Songs of Earth and Power

Songs of Earth and Power #1-2

by Greg Bear

The Song of Power opened the gateway to the Realm of the Sidhe, allowing young Michael Perrin to slip through. Now Michael faces years of captivity and deadly struggles for the future of the Realm and of Earth—leading finally to a terrible confrontation on the streets of Los Angeles, with the soul of humanity at stake.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, 20th Century

556 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Greg Bear was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict (Forge of God books), parallel universes (The Way series), consciousness and cultural practices (Queen of Angels), and accelerated evolution (Blood Music, Darwin’s Radio, and Darwin’s Children). His last work was the 2021 novel The Unfinished Land. Greg Bear wrote over 50 books in total.

(For a more complete biography, see Wikipedia.)

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally read this ages ago, back before I went to college, and it seriously stuck with me for my entire damn life. I even avoided re-reading it because of how dear it was to me back in the day, wondering if there would be an impossibly huge amount of cringe within it that would make me ashamed to be myself.

But you know what? I shouldn't have worried at all. We must all dare. We cannot remain afraid of what we are or what we could be.

And now? After curling up with my rare hardcover copy that covers a slight re-write of both The Infinity Concerto and Serpent Mage, and savoring every word, feeling every emotion, I can tell you right now that it is one of my all-time favorite books. And I honestly thought a good handful of Greg Bear's OTHER books were some of my all-time favorite books, being well known for his science fiction--and not the FIRST books he wrote, which were outright FANTASY.

I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked.

But I let me also give a balanced, thoughtful review about the book, itself:

There are lots of actual cringeworthy things that happen in it. There are obvious flaws. But they are very much human flaws, and fully self-aware ones. It's a true coming of age book. With Michael starting out as a cringeworthy teen, with selfishness and crudity, but also a desire to be better, to learn from his mistakes. And this is what I found most fascinating--it's a tale of actual growth. Or rather, a song of the Sidhe AND of Humans, of gaining, and constantly having to re-examine oneself to improve one's wisdom. And there was a lot that needed to be examined.

This book was REAL on the human level, and unflinching about its own flaws, as if it was the Earth itself, or Bear, himself. And all of these flaws, these pains, these blindnesses, and these glorious growths, were well EARNED.


My original first loves about this tale was primarily about the MUSIC. Mahler's unfinished Tenth Symphony plays an amazingly beautiful and large part in it. And so does other art, be it Coleridge, movie magic, or even the art of wine-crafting--all in the service of creating Songs of Power.

As a fantasy, it's right up there with Earthsea AND The Neverending Story, for much of the same reasons. It's mythical, and appropriately awe-inspiring, imaginative, and even deep. The book is itself a Song of Power, and transformative to a soul open to it. :)

It's also impressively YOUNG. It feels so YOUNG. And maybe that's something all of us need sometimes. It's not violent, although the stakes are impressively enormous. It's not cruel, although there is plenty to encourage cruelty. It's truly hopeful and balanced, even though it seems aimless at times, and being used like a pawn should never evoke a sense of good humor toward those who have used us.

And yet, I honestly feel wiser, happier, after having read this and having grown with this young, stupid kid, into the man he became.

100% recommend. 1000% recommend.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to requests. Just direct message me in goodreads or email me on my site. I'd love to get some eyes on my novels.

Arctunn.com

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Infinity Concerto" - Book One in the Songs of Earth and Power omnibus - is multi-layered and textured. I believe it will likely take me several readings to find all the meanings that are embedded in this story. The basic storyline revolves around Michael Perrin, a thoughtful young man who wants to be a poet. He befriends a composer named Arno Waltiri, who it is said wrote a concerto called The Infinity Concerto that was so unusual that it not only drove its listeners mad but also that many of those listeners disappeared. Waltiri claims that the concerto was primarily inspired by a man called David Clarkham, who subsequently disappeared; Arno gives Michael a key and a piece of paper with directions to follow, that should lead him to Clarkham. Waltiri dies soon thereafter. Despite warnings from Waltiri's wife Golda that Waltiri repented of his choice to give these to him, Michael decides to go ahead and follow the directions - and ends up somewhere . . . that is not Earth anymore. Forced to learn to survive, Michael has to grow up and grow strong very quickly - but is he just a pawn in some hidden power struggle? Or is he something else altogether?

