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Bedlam's Bard #5
Spirits White as Lightning
Eric Banyon has more to worry about than passing his courses at Julliard. The evil elf lord Aerune, whose love was killed by mortal men, is determined to destroy the human race. Eric's only hope of stopping Aerune is to trap him inside a magical maze, from which there is no escaping.
512 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
20 people are currently reading
1005 people want to read
About the author
Mercedes Lackey
441 books9,535 followersMercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.
"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.
"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.
"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:
"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."
Also writes as Misty Lackey
Author's website
"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.
"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.
"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:
"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."
Also writes as Misty Lackey
Author's website
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 18, 2014
When I finished Spirits White as Lightning, I wanted to throw something. Actually, I wanted to throw something as I read the book too....
Spirits was my "make it or break it" book for the series, because the previous book, Beyond World's End, left me seriously pissed off, but I wanted to read one more to see if Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill pulled the series' ass out of the fire. Let me give you some history to tell you why.
This was a series I read out of a mixture of anger and hope, all centered around one character's well-being or lack thereof. That character is Eric Banyon, the Bard of the series' title and a character getting less and less screentime as the series goes on.
When we first meet him in Knight of Ghosts and Shadows (written by Mercedes Lackey and Ellen Guon), he's a bit of a pill and a screw-up, but he sure has enough reasons for it. If you were a neglected child who saw demons swooping down on you at the age of 8, then spent the rest of your life under your parents in therapy, I think it increases the odds of you growing up to be an alcoholic runaway who can't put down roots and is afraid the madness can return at any time. He's a character who wouldn't know what true love is if it bit him on the head, which is why he ends up in a relationship with Beth Kentraine and Korendil.
I loathe Beth and have no respect for Kory. Kory gets a little more leeway from me for being an elf much like many of the other elves in this series: shallow, clueless, and self-absorbed. It doesn't surprise me that he could treat Eric and his affections so carelessly. Beth, however, is human and was supposedly Eric's friend before she was his lover.
Eric's self-esteem is so low that he doesn't allow himself to stay angry for very long when Beth and Kory have sex while he's out having his head and safety screwed with by Kory's enemy, even though he figured that he and Beth were exclusive. Yeah, he's attracted to Kory himself, but he didn't and wouldn't jump the elf as soon as his love's back was turned. He lets Beth and Kory lambaste him for him getting so upset. He lets them yell at him for disappearing for months, even though he didn't know he was Underhill at the time and thought he'd been gone for only days. (He'd been kidnapped by the enemy's half-elven daughter, Ria, who was far more loving with him than Beth and Kory were, and that's even counting the fact that she was draining his power.) He lets them scapegoat him for letting the elves fall further into their Dreaming, never mind that he never promised to save their useless butts to begin with.
Throughout the book his sanity is tested and his emotions toyed with. He didn't know he was a Bard, and his only previous experience with his power was accidentally summoning those demons when he was 8. As you can imagine, he wants nothing to do with being a Bard once he actually starts believing in Bards and elves. Yet he comes through for everybody anyway. This is also the first time he ever felt attraction for someone of the same sex, which also messes up his self-conception.
After he saves the day for them, Beth and Kory get into a public liplock so intense that it took them 30 minutes to realize that the hero of the day had left, utterly dispirited, certain that he has no place with them. They catch up with him and scold him for not realizing that they love him as much as they love each other. Gee, how could he get that idea?
So they're now a threesome. All for one and one for all and everybody loving one another exactly the same. Right.
In the second book, Summoned to Tourney (also with Guon), he makes some disastrous mistakes trying to save his friends because the elves never bothered to train him as they said they would. In fact, the elves still hold him and Beth in contempt. Amazing. Anyway, his mistake brings back the demons, called Nightflyers, mentioned before. By the end of the book, Eric's hearing the homicidal demons in his head 24 hours a day, begging him to bring them back. He doesn't tell anyone about it. The fact that not everyone in this threesome is equal comes up in practice over and over again.
And there the second book ends. About ten years, real time, passed without another book coming along. I waited impatiently. How would they resolve the Nightflyer plot? Would Eric ever tell Beth and Kory to take a walk?
I wanted to see Eric bloom. That's the whole reason why I kept on with the series.
Then this year the third book, Beyond World's End, came at last, only with a new co-author, Rosemary Edghill, on board. I had high hopes, especially when I read from the summary that Eric now lived alone in New York City.
