The Bards of Bone Plain

by Patricia A. McKillip

Scholar Phelan Cle is researching Bone Plain-which has been studied for the last 500 years, though no one has been able to locate it as a real place. Archaeologist Jonah Cle, Phelan's father, is also hunting through time, piecing history together from forgotten trinkets. His most eager disciple is Princess Beatrice, the king's youngest daughter. When they unearth a disk marked with ancient runes, Beatrice pursues the secrets of a lost language that she suddenly notices all around her, hidden in plain sight.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Magic, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adult, Music

329 pages, Hardcover

First published December 7, 2010

About the author

Patricia Anne McKillip was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. She wrote predominantly standalone fantasy novels and has been called "one of the most accomplished prose stylists in the fantasy genre". Her work won many awards, including the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008.

Reviews

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patricia McKillip generally writes dreamy, lyrical fairy-tale-like fantasies, and her books have always been a mixed bag for me. I adored The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, The Changeling Sea and Alphabet of Thorn. Despite several tries, I've never been able to make it through the entire Riddle-Master: The Complete Trilogy trilogy. I also DNF'd The Bell at Sealey Head but I'm determined to give it another shot sometime (since I own a copy of it). I tried twice and could not at all get into The Sorceress and the Cygnet, though I did manage to wade through it.

But despite my often mixed reactions to McKillip's books, I keep going back because, when I do like her books, I really love them.

So The Bards of Bone Plain falls somewhere in the middle for me. McKillip goes back to her harpist/bard well here, with the story of a kingdom where the best bards have magical powers. The chapters alternate between the story and struggles of the harpist Nairn in ancient times, and Jonah Cle and his son Phelan, bards Zoe and the mysterious Kelda, and Princess Beatrice in modern times - a steampunk/early industrial era, which I found amusing but a little of an odd fit in a McKillip work.

Princess Beatrice is an archaeological digger, much to the Queen's dismay (she pales every time she sees Beatrice in her dirty dungarees); Phelan is researching for a paper that he needs to write in order to finish up his schooling. Both of them digging in the past for some answers, or at least a nifty find to display/write about. Eventually past and present come together in the book as the various pieces start to tie together.

Bards of Bone Plain is poetic and ambiguous, like most of McKillip's works. There's (of course) a lot of lovely language and imagery:

She couldn't read the bard's expression, but she could guess at it. He had unraveled his heart for them, spun it into gold and woven gold into a web. The two flies buzzing obliviously on the outermost strand of it would cause the bard dissatisfaction greater than his pleasure in all the trapped and motionless morsels within the shining strands.

He exuded ambiguities, she decided: that was his fascination. His mouth spoke; his eyes said something other; his smile belied everything.

But the meandering plot wasn't very compelling, and too many questions were left unanswered for me at the end. Who was Welkin/Kelda? What was he trying to achieve? Why was the big musical test so different the second time? Why didn't Phelan fail? I'm big on understanding context in my reading, and sometimes McKillip leaves me feeling a little lost.

Also, in the last 50 pages: BAM! Instalove - which totally came out of left field, especially since the couple had known each other for years and there were no yearning glances or snarky comments to make me think that either of them was harboring any kind of secret feelings for the other one. I can't say it was an unnecessary plot development, but McKillip really needed to lay a little better groundwork for it.

Not bad, but not a McKillip book I plan on revisiting.

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patricia, I'm going to have to put my foot down: I know you looove the idea of harpers/bards/minstrels, but enough already. One author can only write so many stories about bards before it becomes a little embarrassing. And repetitive. Hey, I still enjoyed your book, but I did skip all those long passages about harp-playing and heartstrings and natural imagery. Sorry. On the bright side, that made the sub-narrative about Nairn go a lot faster, which was good because I liked the main plot line in the "modern" city much better. Nairn was kind of a self-absorbed douche, and Declan wasn't much better, what with his needless mysteriousness and unexplained motivations. Why was he so set on helping some random foreigner conquer all the apparently-peaceful little kingdoms? Anyway, I preferred reading about the archaeologist princess Beatrice and Zoe the grad student bard and Phelan, even if he was too much of a doormat sometimes. But I guess there wasn't enough plot to make the entire narrative about them. Maybe next time, huh? In the meantime, why don't you go learn to play the harp? Get it out of your system.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love McKillip’s work, now that I’ve got into it; I actually found it a bit difficult to pick which of her books to read last night, and ultimately just went with Lynn‘s recommendation. It took me a little while to get the hang of how this world works: there’s cars and trams, but also ancient magic, a bit closer to the surface than it is for us. It’s nice to have a fantasy setting where there’s industry, where there are essentially grad students (trainee bards) and archaeologists (the princess and her team) and that sense of a past, present and future — some fantasy worlds neglect one of the three.

