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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9781416521471
ISBN number: 141652147X
Label: Baen
Manufacturer: Baen
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 464
Printing Date: August 28, 2007
Publishing house: Baen
Sale Popularity Level: 51188
Studio: Baen
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Product Description:
Eric Banyon, also known as Bedlam's Bard, managed to rescue his young brother Magnus from what seemed to be a killer demon (in Mad Maudlin), but now he must rescue Magnus again, this time from their tyrannical parents. Eric does not look forward to the battle, but is confident he can gain custody. His financial sources are virtually unlimited, his friend Ria Llewellyn heads the most high-powered law firm in New York, and in a pinch he and his friends can use to magic powers, even flummoxing a DNA test, it comes to that.
What Eric does not know is that his parents are allied with the evangelist Billy Fairchild, who himself is a tool of the evil Unseleighe elves, who feed off human sorrow and suffering. Fairchild specializes in getting “bad” children to shape up, which is accomplished by letting a soulsucker—malevolent creature from the elf world—drain the victim of all talent, creativity, and will, leaving an obedient zombie husk behind. If Magnus and his friend Ace, who is also on the run from her twisted parents, fall into Fairchild's hands, they will join the Unseleighe's zombie ranks. And even Eric's bardic magic may not be enough to save them.
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Rated by buyers 
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I have been reading the Eric Banyon and the modern day elves series of Mercedes for years, and I really enjoyed this one. It ties a lot of things together - I hope it's not the last one! If you liked Chrome Borne and the other urban elves books, you'll like this one, too.
Rated by buyers -
This book really satisfied my curiosity about what happens subsequent for a lot of characters I am fond of. It's the characters that I like in this series. Though I'd prefer less about the elves (having OD'ed on them), the Gabriel Horn part was complete without excessive elvishness. Ace is one of my favorite characters, as are Hosea and Eric, so this book, which focused on all three, was a real pleasure.
Rated by buyers 
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Plot: In this final installment of "Bedlam's Bard," three teens, two of whom are mortal and one an elf, struggle to become emancipated from their dysfunctional families. Magnus, a teen with Bardic talent who intends to become a drummer in a rock band, wants to live with his older brother Eric, the titular bard of the series. Their parents have hired an unscrupulous "Christian Family Intervention" program to retrieve them. Ace, a runaway, wishes to escape from her evil, evangelist father. And Jaycie, an elf who has spent time in the mortal world, has ssues that could result in a messy conflict if not handled delicatetly. Other characters from the series such as Ria, Kayla, Hosea and Janette also become involved when the protagonists discover that Ace's minister father is involved in a more sinister than usual scheme that will result in a body count if successful.
Questions that the reader might have had about previous books, such as Kayla's apparent lack of aging, are addressed in this final volume. Also much fewer loose ends are left dangling. At first, I thought this book, as compared to the others, was more preachy than usual, but at second glance, I decided the amount was about the same. If you don't mind very blatant messages - and why would you be reading this series if you didn't - then you should enjoy the book.
Rated by buyers -
Music To My Sorrow (2005) is the sixth novel in the Bedlam's Bard fantasy series, following Mad Maudlin. In the previous volume, Eric Baynon had rescued his younger brother Magnus as well as Ace Fairchild from the streets of New York City. At the same time, Eric had offered sanctuary in Elfhame Misthold to Jachiel ap Gabrevys and his protector Rionne ferch Rianten. Since these Elves were from the Unseleighe court of Elfhame Bete Noir, there were some diplomatic aspects to the affair.
In this novel, Eric is called upon to inform Prince Gabrevys of the safety of his son and the desire of Rionne to remain in Elfhame Misthold for a while. Although Prince Gabrevys is not present in his court, Eric leaves his message with the Bard Jormin ap Galever. At Jormin's advice, Eric then leaves the Unseleighe court as quickly as possible.
Magnus is having some troubles of his own. While he has some minor problems adjusting to the Coenties & Arundel Private Academy, the major problem is the tenacious efforts of their mutual parents to take back Magnus. Although now aware that Eric is not dead, their parents are ignoring his presence per se and concentrating on the circumvention of efforts for Eric to adopt Magnus as his own son.
Ace Fairchild is also having legal problems. She is now living with Ria Llewellyn, the head of a high priced law firm who has helped her file a Petition of Emancipated Minor Status. Unfortunately, her parents have been informed of her actions and have arranged a change of venue to Atlantic City where they are now living. Billy Fairchild is determined that Heavenly Grace will be returned, willingly or not, to continue to sing in his choir.
Unknown to Eric and his friends, Gabriel Horn of Billy's Heavenly Grace Ministries is really Jachiel's father, Prince Gabrevys. Now the Unseleighe has several reasons to force Magnus and Eric into his evil reconditioning program at Christian Family Intervention. He even has parental permission for this treatment, which frees him from the constraints of Elven laws. After soul-eaters have fed on their minds, these victims will not be able to raise any objections.
Ace would be the perfect instrument for implementing the prince's own plans against the humans. Feeding her to the soul-eaters would ruin her special talents, but binding her with ordinary Unseleighe magic would control her without destroying these talents. Of course, Billy Fairchild would have to die, but Gabrevys would not waste any tears over his death.
Parker Wheatley finds the Heavenly Grace Ministries to be a new source of revenue for his Defense Initiative. Wheatley has never really been certain of the origins on his enemies, so calling them demons is not too much of a stretch of the truth. Besides, it allows him to use the equipment that he appropriated out of the hidden cache for its intended purpose. Once he has gotten a foot in the door, Wheatley will screen the staff of the Ministries for demonic infiltrators.
This novel binds together several threads from prior works in this series. Indeed, most of Eric's foes have been brought under the same banner and arrayed against him. Still, there is a large potential for discord within their ranks.
Highly recommended for Lackey and Edghill fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of magic and adventure among contemporary Elves.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Rated by buyers 
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Last year I picked up Mad Maudlin on a whim. I did not realize that this was an installment in a series. After reading it, I was curious to see how the story of Ace and Magnus turned out. So I picked up this novel.
First off, I found the writing and characters to be bland. The ideas behind the characters were interesting, but the whole book reads like a shadow of a story that could be great. All the characters are either completely good or evil, with no complexity. Each character is basically a cardboard stereotype: the tough-as-nails businesswoman, the greedy televangelist, the good-old southern boy, the teen angst, etc, etc.
Secondly, if you accidentally get into the middle of a great series, the very first time the novel alludes to an event in a previous novel, you want to immediately go buy the previous novels and catch up. That doesn't happen here. Prior events are mentioned, but I just didn't really care. They didn't seem to have too much impact on the current story.
Lastly, the climax was just a little too neatly wrapped up. It was just like "TA-DA!!! everything is great now" Suddenly every single problem in the novel was wrapped up nice and neat, and everyone lived happily ever after.
The good side of this novel is that it is devoid of any adult themes. I have an extensive library of fantasy novels which my 11 year old son wants to read. Most of them are too adult for me, but I would not hesitate to let him read this novel or Mad Maudlin. These novels would be a great beginning point for younger readers interested in unique fantasy.
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