Rating: 
Summary: great epic fantasy
Review: Over a millennium ago, the great sorcerer Wyr gave himself up to the river Wynnd to sleep and dream. While he slept, two families, the Renne and the Wills family claimed the throne of Ayr. After many centuries there is no more kingdom or throne but the two feuding families and their respective families remain bitter enemies, with war periodically breaking out.For dynastic reasons Elise Wills is being forced to marry Prince Michael but rather than do it she jumps into the river and drowns. A water spirit Sianon grants her life again and the daughter of Wyr takes over part of Elise's spirit. She knows her brother Haffydd, once known as Caibre, the son of Wyr, realizes she has awakened and could stop his plans for war if he doesn't find her now. Both brother and sister, poised in a world on the brink of war, search for the mysterious Alaan because he holds the key to the kingdom's secrets. Sean Russell has brought epic fantasy to new heights. His characters are more goal-oriented than most fantasy figures. They know what they want and will go to any lengths to achieve it. Elise is the character readers empathize with the most, as she is torn between what she was and what she's become. Let's hope all the dangling threads and unanswered questions are explained in the next episode of this enchanting saga. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great
Review: Sean Russell's second book in the Swan's War series is a good sequel. It keeps the momentum going from One Kingdom, but it does not deepen the story by much.
First the good stuff: Russell's writing is very descriptive, and you get a good sense of place thoughout, whether castles, swamps or islands. In relation to most fantasy series, Russell's character's are fairly multi-dimensional (not Tolkein, but a good deal better than Robert Jordan). The pace of the story was also good, with the chase through the stillwater keeping me absorbed throughout. I even liked the side stories, (which some have said detract from the overall plot).
My main problem with this novel is not in the writing style, but rather in the concept. In the One Kingdom, it was refreshing to have only a few characters with powerful magical abilities who, while pivotal to the plot, did not take center stage in the story. This allowed for a view of Russell's world from the perspective of more human characters. In the Isle of Battle, the highly magical characters take center stage, and most of the others characters, who, having swelled in numbers since the first book, are shunted to the side. Basically the whole menagerie are swept along on the coat tails of the three least interesting characters in the book. Unfortunately, Russell has allowed his concept, a constrained system of magic (the three children of wyr, the greatest magician who ever lived, returning to life), to force the plot into a one dimensional course. While he does expand the magic system to some degree in this book (Sianth's friends, and wyr's brother), it is not enough to save the story. Russell seems to have forgotten that powerful characters can be central to the plot without taking over.
If you like the idea of constrained systems of magic... but DON'T like the magicians taking over the story read Guy Gavriel Kay's book Tigana (the magicians are pivotal to the plot, but are NOT the focus of the story).
All in all Isle of Battle is a good book, but not a great one.
Rating: 
Summary: Another excellent entry in THE SWANS WAR
Review: The Isle of Battle is an excellent continuation of Sean Russell's saga, The Swans' War, begun in The One Kingdom. Sean Russell has avoided what many writers who undertake series writing have not: middle-book syndrome. Often the middle book (or books) in a series is merely a place-holder, where some nondescript stuff happens. This is not the case with The Isle of Battle. Russell develops the story, develops the characters and delves more into the world he created in the preceding volume. As much magic and myth Russell imbued his world with in the first volume, more magic and myth are brought to the forefront in this part of the trilogy. He has embellished an already finely crafted world with the greater depth of lore and myth that sparkles off the pages. The world continues to show depth, life and a real sense of history. The discovery of the deeper myth and history of the land is one of the more enjoyable aspects of this novel, and the series thus far. The story of the warring Renné and Willis families continues to build momentum while taking interesting turns. Hints and minor and important details given in book one come to the forefront in this continuing novel. The scheming and alliances change quite a bit in this volume while the true orchestrateors come more fully into the light. Two characters stand out: Elise and Hayfdd. Elise grew from a woman of royalty and honor thrust into here situation into a strong woman who has come to more control of her path. The events that impacted her in the previous episode truly take effect in interesting and not so predictable ways. Hayfdd is just an interesting character, though he is opposing the protagonists with some dark intentions, he doesn't come across as the typical one-dimensional eeevil foil. As with the previous volume, and what else I've read of Russell's writing, the magic is handled with care and expertise. The magic is not in your face with spell-wielding wizards and every character in possession of a magical, all powerful weapon. It is magic that is mysterious and not explained in too much detail. The magic is in how legendary characters come to life and the reactions of characters such as Cyndll and Tam to these living legends. The enchanted places such as the River Wynnd and the titular Isle of Battle are shrouded in both mystery and conflict. These people and places are glowing with magic and a sense of wonder. Russell only gives the reader glimpses of the lore and magic he has imbued in his world. These glimpses make the world more alive, something that is more than what we think we know. One other thing that Russell should be commended for is including a brief synopsis of the previous volume in the opening "What Went Before" section. Often with series books, there is a lag between volumes of a year or more. It is nice to have this refresher prior to delving into the current volume. In summary, this is an excellent magical, resonating novel in and of itself and as a part of the larger tale being told in The Swans' War. Reader's who enjoyed Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn or any of Guy Gavriel Kay's will find Russell's writing as enchanting.