The twin narratives mostly work for me; you slowly realise what the linkages are. I liked that we also get to read Phelan’s thesis, as well; but then, I’m always a fan of texts-within-texts like that (see also: my love of the various texts mentioned in The Lord of the Rings).

As for McKillip’s writing, I found it a bit less dense and dreamlike than usual, and I’m not sure if that’s because I’m used to it now or because it’s genuinely more comprehensible. It’s still magical, either way.

Originally posted here.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aaarrgghhh, it’s a sad day 😥! This is the first McKillip book that just did not entrance me. The language was gorgeous and the setting perfect as usual, but the plot and organization failed me utterly. Instead of being completely transported to my usual expected enchanted worlds, the journey through this book was plodding and frequently interrupted. Perhaps it’s me missing something, but I just couldn’t hear the magical music this book was trying to play. Drat!

[Kat Hooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Patricia McKillip is a must-read author for any true lover of fantasy literature. With a voice all her own, she imbues her work — both the story and the style — with beauty, magic, and wonder. Her latest novel, The Bards of Bone Plain, is just as enchanting as I was expecting it to be. I listened to Audible Frontiers’ version read by Marc Vietor and Charlotte Parry — a nice combination.

Scholar Phelan Cle is nearly finished studying to be a bard and he’s ready to graduate. He’s chosen a fairly easy and unambitious topic for his final paper, something that’s been written about many times before: the myth of Bone Plain. Is it a real place? If so, where is it and what happened there to Nairn, the legendary harpist who disappeared during the first bardic competition hundreds of years ago? Expecting to write a rather dull and inconclusive paper (like all the previous dull and inconclusive papers), Phelan is surprised to discover that his alcoholic father, archeologist Jonah Cle, knows more about Nairn’s story than the scholars do. Finally, Phelan’s interest is piqued, and he sets out in earnest to uncover the past.

Meanwhile, Princess Beatrice, is literally uncovering the past. Much to her mother’s embarrassment, Beatrice prefers to hang out in Jonah Cle’s underground archeological digs in her dusty dungarees rather than attend palace garden parties. When she unearths a strange piece of jewelry, she starts looking for the meaning of the unknown runes carved in it.

But she’s not the only one interested in ancient runes. So is Kelda, the mysterious bard who’s competing against all the other musicians who aspire to be the king’s new court bard. Also competing is Phelan’s friend Zoe, daughter of the palace steward who’s helping Phelan with his data collection. During the competition, it all comes to a head as Phelan’s research, Beatrice’s ancient discoveries, and Zoe’s talent collide.

The Bards of Bone Plain combines the arts and sciences (and mysteries) of archeology, music, language, and history, to create a multi-layered story that’s sure to satisfy both sides of your brain. I enjoyed the academic atmosphere and the way that Phelan’s research paper was used as alternating chapters to present Nairn’s story. In the audiobook edition, only these chapters are read by Charlotte Parry so that they are clearly set apart.

The characters are well-done, though there are so many important ones that we don’t get to know them all as well as we’d like to. I especially liked Princess Beatrice, who drives a steam-powered car and is always trying to balance her courtly duties with her dirty hobbies. She hates the social events she’s required to attend, but she knows that if she pushes her mother too far, she’ll be shipped off to the country to live with her sister’s family. Beatrice’s social blunders and her interactions with her family are delightfully humorous.

If you’re familiar with Patricia McKillip, then you know she writes in a somewhat dreamy and fanciful style that, though lyrical and lovely, is occasionally misty and vague. While the plot of The Bards of Bone Plain is fairly straight-forward, McKillip’s romantic style shrouds some aspects of the plot and characters in mysteries that are never completely cleared up. This sense of wonder is part of what makes her stories work so well as fantasy. The Bards of Bone Plain is another McKillip novel that leaves the reader in awe. It’s a gorgeous story that celebrates the power of music, language, and love.