Damn, did I get my hopes dashed hard. The Nightflyer possession? Cured now. Between books two and three. I wanted to see this, thank you. Lackey and Edghill don't bother to say how his problem was fixed either. The elves had finally bothered to train Eric in his Bardic abilities. Between books two and three. The threesome of Eric/Beth/Kory had broken up. Between books two and three.
When Beyond starts, Eric's trained in his Bardic abilities, rich, and moving into an apartment in New York City alone after an unknown amount of time spent Underhill. Time has passed faster in the real world, though the authors haven't said how much time. I assume they did this to account for the gap of time between the publishing of Summoned to Tourney and Beyond World's End, but I don't know if I'm right about the length of time they intend. The threesome broke up due to a mutual feeling that they'd drifted apart instead of Eric getting a much needed epiphany. Beth's pregnant with Eric's child as his gift to her and Kory, since they can't have children on their own. My reaction: "Huh?"
Despite being a set-up book to the series' new direction, nothing much really happens in Beyond World's End. Part of the problem may be that the authors spend 15 pages talking about Eric's apartment. What he has in it, since he's rich because the elves can ken as much gold as they want. Good thing they haven't crashed the world's financial markets yet, huh? Everything feels shallow and rushed, and Ria's return doesn't merit anywhere near the emotion it should have. I ended the book feeling very let down.
But I gave it some slack, figuring that Beyond World's End was a transitional book. New co-author, new direction for the series. I'd see how the next book went.
Spirits White as Lightning disappointed and pissed me off. Part of the problem is that Beth and Kory are back as major forces here. (Small digression: This reader who also has a phobia thinks it's great and so brave that Beth can hide Underhill because she's claustrophobic. [/sarcasm]) They first show up when Eric invites them and the baby over, the kid he's the biological father of, and they manage to make him feel very excluded in his own home. Beth and Kory make up one of those married w/ baby couples who make their single friends feel utterly out of the loop. That's in addition to these two passively being jerks as usual. When you factor in that Eric used to be one of their "we each love one another exactly as much" lovers, it's so much worse. He says to himself that he feels like they'd never been intimate with him at all from how uncomfortable they all are now. Maybe it's Edghill who's sneaking in Eric's growing awareness that they never loved him as they love each other.
Eric's kind of sort of seeing Ria casually now. Beth, of course, had a lot to say about that. Eric's mental response is that he should bring Ria to the baby's Naming ceremony where Beth doesn't dare make a scene. *g* Go, Eric! Beth then proceeds to try to make Eric suspicious of this new Bardic guy he befriended. He's like, "Beth, I'm a Bard, he's a Bard, you're not a Bard, I can taste what he's like, and I know better than you if I can trust this guy." They didn't stay the whole weekend as he originally thought they would, and Eric's kind of relieved. Alas, they're not gone for good.
Nope. While Eric, Hosea, Kayla, Ria, and the Guardians try to save all of humanity from one of the Unseleighe, Beth and Kory take a cutesy, self-referential tour through the Goblin Market looking for information on how they could spawn a half-breed kid. Me: "Can we get back to saving the world? And I'm hoping these two people I loathe don't spawn."
When I wasn't being bored by Beth and Kory's quest, I was annoyed that Eric's practically a guest star in this book. Kayla is the big Mary Sue-ish hero. She saves Eric, Hosea, Ria, and the Guardians' bacon a few times. Hosea, the brand new novice Bard, does most of the Bardic heavy-lifting instead of the more adept and once frighteningly powerful Eric, which makes no sense. Have I mentioned that Hosea is Appalachian, and thus has a "charming" and no doubt stereotypical manner of speech? Listening to Hosea talk about having "the shine," I wanted to kill something.
Eric's grown in some ways. He's a lot calmer. Some of the Juilliard teachers are giving him crap about his RenFaire experience, and he's refusing to let them bait him. But a guy whose best friend is the sentient stone gargoyle of his building needs to get out more.
Though perhaps that calm is actually more of a lack of emotion that now afflicts the series. The feelings Eric had for Ria in the first book that were blatant and deep are sketchy here. They kiss once. The audience feels nothing. The first two books reverberated with Eric's love and anguish. None of that remains.
Eric does not bloom in Spirits White as Lightning. Nobody does.
