{"id":78,"date":"2005-06-04T08:27:49","date_gmt":"2005-06-04T15:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=78"},"modified":"2021-05-30T21:28:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T01:28:14","slug":"the-shadow-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/78","title":{"rendered":"The Shadow Roads"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Shadow Roads<\/em> ‘The Swan’s War Book III’ (2004) Sean Russell<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Finally! The book was in the mailbox when we got home, and I devoured it last night.<\/p>\n

Good. Very good! <\/p>\n

Yet in retrospect this series is quite different from other Sean Russell books I’ve read. There was more direct action. In the past I’ve found his books to be somewhat internal–as about dreams, thoughts, and impressions as action I suppose–which I quite enjoyed. This book had much more action: battles and duels and travel. There was still a great deal of internal politics, which I expected and like, but there was far more bashing about with swords than I’ve come to expect. Not that this was a bad thing, it was just different than I’d expected.<\/p>\n

The three nagars have made deals with three people, allowing them to share those bodies, giving the three individuals the memories and powers the nagars had when they were alive. For some, the fear is that the individual will lose their own personality, and be subsumed into the powers of the nagar. For some of the powers that the nagars gained when they were alive, came with a high price. A price that those who shared their bodies with the nagars may not have been willing to pay themselves.<\/p>\n

What I enjoyed most about this final book is that many things did not come out as I expected, which is of course a good thing, because I like not knowing for certain what will happen. <\/p>\n

So, despite Sean Russell’s betrayal in writing a trilogy, I still highly recommend this series. The characters are good, and the writing and stories running through the book are excellent. Was it worth getting the final book in the series in hardback instead of waiting for paperback to come out? <\/p>\n

Most definitely yes.
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Shadow Roads ‘The Swan’s War Book III’ (2004) Sean Russell Finally! The book was in the mailbox when we got home, and I devoured it last night. Good. Very good! Yet in retrospect this series is quite different from other Sean Russell books I’ve read. There was more direct action. In the past I’ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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-78","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-1g","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":643,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/643","url_meta":{"origin":78,"position":0},"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":638,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/638","url_meta":{"origin":78,"position":1},"title":"The Isle of Battle","author":"Michelle","date":"August 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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\/Isle-of-Battle.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":73,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/73","url_meta":{"origin":78,"position":2},"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":247,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/247","url_meta":{"origin":78,"position":3},"title":"The Thief Taker","author":"Michelle","date":"May 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Thief Taker: Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner (2001) T.F. Banks aka Ian Dennis and Sean Russell I was browsing Sean Russell's web page, when I saw two books listed that I didn't own: The Thief Taker and The Emperor's Assassin. My immediate reaction was one of shock: Sean\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\/2006\/05\/Thief-Taker.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":635,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/635","url_meta":{"origin":78,"position":4},"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":392,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/392","url_meta":{"origin":78,"position":5},"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":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}