The Lark and the Wren by Mercedes Lackey Series: Bardic Voices #1
Published by Baen Books on 1993
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 488
Format: Hardcover
Source: my personal collection
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Also by this author: The Serpent's Shadow, Phoenix and Ashes, Home from the Sea, Steadfast, Elemental Magic:, Blood Red, House of Four Winds, The Fairy Godmother, Owlflight, From a High Tower, Owlsight, Owlknight, Closer to Home, Hunter, Closer to the Heart, Take a Thief, A Study in Sable, Closer to the Chest, Beyond, Gryphon in Light
If Rune could get the proper training, she could become one of the finest bards her world has ever seen. But her advantages are few, so when she decides to play her fiddle for the Ghost of Skull Hill, he agrees to a bargain--an arrangement that could mean silver for her future quest . . . or her death at the hands of the ghost.
Review
The Lark and the Wren is the first in the Bardic Voices series, but it reads like a standalone, in that it basically completes the main character’s story. In fact, it’s more like two books in one. The first half deals with Rune leaving her village (where she is unappreciated and unwanted) to find a music teacher who can prepare her for the Bardic Guild trials; it covers both her adaptation to life in a small city and her musical and nonmusical education. The second half deals with what happens after the trials, and her life (romantic, musical, and magical) within the Free Bards – a group in opposition to the stodgy, hidebound Bardic Guild. (Don’t be fooled by the synopsis blurb – the enounter with the ghost is only the first of Rune’s many adventures.)
Lackey’s strengths really shine in this novel. The worldbuilding is excellent, she has created an interesting and relatable main character, and her ability to weave a story carries you along even when the action is relatively mundane – and definitely when it isn’t!
As a musician, I can easily identify with Rune, though she’s far more skilled and driven than I will ever be. Lackey has a gift for writing strong, smart, independent female characters, though their personalities, their flaws, and the ways in which they are strong vary from character to character. In Rune’s case, she’s practical, logical, passionate about her music, ambitious in the musical sense, and aware of her vulnerability as a girl on her own. Fortunately, she’s tall and slender enough to pass as a boy, and smart enough to do so when it offers more safety – when traveling or busking on the streets, for instance.
Lackey knows music, being something of a folk musician and lyicist herself, so the tunes she describes, and her depictions of Rune’s playing and her lessons, are all pitch-perfect. If you’re familiar with Irish and Scottish fiddle music and English folksongs, you can practically hear the music in the book. The details of the fantasy world are equally well-written; you can see, hear, smell, and touch it.
There is magic in this book, though (with the exception of the Skull Hill Ghost) not very much until the second half. The magic system here isn’t as well-defined as in the Valdemar, Five Hundred Kingdoms, or Elemental Magic series, but that’s not really a drawback. What we do learn of magic is intriguing, particularly in the way Rune and her teacher/partner Talaysen begin to explore it – through music. The subsequent books flesh the magic system out a little more, but the way it’s handled in this book works because the main character is so new to her magic.
One thing that bothers me is the largely negative portrayal of the Church – a church clearly modeled on the pre-Reformation Catholic Church. Lackey’s portrait here, while admittedly of a fictional rather than a historical institution, lacks nuance; she offers only a very few “good” individuals within a corrupt and power-hungry institution, while the rest are small-minded or indifferent to the common folk at best, and exploitative and bigoted at worst. I know enough of both history and Church history to know that in the real world, while widespread corruption, greed, and abuse of power certainly existed, there were also ways in which society and individuals benefited from the existence and more benevolent actions of the Church. As someone with an interest in medieval and Renaissance history, I wish Lackey had been a little more evenhanded in her portrayal. (And yes, I know it’s a fantasy world – but it’s one based very strongly on Europe at the dawn of the Renaissance, which means it evokes and invites historical comparisons.)
Despite this flaw, The Lark and the Wren remains one of my favorites among Lackey’s books. Its strengths – Rune and some of the other characters, notably Talaysen; a world familiar enough to be comfortable but different enough to be appealing and interesting; the music that weaves through the entire tale; and above all the storytelling and attention to detail which make that tale come alive – all of these far outweigh any flaws. It’s a story I happily return to every few years.
