Rating: 
Summary: Comparqable to George R. R. Martin and Robert Jordan
Review: This is a wonderful book. It is a mixture of different elements: mystery, politics, nature, and magic. Those who liked the earlier books of the Wheel of Time series and George R. R. Martin's books would enormously enjoy this book. I can't wait for Part 2.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Tale in the tradition of Tolkien
Review: This is an excellent book. The characters are easy to get to know and to like or dislike. The story itself keeps you guessing how the plot is going to turn. "Who is this wonderer, Alaan?" "Who is Elise going to end up with? Tam or Michael? or Alaan perhaps?" I fell in love with this story as soon as I started reading it and have not been able to it down since.
The story is based around two fueding families, the Wills and the Renne, and their trivial hatetred towards each other. But the real backbone of the story is about a family dispute between three sorerers who have died, but refuse to be dead. The war between the Wills and Renne is only a prop for the real war that is about to begin.
If you enjoy Robert Jorden and George R. Martin, you will love The One Kingdom. Sean Russell has a gift to telling a story with easy reading (you won't be stumbling along trying to pronounce made up words to try to understand what the heck people are talking about).
I can't wait for the paperback of the sequil so I'm getting the hardcover which I never buy. But this story is that good. You will not want to wait either I'm sure.
Rating:
Summary: This is one of the Best books I ever read
Review: This is one of the best books I ever read. The characters were very detailed and I couldn't put it down. It was good to have all the characters to come from different places to go to the Fair. Go, Sean Russell!!!
Rating: 
Summary: A solid start
Review: This looks to be a good series of books. It isn't a page turner but the characters are strong which makes you care about them even when they aren't trying to save the world.
Rating:
Summary: Great start--cool magic system
Review: Two families continue a century-old battle, but now more esoteric forces have joined the battle. A knight has learned the secrets of a vanished order and is using these secrets to gain power and his revenge. On the side of peace are the Knights of the Vow--or are they really on the side of peace? They too have their reasons to seek revenge.Sean Russell does a fine job personalizing THE ONE KINGDOM. Elise Wills and Tam, a youth from the far-off Vale are especially well drawn. The introduction of approachable and human characters makes it easier to enjoy this complex novel. I especially enjoyed the magic system which Russell is developing. The river spirit is interesting enough, but the real beauty came from the strange paths which exist but which only a few people can see. The ability to see these paths, or to track an enemy through them, gives considerable power but also creates considerable danger. The role of the new Knights of the Vow is not clearly defined in this novel but will, I hope, be more fully developed in sequels. I fine introduction to a new series.
Rating:
Summary: A book about the stories of your life
Review: When it comes right down to it, life is a series of interlocking stories, one of your stories interacting with that of someone else, or maybe those of a few other people. Every one of them means something to you at the time, though if it's not a very interesting story, it may fade into the mists of time. If it's particularly interesting, and affects a lot of people, it may be recorded and become part of society's memory, which will allow it to live past the end of your life. The One Kingdom, by Sean Russell, is a book that is about, ultimately, stories. Neil Gaiman writes about stories and how they affect us, but Russell is writing about how we write stories with our very actions. He wraps this in a story of his own, an epic yet strangely personal story about a group of young men from a remote village, out for a little adventure, who find a lot more than they bargain for. Also included is a story about a young girl who is a pawn in an evil scheme, and a mysterious man who is trying desperately to avert a war. Russell does a marvelous job of tying all these disparate stories together into a tight narrative, engaging the reader's interest as we wonder just how they are all going to come together. Russell uses the ultimate story of two warring families to bring this unity. The Renné and the Wills have been divided for over a hundred years, with the land never having a true ruler. Instead, it's just been two factions in an unsteady peace that's been rife with conflict and tension. As the book begins, a murder is being plotted, as the cousins of Toren, head of the Renné family, try to avert what they feel is a fatal mistake. Toren is about to give back the legendary Isle of Battle to the Wills, who they took it from all those years ago. The cousins plan to kill Toren to prevent it. Meanwhile, plots abound on the Wills side, with the Prince of Innes allying himself with Sir Eremon, an evil knight with more to him than just an evil smirk. Eremon has a long hatred of the Renné and also lives for war, both of these coming together in the fact that his alliance with Innes will produce the armies he needs to make war on his bitter enemies. He also plans to bring the Wills over to his side by forcing Prince Michael, the son of the Prince of Innes, to marry Elise, daughter of the head of the Wills family. Russell uses these stories to illustrate the fact that we all have stories to tell or to live, or maybe just to hear. He uses one more story to do this, by using the time-honored tradition of a group of people going out in search of adventure and finding that adventure isn't always something you want to go looking for. Sometimes, you stumble into stories that you had no intention of writing, much less starring in. Tam and his friends, Baore and Fynnol, meet up with a group of Faél (a band of gypsy-like