[Andrea]

This reminded me strongly of Tam Lin (minus a Queen of Faerie and most of the romance). Twin storylines eventually converging, and no prizes for immediately spotting who Nairn must be. It kept me listening, and grew stronger at the end - and, as ever, McKillip's prose is a stand-out - but I don't think this would be a good introduction to her work.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a McKillip I find particularly comprehensible. This goes from mythic (the rivalry between Nairn and Declan, and their feuding kingdoms), takes a brief detour as a school story, and becomes almost stiltedly parallel (Nairn and Welkin, Zoe and Kelda) in a way that oversimplifies the story: who and why and the layers of symbolism flatten into a story of present-day redemption. That transformation robs the novel of any villainy - just takes the sting right out of it, along with the impact. This starts as myth and ends as pastoral, and its contemplations on music and language go from lyrical and violent to stream-of-consciousness, in a way that tries to make sense of itself in the moment but ends as - to be overly literal, I suppose - chicken scratch.

This just doesn’t say anything. Though I suppose it dances around itself in fine prose and almost obsessive symbolism, as if attempting to obscure that fact.

[Elentarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

McKillip has written a poetic, lyrical and dreamy story involving an ancient mystery, a scatter-brained archeologist, his scholarly son and a princess who likes excavating through ruins looking for archaeological trinkets in dungarees and boots.  There is also a mysterious bard, standing stones said to walk at night, mystical runes and a bardic competition.  I loved the dynamics between the characters.  The story is also interesting and involves solving a 500 year old mystery, which inevitably (and with some urgency) becomes part of Phelan's dissertation. 

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have paid more attention to the general consensus that this is not among McKillip’s best work (despite the pretty cover). It did not work for me at all.

This book weaves together two timelines, in the past (medieval) and present (steampunk-era) of its fantasy world, and is a good example of why past/present books rarely to never work for me. The even-numbered chapters follow Nairn, an ancient bard who seems to drift through his own story, despite the fact that it covers many years and dramatic events. It’s just kind of half-baked. Another review calls Nairn a douche and while I don’t think he does anything actively unsympathetic, there’s something distancing about his story, as if he doesn’t care much about anything or anyone—although I don’t believe this was the author’s intent.

The odd-numbered chapters rotate in rigid order among three point-of-view characters—Phelan, Beatrice and Zoe—and the emotion that most strongly defines this portion is “mild curiosity.” Phelan is an unmotivated bardic student trying to write a paper he doesn’t care much about and concerned about his eccentric drunken dad. Beatrice is a cheerful, self-confident archaeologist princess, which sounds awesome, but between her limited page time and the fact she faces zero genuine obstacles, I could never muster much feeling for her. Zoe is a talented bardic student who doesn’t do much at first but eventually competes in a talent show for the position of royal bard.

In general, there’s not much at stake for anyone in this book, and I wound up finding it a very dull read; my taking nearly a month to read a 329-page fantasy novel is a bad sign. As another reviewer said, these characters aren’t unlikeable but they are unloveable; it’s hard to imagine any of them stirring much emotion in anyone. Including, for that matter, each other: toward the end there’s a romance that comes completely out of nowhere, as the characters at no point have any chemistry.

In its favor, the second half moves a little faster than the first, the setting is kind of cool, the writing is fine and I did enjoy figuring out the big secret. Though the climax is a bit nonsensical and anticlimactic; what exactly did the antagonist want, anyway?

Maybe ultimately the best I can say for this book is that it didn’t offend me, just bored me. But then, I have a bad track record with both past/present and music-focused books, so you might like it better and more power to you if you do.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

