BOOK REVIEW | A SNAKE AMONG SWAN| HANNAH KANER

BOOK REVIEW | A SNAKE AMONG SWAN| HANNAH KANER

ABOUT THE BOOK

For fans of House of the Dragon® and The Priory of the Orange Tree comes a dark and propulsive tale of warring kingdoms, female rage and a wild magic that refuses to be tamed, by the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Fallen Gods trilogy.

“Death is come to take you home, death of blood and thorn and bone…”

Tilde has always heard the whispers of the kithwood, the voices of her ancestors speaking through the mysterious forest of her homeland.

But now both the kithwood and her kingdom are in danger.

For Tilde is the only surviving heir of a conquered land. To unite the people and finally stop the bloodshed, she marries the ageing warlord, King Liran. Her duty is to bind their nations and bear him a son.

But the swan king’s court is dangerous. Tilde is a threat to the claim of Liran’s older sons, who will do whatever it takes to remove her, to the princess Elise who has only ever known loyalty to her family, and to the priests who own them all.

Yet none of them know that Tilde is a snake in their midst, with allies on her side and dark, forbidden power of her own. She wants her kingdom back, and she will sacrifice everything to claim it.

For the queen to rise, the swans must fall.

Review

Do you want a tale brimming with treachery and intrigue, and a bit of sapphic romance thrown in for good measure? Then Hannah Kanur’s latest offering may be the dead, tattooed tree that you are looking for. 

After the rebellion by the Merogian nations is suppressed by King Lyran of the  Cynghals, Tilde, daughter of the Ardweni tribe is sent to marry the king in an uneasy bid to broker a peace. Still no more than a girl, she must choose to follow her heart and kill a king or learn to navigate the deadly intricacies of court. 

A Snake Among Swans is a riveting political fantasy that opens Hannah Kaner’s new trilogy The Wing and the Ways. Set in a world that is torn apart by war, ambition and uneasy alliances, it immediately announces its epic ambitions. 

These ambitions are reflected in the sheer size of the ensemble cast that Kaner brings to the page. A Snake Among Swans introduces us to a whole stage full of characters, each with their own loyalties and roles within the political landscape. And keeping track of the players even with a dramatis personae at the front of the book for reference can sometimes prove slippery. 

Yet this scope is also one of the novel's greatest strengths. Kaner gives the story time to breathe and lay the foundations of her story as a whole, allowing her world and its political tensions to develop naturally. In doing so, she trusts the reader to become engrossed in both the world and the characters that inhabit it.

Whilst A Snake Among Swans isn’t seeking to reinvent the fantasy genre  with brave and dazzling new concepts. Kaner shows a confidence in working within conventions, trusting instead on strong character work and a relentlessly propulsive plot to drive the narrative forward. Indeed, many of the elements Kaner uses will be familiar to readers of the genre: political intrigue, shifting alliances, hidden histories. Yet, as with a well crafted dish, Kaner understands that balance, execution and the synergy of ingredients are what elevate a good meal into a memorable one. Kaner knows the traditions she is working with to create something that is familiar and compelling

A Snake Among Swans may not seek to reinvent the fantasy genre, but it understands the conventions that show why these stories continue to endure. Through confident character work, assured pacing and appreciation for the traditions it embraces, Kaner has crafted an engrossing opening to what could turn out to be an exciting trilogy.