Some sections of this part of the text seemed rather slow moving, but everything was necessary for the plot. Because the plot is so intricate, at times ponderous prose is necessary to bring about all the necessary information. All-in-all, I found book one quite enjoyable.

The Serpent Mage" - book two - picks up shortly after Infinity Concerto leaves off. Michael Perrin is back home, living with his parents and continuing his training. Arno Waltiri has left his estate and the disposition of his papers and recordings to Michael. Waltiri has also left his house to Michael and eventually Michael moves in and begins to go through the papers.

Michael's desires for normality are shattered, however, when he reads a news story about strange bodies discovered in a nearby hotel - one grossly obese, one strangely mummified and in a party dress. Other news stories speak of "hauntings" around the world - Michael suspects that the Sidhe are coming to Earth. If that isn't enough, he is contacted by a musical faculty member from UCLA named Kristine Pendeers who is looking for the Infinity Concerto - Opus 45. She wants to discover and perform it; and she has a friend who, with the help of letters and papers they hope to discover in Waltiri's estate, hopes to finish Mahler's unfinished Symphony. And they then plan play the two pieces together. Once the decision is made to start looking for these materials, Michael begins to fall under various attacks to stop him from completing these tasks.

Hopefully the bits of plot I outlined above don't spoil the book for anyone - I could hardly outline less without being so vague about the basic plot of the book as to be basically providing you with a meaningless synopsis; however, there is so much more to this book than the above. Greg Bear weaves throughout this story a fascinating new mythos about the creation and evolution, de-evolution and re-evolution of man and the universe that I found to be quite astonishing in its depth and breadth. He weaves in references to several world religions and ties them in to his mythos, showing how the original truth was "twisted" over the years to conform to what would best serve those in power. It's a really interesting device and I enjoyed the way it was woven in throughout the story. You may also look at vegetarianism in a whole new light.

There was only one thing about the story that bothered me and I'm not sure if it was because I misinterpreted what I was reading or if it is because of some sort of misogyny on the part of the author. It is mentioned several times throughout the course of the book that "magic is carried by the woman." However, not one single mage shown is a woman. If women carry the magic, why aren't there any female mages? Or, as I said, perhaps I am misinterpreting it, and by "carry" they mean like a recessive gene - they carry the magic, but cannot use it.

Those who are fans of epic fantasy, magical realism, stories of the Sidhe (especially of the darker natures thereof) or simply well-crafted alternate realities, please do not miss this one.

[Kevin Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorite books. Mixes myth, religion and history to create a realistic world underpinning our own. I can't begin to adequately describe this book, but recommend it highly to anyone with an imagination who believes that music and words can change the world.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. Were I inclined, I could have looked up/listened to all the concertos mentioned in the first part and garnered a deeper appreciation for classical music. I passed on that, though, because the unfolding mystery intrigued me. Come on, otherworldy beings appearing by the boy's bed in the night, discussing things much like doctors gathered around a patient's bed?

Others have mentioned skipping "The Infinity...", but without that you may not entirely appreciate what the protagonist is experiencing. From a typical teen mentality, well, a bit better, being versed in such music, but still with the hormonal maturity one that age suffers, to the frustrations of growing up hard and fast (faster than you know), this novel is well written, so that you can, to a degree at least, appreciate his trials and tribulations that are so necessary to his survival in the harsh world in which he finds himself. I say 'to a degree' because the forms of magic and magical creatures he deals with are not what we certainly deal with in our daily lives.