(ARC borrowed from my husband's to-review pile.) This is the third McKillip book I've read this year that made sense more than 75% of the time! (I jest, because I love her books, but it does get irritating when they wander off into abstraction and don't actually resolve the *plot*). The structure worked well, flipping back and forth each chapter between a handful of "modern" characters and the story of the fabled bard Nairn, whose chapters are headed first by an excerpt from a scholarly paper and then followed by actual narration of his life. You have the usual fantasy/McKillip cast of royals and commoners, including bards in this case as Phelan, a bardic student, unravels the mysteries of his past and his archaeologist father. I was slightly amused at the inclusion of lots of steam technology in the modern sections; I guess steampunk trappings are just inescapable in fantasy at this point, although they don't sit well with the author's usual gorgeous medieval settings. I was reminded, of course, of her Riddlemaster trilogy, since a lot of the book involves harping and musical/magical battles, and while the book resolves satisfyingly enough, I felt like it was conceived with a larger scope. Three books would have been a stretch, but a second book (or lengthening this one) would have been nice, if only because all the modern sections take place in one city, as do most of the historical ones, and the slight hinting at the larger world made me want the characters to explore it. Overall enjoyable, though, and I would recommend it to friends who hadn't read McKillip and wanted a more straightforward introduction than some of her other books.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the nation of Beldan, the princess prefers archaeology to balls, and the roads are traversed by steam-powered horseless carriages. After the princess digs up a strange coin, her friend Phelan begins finding other clues that the riddles and songs he's spent his life memorizing might be magical...and that the metaphorical immortal bard Nairn might be real after all. While Phelan searches through dusty records, a new court bard challenges Beldan's bard. Interspersed with all of this are Nairn's own adventures while learning music and magic generations before. But the past and the present can't stay apart for long...

I love Patricia McKillip's work, but her recent books have a tendency to start strong, build to a confusing climax, and then abruptly end. This book is no exception. Mckillip draws characters with a light, sure hand; her magic feels magical, her plots are believable. If she'd had another hundred pages to tell this story, it would have been impeccable. As it stands, it's merely very enjoyable.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patricia McKillip perceives and feels certain things about the world through story and music which I have also struggled to explain and depict for others. That may be one reason her stories always resonate so strongly with me, even though she inevitably leaves certain tantalizing mysteries only half-explained. Her plotting is precise, but never forced. Her characters appealing but never perfect. Her magic enchanting but never more important than the people caught up in it.

Go read her work.

[Keri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sense of completion that I get when I finish a McKillip novel is unrivaled by any other author. I’ve said it before, but this woman’s prose is magic. There doesn’t need to be a strong plot for me to enjoy it (though it helps that her books do have one!); there just needs to be these musical words creating a symphony on the pages.

The Bards of Bone Plain is a story told in two different sections: one following the life of Nairn, the Unforgivable and one following the lives of Phelan Cle, son of Jonah Cle - resident merchant, alcoholic, and collector of old things. Watching how these two stories intertwine to become one is an adventure.

Phelan is about to graduated from his bardic school and has to write a paper. He chooses the topic of Bone Plain, which has been done a hundred times according to his father. As he researches, he begins to find bits and pieces of a legend that hadn’t been explored before.

Jonah spends his time going here and there with the next bottle of rum before the arrival of a bard named Kelda. Then he suddenly starts going to the events he’s invited to just to watch this man, to the amazement of his family and friends.

The story within a story is the tale of Nairn, who has failed the test he was given many years ago and now must wander the world to try and redeem himself. It follows his life from when he first learned of music until it crashes into the other storyline.

The only complaint I have about this novel is minor, but jarring. At one instance, near the end when I’d figured out the twist already, a name was either mistakenly put it which revealed a secret, or she revealed the secret too soon. Either way, it confirmed my suspicions almost too early for me and made me upset that the double twist in my mind wasn’t going to happen. But that was me just over thinking things.

But that is just a drop of oil in the ocean of perfect, blue water that is this novel. If you’ve never read any McKillip, and you count yourself as a fan of fantasy, you’d better start. There aren’t many authors out there as poetically beautiful and creative as she is.

[Estara · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read the description this sounded to me as if Patricia McKillip had taken bits of the ideas and tropes of Riddle-Master of Hed and explored them in a slightly different fashion. Since I particularly adore that trilogy (or omnibus, depending on when you've discovered it), that intrigued me enough to buy it.

I'm happy to say that this is - to me - exactly what it is. Now, this is a 250 pages book on my ebook reader at 12pt font size, Riddle-Master is a trilogy - of course certain pieces are missing.

We lose a strong heroine fully developed (Raederle), we lose the exploration of the influence of kingship/power over the land (which we had various versions and explorations in various countries in the trilogy), we lose the in-depth development of family ties bar those between children and parents, we have far fewer protagonists and far fewer simultaneous quests.

