Song of the Beast

May 15, 2003
Berg's fascinating fantasy is a puzzle story, with a Celtic-flavored setting and a plot as intricate and absorbing as fine Celtic lacework. Aidan MacAllister, cousin of the king of Elyria, was an extraordinary musician. But when he turned 21, the king sentenced him to be imprisoned and silenced on a charge of treason. Now it is 17 years later, and a scarred, voiceless Aidan is released, not knowing exactly why he was sentenced in the first place. Finding the answer to that question is the plot of the book, and it involves dragons, a race of nonhumans, politics great and small, and the truth or falsity of various long-held beliefs about the gods of a well-wrought pantheon. The pantheon isn't the only aspect of the book that is well wrought. Although the complexity of the plot makes the pacing variable, the characters are memorable, and Berg's intelligence and narrative skill make this stand-alone fantasy most commendable.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)