[Resa · Rating 1 out of 5]

i have concluded that this book was responsible for getting me into the reading slump i was stuck in before row so this one will remain unfinished.
a book written by a man in which women are either grotesque non-human creatures or ~their huge breasts can barely be contained in their thin tight white blouses which is why the protagonist will get an erection from so much as being in the room with them~ is not a book i need to bother with. although, hence the 1 star, the premise of the story being centered around transcendental effects of music and the (albeit it somewhat typical) fantasy setting would have been compelling, if written and executed differently but oh well

[Carl Barlow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish.

A young poet is transported from contemporary LA to a magical realm of fairy folk (elves, really), wormholeing horses, other trapped humans, and halfbreeds. While there he comes of age, learning his own worth and wielding his own powers, struggling to return home while various factions strive to employ his abilities to their own advantage.

Bear's writing is clear and fairly engaging; his world-building is more-or-less solid and self-consistant; and his plotting has the benefit of being unpredictable because the hero himself has very little idea what's going on (history, politics, and the various other characters' machinations are revealed piecemeal).

But it's all rather bland - there are only occasional excitements and most revelations are devoid of real shock. Ultimately, there's little new here, and what there is isn't even trussed up to make it more presentable. If you've read a lot of Fantasy, you've read SoEaP before, in one guise or another. Consequently, around two hundred pages in, I started to lose interest, and gave up at the end of the first book (this being a compendium comprising The Infinity Concerto and The Serpent Mage). Not for me - there's simply better Fantasy out there.

[Chandrika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unpopular opinion ahead:

I have always been a huge fan of Greg Bear. Blood Music is one of my favorite books. Songs of Earth and Power was not only disappointing but extremely frustrating. I probably should have read the book in it's first release version of two parts rather than this later intended version as one.

The first half is very good fantasy. A well built world, an unwilling hero, an adventure. I was hooked, I liked it and enjoyed reading it. The second half took me eight months to finish. It basically fell off the rails.

The misogyny was overwhelming and the Islamophobia in the end... what even was that?

I am so angry, I can't even finish this review.

[C.S. Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stil one of my favourite books - this must have been my 5th or 6th re-read since I first came across it in the mid 90s!

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lent this book by my assistant manager, a generally wonderful human being who responded to my complaints about having packed up all my books before moving by lending me this, and several other things as well. I started with this because it’s out of print, belonged to her son, and frankly, looked the most interesting. (The other is a copy of Relic, which was a book before a movie, and several of my co-worker’s seem to like. I may read it eventually, but I’m kinda on a non-fiction kick at the moment. But I digress)

According to Amazon, this was originally actually two separate books, which Bear re-wrote and connected to make one large story. He did a fine job of joining them, since honestly, if I hadn’t looked at Amazon, I would never have known. Songs of Earth and Power tells the story of Michael Perrin, a sixteen year old boy who, thanks to a gift from a dead friend/mentor, wanders into the Realm of the Sidhe, and finds himself caught up the struggles and politics of a foreign world. He spends a fair amount of time traveling and learning about the Sidhe, their Realm, and their magic, before eventually making his way back to LA…at which point, things from the other side start spilling over too.

It’s a very interesting book, with some neat ideas, and a very, very, interesting setting The whole structure of the Realm, the nature of the Sidhe and how they interact with humanity, and so on, is thought out and explicated in a way that makes them seem very odd, alien, and well, fantastic. Which is cool. This is not a knock off of Tolkien, Narnia, or any other fantasy world, and seems to have a lot of roots in authentic mythologies, in feeling, if not in actual fact. I found the character’s not quite as engaging as the world, however…Michael is interesting, and is not horrifically angsty for a teenage protagonist (though he does have his moments), but a lot of the other characters are less memorable. As I think of it, the only one’s that really stick out are Nikolai, a Russian fisherman who shows up halfway through the story, and the Crane Women, who are a set of three half-Sidhe crones that train and mentor Michael.

