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Songkeeper

(The Songkeeper Chronicles #2)

Gillian Bronte Adams (Goodreads Author)

4.27 · Rating details · 118 ratings · 44 reviews

War ravages Leira and the Song has fallen silent.

Freed from the hold of a slave ship, Birdie, the young Songkeeper, and Ky, a street-wise thief, emerge to a world at war. Hordes of dark soldiers march across Leira, shadowed by whispers of plague and massacres, prompting Ky to return to his besieged home city in hopes of leading his fellow runners to safety.

Desperate to end ...more

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Paperback, 320 pages

Published April 15th 2016 by Enclave Publishing

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Average rating 4.27 ·

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· 118 ratings · 44 reviews

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Start your review of Songkeeper (The Songkeeper Chronicles, #2)

Feb 16, 2016 Tricia Mingerink rated it really liked it

Shelves: great-christian-fantasy

Another great book by Gillian Bronte Adams! After the cliff hanger ending of Orphan's Song, I was waiting not-so-patiently for this book!

This book branched off in directions I didn't expect. From the awesome, lion-riding desert people to the silver-tongued dwarves in the mountains, this book takes the reader on quite the adventure.

And the ending! I was prepared for it because I'd seen a spoiler, but it still hurt! AHHHH!!!!!

I had a little trouble getting into the book at first, but I think so ...more

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Feb 25, 2016 Sierra Faith rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, kindle, got-for-review, otsp

Genre: Christian, Fantasy.

Age Range: 15+ for violence.

Favorite Quote: “I've freed you once tonight, and I would rather not do it again. I prefer to commit treason as few times as possible.”

Series: Book two in the Songkeeper Chronicles, needs to be read in order.

Stars: 5 out of 5 stars.

I love this book and the characters. I was sucked into the story and everyone's life. If you're a lover of action packed fantasies, pick this series up!

I find it unique that the series isn’t just focused on two te ...more

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Feb 16, 2016 Sarah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: a-whole-new-world, fantasy

Someone once said that there can be no beauty without pain, or something to that effect. And, in the case of Songkeeper, it holds true. There is much beauty in this book, but there is much pain as well.

The Good:
-Amos continues to be pretty much my favorite character in the entire book. He's broken, imperfect, struggling- but still brave and determined and unwilling to give up hope. His unwavering protection (sometimes over-protection) of Birdie is sweet, and his interactions with others add ...more

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Feb 16, 2016 Hope rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, christian

My goodness.
Review to come!

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Feb 24, 2016 Jane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites

Aghh this book is SO GOOD! I just can't even think straight anymore. I enjoyed Orphan's Song massively and expected great things from Songkeeper. And I am not disappointed at all.

The characters are all amazingly real, relatable, and just plain awesome. To start off the awesomeness we have the unique but pronounceable names, super great! Add that to complex personalities, struggles and pains. I was drawn ever deeper into the lives of all the characters.
(view spoiler) ...more

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Mar 31, 2019 Tracey Dyck rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned, realm-makers, 2019-reads

Taking a decidedly darker turn than its prequel, Orphan’s Song, this book follows Birdie through her struggles to hold onto hope when the Song feels distant, and Ky’s misadventures as he tries to protect his Underground friends.

I blame myself for taking almost a month to read this. (Thanks, college assignments.) Perhaps I would’ve been more eager to pick up the book again if I’d read it faster. As it was, it felt harder than I would’ve liked to re-immerse myself in the story from one reading to ...more

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Aug 16, 2018 Claire Banschbach rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, to-re-read, christian

I didn't like this one as much as book 1, but it was still completely gripping and wonderful!

The characters all grow so much in this one, and there's plenty of fast paced plot and twists to go around. I just wanted more lion riders to be honest. ;) Also more griffin! And I've come to appreciate Amos more. Also Ky is a small floof of emotions and someone just needs to hug him and tell him its going to be alright. And Birdie could use one while we're handing out hugs.

The ending was not ok, and I ...more

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Nov 20, 2016 E.F.B. rated it liked it

Recommends it for: Those who aren't sensitive to gruesome, bloody violence

Shelves: fantasy, christian-fiction, allegory, almost-didnt-finish, gruesome-violence, evil-creepy-villain

I’m sad that I ended up giving this three stars, and it doesn’t make it any better that this is the second book in just as many months that I’ve given a rating that was lower than I had hoped. For me, three stars usually means “Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it.” For this book, I’m modifying that slightly to, “I adored the majority of it, but the ending got so creepy and gruesomely violent I had to skip to the last chapter because that kind of thing really bothers me.” That’s the short version.

