Seventh Swan [Hardcover]

Nicholas Stuart Gray (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Dobson Books; First Edition edition (1962)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0234777133
• ISBN-13: 978-0234777138
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,985,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderous read for fairy tale lovers!, June 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Seventh Swan (Paperback)

Did you ever wonder what happened AFTER some of the fairy tales you've read? If you've read the story this answers--or even if you haven't!--this will be worth your time to read and enjoy.

I loved _The_Seventh_Swan_. Even though I've read it over and over, I always react to it with wonder and hope and love and sorrow. I think you will too. Every time I glance into it I get drawn into rereading the whole tale, and I am very glad to have found it. [I try to collect the tales in this publisher's series, because I've enjoyed several of them.]

You may be surprised by this fairy tale. I highly recommend it, from the characters to the clever insights to the witty comments. Unlike most traditional tales, the characters have names and personalities; by the time the pipe plays you will know them. I suspect you will cherish them.

I invite you into the world of fairy tales - come, step inside, be breathless with wonder. =smile=

Also, to pique your interest in Gaelic, the author includes a glossary of the phrases he used at the book's end. It's made me realize that I too could learn Gaelic; some of the endearments are my favorite phrases.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A flawed but ultimately moving tale, January 16, 2002

By 

Kelly (Fantasy Literature) (Columbia, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Seventh Swan (Paperback)

I had a hard time getting into _The Seventh Swan_ at first; I think Gray's writing style was the culprit. He jumps between points-of-view constantly, so it's hard to tell who's thinking what. After I got used to that, though, I found a moving story in this book.

Alasdair is the seventh swan-brother from the famous fairy tale, left with a swan's wing instead of one of his arms because his sister was unable to finish that last shirt in time. He is a young Scottish lord in this novel, incredibly handsome but shrouded in self-pity and the immaturity that comes from having such a strange "childhood". Since he lacks his sword-arm, he has a bodyguard, Ewen, a gruff mercenary who is both more kind and more haunted than he seems.

Alasdair also has a sweetheart, Fenella, who finds out about what ails him--and being an intrepid young lady, sets out immediately to find the magic to give him back his arm! But dangers await, and many dumb decisions are made by various characters, and misadventures ensue. We come to care for all of the characters. Although I would have preferred a different ending to the story, _The Seventh Swan_ was worth reading.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny post-fairytale sequel for children or adults, July 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Seventh Swan (Paperback)

Nicholas Stuart Gray asks the question, What happened to the poor seventh prince (of the Swan Princes) who had to go through the rest of his life with one arm and one wing? He writes the answer with charm and humor, thrown in with a liberal sprinkling of adventure and heroism. An unwelcome plot twist took one of the stars away from my review, but overall I loved this book when I picked it up at the library. It was very funny and interesting. Check out "Grimbold's Other World" for a 5-star N.S. Gray experience.