The Innkeeper's Song [Paperback]

Peter S. Beagle (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Souvenir Press Ltd (April 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0285634291
• ISBN-13: 978-0285634299
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Weird, troubling, touching, beautiful, unforgettable, October 21, 2001

By 

Pauline J. Alama "Fantasy author" (Rutherford, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Innkeeper's Song (Paperback)

Peter Beagle has a reputation as a young adult's author -- why, I'll never know. I didn't much like him as a teenager, but the older I get, the more I admire and enjoy his fantasies. The Innkeeper's Song is a beautiful book, but certainly better for 30 than 13 -- unless, perhaps, for a 13-year-old who has already had to deal with death. It concerns attempts to cheat death by magic, and the strange and unforeseen consequences, both good and ill, of raising a drowned young woman from the dead. The book is also noteworthy for a varied and unforgettable cast of characters who take turns narrating the story, giving the reader many perspectives on the same events and aiding suspense by concealing certain facts until the narrator shifts to someone in the know. Beagle's writing is so beautiful it's practically musical. I recommend this book highly to anyone who loves fantasy, folklore, mythology, and the grand old tradition of storytelling.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A vivid, bittersweet dream ... but of what?, January 20, 2003

By 

the_smoking_quill (South Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Innkeeper's Song (Library Binding)

The Innkeeper's Song is a one-volume fantasy for mature readers that is by turns (or even simultaneously) lyrical and maddening. Lyrical because much of its language is, in contemporary fantasy, on par with only Patricia McKillip and Guy Gavriel Kay. Maddening because--despite the full-throttle beginning, intricately woven characters and a world made wondrous without a map or long descriptions but simply by names and prosaic brushstrokes--the promise of the beginning and middle absolutely fizzles to a all-but-incomprehensible anti-climax in which none of the characters' skills, virtues or flaws seem to matter. It's the equivalent of dreaming oneself into a world of rich and dread beauty, flying over that world so freely as to go beyond dreaming entirely ... and then being slapped awake to find oneself flailing at the air and wondering, "What might have been ..."

Sigh.

The tale concerns three women who arrive at an inn in the course of their quest to protect their ancient magician-friend from a renegade apprentice so that he might die in peace and not rise as a tormented ghost. The three are a warrior-nun who has escaped her convent; a legendary thief-sailor-swordsman; and a village girl whom the thief raised from a drowning death with the magician's ring. Added to these memorable figures are the earnest stable-boy; the gruff innkeeper; the nun's companion (a fox); and the stubborn boy who was betrothed to the village girl and follows her in the hope of reclaiming their lost love.

Each chapter proceeds from the first-person viewpoint of a different character (central or not), which works well overall but sometimes proves tiresome, especially when the author chooses (or is forced to) use a minor character as the "camera" for a particular scene or plot development or when the character's "voice" is confusing or not quite right. However, the chapters told by the thief are particularly well done; and she emerges as one of the most admirable, engaging characters in contemporary fantasy. (One actually wishes for more tales of Lal, Sailor Lal, Swordcane Lal, Lal-after-dark.)

Recommended as a library loan for dedicated fantasy buffs, fans of Kay or McKillip, or those looking for something completely different.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Elegant Fantasy Which Transcends Genre, July 22, 1999

By 

R. Isaacson (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Innkeeper's Song (Paperback)

Beagle is one of the finest fantasy novelists currently writing, and for those who hunger for mature and literate stories his work appears far too infrequently. As in "The Last Unicorn" or "The Folk Of The Air", his writing rises far beyond the typical trappings of sword & sorcery. In "The Innkeeper's Song", Beagle starts us off with what appear to be recognizeable fantasy cliches - the old wizard, hard-bitten mercenaries, the crotchety taverner - and then stands each of them on their heads. Instead, Beagle weaves a subtle, intricate tale of deception, loyalty, and love, in which the characters having the adventure are at least as important as the adventure itself. By writing each chapter from the first-person perspective of a different character, he not only underscores differences in perception, but takes the reader deep inside each of his literary creations. In the hands of a lesser writer, this would be nothing but an annoying gimmick. But under Beagle's masterful guidance, it serves to make these characters living, breathing people. From hard, competent swordswoman Lal, to the dreamy stableboy Rosseth, to fat, cynical innkeeper Karsh, the reader comes to know them like old friends. A marvelous story which will linger in the mind long after the last page is read.