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Bedlam's Bard #4-5
A Host of Furious Fancies
Two urban fantasy bestsellers in the Bedlam’s Bard series together in one volume.Beyond World's End: Sieur Eric Banyon, Knight and Bard to the court of the Queen of Elfhame Misthold, moves back to the Big Apple to take care of unfinished business. Mostly, he just wants to settle down to a normal life.
However, he quickly discovers his Manhattan apartment has unique features, including a living gargoyle named Greystone and four Guardians who have sworn to protect New York from evil. And soon Eric discovers that unscrupulous researchers have created a drug that unlocks magical powers in humans—a drug that is 100 percent fatal over time. And now something evil from Underhill has other plans and seeks to use the temporary human powers to dominate World Above.
Spirits White as Lightning: Eric Banyon has more to worry about than passing his courses at Julliard. The evil elf lord Aerune, whose love was killed by mortal men, is determined to destroy the human race. Eric's only hope of stopping Aerune is to trap him inside a magical maze, from which there is no escaping. Stopping Aerune once before was difficult. This time, the quest seems nothing less than impossible.
However, he quickly discovers his Manhattan apartment has unique features, including a living gargoyle named Greystone and four Guardians who have sworn to protect New York from evil. And soon Eric discovers that unscrupulous researchers have created a drug that unlocks magical powers in humans—a drug that is 100 percent fatal over time. And now something evil from Underhill has other plans and seeks to use the temporary human powers to dominate World Above.
Spirits White as Lightning: Eric Banyon has more to worry about than passing his courses at Julliard. The evil elf lord Aerune, whose love was killed by mortal men, is determined to destroy the human race. Eric's only hope of stopping Aerune is to trap him inside a magical maze, from which there is no escaping. Stopping Aerune once before was difficult. This time, the quest seems nothing less than impossible.
708 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2012
22 people are currently reading
452 people want to read
About the author
Mercedes Lackey
438 books9,580 followersMercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.
"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.
"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.
"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:
"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."
Also writes as Misty Lackey
Author's website
"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.
"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.
"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:
"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."
Also writes as Misty Lackey
Author's website
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 9, 2012
Beware, this is a reprint of two earlier titles!
Read
September 14, 2012I got SOOO excited for a new book in this universe, then I realized this was just a reprint.
Ah well. They're both great books, and I highly recommend this compilation edition for folks that haven't read them before.
Ah well. They're both great books, and I highly recommend this compilation edition for folks that haven't read them before.
August 3, 2021
Amazing! I love it!
I love that this was an omnibus of 2 books! I never read the second one. As I finished the previous book, I realized how much I missed those crazy race car elves and their human helpers!
What a wonderful surprise to see that at the middle of the second book, a familiar cartoon Fox shows up but with 3 tails! I was beyond Ecstatic! Last Serrated Edge Book I read in paperback, yes that long ago, was when X-ray Foxtrot got his 3 tails and the beautiful Kitsune who haunted Tannim’s dreams got her 9th!
I’m very excited to continue on this road of Eric, Ria, Kayla, Hosea, and the NY Guardians in The Gargoyle House. Many adventures await! I’m so looking forward to rereading this series again and again on my Ebook, much easier than trying to replace my 8th or 9th copy of my previous paperbacks that are now no longer published or available! Someday, maybe the author(s) will put the rest of the Series out in ebook format especially omnibus books! My kids who are now adults remember me reading to them about the crazy Bard with a flute and the Racecar crazy Elves! I hope I find them before I have grandkids! Those are my kids favorite memories along with me walking into everything with my nose buried in a book while being a mom!
Hey, a gal can dream! Enjoy! It’s a worthy series by incredible authors who deserve the high praise! Check out their other series!! You’ll love them!
I love that this was an omnibus of 2 books! I never read the second one. As I finished the previous book, I realized how much I missed those crazy race car elves and their human helpers!
What a wonderful surprise to see that at the middle of the second book, a familiar cartoon Fox shows up but with 3 tails! I was beyond Ecstatic! Last Serrated Edge Book I read in paperback, yes that long ago, was when X-ray Foxtrot got his 3 tails and the beautiful Kitsune who haunted Tannim’s dreams got her 9th!