The I’m sad that I ended up giving this three stars, and it doesn’t make it any better that this is the second book in just as many months that I’ve given a rating that was lower than I had hoped. For me, three stars usually means “Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it.” For this book, I’m modifying that slightly to, “I adored the majority of it, but the ending got so creepy and gruesomely violent I had to skip to the last chapter because that kind of thing really bothers me.” That’s the short version.

The longer version is: I love the characters in this trilogy, I love the overall story, and I think Gillian Bronte Adams is a very talented storyteller and her writing style is great. I really enjoyed everything for about 4/5ths of the way through the book. But around the time (view spoiler) were going to enter the Takhran’s evil mountain, I thought, “Wait…If they go inside the evil mountain where there are supposed to be all of these ‘horrors’ that, according to everyone’s favorite peddler, Amos, you can’t unsee, and the reader is going to see the inside of the mountain from these characters’ perspectives, just how creepy are the next few chapters about to get?”

I need to make it clear now that I have a vivid imagination. If the author describes something I can picture it very clearly, and graphic/bloody depictions of violence and creepiness can really disturb me because of this. Up to this point in the book, there had been some slightly intense violence, but it hadn’t been particularly graphic. However, as the intensity of the story itself grew, I noticed more descriptions of blood slowly creeping into the narrative and I took it as a red flag warning of what was to come. My suspicions were correct. Around the time I started getting worried about just how creepy the evil mountain was going to be, I flipped forward in the book and started skimming to see if things were going to get more graphic and whether or not I really wanted to read about the Takhran’s evil fortress in depth. What I discovered is that the descriptions of violence did indeed get more graphic. The inside of the Takhran’s fortress, as some other reviewers have stated, is downright nightmarish. I won’t get into detail because I was trying really hard not to read the details, but let’s say that what I *did* read, I found disturbing. Did I mention I was reading this at night, right before bed? Yeah. Make that deeply disturbing. (It literally took an hour and a half of staring at the ceiling before I was able to get to sleep after that.)

I was and still am somewhat saddened and disappointed by this. Like I said, the violence earlier in the book was a little intense, but not graphic. And I actually appreciated how the author acknowledged and seemed to grapple with the fact that those individuals being killed were human beings who once lived lives not unlike those of the protagonists, and this sort of death was not something to be taken lightly or glorified. But once they were under the Takhran’s mountain? Things got more intense, and creepy, and much, much more bloody. I can handle brief descriptions of blood, but around the time human beings are not only being killed in intense and disturbing manners, but blood is coming out of various human orifices, blood is dripping from corpses into “The Pit” (this last bit was actually foreshadowed in the previous book, but that didn’t make it any less disturbing when it was actually depicted), etc, etc…I’m done. I’m just done. That disturbs me and I’m not going to keep reading it, no matter how much I liked the story, characters, or writing up to that point.

What I ended up doing was skipping all the disturbing parts and going right to the final chapter after the mountain had been departed. I will say that I at least liked the very end of the story. It ended with a very beautiful and hopeful line that leaves me hoping that maybe, just maybe I won’t have to give up on this series entirely. (Though I will note that it was very much a cliffhanger and we really got no answers to the questions that have been raised up to this point.) However, because of the gruesome violence at the end of “The Songkeeper” I will hesitate before picking up the third book. Whenever that third book comes out, I’ll wait for those of my fellow Goodreads friends who like this series to read it and post their reviews and if, only if, it looks like things don’t get all nightmarish and gruesome again, I may read it myself. We’ll see. I truly hope the disturbing section of this book was just the darkness before the dawn, because I would be so sad to have to give up on yet another YA series because of disturbing elements. ...more

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Feb 16, 2016 Shantelle rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed, gruesome-violent, fantasy, read-in-2016, wish-list

Songkeeper, book two in THE SONGKEEPER CHRONICLES by Gillian Bronte Adams, had some epic scenes to match it's absolutely epic cover. But, overall, I didn't really get into it. I'm giving it a three-star rating because of the amazing parts, and because I loved the first book in the series (Orphan's Song).

