The Innkeeper's Song is the story of young Tikat's search for the lover whose death and resurrection he witnessed. It is a search that will lead hi...
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Apr 06, 2011
This was one of those "something to think about" books. Crossroads, change, endings and beginnings. The infamous bedroom scene actually grounded the story in a way that was necessary with all of the wizards' battles and heroes' adventures. It wasn't really a story about wizards and heroes even though many of the characters fit into those catagories. Like The Book of Atrix Wolfe, there's a strong element here of common people mixing in with wonder and a conscious and unconscious sear
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Aug 10, 2009
Jessica
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I've loved The Last Unicorn for years, but never read another Peter S. Beagle book - till now. I enjoyed this story, but it's a very different book from The Last Unicorn, though both deal with wizards and magic and quests.
The Innkeeper's Song has at its heart the intersection of many lives and quests - a young boy who watches his lover drown in a river, only to be resurrected by a mysterious woman; that mysterious woman and her traveling companion, both past students of a powerful w More...
The Innkeeper's Song has at its heart the intersection of many lives and quests - a young boy who watches his lover drown in a river, only to be resurrected by a mysterious woman; that mysterious woman and her traveling companion, both past students of a powerful w More...
Jan 23, 2008
Rosemary
rated it: 
One of those amazing experiences that come along every now and again was hearing Peter Beagle read from scraps of this book before it was published. And when it was published, what a novel! Nobody has ever kept so many point of view characters dancing in such an elaborate and intricate tale, with it all ending as it should, something only a true master of the art could pull off.
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Sep 12, 2011
Richard
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A plot summary of this book might go something like this: A wizard and his former students fight against another former student who has traded his life to the darkness for power. It would be accurate, but totally misleading. So what was the book really about? Stories. Singing. Love. Hate. Obligations. Responsibilities. Death. Rebirth. Redemption....
If I had to describe The Innkeeper's Song in a word, it would be this--chewy. Some books are like milkshakes. You just drink them down ea More...
If I had to describe The Innkeeper's Song in a word, it would be this--chewy. Some books are like milkshakes. You just drink them down ea More...
Nov 05, 2010
Pikachu
rated it: 
I just couldn't get into this book, which is a shame because I LOVE the Last Unicorn--so much, that I actually made my mom buy me a copy off Amazon. When I saw this book at the library, I got super-excited because I'd been wanting to read more of his works for a while.
Some parts were good. Peter S. Beagle has a wonderful, almost lyrical style of writing--and I almost got through the whole book just because of the writing alone. But the plot was weird...almost non-existent. There's a ra More...
Some parts were good. Peter S. Beagle has a wonderful, almost lyrical style of writing--and I almost got through the whole book just because of the writing alone. But the plot was weird...almost non-existent. There's a ra More...
Aug 09, 2011
Brian
rated it:
If you're thinking about reading this book, lemme tell you something. It's amazing. Peter S. Beagle has created the simplest world with very little, yet it amazes me how thought provoking this fantasy is. It's the story of 3 women and the mischief they cause an innkeeper. Yes, it has wizards and magic and all that cliche fantasy stuff, but Beagle has something very few authors have in this genre. Wit and humor. His style of writing is so unique. It's told through POVs. Now if you're thinking Mar
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Apr 11, 2009
Michelle
rated it: 
3.5 stars, leaning toward 3. The prose and imagery can be really beautiful, and the world-building was well done, though somewhat narrow in focus. Since it's a rotating first-person narrative, readers develop an understanding of the world as colored by the character's personal histories. It's more like an extended folk tale than a novel, and more about the fantastical characters than the fantasy world.
I liked this book less than some because I'm not a fan of rotating first-person, a More...
I liked this book less than some because I'm not a fan of rotating first-person, a More...
Jan 13, 2009
Kathleen
rated it:
I don't remember this book, but I know I liked it. What's not to like about Peter S. Beagle. I'll have to read it again.
From Amazon:
"Three powerful women (each with her own secret past), a stable boy, a weaver's son, and an innkeeper set in motion a series of events that brings each of them face to face with the forces of magic and the workings of fate. Beagle... uses many voices to tell this tale of love and death and what lies beyond both. A finely crafted piece More...
From Amazon:
"Three powerful women (each with her own secret past), a stable boy, a weaver's son, and an innkeeper set in motion a series of events that brings each of them face to face with the forces of magic and the workings of fate. Beagle... uses many voices to tell this tale of love and death and what lies beyond both. A finely crafted piece More...