I’m very excited to continue on this road of Eric, Ria, Kayla, Hosea, and the NY Guardians in The Gargoyle House. Many adventures await! I’m so looking forward to rereading this series again and again on my Ebook, much easier than trying to replace my 8th or 9th copy of my previous paperbacks that are now no longer published or available! Someday, maybe the author(s) will put the rest of the Series out in ebook format especially omnibus books! My kids who are now adults remember me reading to them about the crazy Bard with a flute and the Racecar crazy Elves! I hope I find them before I have grandkids! Those are my kids favorite memories along with me walking into everything with my nose buried in a book while being a mom!
Hey, a gal can dream! Enjoy! It’s a worthy series by incredible authors who deserve the high praise! Check out their other series!! You’ll love them!
March 11, 2022
Last time I read this book, I did reviews of the two individual books it collects, so I guess this time I may as well review the omnibus itself.
A Host of Furious Fancies is how I first encountered the Bedlam's Bard series, and until now, it was the only part of the series I'd read. I'm normally averse to picking things up in the middle but originally I figured if they published it as if it were a standalone book it would probably be fine. This time I'm coming into the story with a knowledge of what happened before which makes things a bit different.
There was a gap of almost a decade between the first two books and these two, and the co-author has changed, so it's appropriate that a certain (unfortunately vague and contradictory) amount of time has passed for Eric and friends and he's a different man now. Specifically, he's a single and more mature man. The throuple formed in the first two books has broken up, with Beth choosing to live most of her life Underhill as she still works to recover from the trauma she endured in book two, and Kory chooses to remain with her. Eric has given them a child, but he himself has finished his bardic training and decided that he needs to face his demons - in his case, Julliard. So it's off to Manhattan for the bard where he meets a number of new friends and enemies, while still keeping in touch with many of the old ones.
The pacing of the plot is decidedly uneven and is probably my biggest complaint about the book. The two parts are united by one threat, or rather multiple threats that unify into one. In the mortal world, a black ops group is developing a drug that activates the magical powers inherent in 10% of the population. In Underhill, a fey lord name Aerune has decided to stop moping about his centuries old dead girlfriend and start doing something about it - namely pitting elf and human against each other so they all wipe each other out. It's an interesting change from the elf real estate scheme of book one, even if I've started to find the recurring use of government black ops stuff a bit boring.
But the problem is that while much of what actually happens in the first part is focused on the magic drugs, we spend way too much time on Aerune's tragic backstory. I feel that the plot would've been stronger if Aerune was more of an outside context problem to everyone in the first book and his backstory wasn't delivered until the second. This would especially work well because a character gets kidnapped in the second part and would offer a great chance for Aerune to deliver his backstory to someone rather than just dumping it on the reader. Plus it means that while the woman who creates the magic drug is developed fairly well, her boss who ends up being the climactic threat of the first part of the book gets barely any interiority, which feels like a huge missed chance.
The second book also runs into some issues with clashing tones. A new Bard named Hosea is introduced, and a fair part of the early story is devoted to introducing him into Eric's world. But then Eric detours to Beth's daughter's elven baby shower, and this kicks off Beth and Kory's quest to find how to have kids that are biologically related to both. This quest is generally fairly light hearted, involving things like an interdimensional bazaar with references to everything from Red Sonja to Casablanca. But the main plot gets darker as it goes along, with two major character deaths and a lot of other nasty stuff. The Beth and Kory plot does intersect with the other one a little, but it still feels like it doesn't quite belong in the same book, but instead would be great fodder for a novella in an urban fantasy anthology.
Which is not to say I didn't like the book. It's definitely different in a lot of ways from the first two. While Eric is at Julliard, the narrative doesn't spend too much time on his adventures there. There's far too much magic and mystery going on. Mercedes Lackey spends some time welding this series to her Diana Tregard and racecar elves books, as Eric now lives in Guardian House and a character or two from the racecar books show up in the plot. I do really like the woman who creates the magic drug, as her character is really well developed and manages to create a complex villain who starts to verge into anti-hero later on. Hosea is a fun new character, and it's interesting to see Ria return. I'm not totally sure how I feel about her and Eric hooking up again, but it is a good way of making it clear that they've both grown into very different people.
