I received this Arc from Netgalley. Thank you for the chance to read this book early. My review is honest and 100% my own thoughts about the book.

I loved that this book takes you for a ride. Even with it being all over the place it doesn’t lose you along the way. I love the writing of the fantasy that Lackey writes. The Narrator also make it well worth while.

This book is one that takes you all over the place! It starts out in a little town and winds up somewhere you never saw coming.
Rune is a fantastic bard, or could be with proper schooling. In the start of this book she is just 14 and even though she knows she could be great no one else does. She is just the daughter of a tavern wench at the Hungry Bear. It really doesn’t matter what talent she has if she doesn’t get the formal training she needs and it doesn’t look like her dream will ever happen.
One night though, after a scuffle with town bullies, she makes a huge bragging mistake, or so she comes to think as she finds herself heading to the home of the Ghost of Skull Hill. No one who has gone up there at night has ever come back down but that is exactly where she finds herself headed.
When the ghost appears, Rune strikes a bargain with it. She will play on till morning and if the ghost tires of it before morning her life is his and if he is still listening when the sun rises she will have her life and also a sack of silver. This is where the story begins.
If that sounds good just know that this all takes place very early on and it is a major but also minor bit of the story. Maybe not minor but not one mentioned much as the story progresses.
I don’t want to tell you the things that happen in this story because a whole lot happens and one thing, sort of, leads to the next.
I liked this book but I found that it felt a tad disjointed here and there. Thing is, this is Mercedes Lackey. She is a brilliant fantasy writer so you absolutely cannot go wrong choosing to read this book. It’s definitely one that you will not get bored with, even if it does feel a bit disjointed here and there.
I got the chance to listen to the audiobook of this story and I loved the narrator. She is fantastic and it’s a brilliant way to go if you like them. Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of the audio.

There was so much going on in this book! So many different plot points. I know this is an older fantasy, and it definitely reads that way. I felt like the point where we started to the point where we ended could have made an entire series on its own. Usually if the plot is this fast passes, I like the characters to be well developed in contrast. I didn’t feel that here.

I’m unsure if I will continue the series.

I listened to the audiobook and loved it. The narrator was great - there were a lot of characters but I was able to follow along easily. The story was interesting and kept me engaged throughout.

Unable to write a full review as this expired before I was able to complete the audiobook.

I was went for the average rating and will try and read this again in the future

Audio review: Great narrator - very engaging.



Main review: This was a re-release or at least a launch of the audio book. The original was first published in 1991 and it does have the feel of fantasy of that time. That said, there's nothing wrong with that. There are aspects of 90s (and before) fantasy that I quite miss in more recent fantasy. And to be fair to Lackey, this book has aged well unlike certain other 90s fantasy offerings in a similar vein (Green Rider series by Kirsten Britain, I'm looking at you...)



Part of what worked for me was the set up. Rune is a disadvantaged young woman, spurned by her community for being illegitimate, neglected by her conniving mother and the target of abuse by the local youths. She's also an outsider in that she wants more out of life. Her passion and talent is music but she has had so little opportunity to pursue it, that a future as a bard seems hopeless. At least until she loses her temper and challenges a hungry ghost to a bet.



I really like stories that explore hard work and attaining competence and eventual greatness through grit and determination. If you like Tamora Pierce's early work (in fact if you like her more recent work) you will like this. The story is driven by the character meeting a series of adventures with her end goal being one she unwaveringly fixes herself towards. With the usual stumbles, mistakes and learning along the way. Yes, it's largely low stakes but I still find the process engaging and Lackey has a style that I find both gripping and soothing.



In addition, I have a real weakness for fantasy where someone wants to learn to be a bard. Think Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragon drums books. Anyway, if you like anything in that vein, I think you'll like this. As a bonus, while this is part of a series, it's a complete fantasy adventure in its own right too. Recommended.

The start of this book is slow, but once you really get in there, it really is a good book. You really feel get to know the people in the book and learns to love them. Subtle on the supernatural/magic side. But you feel like you are slowly heading in to the world of magic with ruin, at the same time as she is. As the story goes on you start to see the world they live in grow around the story, I can really imagine what it is like, from the city’s to the country and the turbulent roads they travel.
I’m definitely looking forward to reading the others in the series

The Lark and the Wren (Bardic Voices, #1)
by Mercedes Lackey
For Creative Edge Publicity
A cross between medieval story alien world, I can see it linked to many RPG stories. The musicians named for birds are or at least those of outside the Bard Guild. The political struggles of Medieval Europeans, from Guilds, Church, and nobles color many of the struggles in the story. Lark is a young girl, a bastard, who learns to play the fiddle as a child. She has many teachers, and learns more than normal for so lowly born girl. Her mother manipulates the widowed Inn keeper to not only marry her, but to make life unbearable for her daughter. The book shows the nature of bullies, in many forms. How young girls can easily be manipulated especially those of low status? The violence that she sustains as a drudge under the Inn keeper is not limited to cuffs, and hits, but that the local children especially the boys find her their main target for violence. She gives warning to young readers to be careful how they interact with bullies, not allowing them to dominate her, but also be careful about bragging and dares. She is given the greatest reward, but has risked a lot just to gain that advantage. She escapes the Inn, but the low born life she was set on. The book shows a great number of personal growth not only of Lark but the characters she learns form and teaches. This a great role model book for young girls, and musicians.