The book is out of print now, but it’s definitely worth tracking down a copy if you’re a fantasy fan. Bear has some really neat ideas, and plays them out in some very interesting ways. The book drags a little in the middle while Michael stops for a training sequence, but once he gets moving, the book picks back up again too. Worth the read.

[Koen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Songs of Earth and Power” comprises of two stories by Greg Bear: “The Infinity Concerto” and “The Serpent Mage”. The original story is from 1984 and this edition of 1992 has an Afterword added by the author.

I’ve read the first book in Dutch a long time ago and could never find the Dutch version of The Serpent Mage and therefore stuck with the feeling that the story wasn’t over yet. Early May of this year, we went to the SF Convention at the Antwerp Expo and found this edition with both books in one.
I started again with the first book reading about the adventures of Michael Perrin and his encounter with Arno Waltiri and his wife Golda. Later on in the book I met David Clarkham and a lot of other characters defining the story as it is: A young man switching from our known world to the other side, the realm of the Shide. The main stories always seem to come back to classical music and poetry. In the second book you get to meet Kristine Pendeers, she is also the subject of the added Afterword of the author in the 1992 edition.
Enjoy these two books and keep in mind that the first book is somewhat slow to start as the second book runs in a perfect pace to the end: You can’t stop reading ;-)

[Millie Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gosh, this book took me forever to read. It's not because it wasn't interesting, but I kept falling asleep! That being said - yes, it was a really good book. I was just tired. ;)

Michael Perrin is a 16 year old boy who gets transported to The Realm and learns that he has a bit of magic. He starts out as any other teenage boy does - a bit whiny and annoying - but the nice part is that you actually get to see him grow throughout the book. You see him go from the whiny, "I just want to go home and write my poetry" kid to a man who realizes that he's got responsibilities and a job to do. I liked that you could tell when he realized that he wasn't a kid anymore.

This book had me laughing and feeling sorry for some characters, but I liked that there weren't really any characters that I didn't like at all. There were some that made me go, "Well, they're pointless - why are they here again?" but otherwise they were all pretty enjoyable. The Crane Women were my favorite characters by far. They were funny and a bit whimsical and it made you want to learn all you could from them. Overall, it was a very interesting book and a good read.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent idea. Could use some editing.
I found the premise of this to be pretty cool. Ancient intelligence, alternative realities, Power of music and magic. There is A LOT going on here. I enjoyed the story and felt like main character was fully developed. However I found the narration to be a bit tedious. Like I said, there is a lot going on here. At times he tends to brush over the background of the story, or veil it behind a long poem myths. I think if more could have been said with fewer words, it would have been much easier to understand what was going on. Not that I want everything spelled out too obviously, I do like a challenge, but parts of this were just confusing. I'm not going to read a book 2 or 3 times looking for deep meaning, or hidden allegory. There were long sections that slowed down the narration at the expense of filling out some of the other characters and story line. This has some very cool parts and was worth it in the end. But still, my least favorite Greg Bear book so far.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The death of Kristine

In my edition there is a rather odd postscript added by the author about a girl called Kristine. He wrote about her death, she then died in real life and he felt and appears to still feel great pangs of lumpen guilt, so he has installed her as the interesting yet somewhat peripheral female love interest in the Serpent Mage.

I strongly recommend that you read the second of these two (The Serpent Mage), without reading the Infinity Concerto. In the second, all of the references back provide splendid depth and background, but if you actually read them, they are terribly plodding.

(The Many Coloured Land is another powerful series, where you lose nothing at all by dropping the very first one, especially as the author provides a copious summary at the start of the next.)



Last time I read this book I wrote:

Music and the Sidhe, failing in their own creation and returning home.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have kind of a love/hate relationship with 'urban' fantasy. Of all the possible genres in fiction, it is hands down my favorite. But for whatever reason, it's also the order and species of writing within which I have the hardest time finding a truly satisfying story. Even my go-to guy, Charles De Lint (who I love, and no mistake), will more often than not leave me itching for something just barely more... something. I don't know if I'll ever be able to articulate exactly what it is I'm looking for, I just know that it's a rare thing that I actually find it.