Birdie and Ky wake up aboard a pirate's ship - captives. Amos and the griffon desperately search for their kidnapped young friends. And darkness is ever on the move. At loss of how to get the Son ...more

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Mar 31, 2016 Victoria Howell rated it really liked it

It was a good book. Even better than the first. ^ ^ Full review here: http://storitorigrace.blogspot.com/20... ...more

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Aug 27, 2017 Rebekah Gyger rated it really liked it

Though this is the second book in the series, this is the first book of Gillian's that I have read. I found the story world very well developed and was able to pick up what had been happening without much issue. Though I didn't care much for the odd way Amos spoke, I was drawn in by the well developed characters, particularly Ky who was by far my favorite. So much so, that I could have read a book just about him.

One aspect I wish could have been drawn out a little longer was the time spent with ...more

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Apr 05, 2017 SparksofEmber rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebooks-i-own, christian, fantasy

Songkeeper is book 2 in the Songkeeper Chronicles by Gillian Bronte Adams. This volume picks up immediately after events from the first volume, right in the middle of the action. I haven't read the first in the series and while it was obvious I had missed a lot, I never felt lost or confused - events were explained well and woven into the action without any info-dumps. The blurb summarizes what happens pretty well - Birdie heads into the heart of danger with a group of colorful, endearing compan ...more

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Nov 24, 2017 k.m.s. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, enclave-publishing, christian-fiction

O.O I'm blown away. This...THIS NOVEL IS AMAZING. Full review to come when I recover. ...more

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Aug 29, 2019 Victoria Isabel rated it it was amazing

Ahhh!! I couldn’t put it down. It was definitely much darker that book one but there was so much character growth and the climax was heart wrenching! Great fantasy read.

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Feb 23, 2016 Clare S-B rated it it was amazing

Shelves: christian-fiction

The book lived up to the cover, although the characters did not spend as much time in the desert as I had thought they would. The story was fast paced and connected with my emotions and allover I would rate it as even better than the first book. It is darker though, but in that darkness there is a faint hope. It is a Christian fantasy but none of the characters are actually 'Christian' instead there is Emhran, who is like God, and even that is all very subtle and in the background. Which is just ...more

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Mar 24, 2016 Hope Ann rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

Absolutely wonderful; better even than the first book if at all possible and much more heartrending. This was not simply a 'middle book' in which the story is only preparing for the climax of the third book. It does build up, of course, but it is also a gripping and exciting story in it's own right.

Things I loved:

Characters - 5/5: They are so fresh and original. Amos, Ky, Birdie, Gundhrold, Sym, Inali, Migdon...there's nothing 2D about them. And the way Gillian has made her characters so human, ...more

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Sep 09, 2018 Lavay Byrd rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-reads, inspiration, new-books-to-read-2018

Wow! This was such a great sequel to Orphan's Song, and even better as we follow Birdie, Ky, and Amos as we explore more of the world of Leira... and of the Song and the Master Singer! The plot keeps you on the edge of the seat (especially Part 4... still shuddering from the Tarkhan)... only to end with a subtle cliffhanger of feeling some sort of despair... yet hope.

(Might also want to check out "River of Song" after this one (or even before Orphan's Song!). VERY important backstory you might ...more

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Aug 28, 2018 Melissa J. Troutman rated it it was amazing

The stakes continue to rise as the story around Birdie, Ky, and Amos continues to expand. This second book in The Songkeeper Chronicles gripped me from the first page to the last. The action drives nonstop from chapter to chapter, grounded by deep emotions and twisting with the occasional surprise. (No spoilers, but yes, I was completely shocked by That Part.) I laughed out loud and I cried real tears, elevating Songkeeper to the small (but somehow growing) trophy case of books that have affecte The stakes continue to rise as the story around Birdie, Ky, and Amos continues to expand. This second book in The Songkeeper Chronicles gripped me from the first page to the last. The action drives nonstop from chapter to chapter, grounded by deep emotions and twisting with the occasional surprise. (No spoilers, but yes, I was completely shocked by That Part.) I laughed out loud and I cried real tears, elevating Songkeeper to the small (but somehow growing) trophy case of books that have affected my emotions so profoundly.

