In this mesmerizing sequel to "Lament", music prodigy James Morgan has joined his best friend, Deirdre, at a private conservatory for musicians. James' almost unearthly gift for music has attracted the dangerous attentions of Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. Composing beautiful music together leads James and Nuala down an unexpected road of mutual admiration ...and love. Haunted by a vision of raging fire and death, James realizes that Deirdre and Nuala are being hunted by the Fey and plunges into a soulscorching battle with the Queen of the Fey to save their lives.
Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Certificate, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
About the Author
Maggie Stiefvater is an accomplished musician who has infused her knowledge of music and Celtic folklore into this acclaimed faerie series. Shiver, her forthcoming book from Scholastic, will also be released this fall.
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Not all sequels work but this one does and how!
This time around, it is not Dee who is pursued by 'Them', but James. He and Dee now attend the prestigious music school Thornking Ash where he is pursuing his dream to become a better Piper (bagpiper).
He has unwittingly attracted the attention of one of the Leanan Sidhe who are Faerie but not quite Faerie (yes, that's right) and are also deadly to humans. Their aim is to give you something like inspiration for your music and in return you give them some of your years (life).
If you love Celtic mythology and lore and of course stories about the Sidhe then you will find this book utterly irrestible. It has elements of love, hatred, resentment, bravery, forgiveness in it plus a whole load of horror although not the slash, maul genre. It is both threatening and mindblowing.
Maggie Stiefvater certainly knows how to weave a story so expertly that you will want to read this book in one go and then you will be sorry when you have finished it. I am hoping that she will maybe turn this series into a trilogy.
This time around, it is not Dee who is pursued by 'Them', but James. He and Dee now attend the prestigious music school Thornking Ash where he is pursuing his dream to become a better Piper (bagpiper).
He has unwittingly attracted the attention of one of the Leanan Sidhe who are Faerie but not quite Faerie (yes, that's right) and are also deadly to humans. Their aim is to give you something like inspiration for your music and in return you give them some of your years (life).
If you love Celtic mythology and lore and of course stories about the Sidhe then you will find this book utterly irrestible. It has elements of love, hatred, resentment, bravery, forgiveness in it plus a whole load of horror although not the slash, maul genre. It is both threatening and mindblowing.
Maggie Stiefvater certainly knows how to weave a story so expertly that you will want to read this book in one go and then you will be sorry when you have finished it. I am hoping that she will maybe turn this series into a trilogy.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ballad is a follow on from Lament and this book focuses on the life, love and faerie dealings of Dee's best friend James.Both Dee and James have gone to Thornking-Ash musical school and everything seems reasonably normal except that Dee is still moarning Luke, James is still in love with Dee and strange music keeps calling to James in the middle of the night.
I love Maggie Stiefvater's writing style and i am very pleased to say that Ballad is a beautiful follow up from Lament. There are some new characters all of which you will have strong feelings about and as the book focuses mostly on James, who was my favourite character from Lament, you will be swept into a world of music,fey and love that will leave you with the inevitable feeling of loss that you get after finishing a Stiefvater.Love it.
I love Maggie Stiefvater's writing style and i am very pleased to say that Ballad is a beautiful follow up from Lament. There are some new characters all of which you will have strong feelings about and as the book focuses mostly on James, who was my favourite character from Lament, you will be swept into a world of music,fey and love that will leave you with the inevitable feeling of loss that you get after finishing a Stiefvater.Love it.
By Miriam Joy
Format:Paperback
This is my review from Goodreads.
---
I can't actually explain what I like so much about this book.
I mean, maybe it's James. He's hilarious, he's sarcastic, and there's this bitter edge to his words that makes you feel perhaps he has a reason for being funny -- perhaps he's trying to hide something deeper. His brilliant musicianship isn't just an accessory to his life: it defines him and who he is. He isn't a character who plays instruments: he IS a musician.
Maybe it's Nuala. She's also a great character, in a different way. Longing and danger and hope are all wound up in her voice, which is tinged with confusion as things she thought would last forever start to close. I'm a sucker for doomed characters, and if anyone's doomed it's a leanán sidhe destined to burn every 16 years.
Maybe it's the way emotions are written -- the way Maggie Stiefvater portrays James's hopeless unrequited feelings for Dee, the way their friendship comes across, the way major confessions aren't blown off but explored in depth as they would in real life. It's realistic and speaking as someone who has been in a similar position, it's nice to see it handled in that way, instead of being blown way out of proportion or brushed off as unimportant.
Maybe it's the faeries and the king of the dead and the magic and the mythology, because they've always been close to my heart and a book that winds them so cleverly together is going to be very special to me.
I don't really know.