While the pacing is off, I do kinda enjoy the slice of life parts. It's nice to see Eric settled into a more stable living arrangement, and paling around with a gargoyle is definitely something I wish I could do. I do also love the way Underhill is depicted, as it ends up feeling a bit like the internet but as a physical place since realms aren't next to each other but must be accessed by a network of portals and the way to get between two places is never a straight line. The action in the climax of the second part was also pretty interesting, as the characters find themselves trapped in Aerune's dream of the day his girlfriend died, creating a fun timeloop/escaping from a dream reality scenario.
When I first read this book, I'd read some urban fantasy but I hadn't read much of this kind before. And admittedly I still haven't, but I have now read the first two books in this series. I feel like this book still holds up pretty well, but for some reason I found myself enjoying the first two a little more. Maybe it was that in a way they felt more out there, with the RenFaire setting and the evil elven property developer and everything. Still, it was fun rereading this and I'm looking forward to starting the last two books in the series in the near future.
A Host of Furious Fancies is how I first encountered the Bedlam's Bard series, and until now, it was the only part of the series I'd read. I'm normally averse to picking things up in the middle but originally I figured if they published it as if it were a standalone book it would probably be fine. This time I'm coming into the story with a knowledge of what happened before which makes things a bit different.
There was a gap of almost a decade between the first two books and these two, and the co-author has changed, so it's appropriate that a certain (unfortunately vague and contradictory) amount of time has passed for Eric and friends and he's a different man now. Specifically, he's a single and more mature man. The throuple formed in the first two books has broken up, with Beth choosing to live most of her life Underhill as she still works to recover from the trauma she endured in book two, and Kory chooses to remain with her. Eric has given them a child, but he himself has finished his bardic training and decided that he needs to face his demons - in his case, Julliard. So it's off to Manhattan for the bard where he meets a number of new friends and enemies, while still keeping in touch with many of the old ones.
The pacing of the plot is decidedly uneven and is probably my biggest complaint about the book. The two parts are united by one threat, or rather multiple threats that unify into one. In the mortal world, a black ops group is developing a drug that activates the magical powers inherent in 10% of the population. In Underhill, a fey lord name Aerune has decided to stop moping about his centuries old dead girlfriend and start doing something about it - namely pitting elf and human against each other so they all wipe each other out. It's an interesting change from the elf real estate scheme of book one, even if I've started to find the recurring use of government black ops stuff a bit boring.
But the problem is that while much of what actually happens in the first part is focused on the magic drugs, we spend way too much time on Aerune's tragic backstory. I feel that the plot would've been stronger if Aerune was more of an outside context problem to everyone in the first book and his backstory wasn't delivered until the second. This would especially work well because a character gets kidnapped in the second part and would offer a great chance for Aerune to deliver his backstory to someone rather than just dumping it on the reader. Plus it means that while the woman who creates the magic drug is developed fairly well, her boss who ends up being the climactic threat of the first part of the book gets barely any interiority, which feels like a huge missed chance.
The second book also runs into some issues with clashing tones. A new Bard named Hosea is introduced, and a fair part of the early story is devoted to introducing him into Eric's world. But then Eric detours to Beth's daughter's elven baby shower, and this kicks off Beth and Kory's quest to find how to have kids that are biologically related to both. This quest is generally fairly light hearted, involving things like an interdimensional bazaar with references to everything from Red Sonja to Casablanca. But the main plot gets darker as it goes along, with two major character deaths and a lot of other nasty stuff. The Beth and Kory plot does intersect with the other one a little, but it still feels like it doesn't quite belong in the same book, but instead would be great fodder for a novella in an urban fantasy anthology.
Which is not to say I didn't like the book. It's definitely different in a lot of ways from the first two. While Eric is at Julliard, the narrative doesn't spend too much time on his adventures there. There's far too much magic and mystery going on. Mercedes Lackey spends some time welding this series to her Diana Tregard and racecar elves books, as Eric now lives in Guardian House and a character or two from the racecar books show up in the plot. I do really like the woman who creates the magic drug, as her character is really well developed and manages to create a complex villain who starts to verge into anti-hero later on. Hosea is a fun new character, and it's interesting to see Ria return. I'm not totally sure how I feel about her and Eric hooking up again, but it is a good way of making it clear that they've both grown into very different people.
While the pacing is off, I do kinda enjoy the slice of life parts. It's nice to see Eric settled into a more stable living arrangement, and paling around with a gargoyle is definitely something I wish I could do. I do also love the way Underhill is depicted, as it ends up feeling a bit like the internet but as a physical place since realms aren't next to each other but must be accessed by a network of portals and the way to get between two places is never a straight line. The action in the climax of the second part was also pretty interesting, as the characters find themselves trapped in Aerune's dream of the day his girlfriend died, creating a fun timeloop/escaping from a dream reality scenario.
