Rereading: THE INNKEEPER’S SONG by Peter S. Beagle

Cover art by John Jude Palencar

After reading mostly novels aimed at children and humorous material, this heady, dense, complex novel was a nice change, and reminded me how much I like Beagle’s writing. The narrative technique is unusual, with about a dozen first-person narrators, each chapter (and some are quite short) having a different narrator.

The central locale is The Gaff and Slasher, the place for travelers to stay in the small northern town of Corcura. Three women who travel together are drawn there. Lal is an adventurer and swordswoman, her friend Nyateneri is equally well known for being a deadly fighter. The two are searching for their friend and mentor, an elderly wizard. On their journey, Lal has somehow raised a dead girl, Lukassa, from the river where she recently drowned, and taken her along with them. Lukassa remembers nothing of her former life, but she was beloved by Tikat in their small village, and Tikat witnessed the resurrection. He steals a horse and follows, though he has a much harder time surviving than the experienced women do. Then there’s the fox that travels with the women, who sometimes takes on the shape of a man who helps Tikat. When they reach the inn, more characters come into the story, including the innkeeper, several of his servants, and three assassins on the trail of Nyateneri. Then there’s the wizard, and his former student and now mortal enemy who is trying to kill him. All these characters interact at the inn, and in the nearby town and countryside in one hot, dry summer, and it soon becomes clear that almost all of them have secrets and a troubled past, secrets which gradually come forth under the stress and danger of the situation. Will Tikat ever regain his lost love? Will the wizard survive the terrible attacks of his rival? Will the assassins succeed in killing Nyateneri? These and many more questions are answered, as layers of story unfold in this masterful novel.

Highly recommended.

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