I mean, this book isn't 100% perfect. At least, the more I read it the better it seems, and it was pretty damn good to start with. There are literally about two lines in it that I'd change because they always bugged me -- a slight repetition of ideas.... Read more ›
---
I can't actually explain what I like so much about this book.
I mean, maybe it's James. He's hilarious, he's sarcastic, and there's this bitter edge to his words that makes you feel perhaps he has a reason for being funny -- perhaps he's trying to hide something deeper. His brilliant musicianship isn't just an accessory to his life: it defines him and who he is. He isn't a character who plays instruments: he IS a musician.
Maybe it's Nuala. She's also a great character, in a different way. Longing and danger and hope are all wound up in her voice, which is tinged with confusion as things she thought would last forever start to close. I'm a sucker for doomed characters, and if anyone's doomed it's a leanán sidhe destined to burn every 16 years.
Maybe it's the way emotions are written -- the way Maggie Stiefvater portrays James's hopeless unrequited feelings for Dee, the way their friendship comes across, the way major confessions aren't blown off but explored in depth as they would in real life. It's realistic and speaking as someone who has been in a similar position, it's nice to see it handled in that way, instead of being blown way out of proportion or brushed off as unimportant.
Maybe it's the faeries and the king of the dead and the magic and the mythology, because they've always been close to my heart and a book that winds them so cleverly together is going to be very special to me.
I don't really know.
I mean, this book isn't 100% perfect. At least, the more I read it the better it seems, and it was pretty damn good to start with. There are literally about two lines in it that I'd change because they always bugged me -- a slight repetition of ideas.... Read more ›
By Book Angel Emma
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
In the sequel to Lament the first person narrative has been taken over by James in place of Dierdre (Dee). It was really interesting to see James' personality develop, enabling additional understanding of his actions/emotions. His wonderfully snarky witticisms captured my heart.We catch up with them a few months after the explosive finale to Lament now enrolled into a private school for the musically gifted.
We are introduced to a whole array of new characters both human and Fey, expanding the plot and adding dimension to the relationship interactions already established. The musical references virtually flowed off the pages. Alternating chapters between James and Nuala provided both sides of the story; showing how easy interactions are misinterpreted.
All the characters were three dimensional, James development in particular was astounding. The 'support' cast of characters were a pleasant surprise in their use within the narrative. Yet I could not reconcile Dee's transformation from Lament into what I could only visualise as a 'wet lettuce', where had all her 'powers' gone and why wasn't she using them.
The plot developed seamlessly from Lament, making it necessary to have read the book to fully understand the nuances of the storyline.
I adore Maggie's writing style and descriptions, I devour them as quickly as possible and feel as if I have generally been hit by a tidal wave of emotion by the end of the book. I can completely immerse myself in the worlds she creates, sometimes to my detriment when I am sobbing in the early hours of the morning.
I do have one complaint about this book.......there are still unanswered questions I have and I need another book to reconcile them. *BEGS/PLEADS/GROVELS/BRIBES*
We are introduced to a whole array of new characters both human and Fey, expanding the plot and adding dimension to the relationship interactions already established. The musical references virtually flowed off the pages. Alternating chapters between James and Nuala provided both sides of the story; showing how easy interactions are misinterpreted.
All the characters were three dimensional, James development in particular was astounding. The 'support' cast of characters were a pleasant surprise in their use within the narrative. Yet I could not reconcile Dee's transformation from Lament into what I could only visualise as a 'wet lettuce', where had all her 'powers' gone and why wasn't she using them.
The plot developed seamlessly from Lament, making it necessary to have read the book to fully understand the nuances of the storyline.
I adore Maggie's writing style and descriptions, I devour them as quickly as possible and feel as if I have generally been hit by a tidal wave of emotion by the end of the book. I can completely immerse myself in the worlds she creates, sometimes to my detriment when I am sobbing in the early hours of the morning.
I do have one complaint about this book.......there are still unanswered questions I have and I need another book to reconcile them. *BEGS/PLEADS/GROVELS/BRIBES*
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 81 reviews
4.2 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ballad
I found I loved this more than Lament and I think that's probably because I love James, he is just so funny and whitty. Read this quickly found it hard to put down. Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2011 by A Carroll
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too
After having survived a harrowing encounter with murderous faeries, James is looking forward to leaving it all behind and attending Thornking-Ash School of Music. Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2010 by TeensReadToo
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great follow up
I must admit that I was nervous about reading this when I realised that focus was now on James rather than Dee. I needn't have worried. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2010 by daisyduck1976
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Children's Books > Fiction > Issues > Social
- Books > Children's Books > Fiction > Romance
- Books > Children's Books > Fiction > Science Fiction & Fantasy
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