people) who ask them to accompany a "Story-finder" named Cynddl down the river, to record its stories from generations long-past. Ultimately, they stumble into all the intrigue and become pieces in a game that goes back hundreds of years. The river becomes the metaphor of choice for Russell, and he uses it well. The river represents all the stories that have happened along it, and the flow of the river represents the flowing of life as it goes by. Sometimes it's rough (as when Tam and the others have to survive some raging rapids), and sometimes it's the ultimate in calm. The small group journeys down the river as people come and go off of it, interacting with them along the way. Slowly, the story unfolds around them and they get swept up in events. The ending, set up by the mysterious man known as Alaan, is a blaze of action, mix-ups, misdirection, and interacting plots. Is Eremon one step ahead of our heroes? Perhaps that's how we get to the second book in the series. While there are a couple of slow bits and seemingly pointless characters in the book, Russell does an effective job of keeping the pace moving and the characters at least mildly interesting. Some of the characters (such as the man with his deaf and mute children that the group of heroes meets on a deserted island on the river) don't seem to have much purpose, though they are clearly set up for the rest of the series. Russell succeeds in making us care about them at least a little bit, so we don't mind what seems like a pointless side-trip. At times, he goes a little too far with the story metaphor, making it seem obvious and trite (he does go on about the river just a little bit too much), but overall I found the whole book fascinating. Elise, is a woman who has always been bored by life, but she gets caught up in these events and has to learn what it takes to not only write your own story, but to write the story you want to write. The reader really starts to care about this girl who started out seeming like a spoiled brat, even as Russell uses her to emphasize how we must wrest control of the stories we create, or the stories will write us instead. Sean Russell is not a new face in fantasy fiction, but he's a new one for me. I really enjoyed The One Kingdom, and am already deep into the second book. If you want a grand, yet intimate, fantasy story with interesting characters and fascinating themes, this is a book you should pick up. David Roy
Rating:
Summary: A book about the stories of your life
Review: When it comes right down to it, life is a series of interlocking stories, one of your stories interacting with that of someone else, or maybe those of a few other people. Every one of them means something to you at the time, though if it's not a very interesting story, it may fade into the mists of time. If it's particularly interesting, and affects a lot of people, it may be recorded and become part of society's memory, which will allow it to live past the end of your life. The One Kingdom, by Sean Russell, is a book that is about, ultimately, stories. Neil Gaiman writes about stories and how they affect us, but Russell is writing about how we write stories with our very actions. He wraps this in a story of his own, an epic yet strangely personal story about a group of young men from a remote village, out for a little adventure, who find a lot more than they bargain for. Also included is a story about a young girl who is a pawn in an evil scheme, and a mysterious man who is trying desperately to avert a war. Russell does a marvelous job of tying all these disparate stories together into a tight narrative, engaging the reader's interest as we wonder just how they are all going to come together. Russell uses the ultimate story of two warring families to bring this unity. The Renné and the Wills have been divided for over a hundred years, with the land never having a true ruler. Instead, it's just been two factions in an unsteady peace that's been rife with conflict and tension. As the book begins, a murder is being plotted, as the cousins of Toren, head of the Renné family, try to avert what they feel is a fatal mistake. Toren is about to give back the legendary Isle of Battle to the Wills, who they took it from all those years ago. The cousins plan to kill Toren to prevent it. Meanwhile, plots abound on the Wills side, with the Prince of Innes allying himself with Sir Eremon, an evil knight with more to him than just an evil smirk. Eremon has a long hatred of the Renné and also lives for war, both of these coming together in the fact that his alliance with Innes will produce the armies he needs to make war on his bitter enemies. He also plans to bring the Wills over to his side by forcing Prince Michael, the son of the Prince of Innes, to marry Elise, daughter of the head of the Wills family. Russell uses these stories to illustrate the fact that we all have stories to tell or to live, or maybe just to hear. He uses one more story to do this, by using the time-honored tradition of a group of people going out in search of adventure and finding that adventure isn't always something you want to go looking for. Sometimes, you stumble into stories that you had no intention of writing, much less starring in. Tam and his friends, Baore and Fynnol, meet up with a group of Faél (a band of gypsy-like people) who ask them to accompany a "Story-finder" named Cynddl down the river, to record its stories from generations long-past. Ultimately, they stumble into all the intrigue and become pieces in a game that goes back hundreds of years. The river becomes the metaphor of choice for Russell, and he uses it well. The river represents all the stories that have happened along it, and the flow of the river represents the flowing of life as it goes by. Sometimes it's rough (as when Tam and the others have to survive some raging rapids), and sometimes it's the ultimate in calm. The small group journeys down the river as people come and go off of it, interacting with them along the way. Slowly, the story unfolds around