Books : Four and Twenty Blackbirds A Bardic Voices Novel (Bardic Voices/Mercedes Lackey, Bk 4)

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Rating:

- Disappointing!
I was a little disappointed that this book is below Misty's standards. The plot is unimpressive, and the 'bad guy' is really just all too predictable and lack of character. However, the book can still be enjoyable especially if you have not read her other books which were much remarkable by comparison.

Rating:

- Ok, but not great.
This book wasn't anything like the other bardic novels in this series. It had little or nothing to do with music or magic. I would have liked this story better if the "bad guy" hadn't been so pathetic. It seems as though Misty was getting desperate for an evil charactor in this book and just grabbed someone out of a hat. I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't read the book, but the person who is behind the murders just didn't seem to fit the part. It is good, however, that we are able to understand and get to know Ardis better, but over all I felt disconnected from the under-developed charactors. A very light book; good if you have nothing else to read.

Rating:

- a solid punch in the guts
I have read some of the other reviews and was a bit surprised at the attitude displayed. Come on, a book about catching a serial killer has never been about who it was - The secret is the method of pinning the culprit down. Although darker than the other bardic novels, this was a satisfyingly readable adventure. Speaking as a devotee of the SERRAted edge and Diana Tregarde, it adds a dimension of excitement to a basically bland series. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the others, it's just that a book is more exciting when more bad things happen to the heroes. A great read and immensely enjoyable.

Rating:

- A Dramatic About Face for a slumping series
After the tackiness of the Eagle and Nightingale novel Ms. Lackey has penned a truly solid and gritty story. The characters seem more than one dimensional and the sexual tensions are appropriate for a change (IMHO).

The tone IS as another reviewer mentioned much darker and if that is not what you crave you best avoid this Lackey effort.

Rating:

- Predictable
This last book in her Bardic Voices series was very predictable--I had already figured out who the murderer was by the seventh chapter. But then in the next chapter, she told who it was. The book might have been better if she had left the reader in the drak for most of the book like most mysteries are. Also, this story line was not what I was expecting at all. I had loved the other books in this series, but this one didn't seem like part of the series at all. It had a darker undertone and would have seemed more in place in New York or San Francisco. I didn't get the "fantasy" feel from this book. Sure, magic was mentioned, but it didn't seem to fit the story line at all.

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