Rating:
Summary: A Trilogy, Really?????.
Review: 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?
Rating:
Summary: A Trilogy, Really?????.
Review: 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?
Rating:
Summary: A Trilogy, Really?????.
Review: 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?
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as The One Kingdom
Review: When I read Book 1 of the Swann's War (which I give 5 stars! - rare for me), I was more enthralled than I'd been since reading Lord of the Rings many years ago. Though very different in tone, the sweep of the plot and the detail of Russell's characterization seemed as epic as Tolkien's. I couldn't wait for the second book, but it has proved disappointing. Though there was plenty of action, the primary point seemed to be to give more history rather than advance the plot or develop the characters. I am far less attached to the characters than I was initially. I hope Book 3 redeems the trilogy!
Rating:
Summary: Hits the ground running!
Review: Wow...this is another great book. Alliances formed and broken, romances budding, sorcery and treachery about. Lots of action and great character moments make this a great read. All the familiar faces are back, and some not so familiar but just as interesting.
I can't wait for the third installment to be published. It can't come out soon enough!
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as The One Kingdom
Review: You're driving down the road, heading into some of the most beautiful scenery you've ever seen. It's fall, and the trees are gloriously orange, brown, and gold, the colours vibrantly hitting your eyes and washing over them. You think to yourself, "I could travel through here forever and it never would get old." Then, you hit the state line, but that's ok. The author of such beauty doesn't need to worry about arbitrary boundaries. He will continue to produce this breathtaking sight despite that. And sure enough, as you keep going down the road, the trees are the same, the mountains in the distance are the same, and you are content. Then, you start to notice something strange. The trees are cardboard cut-outs. The beautiful prairies surrounding you and leading up to the distant mountains look pleasant, but are really mud-filled and don't bear up to closer examination. As you drive along, you notice that this is seeming more incredibly fake with each passing mile, and all of the cut-outs are the same. Before, each tree was its own creation, but now it's not even a reasonable facsimile. Those are my feelings in a nutshell about The Isle of Battle, by Sean Russell. It's the second book in the Swans War trilogy. The first book is beautiful, full of wonderful metaphors about stories and how we create them. The second book, however, loses almost all of the magic of the first, abandoning the metaphor except for a few token references and concentrating on a war between ancient beings who have come back as avatars, inhabiting people in the present to continue their battle. This book starts right where the previous one left off, and I was enthralled. I even commented as such. But then, everything started feeling the same, Russell started using other characters that I didn't care about, and most of the main characters are stuck in one locale for almost the entire book. It started getting tedious, and the story metaphor that I so enjoyed seemed to have disappeared. What could have happened to cause such drastic changes? What's so different? The more I read of this book, the more I missed the characters I had grown to love in the first book. It's not that Russell does a bad job of characterization. He doesn't change the characters without them learning something or being changed by events. However, what he does is uses the surface of the characters that he had made so rich, making them part of a plot that doesn't really involve them, and doesn't make them grow. They are fairly stagnant in The Isle of Battle, and Russell concentrates on this ancient war. He doesn't neglect the situation between the Renné and the Wills, however. They still go to war over the Isle of Battle, and there is a battle scene or two. Lord Carral, Elise's father, is fairly well-characterized, as a blind man who has forsaken his duty to his family for too long, and is trying to make amends however he can. He had voluntarily relinquished the leadership of his family to his corrupt brother, and now his daughter is dead (he doesn't know she survives). He is forced to make some hard choices and do some things he has never done. He is one of the few characters who I actually liked more in the second book. Most of the action between the characters we know takes place in a stagnant swamp, with constant descriptions of standing water, fog, beasts, and character wandering fill the text. A lot of the time is spent despairing that they will get Alaan out in time, as they must get him to the river Wynnd to save him, and he's the only person who can get them out of this land. More seemingly immortal characters show up, some interesting and some not, who have been involved with this war between the siblings for generations. These sequences became repetitive very quickly, and the oppressive atmosphere that Russell describes becomes the mood of the reader as well. That's not a good thing when an author is trying to capture his readers and make them wonder what happens next. I got to the point that I didn't care. It's too bad that Russell abandons his story motif, because it really made the first book interesting. Lip service is given to it, as Cynddl repeatedly talks about the land they're trapped in, and how "so many people's stories have ended here." It's too little, however, and what there is of it also becomes quite repetitive as well. In fact, that's the main problem of this book: repetition. You start to feel like you've read the entire thing before, just a few pages ago. The plot is so obvious (Hafydd is going to let them rescue Alaan and then follow them out so he doesn't get trapped there as well), that even the characters constantly remark on it. There are two things that make this even remotely worth reading. First, it's a continuation of what could be an interesting story, and there is hope that he can make the third book more interesting (though I haven't heard of a publication date, so who knows how long you'll have to wait). Secondly, Russell still has a way with prose. Even as he's battering you with the dreariness of the swamp, he's describing it so well that you feel like you're there. His prose is a joy to read, it's just too bad that he had to wreck the story that went along with it. Buy this one in paperback or get it from the library. Read it to continue the story, but that's it. What a disappointment. David Roy