We keep the power of music(Nairn, Zoe, Welkin, Declan, Kelda) and riddles (Phelan, Nairn, Beatrice, Jonah), the power of the older magic and the problems of inheriting it (Declan, Zoe, Quellen, Nairn), family relationships between children and parents (Phelan and his parents, Beatrice and her parents), the danger of challenging a power and needing to overcome it (Nairn, Phelan, Zoe) but the focus of the story remains on Nairn and Phelan - everything else is subsumed - especially the very tacked-on love story.

I was satisfied, but my biggest impulse now is to re-read Riddle-Master which gave me so much more of these tropes and explored them so much better. But then again - I don't think there could have been another Riddle-Master of Hed - that trilogy is perfect in and of itself (it should be made into a Ghibli movie by Miyazaki).

I think McKillip could take the world of this book and explore, do stand-alones here, that would work ^^. I wouldn't want that for Riddle-Master, that story is already perfect to me.

[Lynne Cantwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've got a new favorite Patricia McKillip novel in *The Bards of Bone Plain* -- and maybe even a favorite new novel, period.

The novel starts with a present-day story in the kingdom of Belden. Phelen Cle, a student at the bardic academy in Caerau, is casting about for a subject for his final paper. He settles on the overworked topic of the Bone Plain, thinking it will be easy. Phelan's father, Jonah, is a wealthy drunk who finances archaeological digs. One of his diggers happens to be Princess Beatrice, whose mother is pressuring her to act like a proper princess.

The second plotline involves the fate of Nairn, a bard in ancient times who tried, and failed, to meet the three challenges of the Circle of Days -- and who then disappeared. In fact, because of his failure, Nairn is cursed to live forever, but without his musical talents.

McKillip employs her lyrical prose well in service to bards both ancient and modern. She brings the two plotlines together in an amazing way, and her descriptions of the music played by her master bards practically defy gravity. I was in tears at the end of the book.

I wish I could give "The Bards of Bone Plain" more than five stars. It's that good.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it's Patricia McKillip, so I have to give it 4 stars because basically she can do no wrong in my eyes since I read The Riddle Master of Hed some thirty years ago. Oddly though, this book felt a little like a re-run, as it contains much about the power of music, and mysterious harpers, and very old ruins. Her lyrical style is one that I eat up with a spoon, so no matter what, I loved each page for the beautifully-constructed sentences that it contained. Okay, I'll just open a random page and show you:

His first note melted through Nairn's heart with all the sweetness of a love he had never felt; his second brushed Nairn's lips like a kiss, this third ran down the stubborn sinews at the backs of Nairn's knees and he sank like a stone to the grass, helpless as a child before such beauty, and as grateful for the gift."

and

She seemed as serenely confident of her powers as a full moon drifting to airy nothing about the horizon,as strong as an old oak tree carrying generations of nests in its enormous boughs or a mischievous wind blowing any thought of death away as lightly as last year's dried leaf. He laughed, even as tears stung his eyes. Kelda could not matter against this. Nothing mattered, only the exhilaration and generosity in the voice that must have swept across the plain to startle the eagles on the crags of Grishold and make the old stones dance along the edge of the northern sea."

Just a note about the artwork on the book cover: so lush and layered and girly-fantasy-artistic, I've spent much time just drinking in all the little details.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think only Patrcicia McKillip could have written this. It's rich and beautiful and strange and confusing and lyrical. The ending is a bit abrupt and left more questions than answers and I wasn't convinced that the inclusion of motorcars in the modern passages worked alongside the more medieval vibe, but still very enjoyable.

[David H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely story of bards with music and song and mysteries. A little slow and confusing to start, but the shape becomes clear after a while. I do love how it all came together and the ending was surprising on several levels. McKillip is one of those authors that so far, I really appreciate and enjoy but don't always love.

[Jonathan Ammon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A typically beautiful and inscrutable fantasy novel from Mckillip retracing several themes and elements she has explored before: the magic of music, pain that transcends centuries and generations, and the paths of magic and healing that follow. This is technically a steam punk novel as it takes place in a steam-age fantasy world. I was a little disappointed that this is little more than flavor, but as always the writing is superb and the story an intriguing ethereal mystery. Mid-tier Mckillip.

