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A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Swan Lake Trilogy #2
A City in Winter
Driven to avenge the murder of her royal parents and reclaim their lost kingdom, the daring young heroine and would-be queen journeys to the besieged city on the plain to seek out its evil conqueror, the Usurper. Mark Helprin's spellbinding tale reveals a city veiled in snow, at once divine and deadly. Van Allsburg's stunning illustrations supply a palpable richness which captures all the exhilarating expanse of the story. 13 color illustrations.
147 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1996
About the author
Mark Helprin
42 books1,741 followersMark Helprin belongs to no literary school, movement, tendency, or trend. As many have observed and as Time Magazine has phrased it, “He lights his own way.” His three collections of short stories (A Dove of the East and Other Stories, Ellis Island and Other Stories, and The Pacific and Other Stories), six novels (Refiner's Fire, Winter's Tale, A Soldier of the Great War, Memoir From Antproof Case, Freddy and Fredericka and, In Sunlight and In Shadow), and three children's books (Swan Lake, A City in Winter, and The Veil of Snows, all illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg), speak eloquently for themselves and are remarkable throughout for the sustained beauty and power of their language.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
June 18, 2023
Mark Helprin has always been one of my favored writers, simply because of his imagination. Now, combine his words with the imaginative illustrations of Chris Van Allsburg and you get this marvelous children's/middle grade book, which is actually the second volume in the Swan Lake Trilogy. As usual with any good book for youth, adults will also be intrigued.
My story is simple, the story of struggle, so well known to all who come into this world, and I am writing for you, my son or daughter not yet born, so that you too may know who you are and whence you have come.
The star of the book is the young heroine, orphaned by the murder of her parents and bearing the burden of royal blood. She knows her destiny is to fight The Usurper, but she won't be able to do it alone. But will any rebel assist her without putting their own lives at risk?
As her adventure progresses, she becomes more sure of herself, not easy when one is young and female.
...I collect armies now the way other people bring wood to the stove.
And her adversary is one nasty dude!
I could subsist on the artwork alone. My goal with this book was to take my time finishing it, so the nighttime reading (to a purring cat) would be a reward for any daytime exhaustion. The feline may not have fully appreciated it, but I definitely want to get the other two books in the series.
Book Season = Winter (myrrh fire)
My story is simple, the story of struggle, so well known to all who come into this world, and I am writing for you, my son or daughter not yet born, so that you too may know who you are and whence you have come.
The star of the book is the young heroine, orphaned by the murder of her parents and bearing the burden of royal blood. She knows her destiny is to fight The Usurper, but she won't be able to do it alone. But will any rebel assist her without putting their own lives at risk?
As her adventure progresses, she becomes more sure of herself, not easy when one is young and female.
...I collect armies now the way other people bring wood to the stove.
And her adversary is one nasty dude!
I could subsist on the artwork alone. My goal with this book was to take my time finishing it, so the nighttime reading (to a purring cat) would be a reward for any daytime exhaustion. The feline may not have fully appreciated it, but I definitely want to get the other two books in the series.
Book Season = Winter (myrrh fire)
August 28, 2020
Who knew this was part of a trilogy? Not me. Don't care either. I think I found it in a remainders bin and I fell in love with it for the illustrations and the wordy yet sort-of magical writing, the grand descriptions, the magic of the city. Stands on its own, and is dear to me in memory, though I am certain that, reading it in my 20s, I was a bit older than the target audience.
July 16, 2011
Mark Helprin has a beautiful imagination, which he uses full force in this story of a city and its queen. The queen is 10 years old and she has returned from exile in the forest to her snowy realm which has been overthrown by an evil usurper. The city is "in winter" for more reasons than seasonal, it is held in thrall by a cold and ruthless person. The little girl queen must work and wait, and find her friends before making herself known.
Helprin's descriptions of the colossal palace and all its different workers defies explanation here. He is assisted by Chris Van Allsburg, of all artists the one most suited to illustrate a children's story by Helprin. The pictures are quite lovely, to say the least. I feel this will certainly be a book to read to my daughter when she is old enough, though I fear my husband will claim that privilege first.
