The One Kingdom

The One Kingdom
Sean Russell
Orbit Books
Published 2001.

Three young travelers leave their village to see more of the world - that's when the trouble begins. Meeting a mysterious man, Alaan, who seems to know more about their family and ancestors than they do, they're suddenly attacked by nameless soldiers and forced to flee - leaving Alaan, presumed dead, behind them.

Barely escaping, Tam, Baore, and Fynnol stumble into a Fael camp. The Fael - a people of wandering minstrels and storytellers - remind me, for some reason, of Robert Jordan's Tuatha'an.

Meanwhile, a feud between two noble houses - the Renné and the Wills - threatens to open up again, and engulf the world in a bloody fire of vengeance and betrayal. But, both sides are being played against each other by the sinister Eremon - thought killed many years ago, under another name...

From a somewhat unoriginal and atypical fantasy start, the story soon started taking on its own flavour; quickly becoming apparent that Sean Russell was not simply dredging up old cliches, but doing something new and inventive ... as well as just being a plain great writer!

I thought the idea of a story-finder - able to pick up memories and events from the past - was a really original idea, and Cynddl was certainly an interesting character. It was a very clever way to have someone knowing about the past, but not be a Useless Guide type of character.

The background characters were fleshed out well, too; it can be all too easy to have main protagonists well developed, and the supporting cast, cardboard, cliché-cut-outs. The Renné and the Wills were very intriguing, and it'll be exciting to see in the next two books, whether Russell lets both Houses realise their similarities and same cause ... or will it turn to war when they should be fighting the common enemy, à la A Song of Ice and Fire. I suspect the latter, though I did grow attached to even the minor characters of both families: I felt for the scarred Llyn when she was shamed before everyone she knew, and I think that is one of Sean Russell's many talents: making you feel for the characters, no matter how important.

The One Kingdom has quite a traditional High Fantasy feel, but it's clear that Sean Russell has tried to bring something a bit different to the genre. The magic, while obviously an integral part of the story, is very low key - there are no blue bolts raining from the heavens and squashing enemies flat. Instead, we have various old myths from the book coming to life, ancient powers re-awakening, but in a way that is subtle, rather than melodramatic. No armies of 400 million Dark creatures marching on Everywhere, but men being used by other men. The all-powerful bad guy is one that would be familiar to us, too - Death - though, he does insist on taking a slightly more corporeal part in the story!

I'm really surprised I hadn't heard of this one sooner; it's one of those books you expect to see on every fantasy "Recommended Reading" list on the Internet, and it definitely deserves a place as one of the best openers to a fantasy trilogy in quite a while. I'm extremely glad I found it, and I can't wait to see how Russell continues this epic story. Unmissable! 9 out of 10, for sure.