Chasing the Bard (Paperback)

~ Philippa Ballantine (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Born into the human world with a gift; a gift that brings him to the attention of powers both dark and light from the World of the Fey, it is his burden to defend all the world.

Sive, the goddess of battle, hopes that he may be able to change the fate of her people.The Fey are dying, killed by something beyond the boundaries of worlds, and Sive will do anything to save them. So she enlists the help of her trickster cousin Puck to guard the child, and watch him grow into his gift. But a dark power imprisoned by human and Fey, plots to destroy both worlds, and unmake all that they have created.

Can one boy stop the destruction, even if he is William Shakespeare?

About the Author

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, I always had my head in a book, influenced no doubt by my father who thought Lord of the Rings was suitable material for bedtime reading for an eight year old.

One of my old schoolfriends remembers me trailing about with an green hardbacked journal which I was busy scratching my first 'novel' into. I had run out of stories to read, and found great enjoyment in writing my own. These early scribblings might not be publishable, and cause plenty of amusement now, but they were the stirrings of a need to express myself. But fantasy writing was not highly regarded in literary circles. My 'normal' writings earned me praise and a spot in the school magazine, but what I yearned for was magic. My writing spluttered out.

I studied English Literature and Politics at Victoria University, but soon found myself in the world of libraries. One day, after one of those painful life altering moments, I picked up the pen again, this time determined to enjoy writing for its sake, and not to worry if it bought me acclaim or not. Basically I had learned not to care about the goal- just to enjoy writing itself. I haven't stopped since. Oddly I never considered a career with books, even though they surrounded me from the beginning. Now it feels like I have found my place.

So now writing takes up large portions of my time, and the rest is taken up with various activities, like gardening, collecting dragons and ceramics, doing up our house, reading (of course) and walking around this great place I live. I'm particularly fascinated by renaissance and medieval history in Europe, and the history of my own country New Zealand and for a few years I was the New Zealand history editor at Suite101.

Product Details

• Paperback: 326 pages
• Publisher: Dragon Moon Press (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896944175
• ISBN-13: 978-1896944173
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,000,038 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful Midsummer Night's Dream..., November 14, 2006

By	Tee Morris (Bristow, VA United States) - See all my reviews

When my publisher told me about this book from New Zealand author Philippa Ballantine joining the Dragon Moon ranks, I was curious. Being a fan of Shakespeare (and having acting in several of his works) and a fan of the award-winning Sandman comic book "A Midsummer Night's Dream" from Neil Gaiman, I was very curious as to how this tale would pan out. This was her debut in print, and she was taking on "Wild Bill" and the Faerie Realms. Quite an undertaking.

Pip does not disappoint.

I will admit to suffering motion sickness in the Faerie Realm. It was obvious that Pip had done her research on more than just the Faerie culture of the Emerald Isles, but she pulled from many cultures. The jumps from Shakespeare's England to the Faerie kingdoms were tough for me to wrap my brain around, but once I got past that supernatural learning curve I embraced this book. Shakespeare's England I felt right at home in; and the characters introduced there were more than just famous names from history but real people with real personalities. This is a terrific trip across two worlds, across various legends and lore, and a sweet dream in print if ever there was one.

Pip has the distinction of being the only author making her debut amongst other (experienced) finalists for her country's Sir Julius Vogel Award. When you read Chasing the Bard (with an ending that will tear your heart out!), you will understand why her title is creating such a splash. Thank you, Pip, for this wonderful fight of fantastic history.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Self-Contained Fantasy Book, not a door-stopper, not a trilogy, September 30, 2005

By	April (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

It is a fictional account of a real person, set on our Earth, in the real Elizabethan England era with a fantasy story interwoven into the real world. Highly recommended if you like this specific sub-genre. Still very good if you like fantasy as a whole. The fantasy element is about the Fey or the world of fairies.

This book just grabbed me from the first page and absorbed me into it. It is very elegantly paced. Not a word I'd normally use to describe a fantasy book but it is the correct word. A lot happens in it reading from page to page. This is very consistent throughout the whole book.

You do not need to be a Shakespeare fan or greatly read in the history of Elizabethan England to like this book. I admit to being a bit of both - but only just a bit, and that was the initial appeal of this book for me. Then this rather orginal, concisely written story just grabbed me.

The book focuses on the core story. There is no padding. There is relatively little in the way of detailed descriptions. The reader is given enough background and enough of the side stories to get a solid idea of what has been going on. Despite this relative "lack" of detail, the story works well as you picture it in your mind as you are reading. The Fey world feels very beautiful and Elizabethan England feels very dirty.

It is a perfectly self-contained story. There is scope for a prequel and sequel but these would be clearly separate to this book. The cover is atypical of this genre but it is very appropriate for this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating reading, July 30, 2005

By	Ms Piggy (Aotearoa/ New Zealand) - See all my reviews

From the outset of this book I was captured by the story and remained curious throughout reading.

Ballantine has done an excellent job of describing and explaining the characters so that they really came alive for me and I had a clear picture in my head of what each looked like.

It's an original story and I loved it!