Helprin's descriptions of the colossal palace and all its different workers defies explanation here. He is assisted by Chris Van Allsburg, of all artists the one most suited to illustrate a children's story by Helprin. The pictures are quite lovely, to say the least. I feel this will certainly be a book to read to my daughter when she is old enough, though I fear my husband will claim that privilege first.
November 2, 2014
This was odd and unfulfilling and nowhere in the book did it say it's part of a trilogy.
The illustrations are beautiful in their own right, as is to be expected of Chris van Allsburg, but what they included was not as detailed and grandiose as the author described it.
The story just sort of ends and falls flat after a book-long build up, which you get nothing from in the end.
It had quirky, fun, fantasy moments with a bit of humor but was very disappointing after that abrupt ending.
Wondering if it'd be better when read as a trilogy but otherwise would not recommend it.
The illustrations are beautiful in their own right, as is to be expected of Chris van Allsburg, but what they included was not as detailed and grandiose as the author described it.
The story just sort of ends and falls flat after a book-long build up, which you get nothing from in the end.
It had quirky, fun, fantasy moments with a bit of humor but was very disappointing after that abrupt ending.
Wondering if it'd be better when read as a trilogy but otherwise would not recommend it.
June 12, 2008
This was a gorgeous book. Should be read in one fluid motion though as it contains beautiful imagery and a story with a short timeline.
February 10, 2026
five stars from my 10-year-old. he said he liked it as much as the hobbit. warning for name calling.
September 3, 2016
My wife brought this home from Half-Price Books, where she works, because it was illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg. I read this book 3 - 5 nights a week to my 9 year old over the last 2 weeks. There were some interesting parts but after 20 pages or so I asked my son if he wanted me to keep reading and he said yes. It's a story of a young girl, told by her adult self, whose royal parents were murdered by an evil usurper who takes over the kingdom. She is unknown as the new queen until the time is right. I didn't really like it because there were too many sentences like this..."Though I was unfamiliar with social graces, and dancing, and what was in a zoo, a bakery, or a museum, on a clear day when I had neither lessons or work I would run in the mountains sometimes from dawn until dark." It was hard to enjoy because of the work of reading it aloud. I guess I should have read it beforehand. Grady on the other hand loved the book. Right up until I stopped and said, "The End," not because it said, "The end," but because it ended so abruptly that I felt like I should say it. He noticed, too. "WHAT?" he exclaimed. We both felt a bit cheated.
January 19, 2018
Logan likes these enough to finish the trilogy, but as the person who is doing the reading aloud, I will say that they are a tiresome. The sentences are often incredibly long and convoluted, without enough punctuation, so that I have to read them twice to figure out where the emphasis or pauses should be. And so much belabored description! If I have a chance, I’ll come back and put in some examples. The dialog is pretty good, but not enough of it to outweigh the drudgery of reading this aloud every night.
While Helprin is imaginative, I’ll never pick up any of his other books. The Illustrations are lovely though.
While Helprin is imaginative, I’ll never pick up any of his other books. The Illustrations are lovely though.
September 25, 2007
I saw this book on the sale table at a local bookstore a few years back and thought it looked interesting. It's been a while since I read this book, but remember it being one I really enjoyed. The illustrations are wonderful and add to the story. When I finished, I realized that this was the middle book in a trilogy based on "Swan Lake". I still haven't picked up the rest of the series--see my to-read list--but hope to get the other books and complete the set.
November 10, 2017
This trilogy's "Return of the King," as it focuses on the attempt to restoration of all that is right. Our heroine seeks her revenge and kingdom from the Usurper in a city veiled in snow and as enchanting as it is deadly. The illustrations illuminate little corners of this world without intruding into your imagination. I'm looking forward to the new Helprin, but I wish he'd give us more snow-drenched fantasias like this one.
January 25, 2022
Loved exploring the city (even though it's a weird mix of historical with over-the-top impossible). Some of the issues discussed were relevant (if a bit on-the-nose) and some of the events were moving. But also WHY DID HE SEND THIS GIRL AT TEN YEARS OLD WHEN SHE HAS NEVER EVEN SEEN OTHER PEOPLE BEFORE?? I get that this is a fairy tale but it's also a terrible way to go about arranging your revolution.