Here are some of the elements I particularly liked:

-the lions. After a dragon, I really want to ride a lion.

-the desert. I appreciated the variety provided by the desert landscape as well as the people who inhabit it. Adams did a masterful job crafting a culture in and from the barren harshness of the desert. Of all the desert peoples portrayed in fiction, I think the Saari are the most fitting.

-the map. I found it helpful to be able to see where the story takes place and where it takes each character. Leira seemed small when I first saw it, but its diverse geography, as well as the time required to travel across (or around) it, confirm it as a well-rounded country. Oddly enough, I like that it’s a big enough country to require weeks or even months of travel. Reminds me of the sagas of Lord of the Rings and promises a long story full of adventures.

-the characters. First, I loved spending more time with beloved characters from Orphan’s Song while getting to know new characters at the same time. Adams keeps her cast diverse and well-rounded. Second, each character has his or her own story that in some way does connect to the overall story, even if it’s not obvious at first. I enjoyed learning about each character as an individual and, eventually, discovering his or her role in the overall story.

-the details. From the biological warfare of the Khelari to the herbal remedies of the dwarves, I found myself intrigued by the realistic details of Adams’s fantasy world. I’m picky with my fantasy; I like even the made-up parts to be at least a little relatable to us normal humans. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Adams’s books so far. She has put enough reality (and I suspect some historical fact) into her fantasy to keep it grounded in the realm we readers can (mostly) understand.

-the ending. The ending made me cry. MADE ME CRY. Some might find it disappointing, incomplete, or confusing, but to me it was so full of hope and peace and promise that it moved me to tears. I cried for the despair, and I cried for the hurt, and I cried for the evil in Birdie’s world and ours, and then I cried for the overwhelmingly beautiful reminders of the Nature of the Song and what it means both for Birdie and for us. Kudos to the author for writing not just a powerful ending but also a powerful ending that made me cry.

As a note, this book is a little gritter than the first, with a few details and sections that I would rate PG-13 for violence and gore. The Pit was a very hard part for me to read. Once or twice I didn’t want to keep reading, but I’m glad I did. The horror of that part, though unimaginably horrible, does serve a purpose, both in the representation of our reality and in the story of Birdie and the others. The experience is well redeemed by the last page.

As a whole, this book merits celebration as another well-crafted saga that I suggest is even richer than the first. Packed with action, emotion, and Truth that reaches beyond the page, Songkeeper will not disappoint readers eager to follow the next step of Birdie’s journey. ...more

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Feb 16, 2016 Deborah O'Carroll rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, reviewed, epic-character-i-love, 5-stars-awesome, own, fantasy, christian, medieval-fantasy, owned-ebooks, 2016-reads

Review originally posted on The Road of a Writer: https://deborahocarroll.wordpress.com...

Well, THAT was a sandstorm whirlwind of a read! I'll admit I had doubts in the middle of the book, when it felt pretty hopeless... But with the thrilling epicness overall, I ended up loving it, despite a quibble or two -- which mostly boils down to the fact that I NEED BOOK THREE YESTERDAY!!! Ahem.

I've been breathlessly awaiting this book ever since the last cliff-hanger page of ORPHAN'S SONG, so I'm ecstat ...more

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Nov 25, 2017 Barred Owl Books rated it it was amazing

Freed from the hold of a slave ship, Birdie, the young Songkeeper, and Ky, a street-wise thief, emerge to a world at war. Hordes of dark soldiers march across Leira, shadowed by whispers of plague and massacres, prompting Ky to return to his besieged home city in hopes of leading his fellow runners to safety.

Desperate to end the fighting, Birdie embarks on a dangerous mission into the heart of the Takhran's fortress. Legend speaks of a mythical spring buried within and the Songkeeper who will on ...more

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Jun 05, 2018 Jonny rated it it was amazing

Orphan's Song ended on a cliffhanger for the Ky and Birdie. Songkeeper is the continuation and second of a three book trilogy.

I feel like the characters developed a lot in this middle book in the trilogy as Ky and Birdie went their separate ways and had to develop into the leaders the people around them needed them to be.

Ky with the Underground as he is always butting heads with Cade and how Ky has to do what he thinks is right even when everyone else thinks he is wrong.