In Songs of Earth and Power, I found it in spades. Originally two books- The Infinity Concerto and its sequel, The Serpent Mage-

Hee hee... I got called away! Finish this in a bit.
I know you're all dying to see how it all ends!

:P

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally picked this to read due to the online hype about the quality of this book/duology. I was not truly disappointed, though I found that the book didn't live up to the claims. It was good, I enjoyed it, but I was very able to put it down and get on with something else.

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books., even after two decades. I love stories where someone discovers a way into a magic world, from our plain urban life. (Like Weaveworld). This book always leaves me with a sense of hope. When we don't truly know what we are, we can become anything.

[Andrew Ahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another of my inspirational books. I read the original two book version and probably have reread this book more times than any other. I Love training sequences and this has one of the best (though I am always surprised how short it is when I actually reread it).

[C.C. Yager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Songs of Earth & Power combines the two novels The Infinity Concerto and The Serpent Mage into one as the author Greg Bear originally conceived them. What drew me to them was a blurb I read somewhere that Bear had incorporated music into his story. I wondered how.

Michael Perrin is 16 at the beginning, and we see him and his friendship with Arno Waltiri (who is so real as a movie composer, I thought he was real but he isn't) who leaves him a strange gift when he dies. This gift sends Michael on an adventure he's not certain he really wants, but he feels he has no choice. Arno's gift allows Michael to travel to The Realm of Faer, where the Sidhe live, and where humans have been kept captive. But not any humans. The humans who arrive there have come as a result of music in some way. Only Michael had come of his own accord. His first days in this strange world are beyond difficult (and even difficult at times to read), but Michael eventually gains his footing and discovers that he's favored by "the Council" and a massive woman named Lamia. As a result, he is sent to the Crane Women to be trained. But all he wants is to return home.

The Wizard of Oz this isn't. Bear has fashioned an incredible world of mages in competition with each other, the Sidhe who have no souls, the Breeds who are half human half Sidhe, and the humans who live in the Pact Lands surrounded by the Blasted Plain. It is a dangerous world, a obsidian hard world. I liked Michael, and these 2 books are told through his point of view. He starts out an innocent, a neophyte, and changes in ways he never imagined possible. It is a coming of age story, Michael Perrin's growing up and growing into his adulthood and his destiny.

Music, it turns out, has incredible power in this world. The mages want songs of power. They think Michael, a fledgling poet, could create those songs of power for them. In Los Angeles, Arno Waltiri wrote a concerto for piano and orchestra called "The Infinity Concerto," Opus 45, that is a song of power. It received only one performance and the reviews of it were damning. It wasn't performed again until a young woman, Kristine Pendeers, goes in search of it. As a result, she meets Michael Perrin. Their story forms the core of The Serpent Mage and Michael's destiny.

These books are impossible to summarize, and I don't really want to because it will take away from the pleasure of reading them. Suffice it to say, I am not a fantasy fiction reader but these books compelled me to read them. The characters are diverse and interesting, their responses to Michael unpredictable. Poetry pops up as well as music and it was immensely satisfying to read something in which the arts played such an important role. I do wish Greg Bear would write a book devoted to the Ban of Hours. I wanted to know more about her and what her story was. There were times I didn't know where Bear was leading me, but I couldn't refuse to follow. Each twist and turn moved Michael's story forward in surprising ways.

I'd only read one other book by Greg Bear, but I think now he's a writer I want to follow into other worlds. I'd recommend these 2 books to fantasy fiction readers looking for something different, and for a massively broad view of the universe and humanity's place in it.

[Kathi · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10
Bear’s Afterword explains some of the reasons for the story to have originally been two separate books and then later published as one revised book, so I was happy to get that info.