[Othy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fascinating story about the foundations of music and poetry by a story-teller who has a deep sense of the reaches to which art can take its artist. McKillip mixes her own imagery with that of Irish and Welsh legends, particularly the cauldron as the source of poetic inspiration and the dark tower (from that of Cu Roi?). McKillip has a good command of both the greyness and the color of music and poetry and is frequently able to exhibit this in the written word. Unfortunately, the book itself falls short of what I felt she could achieve, though, strangely, in topographical ways. For instance, the characters seemed set up to be used in ways much more dynamically than they were, while others weren't used at all. Further, McKillip seemed to find it necessary to describe (inexplicitly) some character's sexual lives, though they bear no real relevance to the plot, characters, or mood, and certain relationships just pop out of nowhere with very little foreshadowing and only seem to be present to mention the color of a character's underwear. Instead of deepening the character, this only added to their strange hollowness. Also, certain scenes cut short too quickly and one in particular, in fact the climax at the end, was approached in the narrative (in my opinion) somewhat clumsily. Much of McKillip's descriptions of the fantastic were done with juxtapositioning of otherwise unlike (or opposing) concepts or images, or even the jumbling of phrasing, and was successful with this in representing mystery and danger, but her more run-of-the-mill and daily descriptions were, I felt, somewhat wanting. The main plot of the book, in full, was wonderfully done, and I fully felt (I think, at least) the mystery, exhilaration and terror of the key scenes, but I felt that everything in between was merely filled in.

In the end, "The Bards of Bone Plain" was a fantastic read, one that kept me reading and very rarely lost my interest. I look forward, eagerly, to reading more of McKillip's works, but I rank the book only a four because I felt it could have been so much more powerful, so much thicker (without losing, at the same time, its 'airy-ness'), and so much more engaging than it was. I suppose it may be seen as wrong to judge a book by what it "could have been," but I feel that this story had a lot more in it than was given. But read it anyway, if you haven't. My imagination, personally, has grown and been nurtured by what McKillip has written.

[Shaina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book almost a year ago, and the plot made almost no impact on me. In a vaguely steam-punk fantasy kingdom bards can do...magic? Maybe? Except that the knack has been lost through the ages and now all that's left is myth, history, and archeology? There's a mystery to be solved and a conflict developing, but figuring that out through the clouds of narration is a bit of a task.

The problem is that Mckillip is style over clarity and...heart, I guess. Her characters are all beautifully described and completely flat, unloveable. Not unlikeable, but I find myself unable to feel passionate about any of them. They don't have the determination of Raederle or the capricious whimsy of the Cygnet. Instead they are just dense blocks of text. Mckillip has lost control of her own writing style and the result is as self-indulgent as it is unsatisfying. At one point (and this really isn't much of a spoiler), one of the characters declares that they are in love with one of the other characters. And I thought, really? In love with WHAT?

I liked the emphasis on scholarship and the belief that mystery can be solved if one just delves into the historical record deep enough; I liked the excerpts of old songs and poems. But I felt like this story was a good idea that could have been a great one with a little more self-control and clarity.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think my brain was in the right place when I started this book. I had such a hard time getting into it, I was bored and it was putting me to sleep (literally, I'd fall asleep after only a few pages).

But picking it up again a few days ago, determined to finish, I realized it was actually a very good book. Once I got to the halfway point I was much more interested and felt more connected to it. It was still a bit abstract, I don't really understand what happened to Nairn in the tower, but I liked the writing and the characters (for the most part).

Recommended for fantasy readers if you are looking for some good high fantasy with some abstract ideas of magic.

[Michelle]

Adding my physical copy

[Ranting Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.rantingdragon.com/bards-of...


The Bards of Bone Plain by established author Patricia A. McKillip is a Celtic-inspired standalone novel. Phelan is an apathetic graduate student at a school for bards; forced into the profession by his unmusical father, Phelan just wants to find an easy topic for his final thesis and finish school forever. But when a foreign bard arrives in court with wild music that entrances everyone around him, Phelan becomes unwittingly involved in a dangerous and legendary plot hundreds of years old. Meanwhile, Phelan’s fellow student and former lover Zoe and the archaeologist-cum-princess Beatrice encounter dark mysteries of their own.

Fresh take on some old tropes
Celtic fantasies have been done to death, but McKillip refreshes the trope with a compelling world of modern technology touched by medieval details. Bards use trams for public transit; the princess studies archaeology and drives a sweet car. The school for bards was very modern, featuring seminars, teaching assistants, exams and theses, but occasionally a scene hearkens back to ancient times, like when Phelan’s students spent a class sitting in a circle under an oak tree, reciting lines of an enormous ballad from memory. The world and characters are deeply engrossing; I read the whole book in about twenty-four hours.

