From Publishers Weekly
In the land of Ayr two noble families, the Renn‚ and the Wills, fight for political advantage in this sprawling first volume in a new high fantasy series distinguished by intelligent characters and believable politics. The Renn‚ noblemen set out on a path of treachery, conceiving a plan to murder one of their own at the Westbrook Fair and, by so doing, frame the other family. The Wills plan an equally heinous act; they want to force a spunky young noblewoman to marry a handsome but subjugated prince, in order to produce an heir who'll be their puppet on the throne. Meanwhile, Tam, Fynnol and Baore, three young cousins of supposed peasant background, believing themselves far removed from the politics of the nobles, blithely set out from their sheltered homes in the Vale to make their fortunes. But when they encounter Alaan, a mysterious rogue with a charming demeanor, all their plans go awry. Supernatural forces cause paths and tributaries to mysteriously and unpredictably open, channeling the travelers into unforeseen lands and onto heretofore hidden islands, with hazardous results. Inevitably, all paths lead to the Westbrook Fair. Russell (River Into Darkness) so neatly interweaves the supernatural characters into the story that the magical elements seem an organic part of the history being made. This a perfectly plotted, beautifully written fantasy. Agent, Howard Morhaim. (Feb. 8)Forecast: With rights already sold to Germany and the U.K., for six figures each, as well as a strong blurbs from Stephen Donaldson, Robin Hobb and Janny Wurts, plus a three-city author tour, this novel looks to be on the fantasy fast track.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-Two sons and a daughter were born to King Wyrr of Ayr. The Swans (as they were known) ended up either killing one another or disappearing to parts unknown. This first book in a new fantasy series starts more than a century after the war that was caused for lack of a successor to King Wyrr's throne. Running beneath a strained peace is a deep hatred between the royal houses of Renn‚ and Wills. Running through the land is a strange river as twisted as the plots hatched by the characters. Toren Renn‚ pushes for peace through diplomacy. His cousins plan to kill him using arrows stolen from the Willses. Elise Wills resists marriage arrangements concocted by relatives bent on amassing a war-size army. In the boondocks, Tam and his buddies strike out for adventure down the river to sell battlefield artifacts. Eventually, Tam realizes that he is on a quest to find answers about his dead father. Encounters with the mazelike river and its spirits conjure up feelings familiar to anyone who has been caught in the woods at twilight. Stories within stories are either revealed or hinted at in a tantalizing fashion. While there is a resolution to Toren's and Elise's predicaments, there are many questions left unanswered. Even with its remarkable depth, the book is fairly easy to follow. Once caught up in Russell's newly created world, readers will undoubtedly be eager to return for more.Sheila Shoup, Fairfax County Public Library, VACopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
As the succession to the kingdom of Ayr lies in dispute, two feuding families become embroiled in plots and schemes to acquire the throne. Against the backdrop of impending war, a storyteller, a blind minstrel, a mysterious rogue, and a young woman bent on making her own choices find their destinies intertwined with the working out of ancient legends. Skillful storytelling and engaging characters recommend this series opener by the author of River into Darkness for most fantasy collections. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
The cataclysm began more than a century earlier, when the King of Ayr died before naming an heir to the throne, and damned his realm to chaos. The cold-blooded conspiracies of the Renne and the Wills -- each family desirous of the prize of rule -- would sunder the one kingdom, and spawn generations of hatred and discord.Now Toren Renne, leader of his great and troubled house, dreams of peace -- a valiant desire that has spawned hostility among his kinsmen, and vicious internal plots against his life. In the opposing domain, Elise Wills's desire for freedom is to be crushed, as an unwanted marriage to an ambitious and sinister lord looms large. As always, these machinations of nobles are affecting the everyday lives of the common folk -- and feeding a bonfire of animosity that has now trapped an unsuspecting young Valeman Tam and two fortune-hunting friends from the North in its high, killing flames.But the closer Toren comes to achieving his great goal of uniting two enemy houses, the more treachery flowers. Nobles and mystics alike conspire to keep the realm divided, knowing that only in times of strife can their power grow.And perhaps the source of an unending misery lies before an old king's passing, beyond the scope of history, somewhere lost in a fog of myth and magic roiling about an ancient enchanter named Wyrr -- who bequeathed to his children terrible gifts that would poison their lives...and their deaths. It is a cursed past and malevolent sorcery that truly hold the land, its people, and its would-be rulers bound. And before the already savaged kingdom can become one again, all Ayr will drown in a sea of blood.


