Steward of Song

Singer of Souls #2

by Adam Stemple

Once an American busker on the streets of Edinburgh, Douglas was seduced by the fey folk who invisibly share the city, becoming entangled in their own internecine wars.

Douglas now sits on the throne of Faery - holding the Queen and the land hostage with his powerful magic and his unflinchingly loyal lieutenant, Martes.

Meanwhile, in Western Massachusetts, a strange infant is left on the doorstep of an ex-marine who may have the second sight. And back in Scotland, the granddaughter of a murdered woman sifts through clues trying to prove her brother isn't the killer…

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Adam Stemple is an award-winning author, poet, and musician.

Like most authors, his life experience is broad and odd. He spent twenty years on the road with a variety of bands playing for crowds of between 2 and 20,000 people. He started, ran, and sold a poker training site with poker pro, Chris "Fox" Wallace. He worked in a warehouse. He picked corn. He traded options and demoed houses. He drove pizzas for nine months in 1986, which for twenty-seven years was the longest he'd ever been employed. He drank too much and has now been sober for over fifteen years. He published his first book at the age of sixteen, "The Lullaby Songbook," which he arranged the music for. His mother is a famous children's book author. His children are artistic. His wife is a better person than him in nearly all regards.

Reviews

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Singer of Souls and found it an excellent, even an exceptional book...up to the last chapter where it completely crashed and burned. This book, the sequel to the aforementioned read was just the opposite. FOR ME it was a slog through the story of a sister trying to rescue her brother from (mostly) himself as the said brother tries to kill his own son. Why? Well at the end of the last book, the main character Douglas, found he could become an (almost) omnipotent wizard. He's now a megalomaniac super wizard/villain who has decided to kill his son. And it's not IN MY OPINION either written very well nor all that interesting. I slogged through this book, frequently skimming to get to the final few pages where it finally, repeat finally, became mildly interesting.

I don't plan to follow this book up, and it's a shame. For, as I said most of the first novel was exceptional. As has happened in other cases, I'm left with a huge WHY(?) about this.

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequel to "Singer of Souls." The first book was wonderful, until about 3/4s of the way through and then it got weird and ugly and I didn't like the ending at all.
Then, to my relief, I see a sequel has come out! This book focuses on Douglas Stewart's (from Singer of Souls) siblings and their search for Douglas.
I liked it a lot more - the characters were a lot more likable than Douglas ever was. However, this book took me only a day to read! Way too short! And of course it is only setup for the next book in the series, which isn't out yet.
Over the two books, I am really liking the series. Had their been only the first book, I wouldn't recommend reading it.
Now, however, these books are so short and leave you wanting more RIGHT NOW!, so I suggest waiting until more have been written before starting the series and possibly getting hooked.

[Stefan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the sequel to "Singer of Souls", which I thought was an excellent and original urban fantasy novel. Unfortunately, I wasn't as impressed with the sequel, and I've been trying to decide why it didn't hit the same spot with me as the first book. The only thing I can think of is that the first book had a great narrative curve (if that's even a term?) --- it really built up the plot and the tension very carefully, from a slow start to a gradual exposition to an explosive climax. I couldn't put it down. The second book just... maintains more or less the same pace all through the story. It also followed several points of view rather than just one, which dilutes the story even more. I don't know... It's a shame. I really liked book 1, and Adam's an interesting guy (I actually exchanged a couple of emails with him and he was kind enough to join my group to discuss the book), but "Steward of Song" gets just 2 stars from me. Still, I recommend book 1 "Singer of Souls" to everyone, and I will definitely check out anything he writes in the future.

[Judah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I quite liked the first book in this duology, and was looking forward to the sequel, but something about it never sat right. It wasn't bad, per se, just...boring? Something was missing.

I think it says something that I started reading it about a month ago, then picked up another book and got into that one instead. Then, just the other day, I thought "oh, I should finish Steward of Song" and picked it back up again....only to discover that I HAD finished it already, but didn't recall doing so.

[Ellyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel to Stemple's "Singer of Souls" introduces Douglas' siblings Scott, an Iraq war vet hiding out in a cabin in Massachusetts, and Bridie, a former police officer on her way to Scotland to find out what happened to her brother and grandmother. The book alternates between Scott's point of view, as he deals with an infant left on his doorstep and the magical creatures after that infant, and Bridie's search through Scotland for answers to her family's troubles. Interspersed are impressions from a host of magical creatures impacting the Stewart's lives as well as Douglas himself, now a meglomaniacal lord over the faerie lands. This book was just as engaging as the first with great characters, especially Scott's journey into understanding of his place as the Steward. If book 1 focused on Douglas as Singer and book 2 on Scott as Steward, perhaps a book 3 is on the way focusing on Bridie as Hunter. I'm looking forward to it.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picking up where Singer of Souls left off we now meet up with douglas's brother and sister... this book was ok, it ended a lot nicer than singer (i.e., the happy ending), however it was not as memorable of a tale. I think Stemple just didn't put as much passion and good story telling into the character of douglas's brother and sister in steward as he had done for douglas in singer - which is unfortunate because i would have liked the part of the story that ends happily to have been as memorable as the part that had ended... well... less happily.