I can't tell if the authors (this includes Ellen Guon) are deliberately writing in a way that has the narrative saying one thing but showing another. Am I supposed to be this pissed off over how Beth and Kory treat Eric? Do the authors mean to present the elves as shallow, petty, arrogant, and not worth knowing? As far as I can see, the differences between the good elves and the bad elves is that the bad elves enjoy killing things and actually get off their butts and do something once in a while. The Seleighe (good) elves in Lackey's SERRAted Edge series are more pro-active but no less arrogant and condescending to humanity.
But I don't like Lackey's Wingbrothers in the Valdemar books either. What an arrogant bunch. And isn't it fortunate for them that they have a sub-human race willing and happy to cook and clean and take care of them so they can look resplendent and keep their minds and powers on more important affairs? The servant race made me feel a lot like Hermione in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire....
I haven't really enjoyed the Valdemar books since The Last Herald-Mage series and had sworn them off. Seeing as how Eric has become a footnote in Bedlam's Bard and the books are annoying me this badly, I may have to swear off Bedlam's Bard as well.
Spirits was my "make it or break it" book for the series, because the previous book, Beyond World's End, left me seriously pissed off, but I wanted to read one more to see if Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill pulled the series' ass out of the fire. Let me give you some history to tell you why.
This was a series I read out of a mixture of anger and hope, all centered around one character's well-being or lack thereof. That character is Eric Banyon, the Bard of the series' title and a character getting less and less screentime as the series goes on.
When we first meet him in Knight of Ghosts and Shadows (written by Mercedes Lackey and Ellen Guon), he's a bit of a pill and a screw-up, but he sure has enough reasons for it. If you were a neglected child who saw demons swooping down on you at the age of 8, then spent the rest of your life under your parents in therapy, I think it increases the odds of you growing up to be an alcoholic runaway who can't put down roots and is afraid the madness can return at any time. He's a character who wouldn't know what true love is if it bit him on the head, which is why he ends up in a relationship with Beth Kentraine and Korendil.
I loathe Beth and have no respect for Kory. Kory gets a little more leeway from me for being an elf much like many of the other elves in this series: shallow, clueless, and self-absorbed. It doesn't surprise me that he could treat Eric and his affections so carelessly. Beth, however, is human and was supposedly Eric's friend before she was his lover.
Eric's self-esteem is so low that he doesn't allow himself to stay angry for very long when Beth and Kory have sex while he's out having his head and safety screwed with by Kory's enemy, even though he figured that he and Beth were exclusive. Yeah, he's attracted to Kory himself, but he didn't and wouldn't jump the elf as soon as his love's back was turned. He lets Beth and Kory lambaste him for him getting so upset. He lets them yell at him for disappearing for months, even though he didn't know he was Underhill at the time and thought he'd been gone for only days. (He'd been kidnapped by the enemy's half-elven daughter, Ria, who was far more loving with him than Beth and Kory were, and that's even counting the fact that she was draining his power.) He lets them scapegoat him for letting the elves fall further into their Dreaming, never mind that he never promised to save their useless butts to begin with.
Throughout the book his sanity is tested and his emotions toyed with. He didn't know he was a Bard, and his only previous experience with his power was accidentally summoning those demons when he was 8. As you can imagine, he wants nothing to do with being a Bard once he actually starts believing in Bards and elves. Yet he comes through for everybody anyway. This is also the first time he ever felt attraction for someone of the same sex, which also messes up his self-conception.
After he saves the day for them, Beth and Kory get into a public liplock so intense that it took them 30 minutes to realize that the hero of the day had left, utterly dispirited, certain that he has no place with them. They catch up with him and scold him for not realizing that they love him as much as they love each other. Gee, how could he get that idea?
So they're now a threesome. All for one and one for all and everybody loving one another exactly the same. Right.
In the second book, Summoned to Tourney (also with Guon), he makes some disastrous mistakes trying to save his friends because the elves never bothered to train him as they said they would. In fact, the elves still hold him and Beth in contempt. Amazing. Anyway, his mistake brings back the demons, called Nightflyers, mentioned before. By the end of the book, Eric's hearing the homicidal demons in his head 24 hours a day, begging him to bring them back. He doesn't tell anyone about it. The fact that not everyone in this threesome is equal comes up in practice over and over again.
And there the second book ends. About ten years, real time, passed without another book coming along. I waited impatiently. How would they resolve the Nightflyer plot? Would Eric ever tell Beth and Kory to take a walk?
I wanted to see Eric bloom. That's the whole reason why I kept on with the series.
Then this year the third book, Beyond World's End, came at last, only with a new co-author, Rosemary Edghill, on board. I had high hopes, especially when I read from the summary that Eric now lived alone in New York City.
