Knight of Ghosts & Shadows (Bedlam's Bard, Bk. 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

Mercedes Lackey (Author), Ellen Guon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bedlam's Bard | Publication Date: June 1, 1990

Half a millennium after being driven from Europe and settling in southern California, a band of elves places their hopes on a single human being, who must rescue them from a dark oppressor. Reissue.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 345 pages
• Publisher: Baen (June 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671698850
• ISBN-13: 978-0671698850
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( L ) > Lackey, Mercedes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the SERRAted Edge series, January 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Knight of Ghosts & Shadows (Bedlam's Bard, Bk. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a fan of Mercedes Lackey from a long time back so when I saw this book at the bookstore, I immediately snatched it up. It's the story of a melancholy street-busker, Eric Banyon, and how his talents with the flute earn him the love of the warrior elf Korendil and the witch/rockstar Beth, and also the eternal gratitude of the elves in California for creating a new home for them after their's is bulldozed. That's it. It's a pretty good story but it's definitely got some flaws.

First of all, Korendil is an extremely flat character. He just stands there in his armor and smiles. Throughout the book, Mercedes lackey flips from person to person to tell the story from several points of view but Kory hardly speaks at all.

As for the flipping view points, I did like that we got to hear the opinions of the main bad girl, Ria, but all that flipping around got confusing. I found myself flipping around more than once trying to find out what was happening.

One final caveat: there is a very small, miniscule amount of homosexuality in this book. In fact, compared to Ms. Lackey's Magic's Price, Promise, Pawn series this is nothing. But, if this kind of thing offends you, don't read the book.

The thing I loved most was the magical music, literally. Anyone with a passion for music should read this book. Hearing the sounds she matched the music to made me want to go downstairs and play the piano.

If you love the idea of magic and music together, buy this book. Those parts made my heart soar!

If you liked this book, the SERRAted Edge series is ten times better. It is very similar to this book but the characters are more interesting, in my opinion. It is also by Mercedes Lackey and she recently re-released the four books of the series into two volumes.

Mercedes Lackey rocks!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Urban Fantasy Novel, December 2, 2004

By 

TommyElf (Denton, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knight of Ghosts & Shadows (Bedlam's Bard, Bk. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

One of my most favored memories and my introduction into the genre of Urban Fantasy. Mercedes Lackey and Ellen Guon weave a wonderful web of Elves in the modern day world. The character development is extremely well done, but the plot is left a littl thread-bare in places. Not to worry though, as it seems that this novel is more about exploring the characters than it is about exploring a setting in a story. The characters of Eric, Beth, and Kory are well worked, and their feelings on all sorts of subjects is explored in great detail. This is one of my favorite all-time books. Give it a whirl!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Knight of Ghosts and Shadows, June 10, 2000

By 

"tarasen" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knight of Ghosts & Shadows (Bedlam's Bard, Bk. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was very enjoyable, another well-done work of Mercedes Lackey's. The characters were all very interesting and well developed. Sometimes Banyon's tendency to run away from problems got annoying, but this "flaw" in his character only made him seem more real to me. Beth and Korendil were great additions to the story as well, though I coudn't exactly call the latter realistic. The classic story of hope lost, found, lost and found a couple more times, then, triumph over the ultimate evil. This book has definitely gone on my favorite's list.