August 13, 2022
This seems like it would be a lot of fun to read out loud, with quirky, fluid word choices. It would have played best with me at the heroine's own age of ten, though as an adult with the politics I have, I grew frustrated at the very end by the way divine right of a monarch propelled everything about the plot. Still special, worth sharing with kids in your life who like to push their vocabularies and can handle a scene of violent death.
November 25, 2014
The blurb calls this a spellbinding tale, evocatively told. Indeed it is; the unnamed heroine who is destined to be queen travels to her inevitable, not not easy to attain place as ruler of her people. Much is unrevealed besides her name...tantalizing the readers, but will there be more? I loved the story and its telling, but such an unresolved ending frustrates me.
July 16, 2017
The second book of a trilogy about a girl who is the rightful heir and how she becomes queen. Once again, Helprin has a wonderful prose that draws in the reader, fleshing out a fairy tale that is unique. I only wish there were more Allburg's illustrations throughout the book. Looking forward to reading the third and final book.
March 21, 2012
The hyperbole that was charming in Swan Lake seemed excessive and distancing in this continuation.
January 8, 2017
So, so, so boring. Flat, overly wrought and offensively sermonizing. The Christian morality was odd and off putting. I felt conned.
February 25, 2018
Helprin tells a wonderful story, again, but it's carried beautifully by Van Allsburg 's divine illustrations.
February 20, 2020
Weird but I like it.
March 20, 2026
Ahha! now i see why the story made so iittle sense. I find that it is part two of a three book series.
I only gave it two stars because the concept was wonderful, very haunting and poetic. BUT. It felt like the author was simply recounting a dream or an outline for a story but was too lazy or inexperienced with fantasy and fairytale to fill out the details. Even Children really like details!
It had the feel of a George MacDonald or Peter S Beagle story or it had the potential to be that good. But it wasn't because he would give a little taste of an idea here and then float off to another idea without any real development.
The tale begins with the protagonist, hidden royalty who discovers who she really is going away from her home in the isolated woods to a huge city to take back her throne from the Evil Usurper. But we never find out much about the Usurper or how he took over.
We never really know how she fared or what she took with her when she left hom. A child who has never been far from home. Did she have food for ten days on the road or did she fast the entire time she traveled by foot in deep snow? Where did she sleep? somehow she fended off wild animals But there is little mention of this. Or the only mention is a sentance about how she had learned to run outdoors in the woods for a full day. There was this brief description of her childhood that could have been an entire chapter.
And suddenly she finds herself in this huge city seeing starngers for the first time on the outskirts who carried her the rest of the way in.
There is very little set up for all of this. it is mentioned that she only saw a traveler once who came to the home of her and her tutor in the isolated woods. But it would have been nice to have seen how they lived. Did htey have servants or did they do all the work themselves?
The story continues on with tantilizing tastes and concepts about thousands of kitchens for bakers and yam makers etc. and layers of underground and different wings of this huge castle within the gigantic city.
There was the concept of slaves being owned by slaves and a very elaborate set up for the different workers and casts within the system.
there but it all sort of happens in this dream like floating from scene to scene without much detail or indepth charater development.
There are enough themes hinted at here to write a much longer more detailed story if one were to sit down and imagine it more thouroughly. I felt tantilized, teezed and then cheated out of the whole story. Either it needed to be a very short story book with much simplified story line or fully filled in.
As it was i kept wondering if pages where missing in between scenes that explained the details.
It felt like such a wonderful potential was just outlined and thrown away.
I only gave it two stars because the concept was wonderful, very haunting and poetic. BUT. It felt like the author was simply recounting a dream or an outline for a story but was too lazy or inexperienced with fantasy and fairytale to fill out the details. Even Children really like details!
It had the feel of a George MacDonald or Peter S Beagle story or it had the potential to be that good. But it wasn't because he would give a little taste of an idea here and then float off to another idea without any real development.
