{"id":638,"date":"2008-08-26T19:30:11","date_gmt":"2008-08-26T23:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=638"},"modified":"2021-05-30T21:38:30","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T01:38:30","slug":"the-isle-of-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/638","title":{"rendered":"The Isle of Battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Isle of Battle<\/a><\/em> (2002) Sean Russell<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Isle of Battle<\/em> is good book. However, it is a middle book in a series; although the tale continues forward, the book doesn’t have the momentum of the first book. The characters are still good, the intrigue is still good, but the characters spend much of the book wandering lost in the hidden lands, and at times the story felt like it too was lost in those same lands.<\/p>\n

Additionally, unlike other Sean Russell books, this story moves from one incomplete ending to another. We pick up the pieces of the first book, but by the time we reach the end of the second book, those pieces are again scattered to the wind.<\/p>\n

Yes, this is a personal peeve. I simply don’t like books where we almost none of the story arcs are closed at the end of the story. And I think what bothers me most about this book is that this is a very unusal thing for Sean Russell to do.<\/p>\n

Yes, this book is crafted well as are all his books, but I had the feeling this wasn’t a true trilogy, but was instead a duology that got too big for its britches, and so three books were created from the two, and the middle book had to make up for it.<\/p>\n

Perhaps I’m wrong and Sean Russell simply changed the way he wrote, but there was just something off about this book.<\/p>\n

Mind you, Sean Russell in an off book is still pretty amazing and better than many of the other books I have on my shelves. But as a Sean Russell book, this one felt like a bit of a let down–I expected more of him.
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Isle of Battle (2002) Sean Russell The Isle of Battle is good book. However, it is a middle book in a series; although the tale continues forward, the book doesn’t have the momentum of the first book. The characters are still good, the intrigue is still good, but the characters spend much of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,291],"tags":[240],"class_list":["post-638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","category-paper","tag-sean-russell"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-ai","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":75,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/75","url_meta":{"origin":638,"position":0},"title":"The One Kingdom & The Isle of Battle","author":"Michelle","date":"May 31, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"The One Kingdom (2001) & The Isle of Battle 'The Swans War' (2002) by Sean Russell I'm fond of Sean Russell because he is a good writer, and because he writes duologies. I like knowing that a series will not stretch on interminably. So a year or two ago I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/One-Kingdom.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":73,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/73","url_meta":{"origin":638,"position":1},"title":"Moon Tide and Magic Rise","author":"Michelle","date":"May 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Moontide and Magic Rise: World Without End (1994) and Sea Without a Shore (1996) Sean Russell Every time I read Sean Russell, I am always surprised at how good his books are. I pick them up knowing they are going to be good, but the pessimistic part of me always\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/World-without-End.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":635,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/635","url_meta":{"origin":638,"position":2},"title":"The One Kingdom","author":"Michelle","date":"August 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The One Kingdom (2001) Sean Russell I love Sean Russell's writing. I've read everything he's written that I could get my hands on, including the mystery series he co-wrote as T.F. Banks. The One Kingdom and the other books he has written are very different from the supernatural fantasy that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/One-Kingdom.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":643,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/643","url_meta":{"origin":638,"position":3},"title":"The Shadow Roads","author":"Michelle","date":"August 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Shadow Roads (2004) Sean Russell The Shadow Roads is the final book in Sean Russell's 'The Swans' War' trilogy. Having escaped the Stillwater (those who survived) the children of Wyrr now prepare for battle. In the realms of the Renee and the Wills mortals prepare for war, even without\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Shadow-Roads.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":392,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/392","url_meta":{"origin":638,"position":4},"title":"Beneath the Vaulted Hills","author":"Michelle","date":"June 18, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Beneath the Vaulted Hills (1997) Sean Russell I've always been fond of Sean Russell's books. They're dense and complex, and I often understand them better on the second reading. But they're also beautifully crafted works full of marvelous characters. Unfortunately, Sean Russell has not published many books. Nine fantasy novels\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/06\/Beneath-the-Vaulted-Hills.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":393,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/393","url_meta":{"origin":638,"position":5},"title":"Compass of the Soul","author":"Michelle","date":"June 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Compass of the Soul (1999) Sean Russell The sequel (and conclusion) to Beneath the Vaulted Hills, The Compass of the Soul continues the story of Erasmus Flattery, Countess Chilton, Anna Fielding, Lord Eldrich, and those who have gathered around them in the struggle for the fate of magic. As\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/06\/Compass-of-the-Soul.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}