Rating:  -
Who know the feeling when sometimes you read a character that is so bland and boring that you don't really care if they live or die? Ok - imagine that feeling of complete indifference, then multiply it by every single character in an entire book, and you have `Four and Twenty Blackbirds' in a nutshell. Sheesh!
This book takes the absolute cake for boring!
Normally I enjoy Lackey - she's one of those writers from whom you can take a book and blob out (with minimal input from your brain) for about two hours. But this was a terrible book, unworthy of the paper it was printed on, and awful even without my brain involved.
The plot was hackneyed (strange killer on loose with disappearing knife linking every crime) and the killer really, REALLY obvious (you can pretty much read the first five pages and know exactly whom), and yet the characters never get it - even when helpful passers-by give them exactly the right bits of obscure information they need. Before you sink into complete apathy you'll want to bash the main guy's head against a rock, because he's so thick. The woman priest is almost interesting, but not really.
And lets not even go into the fortuitous arrival of a flying bird-man with a great memory and a habit for being exactly overtop of every murder, so he can scream down in avenging wroth.
Yep, save your money people. I suspect the die-hard fans will scream at me for heresy, but this is truly some of the worst prose I have ever read. I just did't care what happened to those people! Ignore me at your own peril.
Rating:  -
I read this book AGES ago, and I still remember the plot and the story, I think it was very well written and plotted out.
As I search through the mass of Misty books I have come across some rather entertaining reviews, I think that most if not all her books are excellent reads. I don't know why I liked this one in particular, but I think it's because ML took a chance on writing in a different aspect than we are used to, and I love to see writers and songsters go out of the "norm" and explore themselves.
The only thing I had wished with this particular novel is that ML had actually created a secondary story to go with it, I could almost feel the storylines pouring forth just waiting to be told...
Rating:  -
****
I've read *exactly* one other of Mercedes Lackey's books - The Firebird, which bored me to tears.
Undaunted, I read the first 2 chapters of this book on-line several years ago, managed to get into the story, and after requesting this book as a Christmas present for several years, finally decided to get it on my own.
I have not read any of the other Bardic Voices books, so I can't comment on there not being any Free Bards within the story (they are occasionally referred to). What I liked about this story is that it's a combination mystery and fantasy, as another poster has said. Yes, you do find out who the murderer is about halfway through, but I was intrigued enough by that point to keep going, to see what made this mage tick, why he/she wanted to go after Ardis. It was also interesting when the mage decides to change tactics near the end of the book. The way it was written, it made complete sense to me.
On another note, I found Ardis's grappling with staying in the Church to be realistically written, and it actually moved me at certain points.
With the current situation in the world, plus my own personal strife, this book saw me through a depressing period in my life. So, to sum it up, this book is a fine way to lose yourself in an interesting world.
Rating:  -
This was actually the first of the Bardic Voices books that I read. I enjoyed it enough that I immediately bought the other books. Book 4 is able to stand on its own as a fantasy/mystery novel. I am a fan of mysteries as well as fantasies and this book was a nice combination of the two. I really liked the investigator and hope for more to come from Lackey about these new characters.
Rating: -
Readers expecting the usual cast of characters from the free bard tales will be disappointed. While a few characters are carried forward from the previous books, including Ardis, Duke Arden, the Haspur Visyr, etc., this story has a new set of players. The chief protagonist is Tal Rufen, a police constable from Haldine investigation a string of mysterious and brutal murders of poor female street musicians/singers (or would be musicians) - murders committed by strangers that commit suicide, and murder weapons that vanish. As he follows the string of murders, Tal's investigation takes him to Kingsford and the High Bishop Justiciar Ardis. This is the Kingsford following the fire (see "A Cast of Corbies"). Tal finds himself in a new position, carrying out investigations for the church. Tal and Ardis must appraise their feelings for each other. Events lead to a final confrontation between Tal and an evil mage, living under a curse, who has a grudge against free bards and Ardis. The plot and characters are well developed to provide an interesting tale, but somewhat on the dark side (tracking a serial killer).
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