Music to My Sorrow

December 1, 2005
The latest Bedlam's Bard novel picks up where " Mad Maudlin" (2003) left off. Eric Banyon, a bard in Elfhame and a music teacher in New York City, is finishing the training of his bardic student, Hosea; seeking to adopt his own brother, Magnus, to keep him away from their parents, who tried twice to raise a trophy son; and running messages for his elflord, Prince Arvin. If this weren't enough to keep the book humming, Eric, Magnus, Hosea, and elven-exile-turned-nonprofit-CEO Ria are trying to help Ace, the minor daughter of an unscrupulous televangelist who has fled her parents, get emancipated-minor status. Legal battles turn lethal when Eric and Magnus' parents ask for help from what they think is a family intervention group but is really a front for the " unseligh" elves to torment and " mindwipe" mortals. Oh, and Eric's bardic immunity no longer protects him when his blood mother asks to have him "healed." Lots of action, some unobtrusive preaching (let children be themselves, not trophies for their parents), and a literally bang-up finish.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)