Customer Reviews

Beyond World's End (Bedlam's Bard)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For me, this book had many problems. To start with the authors spent way too much time setting up the story, filling in events that happened between the last book and this one, and on setting up Eric's apartment. I understand the need for this, but I feel it was handled poorly. For example, does the reader really need to read four pages of description of Eric's apartment and its (non-storyline related) contents? There are also two-and-a-half pages about Eric building his CD collection! Almost the entire first chapter is retrospective description. I had started to wonder if the authors had ever heard of the writing advice "show don't tell". Also, there are footnotes! If I remember correctly at least one of the other books in this series also contained footnotes, and I thought it was a bad idea then, and that book was much better than this one. On my part, I feel footnotes do not belong in novels with the possible exception of highly technical novels such as some hard science-fiction novels. The footnotes in this book are used to explain things that could have been explained in the text, or really did not need an explanation at all. Another problem I had was with the contradictions throughout the book. For example on page 13 it states "... Eric was not going to have to worry about where his money was coming from for a very long time, if ever." Then on the very next page it states: "And when the Krugerrands ran out, and the account that covered his rent and utilities expired, he'd have to have a job to pay for all this." This gives the impression that it is an immediate problem. Which is it? A problem or not a problem? There are other instances of this type throughout the book. Some more sever because they tie-in to the storyline. I also did not like the way the authors handled the relationship between Kory, Beth, and Eric, but, that is more and example of personal preference, not bad writing. I had not been pleased with the way it (and the character of Beth) was handled in the second book either. On the other hand, the story itself held my interest, and I particularly liked the way the character of Ria was handled. I do wish more time had actually been spent on what seemed to be the major storylines of the book; namely Eric's return to Juilliard and the ultimate confrontation between Eric, Ria and the Guardians, and the two separate villains of the story. The buildup was too long and the payoff too little. It also seemed that the Juilliard story was pretty much dropped, and it had the potential to be more interesting than the "main" plot. More time should have been spent on it than on the history of the drug that was used in the other storyline. Although the setup as to why Jeanette, the creator of the drug, became the way she was was interesting, there was too much time spent on developing and testing the drug. Also, the character started out as a very evil person and yet later I felt the authors were trying to get us to feel that she wasn't as bad as she seemed. This might have worked had she not been portrayed as having no conscience, or if there had been a convincing catalyst for the change, but other than a pang of guilt, which seemed totally out of character, there was nothing. If you are a fan of Mercedes Lackey, Rosemary Edghill, or the Bedlam's Bard series the book is an ok read, if you can hang on through the first chapter, but it is not the best book either author has written, nor is it the best of the series. However, it is also not the worst. If you are not familiar with the series or either of its authors you would be better served by reading one of their other novels, or by reading the first book of the series. In fact, I would suggest to anyone who has not read the first book of the series to read it first, or this book will make little sense.

First of all, I love the urban fantasies of Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill. They caught me right from the beginning with their other (individual) titles capturing a gritty and magical world where elves and CEOs exist side-by-side. But, I have to say I was disappointed by this book.

"Beyond World's End" feels like a collaboration that the two authors wrote without really consulting each other. For example, near the beginning, Eric says something about being Underhill for long enough that the US government would never recognize or find him; that according to his birth certificate, he should be someone in his late 40s rather than the 25-year-old student he is. Then, in the same chapter, he enrolls back into Juliard--yet he hasn't changed his name, and both professors and students clearly know him and his history at the school. Nobody remarks on his apparent or actual age. A little difficult to reconcile both these viewpoints! This age thing continues throughout the novel, so it's not one missed comment. Another example--when Eric's moving into his apartment, he mentions that he's stopped drinking anything with caffeine because it is so destructive to his elven friends...yet, just a chapter or two later, he's offering guests cappuchino from his own machine. Little faults, but it shows that the authors weren't consistant, and that irritates me when I'm spending $2.. on a book.

Other reviews here have mentioned the detailed beginning and the rushed ending, and I agree. It's almost like the authors got tired of the book about three-quarters through and just decided to finish it. Or, alternately, they might have rushed the ending and left those dangling questions and characters in order to leave some threads to pick up in a sequel. I hope that there is a sequel, because I want to see what happens with Kory and Beth, the Guardians, and Aerune's plans. I think I may wait until the paperback comes out though, just in case...

If you don't pay close attention to details, you will probably enjoy this book. If you DO pay close attention to details--re-read "Bedlam's Bard".