Ah well, still better to have finished the tale than to have left douglas dangling in the dregs of despondency - i like to see folks overcome the odds - remember, douglas was a dope fiend...

[Fantasy Literature · Rating 2 out of 5]

Steward of Song is the sequel to Singer of Souls, an excellent and original urban fantasy novel by Adam Stemple. I enjoyed the first novel very much, but unfortunately wasn't as impressed with this sequel. Singer of Souls had a great narrative curve, building up the plot and the tension very carefully, from a slow start to a gradual exposition to an explosive climax. I simply couldn't put it down. Steward of Songmaintains more or less the same pace all through the story, making this a less compulsive read.

Steward of Song also uses several points of view rather than the single POV of the first book: the story alternately focuses on Bridie and Scott, two siblings of Douglas (who was the ... Read More:
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[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Dougie out of the picture, his responsibilities fall to his ex-cop sister Bridie and crazy Iraq war vet Scott, in exciting switching chapters. Bridie works with the Edinburgh police to find out who killed their grandmother. Scott, walking between worlds and battlefields in rural Western MA must protect and take care of Fletcher, his nephew. While I quite liked the book, the end of this novel didn’t work for me: it left many loose ends, and Stemple, according to his website, has no plans for a sequel. That's a shame.

[Trina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book, just like my rating states (wink). It has a wonderful mix of fantasy and real life, engaging characters with mystical and real problems. I was hooked by the front cover "A tale of human murder and faery consequences." I knew I had to read on. I did not start with the first book "Singer of Souls" but it did not hamper my reading in any way. What a pleasant find at my local library on their new release shelf. Yay library!

[Jayden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book.

It has a good, fast paced story, a mythical world next to the real one, solid main characters and good support characters.

It's a bit short for my liking, seeing as I finished it in a day, and I disliked the villain, but not in a "oh, good villain" kind of way but in a bored kind of way.

It has it's strong sides, for lovers of Celtic mythology a very nice read, but it's not on my must-read list.

[George Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the library thinking it was the first in the series. I was wrong. The blurb by Anne McCaffrey on the back cover was about the first book... which was not this book.

That said, I really enjoyed the story. Coming into the story in the middle did not detract from the experience. I liked the characters of Scott and Bridie. The plot was interesting and easy enough to pick up on. Fun read!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great sequel! This book continued the excellent story and character development of the first. There was a lot of action in this novel that was well written. It was exciting and gripping and kept me glued to the book to the end. I also enjoyed that the book was written from the perspectives of different characters. You get to hear the same story from another point of view.

[Chris Bernard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with the other notes on this one - it is the second in a series, after a first novel which gave no indication that there would be more. The first novel was a little bit mean, and this is a much warmer read.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful follow up to 'Singer of Souls'. In fact this book was twice as good as the first. I read it in a day which is always a sign that a book is too good to put down. Highly recommend this fantasy novel to all.

[Madteapartier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong sequel to Singer of Souls which was an excellent novel. Didn't like the direction this story took, however, it proved to be a suspenseful, entertaining read. Interested to see what Stemple comes up with next!

[Elsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A much better book than the first one, Singer of Souls . The ending seemed to leave things open for another book in the series and I hope that Mr. Stemple is motivated to tell us more about these characters.

[Hannah Stimpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad

A few mistakes in the text that always catch your eye and take away from the storyline.. Besides that the book is well written and an easy read. Would recommend it for lovers of fantasy series. Characters you can love. Not bad.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was alright- I feel like if I had read the first book the character's backgrounds would have made more sense. I hadn't realized it was a sequel until after I finished it, which then explained to me why the characterization was a bit sparse/quick at times.

Overall though, an interesting story!

[reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good fantasy book. Manages to avoid almost all cliches.

[Catness · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun, fast, fluffy.

[Suburbangardener · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like the sequel as well as the first book. It was hard to adjust to the hero becoming the villan. It also was a little too much like a police procedural than an alternate reality book.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read from 3/21 to 3/24.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely written. He is able to keep the various branches of the main story connected and relevant to each other. For a relativity new author, he does a very good job.

[Jennine · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting story... the ending lacked!!

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good sequel, more good strong characters. Charles Vess is missed, the cover art is just not the same.