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Fantasy. Fiction. HTML: The Bard's Blade is the start of the new Sorcerer's Song fantasy adventure series from Brian D. Anderson, bestselling author of The Godling Chronicles and Dragonvein. Mariyah enjoys a simple life in Vylari, a land magically sealed off from the outside world, where fear and hatred are all but unknown. There she's a renowned wine maker and her betrothed, Lem, is a musician of rare talent. Their destiny has never been in question. Whatever life brings, they will face it together. Then a stranger crosses the wards into Vylari for the first time in centuries, bringing a dark prophecy that forces Lem and Mariyah down separate paths. How far will they have to go to stop a rising darkness and save their home? And how much of themselves will they have to give up along the way? A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.… (more)
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A slow start had me wondering. Two lands sealed off from each other, Vylari and Lamoria. Common knowledge was that "once you passed beyond the border of Vylari, you could never find your way home—that was what protected the people from the
Injured by crossing the barrier, the stranger possesses a letter addressed to Illorial predicting danger for Lamoria. A seer has told that the "only hope rests with one who dwells [in Vylaru]—a child enormous of talent, with special gifts that have the power to hold back the darkness." A person connected to Illorial and that "they are a bridge between" the two worlds.
Lem, as Illorial's son and a talented musician determines to follow the warning and breaks through the barrier into Lamoria. His love, Mariyah accompanied by Lem's uncle Shemi stubbornly follows him.
Of course this ends in disaster in different ways for all. Trying to fit into a land where you know nothing of the religious strictures leads to disaster and enslavement for Mariyah and Shemi whilst Lem finds himself trapped in more ways than one.
A somewhat familiar trope. I must admit it took a while for the storyline to find its mojo. When it did, I was hooked!
A Macmillan-Tor/Forge ARC via NetGalley
Mariyah runs the business side of her parents' vineyard and Lem is her most-beloved and a
Lem takes this all as a sign and sets off to find the Thaumas in the wider world. And of course, Mariyah and Shemi follow a little while later and on totally different paths. And while there are tropes of both romance and fantasy, such as a traveling acting troupe, what makes this book unique is the story's treatment: who would guess that musicians' egos would cause conflict in the acting troupe? Or that the so-called worship of Kylor also involves a wife's betrayal of her husband?
The writing is down-to-earth, the characters are well-drawn, and the world that Brian D. Anderson has created includes a touch of magic but also a whole lot more humanity.
This book didn't hit me like I had hoped. I've been diving into more fantasy lately since I'm slowly beginning to enjoy the genre (as a whole) more. This book seemed like the perfect fit and sounded like a fun ride. Unfortunately, the
The characters are a little odd. The already established relationships made me not enjoy their story as much. I wanted to see these characters fall in love, even if it was just a chapter worth of the back story. Then the characters just... drove me insane? Lem was annoying to me on all fronts. I didn't want to read his parts of the chapters at all. He didn't seem all that bright and made me want to throw the book against the wall or shred it.
I also felt like the plot and story jumped around a bit and didn't seem coherent (but I am also not a big fantasy reader so maybe that's a trope I'm just not used to?). The high fantasy style was also odd since it didn't necessarily feel like the genre it was going for. From the marketing and synopsis I thought this was going to be a fun Game of Thrones, Throne of Glass or other fantasy ride - but it felt more like a middle grade or YA novel fantasy that couldn't quite decide on what it wanted to me. I give this book the benefit of the doubt because it has such a cool premise and I did like Brian's writing style.
Overall, this book felt like a massive D&D campaign that fantasy lovers will enjoy. It's just not a book for me!
One out of five stars.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.