Product Description
Eric Banyon is a talented musician whose lady has left him singing the blues in a deserted corner of the Renaissance Faire. He couldn’t have known that the desperate sadness of his music would free Korendil, a young elven noble, from the magical prison he has been languishing in for centuries. Suddenly, Eric has no time to be sad, as he has to help Korendil fight against the evil elf lord who first imprisoned Korendil and now seeks to conquer all of California–and that is only the beginning. .
Don Thomason @ 7:23 pm
This was the first work (actually works, since it’s two books in one) that I’d read that Lackey had a hand in that was set in contemporary society, and I found what I have come to like in Lackey’s stories — how someone (in this case, the fabulously irresponsible and troubled latent bard Eric Banyon) comes to grips with a budding and unexpected talent, which is both blessing and curse. Eric is a gifted musician who busks and plays the RenFair circuit to keep his freedom/avoid responsibility, but when he inadvertantly wakes the sleeping noble elf Korendil, Eric’s life is irreversably altered. The mix of magic and mundane (to borrow a Rowlingism) is done nicely in both books, particularly with respect to the L. A. musical underground in the first book and the central plot of the second. As in all of the Lackey books I’ve read, the problems characters face are presented in both day-to-day and heroic perspectives, with as much emphasis placed on personal issues as on magical battles. I found both stories to be the usual very good read characteristic of Lackey stories, although I confess particular interest since I’m a musician and a lover of RenFairs.
Anonymous @ 9:30 pm
BEDLAM’S BARD is a combination of two of Lackey’s previously published books, KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS and SUMMONED TO TOURNEY. Both are good books, but beware of buying them, all unknowing, under this new title. It’s been some years since the second one came out; there was supposed to be at least one more in the series, but it hasn’t materialized. The first two set high enough standards that I’d buy it if it did.
Anonymous @ 12:03 am
I bought this book because I knew it had the sequel to “Knight of Ghosts and Shadows” in it. Two years ago I fell in love with that book and it’s still my favorite (I always have in my purse in case I’m somewhere with nothing to do, I’ll just pull it out and read it)!!! I adore Kory and Eric (at times I could do without Beth)!! “Summoned to Tourney” I was disappointed with, but sequels “usually” aren’t as good as the first, so I gave it some slack. I was really upset that it seems like Kory dotes on Beth and Eric dotes on Beth, but what happened to the relationship between Eric and Kory? We all know it’s there, but in this book it seems like it’s ignored! I’ve heard there’s going to be a third book! WHERE WHERE?! What’s the title?! Although, I think it will have a lot to do with Ria, whom I never liked in book one! Why Eric would think about her with Kory (and Beth) around I don’t know! I only give it four stars because “Summoned to Tourney” could have been better. “Knight of Ghosts and Shadows” is a 5 though!
Anonymous @ 1:10 am
The original books are wonderful; but the publisher’s idea to reprint two fairly recent books into one with only a small warning to faithful readers is terrible. I suspect that the same is happening with the other two ‘new’ paperbacks that are forthcoming; Fiddlers Fair and Oathblood.
Anonymous @ 2:21 am
This is a 2-in-1 edition of “Knight of Ghosts and Shadows” and “Summoned to Tourney.” As these are two of my favorite books, I quickly purchased it, but it may be an unpleasant surprise for those hoping for a sequel.