The tale begins with the protagonist, hidden royalty who discovers who she really is going away from her home in the isolated woods to a huge city to take back her throne from the Evil Usurper. But we never find out much about the Usurper or how he took over.
We never really know how she fared or what she took with her when she left hom. A child who has never been far from home. Did she have food for ten days on the road or did she fast the entire time she traveled by foot in deep snow? Where did she sleep? somehow she fended off wild animals But there is little mention of this. Or the only mention is a sentance about how she had learned to run outdoors in the woods for a full day. There was this brief description of her childhood that could have been an entire chapter.
And suddenly she finds herself in this huge city seeing starngers for the first time on the outskirts who carried her the rest of the way in.
There is very little set up for all of this. it is mentioned that she only saw a traveler once who came to the home of her and her tutor in the isolated woods. But it would have been nice to have seen how they lived. Did htey have servants or did they do all the work themselves?
The story continues on with tantilizing tastes and concepts about thousands of kitchens for bakers and yam makers etc. and layers of underground and different wings of this huge castle within the gigantic city.
There was the concept of slaves being owned by slaves and a very elaborate set up for the different workers and casts within the system.
there but it all sort of happens in this dream like floating from scene to scene without much detail or indepth charater development.
There are enough themes hinted at here to write a much longer more detailed story if one were to sit down and imagine it more thouroughly. I felt tantilized, teezed and then cheated out of the whole story. Either it needed to be a very short story book with much simplified story line or fully filled in.
As it was i kept wondering if pages where missing in between scenes that explained the details.
It felt like such a wonderful potential was just outlined and thrown away.
June 18, 2023
Back when I lived in Ann Arbor, I dear book friend gave me a copy of this. I haven't gotten around to reading it until now.
This story is written like a dream. It's like this whole huge kingdom in a dream.
The usurper stole the kingdom from the royal family. The daughter of the king survived. She is now about to retake her kingdom. She is writing a letter from her room about the whole experience.
The world is a world of ice and snow, or set in winter. It reminded me or Russia for some reason. The writing is middle grade and nothing seems to have much consequences. The royal attitude that is natural to the girl is grating. They put a whole lot of importance on being royal. Like only royals can be brave, good people and fight for others.
The language is beautiful and the artwork that Chris Van Allsburg does is beautiful. An interesting little quick story. Different from what I've been reading. I'm glad I read it, but it's not a book I would encourage someone to put at the top of their TBR.
This story is written like a dream. It's like this whole huge kingdom in a dream.
The usurper stole the kingdom from the royal family. The daughter of the king survived. She is now about to retake her kingdom. She is writing a letter from her room about the whole experience.
The world is a world of ice and snow, or set in winter. It reminded me or Russia for some reason. The writing is middle grade and nothing seems to have much consequences. The royal attitude that is natural to the girl is grating. They put a whole lot of importance on being royal. Like only royals can be brave, good people and fight for others.
The language is beautiful and the artwork that Chris Van Allsburg does is beautiful. An interesting little quick story. Different from what I've been reading. I'm glad I read it, but it's not a book I would encourage someone to put at the top of their TBR.
December 10, 2023
god this book is so pretty. and fucked up. but so pretty, both the illustrations and the images in the story itself, and the words and pictures go together so well. and because i’ve loved it for so long, i can open to any page and just feel this instant PEACE wash over me.
don’t bother reading the other two books btw. this is the second in a trilogy but it’s honestly much better to treat it as a standalone. the first book is unremarkable and unnecessary, the third one is devastatingly depressing.
don’t bother reading the other two books btw. this is the second in a trilogy but it’s honestly much better to treat it as a standalone. the first book is unremarkable and unnecessary, the third one is devastatingly depressing.
November 26, 2023
Book 2 in a series of 3. I loved the expansion to the fairytale Swan Lake in the first book and I will finish book three. I am glad I did not read this first. It was slow and hard to follow at times. It also seemed overly preachy with very little storytelling at one point.
This book tells the story of the 10-year-old queen as she retakes her kingdom back from the usurper. Characters are clever, and the illustrations are beautiful. Overall, that is what drew me to this book. Still, it is a far better story than most.
