Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
—and Quite Deadly . . .
Eric Banyon, better known as Bedlam's Bard, is finally about to graduate from Julliard and enter the Real World and so, with the help of a psychiatrist who specializes in the problems of magicians, he's finally coming to terms with his past. But a spur-of-the-moment trip home to Boston to visit his parents brings him more trouble than even Eric thought possible.
Meanwhile, his Bardic apprentice Hosea has discovered that the young homeless children in New York's shelters have created a bizarre mythology about a demon called Bloody Mary who preys on young children—and somehow Bloody Mary has taken on an independent life and now stalks the streets of the city.
And for some reason, she's after Eric as well. . . .
Praise for the Bedlam's Bard Series:
"[Spirits White as Lightning is] fast, furious, and completely absorbing . . . make no mistake, this is a good series." —Booklist
"Lively and original, rich in clever ideas . . . Lackey is one of the best storytellers in the field, and this is among her best." —Locus
"This is a fast-paced, suspenseful, action-packed page turner." —VOYA
"[Lackey] shows a sure touch with the wonder and adventure that characterize the best fantasy writers." —Romantic Times
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I just couldn't finish it...I loved the first few books of this series, but it seems, unfortunately, that the transition from co-author Ellen Guon to Rosemary Edgehill was less than inspired. "Beyond World's End" had me struggling, with the complete skipping of 20 years of bardic training, the end of a 3-way marriage without any good reason or acrimony, and so on, but "Spirits White as Lightning" made me willing to continue. Sadly, I got halfway through "Mad Maudlin"...and I just can't take it anymore.
A bard, so powerful that he can create a new elven grove, is felled by a simple drain spell from an unseleighe sidhe, and driven into some alternate reality after a beating by teenage hooligans. His elven steed takes 24 hours to recognize that there is something wrong before seeking help. A well trained and highly capable healer and empath writes off the bard's disappearance as typically irresponsible behaviour, despite the fact that the bard has not been that irresponsible person for years... I just got to the point where I couldn't reconcile the apparent incompetence of the protagonists with their previously demonstrated high level of competence. And never mind that the whole story is driven by Eric, suddenly, 20 years after running away, returning home to discover that his parents are still abusive users, he has a baby brother, and his brother also ran away (but, thankfully, he ran to NYC, so that Eric doesn't have to work too hard to find him).
I like Mercedes' collaborations with authors like David Weber, and the work on the first 3 books with Ellen Guon also came out well. I can only assume that Mercedes left the remainder of the series completely in Rosemary's hands, with less than stellar results.Posted on
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