As for the book itself:
It really is Michael’s story—his trials and triumphs, his infatuations and loves, and really, his messy and somewhat miraculous becoming who he needed to be. All the other characters serve that ultimate story. His development and abilities seemed almost too much, too good, too convenient—just when he needed to be stronger, more skilled, more daring, braver, whatever, he always was.

The Serpent Mage is far more complex than The Infinity Concerto. I think both sections could have used some judicious editing.

Bear certainly takes the basic Celtic legends of the Fae/Sidhe in new and different directions, stirring in the basic creation story of the Judeo-Christian tradition, the concept of multiple, parallel worlds, and the idea that there is power and magic in the arts (music, dance, poetry). It’s an interesting mix.

I found much of the story to be bleak and somewhat depressing, like a feeling of heaviness or pressure while I was reading. Even the ending did not seem to do enough to dissipate that feeling.

So I can’t quite decide how I feel about this book. I found it creative, inventive, and fascinating, yet sad and sort of overdone or overblown.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as two separate books, and once I'd read the first one I had to read the second to complete the tale, so publishing it as one book is probably sensible. The first book sets up the tale of another world where Sidhe, Breeds (Sidhe/human) and human live in an uneasy and unequal pact. The focus is on Michael, a 16 year old human who by another's design makes his way over to this world and is caught up in the politics, drama, religion and sheer brutality and beauty of this other. The otherness is bewitching, the horror pretty damn horrifying and Michael's journey fascinating. The second book is a perhaps a more compelling read as so much that was set up in the first book comes into play and begins to make more sense, plus a lot of it takes place in our world and there is always a sense of wonder and frisson when the magical impacts on the mundane and normal. :-) This is a wonderful work of fantasy.

[SBC · Rating 5 out of 5]

An omnibus of Bear's previously published The Infinity Concerto and The Serpent Mage. In the first book, Michael Perrin passes into the Realm with the help of Arno Waltiri and there he is stuck, like other humans. He is trained by three Breed women, 'The Crane Women', and learns how to fight the Sidhe - and win. Cleverly written with a brilliant ending. In the second book, Michael has made it back to Los Angeles but the Sidhe are following him home, and Michael has to fight to defend Kristene from David Clarkham. Mage of the Earth is no easy task, and when Queen Elme and Aske's daughters return to Michael, we see the conclusion of an excellently written sequel.

I read these books nearly 30 years ago and I still sometimes think of parts of them. Two key things that linger in my mind are: 1) Bear's excellent ending to Coleridge's unfinished Kubla Khan. 2) the way Michael kills off parts of himself that he didn't really like or care for, and how that affects him.

[Greg O'Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great or almost great.

The first book was all a setup for book two. In book one, everything happens to Michael, he's just a helpless traveler along the story as it happens to him. In book two he actually gets to do something. And I particularly like the ending where we don't get the usual fantasy world trope of Michael returning to Earth dimension and nobody's the wiser that he was off in Fantasy land, but instead everyone gets to experience the fantasy realm... pretty good twist. In a way more "real" than the standard trope.

[nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

my dad rec this book since it was his fav and as much as I wanted to love it I think it was sooo detailed and intertwined it became confusing esp since I didn’t read it close tg, maybe in future i’ll reread bc def could be good if I actually could follow it. overall though I did rlly like the parts I could understand 🤣

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books of all time.

[Micaela Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my very favorite book ❤️ The writing is magical and lyrical. This book is a beautiful escape to another world with just enough hints of our own.

[Dan Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

great concepts, can wander, but worth the read for sure

[Jessica Stoiko · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my absolute favorite books of all time!

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

NFM. Read this when it first came out in 1990’s. Didn’t enjoy it then… my thoughts haven’t changed

[Patricia Hollers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good character and alternate universe building. I'd recommend this book especially to anyone interested in magic and fairies! It was originally two books and it really is one continuous story.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these back in the 80s when they were first published and enjoyed rereading them.