Picking the Ballad's Bones

Songkiller #2

by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

A ragtag band of folksingers in possession of an enchanted banjo enters the land Great Britain, where the banjo stirs up the ghost of Sir Walter Scott, who is intent on saving the last of the folk songs

Genres: Fantasy, Novels

242 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1991

About the author

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough was born March 23, 1947, and lives in the Puget Sound area of Washington. Elizabeth won a Nebula Award in 1989 for her novel The Healer's War, and has written more than a dozen other novels. She has collaborated with Anne McCaffrey, best-known for creating the Dragonriders of Pern, to produce the Petaybee Series and the Acorna Series.

Reviews

[Shomeret · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concept kept me reading, but I found the characterization flat until the band of our heroes were cursed in a very interesting way that brought both the characters and a number of folk ballads alive. From that point on, I fell in love with the book. There were a number of wonderful scenes. I was reminded of a series of folk ballad mysteries by Deborah Grabien. This book deals with some of the same ballads that Grabien has focused on. I also liked the presence of the ghost of Sir Walter Scott who gets to explore his own family history in an unexpected way.