Customer Reviews

The ivory lyre

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wonderful book. Although the first and third books (Nightpool and Dragonbards)are also excellent, I think this is the best by far. It's about a young dethroned prince (Tebriel) who has discovered he has the power to contact dragons and help free the captive world from the tyrrany of the Unmen. It is a terrific book for young and old alike. I would recommend it to anyone who loves fanasty or a good adventure. I hope that soon this trilogy will be rereleased.

I love the entire Dragonbards trilogy, but this one has to be my favorite volume of the three. I have no idea how many times I've read it - the librarians look at me and say, "You're checking it out again?" My major complaint is that the whole series is out of print - someone, please reprint these so that I can get my own copies and share them with my friends!

I found myself bored because of the simplty of the book, but then again I am an adult and the books I read cast web after web of detail.

If I was to read this as I child I believe I would find it to be truly enjoyable.

I've read all three, loved them dearly, and am heartbroken that they are out of print. Would be something I'd want my daughters to read. And much better than certain other dragon books that have recently been lent to the big screen. If you like dragons and fantasy, you will definitely want to find these books.

I love to read and i am always looking for more. The Ivory Lyre, the second of a captivating series, was just the thing i was looking for. The book is about a prince fighting for his kingdom, a league of dragons, and freedom. The thing about books is that you pretty much always know what will happen. You always know that the person has to win, and you know the ending will be happy. That's what it was like for this book. I knew what would happen afterwards in the third book, but i only knew the last chapter. Murphy puts such a twist in the story that you have to continue reading it, and it's hard to put the book down. Still, now, i am looking for another book to read; something that will catch my interest just as this book (and her others) did.

I found this book in my local library 8 yers ago, and checked it out close to ten times. I still haven't forgotten it, and have been looking for it for years. The animals, the dragons, everything about it caught my imagination and made me long to be there with Tebriel and Kiri

I have to admit, I loved these books, and I wish they would do a reprint. I own The Ivory Lyre, but I was interested in finding the other two. Oh, and I had a huge crush on Kiri as a youngster.

This is one of those books I adored as a kiddo. The entire series had me enthralled. When I dug this out of a pile of old books, reading it again was an obvious outcome.

The premise is that there are singing dragons who bond Pern-style with special people called "Bards." When Bard and Dragon sing together, they bring back all the glories and happiness of the past. This is how they defeat something called the Dark (hmm, someone reading Susan Cooper much?) -- unliving "men" who mentally enslave human beings and get their kicks from suffering and pain.

Sadly, this book does not stand the test of time. Ms. Murphy is proof of how "telling" instead of "showing" can kill a GREAT idea. She never allows actions to speak for themselves; instead, she follows up with paragraph upon paragraph of painful, painful exposition. It doesn't help that dialogue is awkward. Characters have no personality to them at all, except that they are either Good or Bad. The Dragons are know-it-alls and beautiful and wonderful (read: sickening) and enough stupid things happen in just the first 50 pages that mature readers will experience a painful headache from all the eye-rolling.

If I had never read this as a child or had such vivid memories of it, I wouldn't give a flying flip about this book and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. However, I have this wonderful double experience with it, so while I would definitely not recommend it to an older person, I would say that the preteen/early teen crowd (9-14) would find this book a delectable treat. In fact, I guarantee they'll adore it -- it's gritty, dark, and tense in all the right places for a kid. It will feed their every fantasy. There are shapeshifting dragons who choose people to share their lives with. There are talking animals, magic, a clearly defined villain, an easily followed plot, and plenty of adventure to spare. Where the characters are boring and 2-Dimensional, the child's imagination fills in for it. I can vouch for it out of past experience!

The only thing is that parents might want to read it through first to make sure they're fine with some of the subject matter. Sex is alluded to but never outright mentioned; this went right over my head when I was a kid, so I'm sure it won't be much of a problem. Drugs and alcohol are used throughout the book, although it is pointedly used by "bad guys". (It's notable that when a "goody two shoes" uses it, it has negative results.) There's also a rather disturbing coliseum scene which gave me the shivers when I was a little 'un.

I will say that although there's a lot of darkness in this book, it only serves to enhance the bright and happy ending.

In conclusion, if you're an old fogey, you'll hate this book. But if you're a kid I know you'll LOVE it. I hope it gives you as many good dreams as it gave me!

This book has been on my nephew's Christmas List for three years now. Please reprint this book!