Damn, did I get my hopes dashed hard. The Nightflyer possession? Cured now. Between books two and three. I wanted to see this, thank you. Lackey and Edghill don't bother to say how his problem was fixed either. The elves had finally bothered to train Eric in his Bardic abilities. Between books two and three. The threesome of Eric/Beth/Kory had broken up. Between books two and three.
When Beyond starts, Eric's trained in his Bardic abilities, rich, and moving into an apartment in New York City alone after an unknown amount of time spent Underhill. Time has passed faster in the real world, though the authors haven't said how much time. I assume they did this to account for the gap of time between the publishing of Summoned to Tourney and Beyond World's End, but I don't know if I'm right about the length of time they intend. The threesome broke up due to a mutual feeling that they'd drifted apart instead of Eric getting a much needed epiphany. Beth's pregnant with Eric's child as his gift to her and Kory, since they can't have children on their own. My reaction: "Huh?"
Despite being a set-up book to the series' new direction, nothing much really happens in Beyond World's End. Part of the problem may be that the authors spend 15 pages talking about Eric's apartment. What he has in it, since he's rich because the elves can ken as much gold as they want. Good thing they haven't crashed the world's financial markets yet, huh? Everything feels shallow and rushed, and Ria's return doesn't merit anywhere near the emotion it should have. I ended the book feeling very let down.
But I gave it some slack, figuring that Beyond World's End was a transitional book. New co-author, new direction for the series. I'd see how the next book went.
Spirits White as Lightning disappointed and pissed me off. Part of the problem is that Beth and Kory are back as major forces here. (Small digression: This reader who also has a phobia thinks it's great and so brave that Beth can hide Underhill because she's claustrophobic. [/sarcasm]) They first show up when Eric invites them and the baby over, the kid he's the biological father of, and they manage to make him feel very excluded in his own home. Beth and Kory make up one of those married w/ baby couples who make their single friends feel utterly out of the loop. That's in addition to these two passively being jerks as usual. When you factor in that Eric used to be one of their "we each love one another exactly as much" lovers, it's so much worse. He says to himself that he feels like they'd never been intimate with him at all from how uncomfortable they all are now. Maybe it's Edghill who's sneaking in Eric's growing awareness that they never loved him as they love each other.
Eric's kind of sort of seeing Ria casually now. Beth, of course, had a lot to say about that. Eric's mental response is that he should bring Ria to the baby's Naming ceremony where Beth doesn't dare make a scene. *g* Go, Eric! Beth then proceeds to try to make Eric suspicious of this new Bardic guy he befriended. He's like, "Beth, I'm a Bard, he's a Bard, you're not a Bard, I can taste what he's like, and I know better than you if I can trust this guy." They didn't stay the whole weekend as he originally thought they would, and Eric's kind of relieved. Alas, they're not gone for good.
Nope. While Eric, Hosea, Kayla, Ria, and the Guardians try to save all of humanity from one of the Unseleighe, Beth and Kory take a cutesy, self-referential tour through the Goblin Market looking for information on how they could spawn a half-breed kid. Me: "Can we get back to saving the world? And I'm hoping these two people I loathe don't spawn."
When I wasn't being bored by Beth and Kory's quest, I was annoyed that Eric's practically a guest star in this book. Kayla is the big Mary Sue-ish hero. She saves Eric, Hosea, Ria, and the Guardians' bacon a few times. Hosea, the brand new novice Bard, does most of the Bardic heavy-lifting instead of the more adept and once frighteningly powerful Eric, which makes no sense. Have I mentioned that Hosea is Appalachian, and thus has a "charming" and no doubt stereotypical manner of speech? Listening to Hosea talk about having "the shine," I wanted to kill something.
Eric's grown in some ways. He's a lot calmer. Some of the Juilliard teachers are giving him crap about his RenFaire experience, and he's refusing to let them bait him. But a guy whose best friend is the sentient stone gargoyle of his building needs to get out more.
Though perhaps that calm is actually more of a lack of emotion that now afflicts the series. The feelings Eric had for Ria in the first book that were blatant and deep are sketchy here. They kiss once. The audience feels nothing. The first two books reverberated with Eric's love and anguish. None of that remains.
Eric does not bloom in Spirits White as Lightning. Nobody does.