About the Author
Sean Russell is rapidly establishing himself as one of the strongest and most important of the new epic fantasists. His previous works include the River into Darkness books The Compass of the Soul, Beneath the Vaulted Hills, the Moontide and Magic Rise books Sea Without a Shore, World Without End; and the novels Gatherer of Clouds and The Initiate Brother. Mr. Russell lives in Vancouver, BC, with his family.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Fans of high fantasy will be wholly engrossed in Sean Russell's exciting The One Kingdom, the first Book of the Swans' War trilogy. At the outset the King of Ayr has died without leaving an heir, and the kingdom lies in disarray as two noble houses compete for the throne. The Renné and the Wills families each consider the other to be without honor, and each family does everything they can to keep the feud alive and to gain ascendancy. Others throughout the kingdom, full of malice and greed, take advantage of the strife in order to seek personal power.

Young Lord Toren Renné extends a hand of friendship to the Wills, offering to return to them rich lands in exchange for peace. For these efforts, his own family plans to assassinate him on the eve of the great Tournament at Westbrook.

Meanwhile, Menwyn Wills plans to marry off his niece Lady Elise to one Prince Michael, to produce an heir who will sweep the Renné out of the succession. Michael is wary of his father's new counselor, Eremon, as mean a villain as they come, and is as reluctant as Elise to enter a marriage simply as a pawn for others.

Russell creates a magical backdrop to these tangled plots with the mystical legend of Wyrr, the ancient enchanter, who gathered the knowledge of all who died and who went into the river in the end, joining his spirit to the water's. Wyrr bequeathed to his children -- the warrior Caibre, the scholar Sainth, and the female warrior Sianon -- magical gifts with which they fought a mighty battle, but in death were transformed into nagar, or water spirits.

Interwoven into the conspiracies of the Wills and Renné families are the adventures of three Valemen: Tamlyn, Fynnol, and Baore. On their travels they meet the mysterious Alaan, who draws assassins as gold draws thieves. Before long, their fates are entwined with those of the nagar, who are still interested in the activities of the living for purposes of their own, and with that of Elise, who with Alaan's aid escapes Eremon in order to thwart the marriage plans.

Russell has created a rich tapestry in this tale. Besides the machinations of Alaan and Eremon, who will wreak havoc on the kingdom in their own private war, are the tales of the conscience-tormented Arden Renné; his cousin Llyn, who lives in seclusion within the castle; and the "story-finder" Cynddl. All of these characters, honorable and wicked, noble and common, will find their way into the great prophecy foreshadowed in a weaving by the gypsylike Fáel. The action-filled climax hints at splendid delights and sorrows still to come. (Fiona Kelleghan)

Fiona Kelleghan is a librarian at the University of Miami. Book reviews editor for Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, she has written reviews and articles for Science-Fiction Studies; Extrapolation; The New York Review of Science Fiction; Science Fiction Research Association Review; Nova Express; St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers; Magill's Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature; Neil Barron's Fantasy and Horror: A Critical and Historical Guide; Contemporary Novelists, 7th Edition; and American Women Writers. Her book Mike Resnick: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to His Work was published by Alexander Books in 2000.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The cataclysm began more than a century earlier, when the King of Ayr died before naming an heir to the throne, and damned his realm to chaos. The cold-blooded conspiracies of the Renne and the Wills — each family desirous of the prize of rule — would sunder the one kingdom, and spawn generations of hatred and discord.

Now Toren Renne, leader of his great and troubled house, dreams of peace — a valiant desire that has spawned hostility among his kinsmen, and vicious internal plots against his life. In the opposing domain, Elise Wills's desire for freedom is to be crushed, as an unwanted marriage to an ambitious and sinister lord looms large. As always, these machinations of nobles are affecting the everyday lives of the common folk — and feeding a bonfire of animosity that has now trapped an unsuspecting young Valeman Tam and two fortune-hunting friends from the North in its high, killing flames.