The magic system is also worth a quick note. Like many other fantasies, the system is based on language, but McKillip’s combination of music, historical ambiguity and scholarship offers the possibility of reading Bards as more than just a good yarn; it’s also an exploration of the real-world force of language. That, of course, has also been done before in many fantasies, but normally those other fantasies focus on the power of imaginative storytelling. Bards extends its look to the power of historical record, too. It’s easy to imagine how alternative and fantastic visions might affect the world, but a little more complex to think on how non-fiction, descriptive records of supposedly historical fact, can affect us just as much.

Interesting side-by-side stories and characters
Bards is unconventional in its alternating storylines. McKillip goes from following Nairn, young student-bard of ancient legend to following Phelan and Beatrice in the present. I never found these switches jarring; the stories switch consistently by chapter and also feature markedly different writing styles (both of which are beautiful to read). Nairn’s story also has the added interest of being preceded by excerpts from a historical treatise about Nairn’s life, written during Phelan’s time. Midway through Bards the two stories elegantly converge, and even if you guess the twist in advance — like I did — the characters and the beautiful writing will drag you on happily to the end regardless.

Speaking of characters, a brief note on the women: McKillip’s savvy, mature and independent Beatrice and Zoe are completely wonderful and believable. It was great to encounter complex female characters in a book that easily could have descended into more obvious gender roles based on its medieval influences.

Lack of suspense
The book’s biggest flaw is its lack of suspense — and I am not entirely sure that it is a flaw, because it’s possible the book was intentionally written this way. Bards unfolds like a dream, and while that’s pleasant, the dreaminess forbids any sense of urgency. Although there are negative consequences should the protagonists fail, the protagonists never seem to be truly fearful or even all that concerned. And I wasn’t all that concerned, either. The consequences just aren’t negative enough — or maybe they’re just not depicted as negative enough. I think this is primarily the result of McKillip’s trademark dreamy, musical writing style; combined with a dreamy, musical storyline, the language always insists that the reader recognize the book’s essential story-ness, that the consequences aren’t real, and that nobody will actually get hurt.

Why should you read this book?
The writing is lovely and the world, with its carefree combination of medieval and modern, is a lot of fun. Phelan, Beatrice, Zoe and Nairn are also all well-fleshed-out characters. Though The Bards of Bone Plain isn’t a serious page-turner, it is still an enjoyable read that will transport you very quickly from mundane reality to a magical, secretive realm.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A standalone fantasy that was nominated for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature in 2011.

My Take
I would read Patricia McKillip if only to enjoy the poetic lyricism of her writing. She so effortlessly brushes in the atmosphere and thoughts of the scenery and her characters that one can't help but be enchanted with her words. And, eventually, her words make sense. I'm not denying that she can be rather confusing to start. Just enjoy the beauty of her words and you are soon engrossed and unable to put the book down until you discover all the mysteries she unleashes with The Bards of Bone Plain.

It's a very odd world that McKillip has created…a tiny bit steampunk, mostly fantasy and myth with a rather hard look at one's priorities after living for a 1,000 years of so. The ending felt just a bit weak although I suspect she's leaving open the possibility of a sequel…PLEASE…I wanna know what happens with Beatrice, Phelan, Jonas et al… Does "he" come back? What is his deal??? What is the queen's response to Beatrice's new lover? McKillip, you've left too many questions unanswered for me!

The Story
A conflicted princess fascinated with an archeology dig, a student bard without focus, and a disenchanted immortal unite to fight off a bardic evil.

The Characters
Phelan Cle is a scholar; her father, Jonah, is an archeologist. Princess Beatrice, the king's youngest daughter, is one of Jonah's disciples.

Bone Plain is much like the City of Troy had been. Studied for the last 500 years, though no one has been able to locate it as a real place.

The Cover
It's a cover rich in color, detail, and texture in its blues, greens, and yellows, of gold and silver and diaphanous silks and sumptuous velvet. White morning glories blossom along the rushing deep royal river while the background is of a wide-spreading green plain with a meandering river and a sky that clashes in yellows and blues as turquoise and royal birds flit through the air. The author's name and title are in shadowed white.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't a bad book. It really wasn't. But either her writing has somewhat faded in the past few years, or I have moved on to other authors whose prose seems to flower more. I just could not get enthused about this book the way I have about other lush volumes she has written.