them and they get swept up in events. The ending, set up by the mysterious man known as Alaan, is a blaze of action, mix-ups, misdirection, and interacting plots. Is Eremon one step ahead of our heroes? Perhaps that's how we get to the second book in the series. While there are a couple of slow bits and seemingly pointless characters in the book, Russell does an effective job of keeping the pace moving and the characters at least mildly interesting. Some of the characters (such as the man with his deaf and mute children that the group of heroes meets on a deserted island on the river) don't seem to have much purpose, though they are clearly set up for the rest of the series. Russell succeeds in making us care about them at least a little bit, so we don't mind what seems like a pointless side-trip. At times, he goes a little too far with the story metaphor, making it seem obvious and trite (he does go on about the river just a little bit too much), but overall I found the whole book fascinating. Elise, is a woman who has always been bored by life, but she gets caught up in these events and has to learn what it takes to not only write your own story, but to write the story you want to write. The reader really starts to care about this girl who started out seeming like a spoiled brat, even as Russell uses her to emphasize how we must wrest control of the stories we create, or the stories will write us instead. Sean Russell is not a new face in fantasy fiction, but he's a new one for me. I really enjoyed The One Kingdom, and am already deep into the second book. If you want a grand, yet intimate, fantasy story with interesting characters and fascinating themes, this is a book you should pick up. David Roy
Rating: 
Summary: A cut above
Review: While I have a weakness for fantasy, the truth is, most of its [junk]! chock full of cliched characters and settings hacking and slashing away at plots that are epic only in length. Everybody wants to be J.R.R. Tolkien, but nobody has quite grasped what Tolkien did. Those books that understand the importance of three-dimensional characters and good storytelling are few and far between, and may not pack the "visual punch" of your hack-and-slash fantasy fare. "The One Kingdom" is such a book. It only has a few passing references to bloodsoaked heroes on burning battlefields (and when it does, it evokes chills rather than groans), and doesn't mind letting the reader drift down the river with it (but neither did Tolkien's "Fellowship of the Ring"), but it is rewarding in the richness of the characters its protagonists encounter on their journey. The cast of the book is large but not confusing, because each character has a story of his or her own. Watching Russell weave these disparate stories into a climactic ending at the Westbrook Fair is half the fun. He's no Tolkien (thus the four stars), but he's no Robert Jordan either.
Rating:
Summary: Appears Poised To Become The Epic Launch Of The Year
Review: While Sean Russell is not reinventing or adding anything significantly new here to the conventions of traditional high fantasy, he nonetheless is able to infuse enough creative freshness, both in his world-building and his structure of magic, to offer a highly engaging and enjoyable tale that goes beyond the ordinary. As with many of the better epic fantasists currently continuing to pursue the long-held traditions of high fantasy---Robin Hobb or the recent "Sword of Shadows" series by J.V. Jones come to mind---the strengths here are not necessarily in exploring new avenues outside the common conventions of high fantasy, but in the detailed and multifaceted creation of realms and characters that by their depth of description and characterization, as well as their more literate quality of writing, transcend the often one dimensional stereotypes that plague so much of what sits on the shelves in every bookstore's fantasy section. These are well-spun examples of storytelling, simple in their overall objective, yet complex in their plotting, world-building and characterization. Further, their approach to narrative often transcends the linearity found in so much of fantasy fiction, diverse in both their structure and perspective, depending upon more than a sequence of action to propel their unfolding story. I have noticed that a couple reviewers have referred to this book as being "glacial" in pace. I suppose, compared to works by Glen Cook, Raymond Feist or Terry Goodkind, to name but a few, this book is not as action-driven or dependent upon active conflict for the development of its story, relying more upon, as stated above, evolving, multifaceted plotlines or characterization to enrich and, I would contend, enliven its story. There is no rush to reveal every event or the complete motivation of each character. In certain cases purposes and circumstances change, reflecting both the evolving experiences and knowledge of the characters as well as the reader, a development of narrative that I find far more credible and rich in storyline than a tale for the most part dependent upon a linear linking of climactic actions. While I suppose this might be attributed as a matter of taste, I would contend that a tale that offers more than the typical and anticipated stringing of largely melodramatic conflicts to build a singular and by now predictable and epiphanous moment of resolution possesses far greater potential for providing richness to the reading experience. And, I feel, this novel is laden with enough drama to sustain the adrenaline junkie's interest, as long as his or her reading is seeking more from a book than merely non-stop, singularly propelling action. I will look forward to Mr. Russell's next installment with anticipation. Should he be able to maintain the quality of writing and storytelling found here, this could easily become one of the better epics of high fantasy opening the new millenium. Highly recommended to fans of traditional high fantasy, and deserving of an additional half star.
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