Dec 04, 2008
Julie
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Feb 10, 2012
Kevin
rated it:
The Innkeeper's Song was a story that had a lot of potential, but as the story progresses it begins to drag on and - I'm not sure if I'm alone in this - I could tell that the author was most likely having a hard time finishing it. Maybe he had just a basic idea and thought that it would write itself once the momentum built up, I don't know. But it was a bit of a letdown. I'm sad to say.
Although there were so many questions left unanswered it was an enjoyable experience. It also alludes to More...
Although there were so many questions left unanswered it was an enjoyable experience. It also alludes to More...
May 27, 2011
Zelly
rated it:
It's taken me a while to get through this, and I came out of it feeling satisfied by the ending - as everything did, indeed, get wrapped up quite nicely - but it hadn't been a whirlwind adventure, or a book that gripped me the way Beagle's 'The Last Unicorn' did when I read that for the first time.
I know there have been some reservations and gripes from other readers about Beagle's use of perspective. For me, the first person POV actually worked. I never found myself confused about who More...
I know there have been some reservations and gripes from other readers about Beagle's use of perspective. For me, the first person POV actually worked. I never found myself confused about who More...
May 29, 2011
Aoife
rated it:
Honestly: I'm not quite sure how to sum up my feelings for this books...or just say anything about it. I found it awesome. I also think many people might find it terribly dull, which I somehow also understand but I still think it's awesome.
Well what's it about? There is a boy who sets out to save his true love (turns out she doesn't want to be rescued), there are two very beautiful and very misterious women, one of which has a name that reads like someone's been sick over a scrabble-board ( More...
Well what's it about? There is a boy who sets out to save his true love (turns out she doesn't want to be rescued), there are two very beautiful and very misterious women, one of which has a name that reads like someone's been sick over a scrabble-board ( More...
Apr 16, 2009
Mary-Beth
rated it:
In comparison to The Last Unicorn, what a departure. I wasn't even sure I liked it at first. It might start a bit slowly with all of the switches in perspective, not something I look for in a novel. Ultimately, Beagle did a masterful job at balancing the narratives and eventually I quite enjoyed this tale. Beagle has done the kind of world building I enjoy - that is, the kind that doesn't thwack you over the head like a giant mallet, but builds slowly throughout the novel.
The complex More...
The complex More...
Jul 15, 2008
linnea
rated it:
This book was hard to get through, I'm not sure why. Partly, I think, because the story is told from so many perspectives (I think some people like that, though) and partly because it just had a really strange atmosphere. It reminded me a little of Robin McKinley's Damar stories, with an added element of . . . ridiculousness? weirdness? threat? Not sure. What I liked most about it was that, even though it was a fantasy book, the characters all seemed completely unique and themselves. Beagle is g
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Dec 30, 2007
Kim
rated it:
I read Peter S. Beagle's most highly regarded novel, The Last Unicorn, about ten years ago and I really didn't like it, so I didn't expect to like this much either. It turns out I was wrong. This book is a lot of fun! In a low-tech setting where magic isn't the norm but isn't uncommon either, this is the story of a battle between a good wizard and his gone-bad disciple (Obi Wan versus Darth Vader...only different...), but the wizards aren't the main characters. Instead the main characters ar
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Sep 26, 2007
Lissa
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When I was fairly young (maybe 12 or 13), I read The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle. I remember liking it well enough then, but finding it a rather difficult read. The Innkeeper's Song is only the second book by Peter Beagle that I've ever read, 13 years after I read the first one. It kind of makes me want to go back and re-read The Last Unicorn as I am sure that my 26 year old self would find it much easier going than my 13 year old self. (As a side note, I'm almost glad that I waited to re More...
Jul 15, 2007
Aerin
rated it:
This was a quick read and an enjoyable story. I was only familiar with Beagle through his sublime fable, The Last Unicorn, and The Innkeeper's Song, a fairly straightforward fantasy, suffers by comparison. Although Beagle's magical prose is here, as beautiful as ever, this story lacks the timeless, mythic element that made Last Unicorn stand out. In all honesty, this might well be a four-star book, but I went in with impossibly high hopes and was disappointed.
The story follows s More...
The story follows s More...
