if not the plot, along. Still, characters so well drawn in Book 1, particularly the Valemen and Alaan, phone in their performances here. Russell basically appears unable to juggle his growing cast of interesting characters and rather then give a few top billing, gives everyone short shrift. Which is sad because I think Russell is one of the few original fantasty writers working today. Perhaps his biggest problem is he's always been a two-book writer. Having to expand his story into three may be why number two feels as if it's just a placeholder. Let's hope the third book crawls out of the swamp and moves on to, oh, let's say an ocean. Deep, vast, mysterious and mercurial. I'd like book 3 to be like an ocean. Here's hoping Russell is listening.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars not bad for a second book, May 13, 2004

By 

T. Cogan "bring it on" (Chicago Area United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Isle of Battle (The Swans' War, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

For the second part of a trilogy, this was really good. The second book is always the hump you have to get over before the ending and its understandable that its not going to be the best since it doesn't have a true beginning or end.
However, this book does a good job tying the first book up and leading us into the next one due out in nov 2004. Characters from the first book get attention but its limited, as now there seems to be twice as many.
Anyone who complains about this must have forgotten that Tolkien, the reigning king and standard of fantasy, did the same thing with having more characters than the bible.
But while there are a lot of characters, its also importatnt to say there are a lot of good characters. Prince Michael, Ravenheart, Elise, Tam, Baore...fantastic personalities. After reading the second book, the 'good' people didn't seem all that good and the 'bad people' didn't seem all that terrible.

the concept of the book is worth the read. I disagree with people saying it doesn't move the story forward. It might meander a bit, but its still a page turner. Besides, if you're going to read the trilogy you really have to read the second book and I think this is well worth what I anticapte as an exciting end to a well-thought out journey. Russell has outdone himself with this trilogy. I can just feel it!