About Mercedes Lackey
Mercedes Lackey is perhaps best known for her bestselling Valdemar, Elemental Masters, and Tales of the 500 Kingdoms series. Her books now total well over 100, not counting anthologies. She writes (or has written) several other popular series as well as stand-alone novels, both on her own and with collaborators including Larry Dixon (her husband and illustrator), Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton, Rosemary Edghill, Marion Zimmer Bradley, James Mallory, Roberta Gellis, and others.
Lackey graduated from Purdue University in 1972 and worked as a computer programmer before quitting to write full-time. A strong storyteller and a prolific writer, she turns out four to six books per year. She has also written lyrics and recorded songs (many of them based on her stories) for Firebird Arts and Music. Music is a prevailing theme throughout her work, and a major element in the Bardic Voices and Bedlam’s Bard series.
Mercedes Lackey lives with her husband in Oklahoma. She keeps parrots and has been active in raptor rehabilitation. She has also been active in the Society for Creative Anachronism and the MRPG community.
(sources: Goodreads, author website, and Wikipedia.)
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge 2015
Red Iza
It’s funny I’ve never read her books, I know of her, her books are at the library and that blurb with the music and magic, and your review ? Absolutely catchy ! I need to remedy that, thanks for reminding me of her 😉
Red Iza recently posted…Review / Stella Duffy : Doctor Who, the anti-hero
Lark_Bookwyrm
This is a good series to start with, though the thing with the church gets worse in the next one. (But in that case, there’s a specific bad guy manipulating things for his own ends – specifically, wealth and power. So it’s not necessarily the entire institution.) And the third one is rather cool, for a number of reasons including a nonhuman main character, a vocal Church faction focused on God’s love for all beings, and court intrigue. Plus music, of course.
I also recommend the Valdemar series. Start with Arrows of the Queen, Arrow’s Flight, and Arrow’s Fall, because they’re probably the best introduction to the world. Just bear in mind that they were her first full-length books, and like many authors’ debut books, they’re not quite as mature as her later ones. She tempered her idealism with pragmatism as she grew as a writer.
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library
I know Mercedes Lackey is one of your favorites but your reviews of her her more recent books have seemed a bit underwhelmed. This one sounds fantastic! I love that the world is modeled on Renaissance Europe though I do suspect the slanted portrayal of the Church will annoy me a bit as well. This definitely sounds like one I really must pick up!
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library recently posted…Lowcountry Boneyard – Blog Tour Review
Lark_Bookwyrm
That’s because frankly, many of her recent books have been a little underwhelming. They’d be fine if I didn’t know what she’s capable of, but I do. 😉
Bea @Bea's Book Nook
Nothing wrong with wanting a more evenhanded portrayal of church and religion. It’s a common flaw in fantasy stories.
I haven’t read this one yet nor do I have a copy but some day. It does sound like a book I’d enjoy.
Bea @Bea’s Book Nook recently posted…Jax Reviews Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire
Lark_Bookwyrm
I really do love it, with that one caveat. Christopher Stasheff did write a series in which the Church is portrayed positively (if a bit simplistically) – the Magician in Rhyme series. And Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni novels show a Church in conflict, torn between those who demonize the Deryni (people with ESP/magic) and those who are more inclined to judge people on their actions for good or ill, rather than their birth. Hers is probably the most nuanced and perceptive portrait I’ve seen in any fantasy series, ever.
Kimberly @ Turning the Pages
I’ve been wanting to try Lackey for years now but I just never seem to get around to doing it but this one sounds like my type of read, hopefully I can find a cheap copy soon.
Kimberly @ Turning the Pages recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday #139
Lark_Bookwyrm
Hi, Kimberly! You could try the library – ours has a lot of Lackey books. OTOH, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a used paperback copy. Amazon has some for under $4 if you have Prime, and for a penny plus shipping if you don’t. Have fun! 🙂