Spirits White as Lightning (Mass Market Paperback)

by Mercedes Lackey (Author), Rosemary Edghill (Author) "Eric dodged around a bicycle messenger just dismounting on the sidewalk, then grinned, startling the bike messenger into an answering smile..." (more)
Key Phrases: busking license, elven knight, silver antlers, New York, Lady Day, World Above (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
From veteran Mercedes Lackey and newcomer Rosemary Edghill comes Spirits White as Lightning, the fifth installment in the Bedlam's Bard series. Julliard student Eric Banyan has a few basic problems he doesn't like his teacher, he missed his last midterm, he has to train a banjo-playing Bard but he also needs to save the world from Aerune mac Audelaine, lord of the Unseleighe Sidhe, who has resurfaced with another nefarious plan to avenge his beloved's death.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
The fifth volume of Lackey and Edghill's Bedlam's Bard series continues the adventures of Eric Banyon, a Julliard student in our world and Sir Eric, knight and bard, in the Elvenlands. It is a collection of subplots flying in close formation, with Eric and his comrades in both worlds initiating a new guardian, discovering how elf and human can produce a child without dark magic, installing a computer system for a dragon, and fighting assorted villains, who this time are mostly bent on revenge rather than conquest. Apart from all those subplots, and perhaps because of them, the book's pacing is uneven--at times fast and completely absorbing; at others, weighed down by pop psychology. The authors are clearly proceeding on the principle that you can't keep a good series down, and this is a good series, though newcomers should retreat to earlier volumes to catch up on established characters. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Baen (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743436083
• ISBN-13: 978-0743436083
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #761,412 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent sequel, December 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Spirits White as Lightning (Hardcover)

This book is the sequel to "Beyond World's End" and continues the story of Eric Banyon in New York with Aerune mac Audelaine returning as the villain. Most of the other characters are back also plus there are appearances by a few characters from previous books and from the SERRAted Edge series. There's one new major character in the role of Eric's first apprentice Bard. Despite the large number of characters, Ms. Lackey does an excellent job of weaving all of them into the story. The major sub-plot is well-integrated also and is highly entertaining, especially the visit to the Las Vegas elves. All in all this book is a pleasant read although I strongly recommend reading "Beyond World's End" first because this story is so closely tied to events in that book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining work, December 18, 2001

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Spirits White as Lightning (Hardcover)

In one realm Sir Eric Banyon, known there as Silverflute, a Queen's Knight, is a hero who saved the world. On a more earthly plane, Eric is a Juilliard student flautist who flunked Introduction to Music Theory because he missed his midterm saving the world from Aerune. Eric attends summer school to make up the credits and stay in school

Of course Eric has other activities intruding on his studies. These include a naming ceremony for his daughter Maeve and coping with being ripped off by his professor, a technical genius who has no earthly idea how to teach. This is next to nothing for Eric who has faced deadly enemy in combat, but remains unaware that Aerune and the Sidhe are plotting a rematch with a different ending.

SPIRITS WHITE AS LIGHTNING is a humorous "Bedlam's Bard" tale that cleverly mixes ordinary life with fantasy elements. The amusing story line never slows down as old favorites and villains return for another world threatening engagement in between homework assignments. Eric is a complex hero who can save worlds, fail classes, and look at his infant daughter and seriously claim she looks like Winston Churchill sans cigar; this Queen's Knight makes the tale sing. Sub-genre fans who relish a comic fantasy romp filled with New York guardians and Vegas elves will join the chorus line of readers singing praise to Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edgehill for their latest collaboration.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A consistant storyline would be nice.., December 5, 2003

By	Katrina Stone (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

So Eric Banyon is still living in New York and going to school. I don't know if I'm the only one who noticed this, but in "Beyond Worlds End" he had come out of hiding after the events in the first two books in the series. Well, since time gone differently, it had been somewhere between 10-20 years in our world, so he hadn't really aged much because he was in Underhill. He said the authorities would be looking for someone much older than he was, like in his 40's, but in this book, she messes up COMPLETELY. After saying it had been years and years and years, Kayla comes to New York, and is still a teenager. She was 17 in the first two books, and now she is preparing to go to college. Wouldn't she be in her 30's if the plot was actually CONSISTANT? There are other various things in this book that just don't go along with previous storylines, and it's just boring and doesn't really drag me into it like the "Last Herald Mage" series did. I know Mercedes could do better than this, but there were such glaring oversights it makes me wonder who her editors are, and if she ever thinks out the plot lines.