When I first read this book, I'd read some urban fantasy but I hadn't read much of this kind before. And admittedly I still haven't, but I have now read the first two books in this series. I feel like this book still holds up pretty well, but for some reason I found myself enjoying the first two a little more. Maybe it was that in a way they felt more out there, with the RenFaire setting and the evil elven property developer and everything. Still, it was fun rereading this and I'm looking forward to starting the last two books in the series in the near future.
June 17, 2021
I'd just started to read this, when I realised that it was actually an omnibus of two books, that I've already read, and given reviews and ratings for!
They are: Beyond World's End, and Spirits White as Lightening, which are books from the Serrated Edge series, which I absolutely love!
Despite that, I read it anyway, as I'd loved both books in the first reading! Lol
I won't repeat myself explaining about both plots, etc., but I will say that this second read was just as great as the first had been!
You can never have too many stories about Bards, Elves, and Dragons, I say!
They are: Beyond World's End, and Spirits White as Lightening, which are books from the Serrated Edge series, which I absolutely love!
Despite that, I read it anyway, as I'd loved both books in the first reading! Lol
I won't repeat myself explaining about both plots, etc., but I will say that this second read was just as great as the first had been!
You can never have too many stories about Bards, Elves, and Dragons, I say!
May 28, 2020
I don't think I've read many of the previous books in this series but it is pretty easy to follow along as the author gives enough information to fill in most of the gaps without retelling the whole story to this point.
Eric Banyon has decided he's tired of living Underhill and has gone back to finish his degree at Julliard. However life isn't going to be as straightforward as he had hoped.
Eric Banyon has decided he's tired of living Underhill and has gone back to finish his degree at Julliard. However life isn't going to be as straightforward as he had hoped.
February 20, 2020
Well done somewhat tongue-in- cheek modern urban fantasy.
This is part of the Bard series and is pretty good. It draws you along. It’s not as good as the author’s Valdemar books, though.
This is part of the Bard series and is pretty good. It draws you along. It’s not as good as the author’s Valdemar books, though.
September 17, 2021
Fascinating
Fascinating in both the modern sense of the word in that it completely held my attention and in the Shakespearean sense in that it bewitched me. Amazing characters and fantastic story lines.
Fascinating in both the modern sense of the word in that it completely held my attention and in the Shakespearean sense in that it bewitched me. Amazing characters and fantastic story lines.
May 2, 2013
This is a two book in one edition so I have just embedded the reviews from both books into one.
Beyond World's End-I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would have probably enjoyed further if I had started from the beginning of the series. It is a unique story line featuring Eric, a bard, and is a character not typically unseen in writing as it might be construed as too feminine for a male character role. Maybe this is what drew me to read this book when my daughter had finished. Eric is bar just recently having relocated into the human realm deep in the heart of New York City just wanting to live a more normal life and to relax a bit.
Full review can be found on my website at http://www.musingwithcrayolakym.com/3...
Beyond World's End-I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would have probably enjoyed further if I had started from the beginning of the series. It is a unique story line featuring Eric, a bard, and is a character not typically unseen in writing as it might be construed as too feminine for a male character role. Maybe this is what drew me to read this book when my daughter had finished. Eric is bar just recently having relocated into the human realm deep in the heart of New York City just wanting to live a more normal life and to relax a bit.
Full review can be found on my website at http://www.musingwithcrayolakym.com/3...
December 26, 2012
I started this compliation of two novels with out knowing there were prequels. I was able to get right into the story with out first reading the first two novels. Great story lines. Both books ended without cliff hangers. I do however want to continue and read the next few in the series to find out what happens with beth kory hosea and eric
April 15, 2013
Pretty run of the mill urban fantasy-- a fun read, but it took some time because it wasn't really all that engaging and I picked up other books instead. Nevertheless, I would read in this universe again.
September 7, 2012
I enjoy her Bard series.
July 3, 2021
This is a book I re-read occasionally.
I wish it were on Kindle.
I wish it were on Kindle.
January 12, 2016
A fun, rollicking double-decker novel. Lots of adventure above the earth and below/beyond it in elven lands.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews