I was first introduced to Sean Russell when a friend loaned me a copy of The Initiate Brother and Gatherer of Clouds. Except that it ended up being a trade. I had loaned him a volume of The Year’s Best in Fantasy and Horror (Volume 6 perhaps?) and then he moved and that was it. So I still have his copies of The Initiate Brother and Gatherer of Clouds.

I’m pretty sure I got the better end of the deal.

Sean Russell is fabulous at world building. His worlds are not full of dragons or demons or fairies or vampires. The worlds he builds are lush and beautiful. The are akin to our world, but somehow at right angles, and with a subtle magic throughout.

Even better, he has also written several duologies, which I have always preferred to trilogies.

When I read a Sean Russell book, I read unusually slowly (for me). I am drawn into the stories and enjoy the details and the scenery and the journeys. His characters are complex and there is never simply good versus evil–in fact sometimes it’s hard to see who is acting for good and who is acting for evil.

He reminds me somewhat of Guy Gavriel Kay, who also writes amazing stories with complex stories that are often classified as fantasy simply because they occur in a world that is not ours.

He has also written two mysteries with Ian Russell under the pseudonym TF Banks, about the Bow Street Runners–the precursors to Scotland Yard. Unfortunately, there are only the two books, and as the last was written in 2003, it doesn’t look like there will be any more coming, which is unfortunate.

I love just plain love Sean Russell’s writing, and if you’re looking for something different to read, I highly recommend checking out something by Sean Russell.

The Initiate Brother (1991) and Gatherer of Clouds (1992)
Moontide and Magic Rise: World Without End (1994) Sea Without a Shore (1996)
The River into Darkness: Beneath the Vaulted Hills (1997), The Compass of the Soul (1999)
The Swans War: The One Kingdom (2001), The Isle of Battle (2002), The Shadow Roads (2004)