I'd hate to think of someone coming upon this book and thinking it typical of the writing of Ms. Lackey. This was a sore disappointment. I found the book to be not so much badly written, as poorly executed and miserably edited. There are too many loose ends and too many niggling small mistakes for it to be enjoyable. Two examples spring immediately to mind--and they are small, but NOT what I've been accustomed to seeing in previous works by one of my favorite authors. When we meet Jeremy he's plays an oboe; yet in the concert he's a bassoonist. Eric shows up on the concert stage in "school uniform" ('white shirt, black pants, dress shoes, and tie') but several pages on we find that Eric is congratuling himself for not being pressured into wearing said tie. There are other distracting errors--mostly the usual grammatical and spelling mistakes that are increasingly common--but in concert with the general looseness in story line, this book is definitely not one of Ms. Lackey's better offerings.

Having read and enjoyed all of Lackey's Bedlam Bards series, I was understandably excited to see a new Eric Banyon adventure. This book begins a couple decades after Summoned To Tourney, with Eric taking up residence--alone--in The Big Apple. Yes, there are quite a few changes afoot in the bard's lifestyle. Having spent years hiding Underhill from mortal authorities while learning to control his Bardic magic, he is ready to go back to school to see if he can make it without Beth and Kory. A nice tie-in to the Diana Tregarde series has him moving in to an apartment building run by Guardians.

Although Eric is determined to keep a low profile and focus on his non-magical musical abilities, he finds himself caught up (again) in an evil elf's plans for world domination. The reappearance of Ria Llewellyn, combined with the stress of midterms, has Eric off-balance.

The only real quibble I have with this book is its length. It seemed a bit short; the action wound up pretty quickly at the end after a long buildup. Also, while the Juilliard subplot was hyped as very important, it just sort of stopped two-thirds of the way through the book, leaving several loose ends unresolved. There are hints in the text, however, that this could be the beginning of a new series which would address those and some other issues. I am withholding final judgment until I know for sure. If this does turn out to be continued, then I agree with the authors that this "could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

To be frank, _Beyond World's End_ disappointed me. I was introduced to Mercedes Lackey via _Bedlam's Bard_ some years ago, and immediately fell in love with the characters and the storylines. The trials and tribulations of Beth, Kory, and everyone's favorite flautist, Eric Banyon, were enough to compel me to read the entire book overnight. I didn't sleep until I had finished the entire six hundred-page text and the story left me aching for more.

Now that I have it, I almost wish that I did not. I had always thought that the whole "cops are after us, let's hide" plot in _Bedlam's Bard_ was a bit contrived, but I hadn't let it affect me. To learn that Eric and company escaped Underworld afterwards struck me as out of character. For one, though Eric did indeed need training in his Bardic abilities, he has had bad experiences with Underhill and never struck me as likely to wish to retreat there. Kory spoke again and again about how much he loved the human world and to have his fight to protect the elves' right to stay there disregarded was a shock. However it was Beth's plight that caused me to really wonder about the story. Beth, such a strong woman in the first two novels, being unable to deal with the events of Bedlam's Bard is highly unlikely. Seeing Beth, strong, capable Beth, so weakened seemed incongruous. She seemed a diminished shade of her former self.

From the start I had problems with _Beyond World's End_. Even beyond having two of my favorite characters almost completely written out of a saga where before they had been principle players, many of the new events and characters seemed contrived. Greystone, the gargoyle, had potential to be a highly enjoyable creature, but his stereotypical name made it harder for me to like him. The watchers are interesting people...but in their own series. A mention of how the SERRA elves are doing would have been great, seeing as occasional tidbits of info are scattered through both sets of books about the two Coasts' elves. Ria's character seemed different, somehow, not the vivid woman she had once been. There is virtually no mention of how she healed, or what caused it. The return of old faces such as Kayla and Elizabet would have been wonderful.

It is these implausibilities that caused me to dislike _Beyond World's End_. How Eric could have reinstated himself at Julliard, a place that he swore up and down that he would never, *ever*, return to, without qualm or confusion on the part of his professor's surprised me. Likewise, Ria's sudden reanimation, (in convenient timing with Eric's return to the Mortal Realms) is farfetched. It was nice to see Eric come into himself, and to know that he isn't going to make any more fool hardy choices like those that filled _Knight of Ghosts and Shadows_ and _Summoned to Tourney_. Eric has much more control over his abilities than before, and his growing relationship with Ria was fun to watch, so long as I put Beth and Kory out of my mind.

Suffice to say, _Beyond World's End_ had a great deal of potential that simply wasn't lived up to. Beyond World's End picks up in a place so radically different from the end of Bedlam's Bard that a book sandwiched between the two would not have been amiss. I probably could have handled Eric's dwindling relationship with Beth and Kory had there been something to suggest to me that their love wasn't a solid one. Insight on Eric's actual training would have been great as well. Instead we are subjected to all of this information, stuffed sans detail in a very short amount of time. Though the story later picks up, and I did find the drug ring scenario very interesting, (...) First time readers, stick with _Bedlam's Bard_. Those who read the first adventures, go find _Bedlam's Boyz_, Ellen Guon's take on Kayla and Elizabet and the Sidhe, a story written wonderfully with an intriguing plot that doesn't fail to follow through. Only if you are a true lover of Eric Banyon do I recommend buying _Beyond World's End_. Even so, I suggest waiting for the paperback version. I wish I had.