Aug 12, 2009
Sarah
rated it:
i read Giant Bones quite a few years ago and loved it. for those unfamiliar, Giant Bones is a collection of short stories. why i mention it here.. at least two of the characters in The Innkeeper's Song are in the book Giant Bones as well. Lal and Soukyan - i immediately fell in love with the old warriors in that book and started wondering if they appeared elsewhere in one of Mr. Beagle's novels. when i discovered The Innkeeper's Song, i was THRILLED to pieces. it was like being reintroduced to a
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Apr 06, 2010
Jaimie
rated it:
Peter Beagle has a unique way of shaping his characters, and it was this that made me really like this book. Each chapter is told from one of the character's points of view, which lets the reader get to know each one. The Fox was charmingly aloof and, strangely enough, exactly how I think a fox's thoughts would read. The elements of fantasy were also well done- the beings in the "other" world, Lukassa's deaths. Definitely going to be reading more from Beagle in the future.
Sep 07, 2009
Adam
rated it:
After only a couple chapters of this book, I saw the same great writing I'd come to expect from Beagle and I told my wife, "I'm going to read this book to our son." But then came the sex scene a third of the way through the book that really didn't need to be there. Beagle uses it to reveal something about one character, but he really could have revealed it in another way entirely. The scene also seemed completely out of character and out of nowhere. There's another scene later in the b
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Aug 03, 2011
Diane
rated it:
I loved some of this author's other work, and an online review of this book seemed to strike the right chord. So I ordered a copy, and it is now one of my favorite books. But it didn't start out that way.
It was a bit difficult at first to get used to the rotating points of view, and I wondered if this book was a single, coherent story, or a collection of loosely related tales. Anyway, I got discouraged with this book and I set it down. I'm sorry to say, I set it down for months.
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It was a bit difficult at first to get used to the rotating points of view, and I wondered if this book was a single, coherent story, or a collection of loosely related tales. Anyway, I got discouraged with this book and I set it down. I'm sorry to say, I set it down for months.
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Jun 18, 2008
Res
rated it: 
The one where a dying wizard, several of his students with various agendas, one magical shapeshifter, a girl who's been brought back from the dead and her lover whom she doesn't remember, all converge on an inn for mythic happenings.
I couldn't tell you why I didn't like this more than I did. I loved the characters, and was forever reading bits out loud to the spouse to show him how this book (unlike The Gumshoe, The Witch, and the Virtual Corpse) does a great job giving distinct voi More...
I couldn't tell you why I didn't like this more than I did. I loved the characters, and was forever reading bits out loud to the spouse to show him how this book (unlike The Gumshoe, The Witch, and the Virtual Corpse) does a great job giving distinct voi More...
Aug 10, 2010
The Innkeeper's Song never really grabbed me. I found it to be a disjointed tale, that was somehow just missing something. Told from multiple first-person point of views, it also starts with a slightly disjointed time narrative although this evens out rather quickly. It's also told entirely as a past tale, i.e., the first-person narratives are all about past events, which in some manner might be considered a giveaway to potential story outcomes.
It is quite different than most fantasy More...
It is quite different than most fantasy More...
Feb 09, 2011
Matt
rated it:
Great read. I found the alternating character's point of views a little jarring sometimes, but it's really one of the greatest fantasy books I've ever read. I really enjoy Beagle's work, and it's a shame that it's kind of difficult to find.
Apr 21, 2009
Sean
rated it:
Long, sexy and jumbled. Not as purely wonderful as The Last Unicorn, this is still a great book by a great writer.
Dec 07, 2009
Kristen
rated it:
Peter Beagle is an author I should read more of. His "The Last Unicorn" is one of my favorite books, as well as having been made into a cartoon that was in nigh constant rotation during my childhood. In fact, I still own it today.
This book had moments of startlingly beautiful prose. Whole chapters as finely wrought as any in genre fiction. But sometimes it was inscrutable, holding me at arms distance, a mean feat for a book comprised of short, overlapping first person More...
This book had moments of startlingly beautiful prose. Whole chapters as finely wrought as any in genre fiction. But sometimes it was inscrutable, holding me at arms distance, a mean feat for a book comprised of short, overlapping first person More...
Dec 16, 2009
Morgan
rated it:
Peter S. Beagle comes a little closer to a standard fantasy book with this one, but it is still miles ahead of most of the genre. His approach, writing each chapter from the first person perspective of a different character, and alternating between each of his central characters as he goes, is a lot of fun. He is also careful enough to develop each character fully enough that they have their own personalities, enough that it is possible, eventually, to tell who is speaking without needing to be
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May 12, 2011
Rebecca
rated it:
One of the best books I have ever read! The characters are rich and full, the story development is beautiful. A wonderful read.
Aug 31, 2010
I think this is my favorite of his books. It is about what makes an epic tale...told by each of the characters involved.
Mar 29, 2011
Liz
rated it:
Took a while to get through, but an interesting story told through the eyes of at least 4 different characters.