I can't tell if the authors (this includes Ellen Guon) are deliberately writing in a way that has the narrative saying one thing but showing another. Am I supposed to be this pissed off over how Beth and Kory treat Eric? Do the authors mean to present the elves as shallow, petty, arrogant, and not worth knowing? As far as I can see, the differences between the good elves and the bad elves is that the bad elves enjoy killing things and actually get off their butts and do something once in a while. The Seleighe (good) elves in Lackey's SERRAted Edge series are more pro-active but no less arrogant and condescending to humanity.
But I don't like Lackey's Wingbrothers in the Valdemar books either. What an arrogant bunch. And isn't it fortunate for them that they have a sub-human race willing and happy to cook and clean and take care of them so they can look resplendent and keep their minds and powers on more important affairs? The servant race made me feel a lot like Hermione in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire....
I haven't really enjoyed the Valdemar books since The Last Herald-Mage series and had sworn them off. Seeing as how Eric has become a footnote in Bedlam's Bard and the books are annoying me this badly, I may have to swear off Bedlam's Bard as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 14, 2021
Yet another book that had me gripped in it's story so much, that I stayed awake until 3 in the morning to finish it!
I can't put my finger on just why I'm finding these Bard stories so fascinating - although I think that, just like Jeanette in the story, there's something in all of us, as children, that wishes for elves to be real, and that, if someone had had a bad childhood, that the elves just might have come and rescued whoever it was, from that situation!
That's the thing about children, I guess - they stay very self-absorbed until, suddenly, they realise there's more to life than what they are seeing.
Anyhoo, I loved the way the storyline developed in this book - although a continuation from the previous Bard's Tale, it had enough new characters, and situations, to keep it feeling fresh and new - and I loved the solution to the ongoing problem at the end!
So, now I go to the next book on my shelves - another great mix between Misty's writing, and Rosemary Edghill, no doubt: Mad Maudlin - and I'm looking forwards to seeing what Bard Eric Banyon gets up to next!
I can't put my finger on just why I'm finding these Bard stories so fascinating - although I think that, just like Jeanette in the story, there's something in all of us, as children, that wishes for elves to be real, and that, if someone had had a bad childhood, that the elves just might have come and rescued whoever it was, from that situation!
That's the thing about children, I guess - they stay very self-absorbed until, suddenly, they realise there's more to life than what they are seeing.
Anyhoo, I loved the way the storyline developed in this book - although a continuation from the previous Bard's Tale, it had enough new characters, and situations, to keep it feeling fresh and new - and I loved the solution to the ongoing problem at the end!
So, now I go to the next book on my shelves - another great mix between Misty's writing, and Rosemary Edghill, no doubt: Mad Maudlin - and I'm looking forwards to seeing what Bard Eric Banyon gets up to next!
June 3, 2017
A lot of fun! Now I have to go search out the other books in the series.
January 3, 2018
This would added alot of challenges and some excellent new characters.
March 28, 2018
I have been enjoying catching up on this series. More about the bard and his friends in New York.
August 16, 2020
The elves are the good guys, and the bad guys. Will the bard and his friends win?
May 16, 2022
Full review here:
https://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/...
It's a fun and soapy read.
https://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/...
It's a fun and soapy read.
August 24, 2024
I listed to this on Audible. It was excellent
February 15, 2016
First off I want to say that I love Mercedes Lackey as a writer. I have read all of the Valdemar series multiple times and can't wait for new volumes to be released. That being said, I slogged through this book, determined to finish it. I've rarely if ever not finished a book that I started reading.
I think one of my biggest issues was the multiple storylines that were happening without need. It truly felt at times that there were two separate voices and I wonder if that was the influence of the co-writer. Yes we needed to know the story behind the spirit and the banjo strings, but it just felt out of place when it occurred in the book and while I tended to like Beth & Kory as characters, I really didn't see any sense of their part of the story be included at all. Maybe it is because this is a part of a larger story, but if that is the case - then I want a Part 2 or whatever on the cover.
Ultimately what I think I missed most was the character development I have come to expect from Ms. Lackey. You get hints of it here and there but everytime it starts to go there, a tangent comes along. I really wanted more time with Eric & Hosea training, or something that explains what the guardians are really up to and how that happens on a regular basis. Ultimately not my cup of tea, which was disappointing.
I think one of my biggest issues was the multiple storylines that were happening without need. It truly felt at times that there were two separate voices and I wonder if that was the influence of the co-writer. Yes we needed to know the story behind the spirit and the banjo strings, but it just felt out of place when it occurred in the book and while I tended to like Beth & Kory as characters, I really didn't see any sense of their part of the story be included at all. Maybe it is because this is a part of a larger story, but if that is the case - then I want a Part 2 or whatever on the cover.