This book tells the story of the 10-year-old queen as she retakes her kingdom back from the usurper. Characters are clever, and the illustrations are beautiful. Overall, that is what drew me to this book. Still, it is a far better story than most.
August 22, 2024
Again, love that the kid we got to know in book one is writing to her own child about how she became Queen.
At first though I felt like I was missing a lot since she mentions a husband and child and war all of which we didn't see but then she goes back to explaining how she got off the mountain and to waging war against the usurper.
Her personality tho seemed strange....like it felt a bit unbelievable to me that she went from farm girl to "I'm a QUEEN" attitude but....i guess lol
At first though I felt like I was missing a lot since she mentions a husband and child and war all of which we didn't see but then she goes back to explaining how she got off the mountain and to waging war against the usurper.
Her personality tho seemed strange....like it felt a bit unbelievable to me that she went from farm girl to "I'm a QUEEN" attitude but....i guess lol
March 5, 2026
This is my favorite book. It's been my favorite book since I was fifteen years old, and I expect it will continue being my favorite book for the rest of my life. Something of true magic was captured between the words and illustrations here. I can't explain it, but I love it dearly and I hope others see the magic too.
July 18, 2018
So much better than the first book in this series...
January 22, 2021
Helprin's prose is magical. My only complaint is that this could have been fleshed out much more in detail and been a longer treat.
Did Not Finish
June 12, 2022Maybe we'll try again some time down the road
November 20, 2022
Story: 3.5 stars
Illustrations: 5 stars
Part 2 of the Swan Lake trilogy.
I liked this better than the first part.
Illustrations: 5 stars
Part 2 of the Swan Lake trilogy.
I liked this better than the first part.
December 28, 2023
Slow going story with lots of platitudes. Still you can't beat the illustrations.
January 6, 2015
Star Rating Art: 4 Stars
Star Rating Story: 3 Stars
Self purchase for my Kindle.
First Impression: A bit of a disappointment.
I was really hoping I���d like this series since I liked Hellboy: Midnight Circus (I got as an ARC from Netgalley) so much.
Characters: The sorcerer who originally brought hellboy into being is a very wordy person. Also, very boring and uninteresting. Hellboy- he rocks, has some great lines.
Chapter one- a little on the confusing side at first until you see where it is going. Wasn���t thrilled with first chapter (3 Stars) Second chapter things are starting to look better (4 Stars). Chapter three goes downhill again as the stupid sorcerer rambles on and on. I can���t read it it���s so annoying. (2 Stars-) Chapter four- more ramblings from the sorcerer. 3 Stars
I did go ahead and purchase volume 2 in the series because I suspect it gets better. Now that the introduction and history crap is out of the way, I think I���ll like it more. But if Volume 2 isn���t a lot better, I may have to give up on the series.
Quotes: ���Sir, you���ve got frogs��� Hellboy
���Thanks, but I have other plans for the Apolcalypse��� Hellboy
Star Rating Story: 3 Stars
Self purchase for my Kindle.
First Impression: A bit of a disappointment.
I was really hoping I���d like this series since I liked Hellboy: Midnight Circus (I got as an ARC from Netgalley) so much.
Characters: The sorcerer who originally brought hellboy into being is a very wordy person. Also, very boring and uninteresting. Hellboy- he rocks, has some great lines.
Chapter one- a little on the confusing side at first until you see where it is going. Wasn���t thrilled with first chapter (3 Stars) Second chapter things are starting to look better (4 Stars). Chapter three goes downhill again as the stupid sorcerer rambles on and on. I can���t read it it���s so annoying. (2 Stars-) Chapter four- more ramblings from the sorcerer. 3 Stars
I did go ahead and purchase volume 2 in the series because I suspect it gets better. Now that the introduction and history crap is out of the way, I think I���ll like it more. But if Volume 2 isn���t a lot better, I may have to give up on the series.
Quotes: ���Sir, you���ve got frogs��� Hellboy
���Thanks, but I have other plans for the Apolcalypse��� Hellboy
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews