Customer Reviews

Four and Twenty Blackbirds A Bardic Voices Novel

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

 

 

Readers expecting the usual cast of characters from the free bard tales will be disappointed. While a few characters are carried forward from the previous books, including Ardis, Duke Arden, the Haspur Visyr, etc., this story has a new set of players. The chief protagonist is Tal Rufen, a police constable from Haldine investigation a string of mysterious and brutal murders of poor female street musicians/singers (or would be musicians) - murders committed by strangers that commit suicide, and murder weapons that vanish. As he follows the string of murders, Tal's investigation takes him to Kingsford and the High Bishop Justiciar Ardis. This is the Kingsford following the fire (see "A Cast of Corbies"). Tal finds himself in a new position, carrying out investigations for the church. Tal and Ardis must appraise their feelings for each other. Events lead to a final confrontation between Tal and an evil mage, living under a curse, who has a grudge against free bards and Ardis. The plot and characters are well developed to provide an interesting tale, but somewhat on the dark side (tracking a serial killer).

****
I've read *exactly* one other of Mercedes Lackey's books - The Firebird, which bored me to tears.

Undaunted, I read the first 2 chapters of this book on-line several years ago, managed to get into the story, and after requesting this book as a Christmas present for several years, finally decided to get it on my own.

I have not read any of the other Bardic Voices books, so I can't comment on there not being any Free Bards within the story (they are occasionally referred to). What I liked about this story is that it's a combination mystery and fantasy, as another poster has said. Yes, you do find out who the murderer is about halfway through, but I was intrigued enough by that point to keep going, to see what made this mage tick, why he/she wanted to go after Ardis. It was also interesting when the mage decides to change tactics near the end of the book. The way it was written, it made complete sense to me.

On another note, I found Ardis's grappling with staying in the Church to be realistically written, and it actually moved me at certain points.

With the current situation in the world, plus my own personal strife, this book saw me through a depressing period in my life. So, to sum it up, this book is a fine way to lose yourself in an interesting world.

This book wasn't anything like the other bardic novels in this series. It had little or nothing to do with music or magic. I would have liked this story better if the "bad guy" hadn't been so pathetic. It seems as though Misty was getting desperate for an evil charactor in this book and just grabbed someone out of a hat. I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't read the book, but the person who is behind the murders just didn't seem to fit the part. It is good, however, that we are able to understand and get to know Ardis better, but over all I felt disconnected from the under-developed charactors. A very light book; good if you have nothing else to read.

I have read some of the other reviews and was a bit surprised at the attitude displayed. Come on, a book about catching a serial killer has never been about who it was - The secret is the method of pinning the culprit down. Although darker than the other bardic novels, this was a satisfyingly readable adventure. Speaking as a devotee of the SERRAted edge and Diana Tregarde, it adds a dimension of excitement to a basically bland series. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the others, it's just that a book is more exciting when more bad things happen to the heroes. A great read and immensely enjoyable.

Mercedes Lackey has returned to the world of her Bardic Voices and Bardic Choices novels.Although good, the problem with this book is that it is listed as a Bardic Voices novel. As I read the book, I kept expecting one of the Free Bards (the other books in the series centered on them) to appear as characters. Although mentioned, they never appear. I was a bit disappointed because I kept expecting bards as major characters. If this book is read by fans of the series, they should look on it as an allied novel to the series rather than an addition to it.

In Alanda, there has been a rash of murders in which female street musicians are viciously killed, followed by the culprits committing suicide. The murder weapon is a three sided stiletto (used mostly by Church dignitaries) which seems to mysteriously disappear from the spot of the crime. The murders seems to occur only when it rains so that traces of magic can be washed away before the police can begin their investigation.

Because the murderers kill themselves and the victims are lower class, the police are indifferent to the crimes except for Haldene constable Tal Rufen, who thinks there is more to the killings then meets the eye. Tal resigns in order to join the High Bishop's staff where he can begin to investigate the murderous use of magic.

The fourth book in Mercedes Lackey's "Bardic Voices" is a well written fantasy novel that will thrill fans of the series for its tremendous amount of detailed information on Alanda. However, for most other readers, including other fantasy fans, the minute detail overwhelms a well written novel. Harriet Klausner

This last book in her Bardic Voices series was very predictable--I had already figured out who the murderer was by the seventh chapter. But then in the next chapter, she told who it was. The book might have been better if she had left the reader in the drak for most of the book like most mysteries are. Also, this story line was not what I was expecting at all. I had loved the other books in this series, but this one didn't seem like part of the series at all. It had a darker undertone and would have seemed more in place in New York or San Francisco. I didn't get the "fantasy" feel from this book. Sure, magic was mentioned, but it didn't seem to fit the story line at all.

I anxiously opened Four and Twenty Blackbirds expecting to see more about the Free Bards and their tales, however they were never in sight, but only mentioned in passing. Usually when Merecedes introduces a new character in a series, it takes me awhile to warm up to them, then I start enjoying the story. However in this novel, I found it rather difficult to get into the story, which is unusual with her works, since I have reread the Valdemar Series (all of them to date!) AT LEAST 5 times over the course of the years. I doubt I would ever reread this paticular story again. If you are a fan of Mercedes Lackey, by all means read it, but just don't expect the action and pace of the Valdemar stories.

I read this book AGES ago, and I still remember the plot and the story, I think it was very well written and plotted out.
As I search through the mass of Misty books I have come across some rather entertaining reviews, I think that most if not all her books are excellent reads. I don't know why I liked this one in particular, but I think it's because ML took a chance on writing in a different aspect than we are used to, and I love to see writers and songsters go out of the "norm" and explore themselves.
The only thing I had wished with this particular novel is that ML had actually created a secondary story to go with it, I could almost feel the storylines pouring forth just waiting to be told...

Who know the feeling when sometimes you read a character that is so bland and boring that you don't really care if they live or die? Ok - imagine that feeling of complete indifference, then multiply it by every single character in an entire book, and you have `Four and Twenty Blackbirds' in a nutshell. Sheesh!
This book takes the absolute cake for boring!

Normally I enjoy Lackey - she's one of those writers from whom you can take a book and blob out (with minimal input from your brain) for about two hours. But this was a terrible book, unworthy of the paper it was printed on, and awful even without my brain involved.

The plot was hackneyed (strange killer on loose with disappearing knife linking every crime) and the killer really, REALLY obvious (you can pretty much read the first five pages and know exactly whom), and yet the characters never get it - even when helpful passers-by give them exactly the right bits of obscure information they need. Before you sink into complete apathy you'll want to bash the main guy's head against a rock, because he's so thick. The woman priest is almost interesting, but not really.
And lets not even go into the fortuitous arrival of a flying bird-man with a great memory and a habit for being exactly overtop of every murder, so he can scream down in avenging wroth.

Yep, save your money people. I suspect the die-hard fans will scream at me for heresy, but this is truly some of the worst prose I have ever read. I just did't care what happened to those people! Ignore me at your own peril.