Overview

Hugh and Serena have reigned over a vast lake in a subtropical paradise for many years. Although the environment is idyllic it belies a slimy danger that lurks below the water - predatory eels. The colorful bunch of characters who live on the lake are all grateful to Hugh for protecting them from the evil of the deep, which impresses Hugh and Serena's daughter, Isis. As their latest hatched cygnet, Isis assumes she is the last born and therefore heir to the kingdom, as is the swan way of things. A cheeky white duck who has lived on the lake as long as Hugh and Serena, Lord Quacksalot, knows better. When the ambitious young swan becomes airborne for the first time, she is thrilled with her newfound power, not realizing the bittersweet consequence. Isis is crestfallen when told she has to leave, despite her parents sweetening the blow by telling her that she will become queen of a new territory. Reluctantly she leaves but vows revenge. While Isis is away, Hugh and Serena give birth to Prince, their heir apparent. When Isis returns with the evil swan Hannibal, Hugh is too old and Prince is too young to challenge such an enormous and strong swan. The serenity and sanctuary of the lake are shattered and the kingdom is devastated when beloved lives are lost. It doesn't take long for Isis to realize she's made a terrible mistake. It will take all Serena's years of experience, all of her guile, and all the animals of the kingdom working together if Isis is to be redeemed, Hannibal defeated and the sanctity of the lake restored for all the creatures who live there. ""Charming. Enchanting. Full of passion, humor and drama."" Priscilla Presley ""Every captivating chapter opens your eyes to love, treachery, sacrifice and self-discovery in the secret world of swans."" Richard Loring, Creator of the international stage sensation ""African Footprint"" ""Heart-stopping drama, rib-tickling humor, and more personality than should be allowed."" Harvey Brownstone, celebrity talk show host. ""It's wit meets murder in this subtropical paradise with a cavalcade of colorful characters. Will the wily Swan Queen outsmart her deadly foe?"" Lord Quacksalot

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Reviews

Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite Serena and Hugh rule over a peaceful kingdom, but trouble arises when their daughter, Isis, moved by revenge, brings back the tyrant Hannibal as her mate to challenge Hugh. After a draining battle, Hugh loses his life and kingdom to Hannibal, whose atrocities force Serena and her newborn Prince to flee and the other animals to rise in revolt. Will the white duck Lord Quacksalot find Serena and the Prince in time? Can Isis find her redemption? Some real-world parallels in Lynn Santer's story shed light on the issue of immigrants and the problems they face while acclimating to their new environments. Swan Song, at its heart, is a coming-of-age story about two sibling heirs to the Swan kingdom who choose two very different paths to react to life's challenges. Lynn Santer draws inspiration from watching the swans on her own property to weave a fascinating tale of love, sacrifice, and redemption. There are some delightful shoutouts to movies and other pop culture references sprinkled throughout the book, which adds another fun engagement factor to the narrative. Animal lovers will find the book particularly heartwarming as Santer captures animal behavior and social interactions flawlessly on the page. Highly recommended. Reviewed by Bailey Cavender for Reedsy Swan Song opens on an idyllic lake, where most of the creatures live in harmony. Ruling them are the swans, Hugh and Serena, beloved by the other animals. When it is time for their daughter, Isis, to leave the nest and find her own kingdom, she is furious and vows to return to reclaim her birthright. Tragedy soon follows, and Serena is forced to flee, with her youngest Swan, Prince, in tow, until he is old enough to reclaim his rightful place. Slice of life animal stories can feel trite and half-baked, and that is not a problem for this novel! The reader is allowed to care about this pond, small as it is in the grand scheme of things, and feel invested in the story. The stakes are high for this kingdom, and the reader feels that. Every bird has a unique personality, and they are clearly based on real birds that the author observed in her own pond. This helps make the story come alive in an even brighter way, and ensures that each character is memorable. The writing is lyrical and beautiful, painting a picture of this idyllic lake. The novel calls to mind Firebringer , Bambi , and The Lion King , but has a unique flavor all its own. It made this reader laugh, cry, cheer, and feel like she was a part of something grand in this one small kingdom. Swan Song will become a classic animal story, and is certainly one to check out! Reviewed by David Bush for Goodreads Swan Song is original and relatable because inheritance issues are a part of human nature and because to my knowledge, this is the first anthropomorphic tale about inheritance feuds. This novel should appeal to all readers, young and old, male or female, irrespective of whether they like talking animals or not. For it is an Aesop's type of fable about transcendent and universal issues. It is a tale of greed, ambition, treachery and coming of age. There is a heating pot of myriad conflicting emotions: of love and hate; of sacrifice and selfishness; of loyalty and betrayals: of pride and prejudice; of sharing and domination, and so much more. But, above all, the central theme is of tolerance and governance. There is good character development, the prose is lyrical, the descriptions vivid. I recommend.

"Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite Serena and Hugh rule over a peaceful kingdom, but trouble arises when their daughter, Isis, moved by revenge, brings back the tyrant Hannibal as her mate to challenge Hugh. After a draining battle, Hugh loses his life and kingdom to Hannibal, whose atrocities force Serena and her newborn Prince to flee and the other animals to rise in revolt. Will the white duck Lord Quacksalot find Serena and the Prince in time? Can Isis find her redemption? Some real-world parallels in Lynn Santer's story shed light on the issue of immigrants and the problems they face while acclimating to their new environments. Swan Song, at its heart, is a coming-of-age story about two sibling heirs to the Swan kingdom who choose two very different paths to react to life's challenges. Lynn Santer draws inspiration from watching the swans on her own property to weave a fascinating tale of love, sacrifice, and redemption. There are some delightful shoutouts to movies and other pop culture references sprinkled throughout the book, which adds another fun engagement factor to the narrative. Animal lovers will find the book particularly heartwarming as Santer captures animal behavior and social interactions flawlessly on the page. Highly recommended. Reviewed by Bailey Cavender for Reedsy ""Swan Song"" opens on an idyllic lake, where most of the creatures live in harmony. Ruling them are the swans, Hugh and Serena, beloved by the other animals. When it is time for their daughter, Isis, to leave the nest and find her own kingdom, she is furious and vows to return to reclaim her birthright. Tragedy soon follows, and Serena is forced to flee, with her youngest Swan, Prince, in tow, until he is old enough to reclaim his rightful place. Slice of life animal stories can feel trite and half-baked, and that is not a problem for this novel! The reader is allowed to care about this pond, small as it is in the grand scheme of things, and feel invested in the story. The stakes are high for this kingdom, and the reader feels that. Every bird has a unique personality, and they are clearly based on real birds that the author observed in her own pond. This helps make the story come alive in an even brighter way, and ensures that each character is memorable. The writing is lyrical and beautiful, painting a picture of this idyllic lake. The novel calls to mind ""Firebringer"", ""Bambi"", and ""The Lion King"", but has a unique flavor all its own. It made this reader laugh, cry, cheer, and feel like she was a part of something grand in this one small kingdom. ""Swan Song"" will become a classic animal story, and is certainly one to check out! Reviewed by David Bush for Goodreads Swan Song is original and relatable because inheritance issues are a part of human nature and because to my knowledge, this is the first anthropomorphic tale about inheritance feuds. This novel should appeal to all readers, young and old, male or female, irrespective of whether they like talking animals or not. For it is an Aesop's type of fable about transcendent and universal issues. It is a tale of greed, ambition, treachery and coming of age. There is a heating pot of myriad conflicting emotions: of love and hate; of sacrifice and selfishness; of loyalty and betrayals: of pride and prejudice; of sharing and domination, and so much more. But, above all, the central theme is of tolerance and governance. There is good character development, the prose is lyrical, the descriptions vivid. I recommend."

Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite Serena and Hugh rule over a peaceful kingdom, but trouble arises when their daughter, Isis, moved by revenge, brings back the tyrant Hannibal as her mate to challenge Hugh. After a draining battle, Hugh loses his life and kingdom to Hannibal, whose atrocities force Serena and her newborn Prince to flee and the other animals to rise in revolt. Will the white duck Lord Quacksalot find Serena and the Prince in time? Can Isis find her redemption? Some real-world parallels in Lynn Santer's story shed light on the issue of immigrants and the problems they face while acclimating to their new environments. Swan Song, at its heart, is a coming-of-age story about two sibling heirs to the Swan kingdom who choose two very different paths to react to life's challenges. Lynn Santer draws inspiration from watching the swans on her own property to weave a fascinating tale of love, sacrifice, and redemption. There are some delightful shoutouts to movies and other pop culture references sprinkled throughout the book, which adds another fun engagement factor to the narrative. Animal lovers will find the book particularly heartwarming as Santer captures animal behavior and social interactions flawlessly on the page. Highly recommended. Reviewed by Bailey Cavender for Reedsy ""Swan Song"" opens on an idyllic lake, where most of the creatures live in harmony. Ruling them are the swans, Hugh and Serena, beloved by the other animals. When it is time for their daughter, Isis, to leave the nest and find her own kingdom, she is furious and vows to return to reclaim her birthright. Tragedy soon follows, and Serena is forced to flee, with her youngest Swan, Prince, in tow, until he is old enough to reclaim his rightful place. Slice of life animal stories can feel trite and half-baked, and that is not a problem for this novel! The reader is allowed to care about this pond, small as it is in the grand scheme of things, and feel invested in the story. The stakes are high for this kingdom, and the reader feels that. Every bird has a unique personality, and they are clearly based on real birds that the author observed in her own pond. This helps make the story come alive in an even brighter way, and ensures that each character is memorable. The writing is lyrical and beautiful, painting a picture of this idyllic lake. The novel calls to mind ""Firebringer"", ""Bambi"", and ""The Lion King"", but has a unique flavor all its own. It made this reader laugh, cry, cheer, and feel like she was a part of something grand in this one small kingdom. ""Swan Song"" will become a classic animal story, and is certainly one to check out! Reviewed by David Bush for Goodreads Swan Song is original and relatable because inheritance issues are a part of human nature and because to my knowledge, this is the first anthropomorphic tale about inheritance feuds. This novel should appeal to all readers, young and old, male or female, irrespective of whether they like talking animals or not. For it is an Aesop's type of fable about transcendent and universal issues. It is a tale of greed, ambition, treachery and coming of age. There is a heating pot of myriad conflicting emotions: of love and hate; of sacrifice and selfishness; of loyalty and betrayals: of pride and prejudice; of sharing and domination, and so much more. But, above all, the central theme is of tolerance and governance. There is good character development, the prose is lyrical, the descriptions vivid. I recommend.

Author Information

Internationally acclaimed film producer and best-selling author Lynn Santer, enterprisingly sent her first story, The Magical Scarecrow, to a publisher at the tender age of nine years old. Even then, the publisher recognized her writing skills and encouraged her to write again when she was ""a little older"".After taking her parents' advice to pursue ""a proper career"", Lynn qualified in both finance and law from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and the University of Sydney, after her family emigrated from London in 1978. She would not write professionally again until the early 90s when, weary with her career in high finance, her creative brain took control once more. Initially, Lynn wrote, produced and directed short live theatre productions that won a string of awards. She also wrote her first novel Sins of Life (Life Insurance), which ultimately became the number one selling title for its publisher in the UK (1999) and was optioned by Zygi Kamasa (the Kingsman franchise, Olympus has Fallen, The Expendables 2) of Scorpio Productions in Pinewood Studios UK.Spurred on by her success with Sins of Life, Lynn wrote two more novels in the Sins of Life trilogy and rewrote her first foray in the literary world The Magical Scarecrows (now plural) as a series of children's books designed to be a philanthropic initiative. This series subsequently gained acceptance worldwide and earned Lynn a nomination for the Pride of Australia medal. See: http: //www.TheMagicalScarecrows.comShe also became a much sought after celebrity biographer. From the early 2000s for the following ten years, Lynn wrote authorized biographies or ghost wrote autobiographies for many notable figures including a world champion figure skater, the world's first female rescue helicopter pilot, a cosmically flamboyant psychic often deployed by law enforcement agencies, the former personal pilot of the heinous Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and pioneer of the reality TV series genre, Australian adventurer Alby Mangels. She also became Mangels' professional manager up until 2015.By 2001, Lynn's lifelong passion for the preservation of endangered big cats was asserting itself as the number one priority in her life. Together with Hollywood legend, Tippi Hedren (whom Lynn had met and immediately bonded with in 1999), Lynn organized a glitzy event in the Gold Coast's Jupiters Casino, an event which became the launching pad for an odyssey over twenty years in the making and still playing out to this day. See: http: //www.LandOfTheFreeMovie.com. Her first film exposing the brutal truths behind the trophy hunting industry was released in 2021 to international critical acclaim, winning at film festivals all over the world.Residing on a tranquil lake in the Gold Coast of Australia, which she has transformed into a native wildlife haven, Lynn lives with her buoyant 87 year old mother. From there she pulls the strings of her Hollywood and international teams. This subtropical paradise in idyllic Mermaid Waters has been the inspiration for a brand new animated feature musical project called Swan Song that Lynn is developing with the iconic Priscilla Presley. In advance of the movie, Lynn's young adult novel of the same name has been released. Among her other current projects are The Legacy of Gaston Leroux, a bio epic film about the author of Phantom of the Opera (first released as a novella July 2022 as Gaston Leroux - The man behind the man behind the mask) and the second Land of the Free film Land of the Free: Out of the Shadows, which had its world premiere in London's House of Commons June 2022.

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