I almost gave up on this book when very early in the narrative the lead character referred to himself without irony as looking like "a sassy young dude in his twenties." *Gag* I also couldn't figure out why there was a couple of dismissive reference to Gen-Xer's. What's wrong with Gen-Xers? (The co-authors are both Boomers.) Then I remembered that this series was geared toward adolescents (that, folks, is why there is no explicit sex but lots of gory violence-- violence being much better for children than sex.)

The first of the books in this series was published circa 1990. It combined the Urban Fantasy concept (which dealt a lot with street people, music, elves and magic) with a touch of "let's save the kids." What has happened at least in this book is that the message has taken over. Some people have wondered about Eric returning to Julliard after vowing never to go back. Think public service message: If you are in school, stay there; if you've quit, go back. Yep, that's the reason. It also give the authors a chance to show some emotional abuse by parents and teachers. There's also an antidrinking and drug message that stands out about a mile. The general preachiness got to me about the time Eric meets the Guardians. I went and got a drink (of water)and took a handful of pills-- asprin.

The protagonists in this book remain rather flat and uninteresting-- and there is a tendency to use way too many brand names. I also don't need the detailed descriptions of what the characters are wearing. It must be padding because the plot is definitely on the thin side. Also, what was trendy when the book was written- 1999-2000? publication date was 2001-- hasn't stayed trendy.

Anyway, it's a standard evil drug lord tries to take over the city plot. Everyone but the evil drug lord is evil because of what happened to them in the past-- even the evil sidhe. The drug lord apparently doesn't have a past. Some characters from previous books pop up and leave. There's a gargoyle with a fake Irish accent that's very grating. "Laddybuck" and "Boyo's" abound. Also a cop who starts using the phrase "take a bullet" and soon every one is ready to "take a bullet."

The authors can write better than this, I wish they would.

I've always enjoyed reading Mercedes Lackey's urban fantasies featuring elves. Having read the earlier novels that make up the Bedlam Bards miniseries: KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS, and SUMMONED TO TOURNEY which Mercedes Lackey wrote in partnership with Ellen Guon and BEDLAM BOYZ by Ellen Guon, I was looking forward to this next installment in the Bedlam Bards series. Since Rosemary Edghill has explored elves and urban fantasy prior to this, it seemed natural that a partnership between the two for BEYOND WORLD'S END would work well.

For those new to Bedlam Bards, I think the best place to start is with the earlier stories, but it isn't entirely necessary. Enough background information is thrown in that I think new readers will easily fall into the story and get to know the characters. In essence, this is a true urban fantasy, taking place in the heart of NYC and naming places that every reader familiar with the Big Apple will recognize. The enemies to be faced are both human and elf-dangerous drugs that have are on the threshold of creating a menace that could destroy two worlds. Set against this threat is one powerful human Bard, the flute-playing Eric Banyon and his new band of allies. Can they prevent their power hungry enemies from claiming NYC as their own?

The story premise is interesting and enticing. The promise of hearing about old friends and characters from related stories was what got me to pick this up in the first place. To their credit, Lackey and Edghill provide a story that delivers on that promise and moves along quickly. However, to my disappointment, I did not feel the story delivered on the premise. Despite my attachment to previous characters, I would have honestly preferred a more streamlined story, one that focused a bit more on plot. If this were Eric's coming of age story, I might be more forgiving of the time spent setting up and explaining his character. But it's not, Eric's already grown up and trained, there's no real transformation required. And while I admit to enjoying the details about Kory and Beth, they are not part of this story, and having their cameo appearance just felt awkward and unnessessary. The most complex and fascinating character is by far Ria, since she is the one facing change and transformation. Had the story focused on her from the outset instead of Eric, I think the overall dynamic action would have felt stronger. Changing players might have allowed more freedom to keep old characters in, but seen from a new perspective.

Eric's return to Julliard seems contradictory on several levels, as other reviewers have commented. No one seems to notice his extraordinary youthfulness, since anyone looking for him would be seeking a man in his forties. Likewise, Julliard itself seems inconsequential, a reason contrived so that Eric is in New York, rather than a real story in and of itself. The time spent showing Eric in those surroundings and students he befriends have no bearing on the outcome of the main conflict. The same goes for the Guardians Eric befriends.

Despite this, Lackey and Edgehill still manage to deliver a a compelling read with interesting new characters and old favorites that readers will be delighted to see on the printed page once more. One other quick observation, his book was written pre-9/11 and, as such, some of the scenes in the book were more than a little chilling, particularly to this New Yorker. I'll be looking forward to reading the sequel to this, SPIRITS WHITE AS LIGHTENING, I'm hopeful that some of the loose ends left at the end of this story will be dealt with there.

Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad

When I first heard about this book, I had hopes that it would be something special. Mercedes Lackey has been a long-time favorite of mine, but I've been a little disappointed in her most recent works. I thought that perhaps the talents of Rosemary Edghill could balance this out, and together the two writers would come up with an amazing novel worthy of both. Unfortunately, I don't think they've done so here. Not quite.

_Beyond World's End_ has problems. Its lack of consistency alone costs the book a star; besides enough small errors to make me wonder whether an editor ever actually looked at this, there's a big issue with how time works. Eric's been Underhill for twenty or thirty mortal years, yet the professors at Juilliard aren't surprised that he's back and looking twenty-five at most? Ria Llewellyn's come back from healing Underhill for as many years, and yet when she returns to her company it's as though she's been gone for just a few months? What gives? This paradox took my suspension of disbelief by the scruff of its neck and shook it until the spine snapped, and that didn't make staying in the story very easy.

Second, the first half to two-thirds simply disappointed me. Too much text space was set up establishing details that were later unimportant. Lackey and Edghill might as well have not bothered with the entire Juilliard storyline; it trailed off ingloriously long before the story was over. And this first big slice of text is full of elements that readers of Mercedes Lackey will probably recognize. Gorgeous young hero stuns everyone with how mature and powerful he's become, over and over again. He meets up with a band of potential allies who, despite being powers in their own right, are oddly clueless and need the hero to tell them what's going on all the time. (Really, the book would've been better in my opinion if the Guardians had just been left out. I don't think it would've hurt the plot any, since they didn't seem to *do* anything.) Everyone worships and fawns over him and his talents. Sound familiar? I was getting _Lark and the Wren_ flashbacks all the time I was reading. Now, I love Lackey's work, and find nothing wrong with a little wish-fulfillment now and then, but _Beyond World's End_ had me ready to yell, "Enough is enough!"

However, there are saving graces which make this a book worth reading--a book worth buying, for that matter, though I'd wait for it to come out in paperback. The subplot involving the psychotropic cocktail experiments was genuinely creepy and very well-written, with a solidness to it that seemed lacking from the rest of the text. At least in that first half to two-thirds. It's important to make the distinction, because after a point the story and pacing picked up enough that the whole thing finally started coming together. Eric, Ria, and Jeannette became very interesting; the conflict was absorbing; I couldn't put the book down until I'd reached the end. True, the climax did go very quickly and was a letdown after so much build-up, but if the rest of the novel had possessed as much energy and drawing power, it would've been one heck of a book instead of just a fairly good one.

In short: this is worth checking out if you've already read _Bedlam's Bard_ (or its two component parts, _Knight of Ghosts and Shadows_ and _Summoned To Tourney_) and want to know what happened to Eric & Company. It may even be worth trying if you haven't, though without some knowledge of Lackey's urban fantasy world it would be easy to get confused. But keep in mind that it isn't a story that is apt to draw you in or take off from the get-go; perseverance is needed to get the most out of this one.

I had come to expect a higher standard from Misty. This book wasn't up to it. First off, the entire plot of the book changed from Eric's return to Julliard to some random problem with the Underworld. Then characters kept dropping in and out, points of view kept shifting around, and too many questions were left unanswered. There were some good points to this book, but they didn't even out with the bad points. Over all, this book was basically a waste of time. If you want to read it, either check it out from the library or wait till it comes out in paperback.

After his last save the world success (see Bedlam's Bard), musician Eric Banyon looks forward to quiet time studying the flute as an adult-student at Julliard. While Eric plays the student flautist, avaricious research scientists have discovered some drugs that turn individuals into beings with magical capabilities. Being of a non- ethical bent, the coven of scientists plan to use their drug to develop an army of slaves that will make them so rich Gates will seem like a pauper.

However, in the Elven realm of Underhill, Prince Aerune mac Audelaine learns of the new enhancing drugs on the mortal side of the portal. He sees this as an opportunity to use Manhattan's abundance of street people to conquer first the island and then the human world. Only, Eric and his guardian cohorts (Beth and Kory on a return engagement) stand in the way of the Dark prince succeeding in his endeavor.

BEYOND WORLD'S END is an entertaining fantasy sequel that works because of the concrete presence of contemporary Manhattan providing a powerful anchor to the tale. Because of numerous references to the previous adventure (see Bedlam's Bard), those who have not read it should to gain the full flavor and understanding of Eric and his band of saviors. The secondary cast makes the novel work as they either provide insight into the elven realm or are part of modern day Manhattan, which in turn gives the tale its subtle strength by making this fantasy seem real.

Harriet Klausner