The Isle of Battle (The Swans' War, Book 2)
WithThe Isle of Battle, the second book of the high- fantasy Swan's War trilogy, acclaimed novelist Sean Russell returns to  the world of the Wynnd, a great river that does not always follow the  maps and has tributaries in other worlds.The Isle of Battlecontinues the story of the archer Tam, his fellow Valemen Fynnol and  Baore, and several other characters fromThe One Kingdom. The  Valemen gain mysterious new allies and enemies as they search through  otherworldly swamps and mountains for their fallen friend, the  demigodlike Alaan, and seek to elude Alaan's more-than-mortal enemy and  brother, the powerful and ruthless warrior-wizard, Hafydd.Readers should not start the Swans' War withThe Isle of Battle. It suffers the common trilogy malady of middle-book-itis:  it doesn't greatly advance the overall plotline, and though it spends  some time bringing readers up to speed on the backstory, it still  swamps newcomers with multiple plotlines and characters. Also, the big  cast means characterizations are often sketchy; the Valemen become  almost interchangeable, and the powerful and intriguing Alaan rarely  demonstrates these virtues, since he spends much of his time senseless  from critical wounds. Furthermore, many readers will not be pleased  that the book's vast cast includes only four women, with only two of  them spending much time onstage (in the same body!).--Cynthia  Ward--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.