But the closer Toren comes to achieving his great goal of uniting two enemy houses, the more treachery flowers. Nobles and mystics alike conspire to keep the realm divided, knowing that only in times of strife can their power grow.

And perhaps the source of an unending misery lies before an old king's passing, beyond the scope of history, somewhere lost in a fog of myth and magic roiling about an ancient enchanter named Wyrr — who bequeathed to his children terrible gifts that would poison their lives...and their deaths. It is a cursed past and malevolent sorcery that truly hold the land, its people, and its would-be rulers bound. And before the already savaged kingdom can become one again, all Ayr will drown in a sea of blood.

FROM THE CRITICS

Robin Hobb

Magic and mystery blend in abundance with an intricate cast of engaging characters. The plot, like the River Wynnd itself, sweeps the reader into unpredictable and unexplored fantasy territory. An engrossing read.

Publishers Weekly

In the land of Ayr two noble families, the Renn and the Wills, fight for political advantage in this sprawling first volume in a new high fantasy series distinguished by intelligent characters and believable politics. The Renn noblemen set out on a path of treachery, conceiving a plan to murder one of their own at the Westbrook Fair and, by so doing, frame the other family. The Wills plan an equally heinous act; they want to force a spunky young noblewoman to marry a handsome but subjugated prince, in order to produce an heir who'll be their puppet on the throne. Meanwhile, Tam, Fynnol and Baore, three young cousins of supposed peasant background, believing themselves far removed from the politics of the nobles, blithely set out from their sheltered homes in the Vale to make their fortunes. But when they encounter Alaan, a mysterious rogue with a charming demeanor, all their plans go awry. Supernatural forces cause paths and tributaries to mysteriously and unpredictably open, channeling the travelers into unforeseen lands and onto heretofore hidden islands, with hazardous results. Inevitably, all paths lead to the Westbrook Fair. Russell (River Into Darkness) so neatly interweaves the supernatural characters into the story that the magical elements seem an organic part of the history being made. This a perfectly plotted, beautifully written fantasy. Agent, Howard Morhaim. (Feb. 8) Forecast: With rights already sold to Germany and the U.K., for six figures each, as well as a strong blurbs from Stephen Donaldson, Robin Hobb and Janny Wurts, plus a three-city author tour, this novel looks to be on the fantasy fast track. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

VOYA

In this first volume of a new series, The Swans' War, the reader meets the players. In the land called Ayr, the throne has been vacant for more than a century. Two clans, the Renne and the Wills, went to war over succession then and still feud now, tearing the land apart. Toren Renne, head of that family, wants to settle the feud peacefully, stirring some in his family to plot to kill him. Elise Wills tries to avoid an arranged marriage with the Prince of Innes, an alliance that would unite two families against the Renne. Eremon, counselor to the elder Prince of Innes, is really Haffyd, a man who has gained magical powers and seeks to destroy the Renne for his own ends. Caught between these two sides are Tam, Fynnol, and Baore, three young men from the Vale in the North, who just wanted a little adventure but find themselves fighting for their lives. Connecting all of them is Alaan, an enigmatic figure. Magic permeates all that occurs, adding to the foreboding nature of the story, which ends in a cliffhanger. Readers familiar with fantasy have met these characters before, but Russell succeeds in making them interesting as individuals. The book's leisurely pace might put off those who want a complete story, but readers who enjoy long epics, such as books in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, will welcome this new novel and wait impatiently for the next installment. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P S A/YA (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2001, EOS/HarperCollins, 463p, $25. Ages 15 to Adult. Reviewer: Kat Kan

Library Journal

As the succession to the kingdom of Ayr lies in dispute, two feuding families become embroiled in plots and schemes to acquire the throne. Against the backdrop of impending war, a storyteller, a blind minstrel, a mysterious rogue, and a young woman bent on making her own choices find their destinies intertwined with the working out of ancient legends. Skillful storytelling and engaging characters recommend this series opener by the author of River into Darkness for most fantasy collections. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal