Beyond World's End (Bedlam's Bard) [Hardcover]

For me, this book had many problems. To start with the authors spent way too much time setting up the story, filling in events that happened between the last book and this one, and on setting up Eric's apartment. I understand the need for this, but I feel it was handled poorly. For example, does the reader really need to read four pages of description of Eric's apartment and its (non-storyline related) contents? There are also two-and-a-half pages about Eric building his CD collection! Almost the entire first chapter is retrospective description. I had started to wonder if the authors had ever heard of the writing advice "show don't tell". Also, there are footnotes! If I remember correctly at least one of the other books in this series also contained footnotes, and I thought it was a bad idea then, and that book was much better than this one. On my part, I feel footnotes do not belong in novels with the possible exception of highly technical novels such as some hard science-fiction novels. The footnotes in this book are used to explain things that could have been explained in the text, or really did not need an explanation at all. Another problem I had was with the contradictions throughout the book. For example on page 13 it states "... Eric was not going to have to worry about where his money was coming from for a very long time, if ever." Then on the very next page it states: "And when the Krugerrands ran out, and the account that covered his rent and utilities expired, he'd have to have a job to pay for all this." This gives the impression that it is an immediate problem. Which is it? A problem or not a problem? There are other instances of this type throughout the book. Some more sever because they tie-in to the storyline. I also did not like the way the authors handled the relationship between Kory, Beth, and Eric, but, that is more and example of personal preference, not bad writing. I had not been pleased with the way it (and the character of Beth) was handled in the second book either. On the other hand, the story itself held my interest, and I particularly liked the way the character of Ria was handled. I do wish more time had actually been spent on what seemed to be the major storylines of the book; namely Eric's return to Juilliard and the ultimate confrontation between Eric, Ria and the Guardians, and the two separate villains of the story. The buildup was too long and the payoff too little. It also seemed that the Juilliard story was pretty much dropped, and it had the potential to be more interesting than the "main" plot. More time should have been spent on it than on the history of the drug that was used in the other storyline. Although the setup as to why Jeanette, the creator of the drug, became the way she was was interesting, there was too much time spent on developing and testing the drug. Also, the character started out as a very evil person and yet later I felt the authors were trying to get us to feel that she wasn't as bad as she seemed. This might have worked had she not been portrayed as having no conscience, or if there had been a convincing catalyst for the change, but other than a pang of guilt, which seemed totally out of character, there was nothing. If you are a fan of Mercedes Lackey, Rosemary Edghill, or the Bedlam's Bard series the book is an ok read, if you can hang on through the first chapter, but it is not the best book either author has written, nor is it the best of the series. However, it is also not the worst. If you are not familiar with the series or either of its authors you would be better served by reading one of their other novels, or by reading the first book of the series. In fact, I would suggest to anyone who has not read the first book of the series to read it first, or this book will make little sense.

First of all, I love the urban fantasies of Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill. They caught me right from the beginning with their other (individual) titles capturing a gritty and magical world where elves and CEOs exist side-by-side. But, I have to say I was disappointed by this book.

"Beyond World's End" feels like a collaboration that the two authors wrote without really consulting each other. For example, near the beginning, Eric says something about being Underhill for long enough that the US government would never recognize or find him; that according to his birth certificate, he should be someone in his late 40s rather than the 25-year-old student he is. Then, in the same chapter, he enrolls back into Juliard--yet he hasn't changed his name, and both professors and students clearly know him and his history at the school. Nobody remarks on his apparent or actual age. A little difficult to reconcile both these viewpoints! This age thing continues throughout the novel, so it's not one missed comment. Another example--when Eric's moving into his apartment, he mentions that he's stopped drinking anything with caffeine because it is so destructive to his elven friends...yet, just a chapter or two later, he's offering guests cappuchino from his own machine. Little faults, but it shows that the authors weren't consistant, and that irritates me when I'm spending $2.. on a book.

Other reviews here have mentioned the detailed beginning and the rushed ending, and I agree. It's almost like the authors got tired of the book about three-quarters through and just decided to finish it. Or, alternately, they might have rushed the ending and left those dangling questions and characters in order to leave some threads to pick up in a sequel. I hope that there is a sequel, because I want to see what happens with Kory and Beth, the Guardians, and Aerune's plans. I think I may wait until the paperback comes out though, just in case...

If you don't pay close attention to details, you will probably enjoy this book. If you DO pay close attention to details--re-read "Bedlam's Bard".

I'd hate to think of someone coming upon this book and thinking it typical of the writing of Ms. Lackey. This was a sore disappointment. I found the book to be not so much badly written, as poorly executed and miserably edited. There are too many loose ends and too many niggling small mistakes for it to be enjoyable. Two examples spring immediately to mind--and they are small, but NOT what I've been accustomed to seeing in previous works by one of my favorite authors. When we meet Jeremy he's plays an oboe; yet in the concert he's a bassoonist. Eric shows up on the concert stage in "school uniform" ('white shirt, black pants, dress shoes, and tie') but several pages on we find that Eric is congratuling himself for not being pressured into wearing said tie. There are other distracting errors--mostly the usual grammatical and spelling mistakes that are increasingly common--but in concert with the general looseness in story line, this book is definitely not one of Ms. Lackey's better offerings.