The Lark and the Wren (Bardic Voices, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Adapter), Darrell K. Sweet (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-- The tale of a daring adventuress whose heart and spirit seek expertise in music, but whose experiences lead to : knowledge of life itself. Born out of wedlock, 14-year-old Rune is condemned to remain the butt of local gossip. She has dreams of joining the Bardic Guild, whose members enjoy high status, wealth, and security. First, though, she must escape from the village and her lowly status, and risk all to become a famous bard. Mages, musicians, elves, gypsies, usurper kings, and townspeople are drawn with color and an even assortment of good and bad. The clergy, however, receive a one-sided treatment, a point that is rather belabored. Although long and rambling, the book will satisfy those who enjoy Lackey's skill at weaving fantasy, intrigue, magic, power, and love into a good tale. They will eagerly await the sequel.
- Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Possessing the potential to be the greatest bard her world has ever seen, young Rune rashly brags about her abilities and must prove herself by meeting the Ghost of Skull Hill, who forces her to fiddle an entire night. Reissue.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Baen; 4th printing edition (December 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671720996
• ISBN-13: 978-0671720995
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #614,964 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Far from exceptional, but good., June 2, 2001

By A Customer

The Lark and the Wren was the first Mercedes Lackey novel I've read, and while it didn't leave me enthralled, it wasn't bad. Rune is a very real character, and while the story line is very typical, Lackey puts a personal spin on it, her world is cliched, but interesting. I found the relationship between the free bards and the courtly Bard/Minstrels to be the best part of the plot, being a musician of alto sax, piano, viola, and voice, I can appreciate the desire to shun the bards who play for money...not because they love it. The very proof of how the best music is played through the fingertips or voice of some one who loves it, is that the supposed "best bard ever" Talaysen, quit the honorable, sheltered, guild life to start the Free Bards.

Characters besides Rune, Talaysen, and Robin are very two-dimensional, and always do exactly what you expect them to. This is a problem that many fantasy novels fall prey to, so I was not disappointed, just not impressed.

Every plot needs a little romance, people are obsessive about love in all its facets, this is not a bad thing, it just makes for crudeness and tackiness (oh, glorious eloquence :p). Such was the case of the romance of Rune and Talaysen. I have read age gap romances before, an example of a very good one would be in Tamora Pierce's Daine and Numair, (which is for younger readers, but I'm only 14) because they didn't immediately jump into nuptial bliss, one afraid that the other would wake up and find her a little girl, the other afraid she would wake up and find him an old man. Now, L&W tries to do this, it just fails miserably. Why? Because though they do have doubts before their torrid love affair, they suddenly disappear to make the plot more convenient for a very odd subplot with a unacknowledged prince...and well, I understand it's there to build up to the second book, but really. In fact, there were many off-topic plot lines that never did get quite resolved. Of course, many authors have all these ideas in their head about what they want to write, that it's difficult to get them all down in an organized fashion.

However, this was a fun, simple, one-time read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Heavy-handed and muddled, October 15, 2000

By A Customer

I have liked Lackey's other books, but this one just seemed ponderous. A typical girl-runs-away-from-home-has-to-survive-despite-hardships kind of book. What was especially annoying to me was how Rune kept "noticing" the hypocritical way the church conducted itself, and how all they really cared about was money. The book might have been saved for all that, but when Rune finally gets to the Free Bards, away from the oppression of the Church and Bardic Guild, she, and her new-found love, the leader of the Free Bards, seem to completely abandon their earlier characters. Lackey sums the "romance" up very neatly, not even bothering to take time for explaining developments in the relationship. And once Rune and Master Wren do have sex, they immediately "need to be married." Did Lackey just get tired of the book at the end? I just hope she had some other more interesting project to get to, because I would not read another book like this one.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Midway between love and hate, February 11, 2003

By	Katherine McGee "The Kaffers" (Northern VA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was given this book by a friend who was certain I would love it with my interest in bards in mind.

While the beginning is, as was stated previously, the cliché of the young girl under personal adversity who triumphs above all in her path... it was personally the better half of the book. The character development was handled rather smoothly, and one actually CARED for the main character, at least to any degree.

At the very instant the trials for the bardic guild ended, the book started spiralling slowly downward. The main character lost any flair and PERSONALITY that she may have had previously. -- There were things I felt that were unneccessarily thrown into the mix. Some may like "random flings of passion", but the addition of them out of NOWHERE caused my stomach to turn. It was inappropriate and detracted from the story. The latter half of the book was absolutely rushed, and with the introduction of a slew of new characters, the old was pushed in the background to become static...never to be looked at as even the same character anymore. If she had not held the same name (and even that was tentative, as she was being known as "Lady Lark" not long after that point) I would not have recognized her as the determined young woman that I had known previously.

Otherwise, the book splits off into another direction completely. In having read most of the second book so far, I can tell you that the beginning of the second was most certainly somewhere about 100 pages near the end of the first. I didn't like the transition. It seemed rushed, and random.

I did, however, enjoy the insight into the life of a travelling bard and to the thought that goes into the workings of bardic magic.

-- This is by no means an excellent book; worth a check-out at the library, and even though I am engrossed in the second book, it is due to the author's style and not the book itself.