Rating: 
Summary: Whiplash from one book to the next
Review: You're driving down the road, heading into some of the most beautiful scenery you've ever seen. It's fall, and the trees are gloriously orange, brown, and gold, the colours vibrantly hitting your eyes and washing over them. You think to yourself, "I could travel through here forever and it never would get old." Then, you hit the state line, but that's ok. The author of such beauty doesn't need to worry about arbitrary boundaries. He will continue to produce this breathtaking sight despite that. And sure enough, as you keep going down the road, the trees are the same, the mountains in the distance are the same, and you are content. Then, you start to notice something strange. The trees are cardboard cut-outs. The beautiful prairies surrounding you and leading up to the distant mountains look pleasant, but are really mud-filled and don't bear up to closer examination. As you drive along, you notice that this is seeming more incredibly fake with each passing mile, and all of the cut-outs are the same. Before, each tree was its own creation, but now it's not even a reasonable facsimile. Those are my feelings in a nutshell about The Isle of Battle, by Sean Russell. It's the second book in the Swans War trilogy. The first book is beautiful, full of wonderful metaphors about stories and how we create them. The second book, however, loses almost all of the magic of the first, abandoning the metaphor except for a few token references and concentrating on a war between ancient beings who have come back as avatars, inhabiting people in the present to continue their battle. This book starts right where the previous one left off, and I was enthralled. I even commented as such. But then, everything started feeling the same, Russell started using other characters that I didn't care about, and most of the main characters are stuck in one locale for almost the entire book. It started getting tedious, and the story metaphor that I so enjoyed seemed to have disappeared. What could have happened to cause such drastic changes? What's so different? The more I read of this book, the more I missed the characters I had grown to love in the first book. It's not that Russell does a bad job of characterization. He doesn't change the characters without them learning something or being changed by events. However, what he does is uses the surface of the characters that he had made so rich, making them part of a plot that doesn't really involve them, and doesn't make them grow. They are fairly stagnant in The Isle of Battle, and Russell concentrates on this ancient war. He doesn't neglect the situation between the Renné and the Wills, however. They still go to war over the Isle of Battle, and there is a battle scene or two. Lord Carral, Elise's father, is fairly well-characterized, as a blind man who has forsaken his duty to his family for too long, and is trying to make amends however he can. He had voluntarily relinquished the leadership of his family to his corrupt brother, and now his daughter is dead (he doesn't know she survives). He is forced to make some hard choices and do some things he has never done. He is one of the few characters who I actually liked more in the second book. Most of the action between the characters we know takes place in a stagnant swamp, with constant descriptions of standing water, fog, beasts, and character wandering fill the text. A lot of the time is spent despairing that they will get Alaan out in time, as they must get him to the river Wynnd to save him, and he's the only person who can get them out of this land. More seemingly immortal characters show up, some interesting and some not, who have been involved with this war between the siblings for generations. These sequences became repetitive very quickly, and the oppressive atmosphere that Russell describes becomes the mood of the reader as well. That's not a good thing when an author is trying to capture his readers and make them wonder what happens next. I got to the point that I didn't care. It's too bad that Russell abandons his story motif, because it really made the first book interesting. Lip service is given to it, as Cynddl repeatedly talks about the land they're trapped in, and how "so many people's stories have ended here." It's too little, however, and what there is of it also becomes quite repetitive as well. In fact, that's the main problem of this book: repetition. You start to feel like you've read the entire thing before, just a few pages ago. The plot is so obvious (Hafydd is going to let them rescue Alaan and then follow them out so he doesn't get trapped there as well), that even the characters constantly remark on it. There are two things that make this even remotely worth reading. First, it's a continuation of what could be an interesting story, and there is hope that he can make the third book more interesting (though I haven't heard of a publication date, so who knows how long you'll have to wait). Secondly, Russell still has a way with prose. Even as he's battering you with the dreariness of the swamp, he's describing it so well that you feel like you're there. His prose is a joy to read, it's just too bad that he had to wreck the story that went along with it. Buy this one in paperback or get it from the library. Read it to continue the story, but that's it. What a disappointment. David Roy
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