Birdie as she struggle ...more

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Jul 22, 2018 Kendra Ardnek rated it liked it

I don't know. Just ... it didn't click with me like the other one did - and I'm sitting here only able to remember about a third of the book 'cause I just glazed over a lot of the text. The new culture WAS fascinating, and there were plot developments that I'm quite intrigued by.

But across the board, I just didn't connect, and I think a lot of it was that I never understood why Birdie was suddenly unable to hear the song. It felt like a plot device that happened because the author didn't want t ...more

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Jun 26, 2018 Carol R. rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed

In Songkeeper, young Songkeeper Birdie and former street thief Ky are captives on a slave ship, and Amos the peddler manages to eventually rescue them. Then Ky returns to his hometown to lead his friends in the Underground to safety. Birdie goes on a journey to a mysterious spring that supposedly only the Songkeeper could unleash to defeat the final darkness. But Birdie continues to face doubts about her abilities and her role in that battle. Her capture by the Takran causes her to face her grea ...more

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Jan 24, 2019 Kim Gregory rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I had a harder time staying into this story than I did the first. I don't really like when a story breaks off into two characters doing different things, and this story has quite a bit of that. Ky and Birdie are together at the beginning, but Ky wants to help the Underground, so he goes off from the others. The story goes back and forth between what is happening with Birdie and what is happening with Ky, and they don't coincide. When that happens I jump out of the story and then have to get back ...more

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May 05, 2020 Michelle Bruhn rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, 2020, young-adult, heavy, music

This one hurt. The more I read, the more I resonated with Birdie. Sometimes I hear the Song, but it doesn't respond the way I want it to. Sometimes the Song is silent. And sometimes books end after stomping all over your heart. I need to start book 3, stat!

Also, I very much want to ride a lion now. :) ...more

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Oct 21, 2020 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A good novel

The story gets tough as war crosses the land. I don't want to give anything away, though. I had to read this one in chunks and not nearly as quickly as I generally do. It was good, I just needed more breathers between and sometimes in the middle of scenes. I did want to shake some characters, too, and save them some heartache. ...more

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Apr 23, 2018 C.R. Leverette rated it it was amazing

Another phenomenal entry in the series. Great action, good fantasy feel, wonderful characterization. The end was wonderful. A strong sense of despair with a glimmer of hope.
I can't wait for the conclusion! ...more

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Mar 04, 2019 Naomi Brignola-van calster rated it really liked it

The middle part: the part I dislike the most in stories and real life alike.

Still, I am glad I ventured into this one. A story that takes you along with it and unpretentiously calls you to courage and perseverance.

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Mar 12, 2020 Rondi Olson rated it it was amazing

In this second in the series, there are new allies for Birdie and a journey to what he hopes is safety for Ky. I actually like that the story was split between the two characters, and enjoyed what was happening with both of them. Betrayal and cliffhangers, this is a perfect second book.

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Dec 27, 2020 A.M. Reynwood rated it really liked it

A fantastic sequel. I really do enjoy the characters, and this one has even more to love! Well, maybe not that one in particular . . . But the writing is great, the plot exciting, the dangers dark, the sacrifices bitter, betrayals even more so, the ending superb—! Just a whole lot of YES.

I mean, who wouldn't want to cross the desert on the back of a LION? ...more

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About Gillian Bronte Adams

Gillian Bronte Adams

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Gillian Bronte Adams is a sword-wielding, horse-riding, wander-loving fantasy author, rarely found without a coffee in hand and rumored to pack books before clothes when she hits the road. Working in youth ministry left her with a passion for journeying alongside children and teens. (It also enhanced her love of coffee.) Now, she writes novels that follow outcast characters down broken roads, thro ...more

Other books in the series

The Songkeeper Chronicles (3 books)

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Orphan's Song (The Songkeeper Chronicles, #1)

Song of Leira (The Songkeeper Chronicles, #3)

The Songkeeper Chronicles: The Complete Trilogy

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Quotes from Songkeeper

“Sure. I generally make it a point not to refuse anyone with a weapon in my face.” — 8 likes

“Don't look so stiff and concerned, bucko. Word from the wise, sometimes there's no better place to hide than in the open, and no better way to disappear than to stand out."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Sure it does. Hogan wrote it years and years ago - you do know who Hogan is right?” — 6 likes

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