Ultimately what I think I missed most was the character development I have come to expect from Ms. Lackey. You get hints of it here and there but everytime it starts to go there, a tangent comes along. I really wanted more time with Eric & Hosea training, or something that explains what the guardians are really up to and how that happens on a regular basis. Ultimately not my cup of tea, which was disappointing.
May 10, 2013
I felt like this book was better than the last, mainly in that the pacing on the plot was better. Whereas the climax in Beyond World's End seems to happen at a kind of arbitrary point, I felt like the beginning of the major action in this book had a logical origin. Also, the various subplots meshed together much better. It was nice to see more stuff Underhill, and I found it interesting that a character from the Serrated Edge series shows up (at least I assume the cameo is of a major character from those books, as I haven't actually read them). In general, the plot was pretty good, and I appreciated that some of the villains were fairly sympathetic. There were a few threads left hanging, which is annoying, but hopefully they'll be picked up in book 6 or 7. The characters are generally enjoyable to read about, though I'm releasing the Guardians haven't been as fleshed out as I'd like. I definitely want to go read the first three books before I proceed in the series, though, as it seems like more and more characters and plot threads from those are coming up. Overall, this was a nice improvement on the previous book, and I definitely recommend this series based on what I've read of it so far.
March 2, 2014
Eric Banyon has settled into the New York whirl nicely: he's doing well at Julliard, he's made a lot of new friends, he's defeated a lord of the Unseleighe Sidhe...
Aerune mac Audelaine, whose beloved was killed by mortal men, was determined to destroy the human race until Eric, with a little help from his new friends the Guardians, thwarted Aerune's plans and exposed the chemists whose designer poison turned ordinary humans into zombie Mages. The human side of the threat is finished, but Aerune, like the rest of the Sidhe, has a long memory...and a lot of patience. He's also got Jeanette Campbell, former Threshold Black Ops, and the science behind the murder.
Can Eric stop Aerune's latest plan? Only if he finds out about it before it's too late, but between babysitting a visiting Healer, training a banjo-playing Bard, attending his daughter's Underhill Naming ceremony, dealing with a dragon—and trying to survive summer school—Eric's got his hands full. Saving the world has never been more necessary—or come at a higher price.
May 6, 2009
Eric is getting comfy in New York whie Kory and Beth are Underhill trying to find a way to conceive a chid that won't kill a bunch of people.
An evil elf wants revenge for the death of his loved one and wants to cause the destruction of the world.
I really enjoyed this book because it ties up some of the threads that were left hanging in the last one (Mainly, what happened with Threshold and Jeanette). This series go by fairly quickly and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would
An evil elf wants revenge for the death of his loved one and wants to cause the destruction of the world.
I really enjoyed this book because it ties up some of the threads that were left hanging in the last one (Mainly, what happened with Threshold and Jeanette). This series go by fairly quickly and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2013
Eric once again is trying to get his back on track and his studies back on course at the elite Juilliard School of Music and be normal. He has befriended many, including the Guardians, and this time he must call upon his friends to travel with him between the two worlds and defeat Aerune, who is hellbent on punishing the human race by death after losing his beloved to their hands. Can Eric find a way to entice Aerune into the magical maze where there is no escape and save the humans?
December 3, 2015
I haven't read any other books in this series, but the authors provided enough description of previous events that I didn't feel too lost. They clearly had a blast combining the elves' world with human existence. Magic versus technology is a big theme, and I love the idea that magic is hard to describe with human language.
January 17, 2022
For the longest time, to get anything Fae with substance, I had to pine away until the next Ms. Lackey book came out. I always loved them for their well written prose and plot driven story. This one I liked with the modern day twist.
October 11, 2007
A good fantasy story set in modern times. It has wit and funny bits in it, making it a truly enjoyable read.
August 31, 2013
I liked that Eric is now teaching another bard.
March 11, 2010
Bedlams Bard continues with this excellent book, I highly recommend this book, but you must read the series in order!
February 26, 2013
Eric gets an aprentice and has to save the world. Again.
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September 1, 2013Bedlam Bards, Book 5
August 5, 2015
Delightfully vivid imagery and deeply humane, poetic justice.
April 10, 2016
missing
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January 9, 2010baen ebook
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