A Throne Of Swans by Katherine Corr and Elizabeth Corr

          This novel has all the usual Fantasy elements that you have come to expect and exists in an almost Medieval world, again pretty much expected of the genre.  Somehow this novel felt fresh and exciting to read and even though the familiar plotlines are scattered throughout there was just something special about the sum of the parts.  It is clear that the authors have thoroughly planned their world and even if their characters then began to take on a life of their of their own the world they populate is so strongly imbued with a sense of "reality" that it grounds the whole novel.

Whilst the sister authors profess that the idea germinated from Swan Lake, the plotline is sufficiently different from the folktale that apart from the odd nod the reader would not have known if we hadn't been told.  Yes, we have a princess of the Cygnus dynasty called Odette but there is no Odile.  Yes, there is the threat of her being turned permanently in to a Swan.  Other than that either I was so absorbed in to the story that I found it difficult to spot other nods or they are exceptionally well hidden.

The main story arc follows Aderyn of Atratys and picks up after the murder of her mother 6 years prior to the start of the story which starts with the death of her father.  All nobles must be able to shift in to their bird form but since the attack that killed her mother she has been unable to transform.  Thrust in to the position of Protector of Atratys Aderyn is caught between a rock and a hard place as she must travel to the Silver Citadel to pay homage to her Uncle, the King.

Full of courtly intrigue and a real sense of being out of your depth, Aderyn proves to be a wonderful narrator.  The Citadel pulses with life under her descriptions and her blundering first experiences of Courtly etiquette really bring the character to life.  Initially I did wonder how she was going to develop from seeming a pathetic, lost character to being the protagonist but her growth is natural and wonderfully handled.

With a host of supporting characters that are as wonderfully drawn as Aderyn this book really does draw the reader in.  There is a tendency to linger a little too much on internal monologues of despair which I felt unnecessarily slowed the story in places (hence 4 Stars instead of 5). 

There is a little bit of everything thrown in to the mix - social commentary (particularly the treatment of the Flightless by the Nobles), family ties, friendship, romance and the way that duty dictates the way your life is lived.  Mainly though it is a book about intrigue and shifting allegiances.  Fortunately it is pitched in such a way that as events unfold nothing feels overdone or unbelievable within the context of this ethereal world.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book and I am very definitely looking forward to the next installment.  Forget the YA designation, if you are a fan of Fantasy books then this one will hit the spot nicely - actually, if you are a fan of Historical Fiction then it pretty much works as well.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.