If there's one thing I don't enjoy in stories, it's a tale that has a supposed "twist" that is transparent throughout the book. It was the case with this story. I cannot say whether McKillip expected the reader to be surprised when the twist was revealed, or if she meant to build up to it quickly and have the reader know the secret as the characters were still in the dark, but this plot point just left me annoyed.

Again, like her last book _The Bell at Sealy Head_, I felt like the otherworld atmosphere created in this book was mentioned and then dropped randomly, rather than being explored as fully as it could have been. Mysteries seemed important, and then were never really explained.

McKillip's writing is still lush and lovely, but I just haven't been as impressed with her last two tales.

[Hallie · Rating 4 out of 5]

14 days to go...

I seemed to take forever to finish this, but it was Christmas frenzy rather than lack of enjoyment. Mostly.

This is typical McKillip in gorgeous prose, stunning magic, and unusually, a wonderful interweaving of past and present. (I also loved that the book's present was much more modern than her usual fantasy setting.) I loved the way the characters in the present were fascinated by the characters of the past, and how the stories of present and past came closer and closer and eventually intersected. But for all that, I found the "why" of the underlying question (actually asked at some point fairly early on in the book - i.e. why is Nairn called the Unforgiven) more than a bit unsatisfying. When I'd finished I realised it didn't make much sense to me that he would have been unforgiven - and by whom?

Will be very interested to see what my fellow McKillip fans feel about this one.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another great mind bender from McKillip. Seriously this womans mind is amazing. I enjoy reading her books I never know where they will take me. The romance could have been more of the story and for that I didn't give it 5 starts. I kept waiting for something to happen between the characters and when it did I almost missed it. I needed more meat. I also wish her characters had more morals. But Can't win them all. She is just a great fantasy writer.

[Rati Mehrotra]

Music, poetry, history, and legend blend and merge in this odd and passionate book. 3.5 stars rounded up. Not my favorite book of hers, as it took a while to get into, but magical and immersive once you cross the halfway mark.

[Andi B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a lot of McKillip back in the 90's, snapping them up off library shelves as soon as they appeared, so I was excited to get back to the mythic and sylvan worlds I loved in her writing. And of course, her Forgotten Beasts of Eld is legendary. But this one didn't quite deliver what I was hoping for.

It's the story, as you might imagine, of bards, set in a world where both the bard school and ensuing profession are highly esteemed, with the pinnacle of achievement being to serve as the King's bard. But the story is also set in the same place several hundred years earlier, following Nairn, a bard considered legendary in the more "modern" timeline. There are several character POV's, and the flashback chapters are prefaced by what are clearly excerpts from a history book chronicling what is known of Nairn in the later timeline. McKillip shows us the intertwining of the timelines gradually, but by the time the connections are revealed, a lot of it is already clear to us.

As a premise and plot, so far so good. But somehow the book never settles into its identity--magic school, magic rivalry, creepy danger bards, what-is-my-drunk-father's-secret, even a love triangle that springs up out of nowhere and then disappears into nowhere a few chapters later; these are just some of the elements in the story, most of which were interesting but none of which ultimately get much traction. I do think if she had dug a little deeper and gave us more Hobb-like texture and detail, this approach might have worked better.

The world-building was a mix of interesting and weird, with the earlier time period being firmly pseudo-medieval and the later one feeling closer to maybe a Renaissance period but still essentially not that different. But for some reason, she inserted the completely pointless notion that the later time period includes steam-powered cars. I mean...why? It never comes up as a plot point and seems jarringly out of step with the vibe of the world. There are also no other steampunk elements or even any particular markers of the period as Renaissance, Victorian, etc., except for Ladies Wear Gowns to Dinner, which could easily still be hundreds of years "later" without the need for visible technology.

And the magic system was pretty vague--a mix of inborn talent, feelings, circumstance, and intuition. I honestly don't mind that, but I put it here because some readers try to avoid amorphous magic in their fantasy stories.

But worst of all, even though McKillip's writing was good enough to keep me reading until the end, I didn't really feel connected to any of the characters, and I disliked the one character whose POV we spend the most time in (Nairn).

In all, there was something compelling about the story, but it never quite comes together in the way it should. I've collected a bunch of the older McKillips that I remember reading and am hoping these, coming from her heyday, hold up a bit better.