Synopses & Reviews
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.
Synopsis
The Mystery of the New Dear Reader, I ve long been a great admirer of J. R. R. Tolkien s Lord of the Rings but have always avoided writing in that High Fantasy mode for fear of being lumped in with Tolkien s many imitators. Yet the idea has always intrigued me. How do you write a book in the spirit of Tolkien but not the manner? "THE ONE KINGDOM" is my attempt to answer that question. There are no dwarves, elves, dragons, magic swords or many of the other elements that have become too common in High Fantasy, but there is, I hope, much of the sense of discovery, magic and wonder that one finds in Tolkien and in other fantasies that I ve admired. The book was not easy to write! Getting out from under the shadow of Tolkien was more of a challenge than I anticipated, but in the end, with the input of both friends and editors, I think I managed to do what I set out to do. If you have read any of my previous books, you ll find "THE ONE KINGDOM" a departure from my historically based fantasies. The land between the mountains (where this book is set) will be at once more familiar and more exotic than the lands I ve written of before. There is magic here. Magic in a long mysterious river that provides the spine of this world and the spine of this novel. My hope is that reading this book will be like the experience of deja vu; something that feels strangely familiar while being thoroughly new. Sean Russell Vancouver, B.C.
About the Author
Sean Russell is the author of The One Kingdom and The Isle of Battle, previous books in the Swans' War trilogy, plus the River into Darkness books: Compass of the Soul and Beneath the Vaulted Hills; the Moontide and Magic Rise books: Sea Without a Shore and World Without End; and Gatherer of Clouds and The Initiate Brother. He lives on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, with his wife and son.