- Paperback: 378 pages
- Publisher: Roc; Reprint edition (4 Oct 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0451464230
- ISBN-13: 978-0451464231
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,151,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Book Description
Brutal imprisonment has broken Aidan McAllister. Once the most famous musician of his generation, celebrated as a man beloved of the gods, his voice is now silent, his hands ruined, his music that offered beauty and hope to war-torn Elyria destroyed. Even the god who nurtured his talent since boyhood has abandoned him. But no one ever told him his crime. To discover the truth, he must risk his hard-bought freedom to unlock the mind of his god and the heart of his enemy.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
"Song of the beast" is Ms. Berg's first novel since writing the brillant Rai-Kirah series and it lives up to the high standards set by Revealtion and co. "Song of the beast" is however by NO MEANS A FOLLOW-UP. It is set in a different world with a whole set of new characters and plots. The main protagonist is a man called Aidan and the book begins with him breaking out of prison. Although his past remains a mystery until a few chapters on, no patience is needed to read this book. The raw directness of the first person prose grabs you by the throat and drags you in.
There are some similarities between "Song of the beast" and "The Rai-kirah", as both revolve around a central character who has suffered persecution throuigh no fault of his own. There are however enough differences between the worlds, plots and characters of "Song of..." and "Rai-kirah" (i.e. the existance of dragons and lack of demons), to prevent "Song of..." from merely being a profitable rehash. Instead it comes across as exciting new read from this gem of a writer.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Aidan is the king's cousin, but as he begins his narrative he has just been released after seventeen years brutal imprisonment; imprisoned at the age of twenty one for reasons not quite clear to him, but presumably with the king's knowledge.
Aidan is a remarkable man. In his youth he was renowned as a singer of unsurpassable talents, able to move the hardest of hearts; as such he travelled throughout the lands performing to all from kings to beggars. But now, having been silenced he is released from his home fro most of his manhood, the dungeon. But his is not free; there are still those who pursue him, some to keep him silenced, others who seek to use his voice for other reasons.
Aidan takes us along his epic journey, and gradually unravels the part the dragons play in his life and troubles. He encounters the Elhim, the at best ignored and at worst despised race who have neither male nor female, and Lara, the daughter of a warrior dragon rider who aspires to be as her father. While Ms Berg seems to like her main characters marred on the outside, which the once handsome Aidan after his torturous imprisonment most definitely is, on the inside he has only a good and pure heart, a mild and good mannered man wishing vengeance on none.
Although Aidan narrates most of the tale, occasionally one or another of the characters takes over if only briefly; a device which keeps us on edge for we can never be sure of anyone's survival. From the very first pages it is certainly a gripping tale such is Carol Berg's writing skill; something we are accustomed to with her other three volume epic, the Rai-kirah saga. Song of the Beast weaves an intricate, unpredictable, imaginative and enthralling story, producing a book which once started is hard to put down.
Aidan is a remarkable man. In his youth he was renowned as a singer of unsurpassable talents, able to move the hardest of hearts; as such he travelled throughout the lands performing to all from kings to beggars. But now, having been silenced he is released from his home fro most of his manhood, the dungeon. But his is not free; there are still those who pursue him, some to keep him silenced, others who seek to use his voice for other reasons.
Aidan takes us along his epic journey, and gradually unravels the part the dragons play in his life and troubles. He encounters the Elhim, the at best ignored and at worst despised race who have neither male nor female, and Lara, the daughter of a warrior dragon rider who aspires to be as her father. While Ms Berg seems to like her main characters marred on the outside, which the once handsome Aidan after his torturous imprisonment most definitely is, on the inside he has only a good and pure heart, a mild and good mannered man wishing vengeance on none.
Although Aidan narrates most of the tale, occasionally one or another of the characters takes over if only briefly; a device which keeps us on edge for we can never be sure of anyone's survival. From the very first pages it is certainly a gripping tale such is Carol Berg's writing skill; something we are accustomed to with her other three volume epic, the Rai-kirah saga. Song of the Beast weaves an intricate, unpredictable, imaginative and enthralling story, producing a book which once started is hard to put down.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Song of the Beast is another great book by Carol Berg and almost something of a rarity in the fantasy genre these days, a stand alone!
The story revolves around Aidan McAllister who has escaped from prison after years of torture. He still has no idea why he, the highly talented and admired musician, cousin to the king, should have been subjected to the torture and years of silence under the guard of the feared Ridemark Dragon Riders. Why do they fear him and what is his connection to the Dragons that help the Riders defend the land from invaders?
With the help of some unusual, some dubious and some surprise friends, he gradually unravels both his past as well as his destiny, all the time hunted by enemies that want nothing more than to silence him forever.
The story is fast paced and does not always go in the direction you expect it to, though I don't think it is quite as 'quirky' as some of Carol Berg's other books.
So why four rather than five stars you ask. Well... we start the book from Aidan's Point of View and after almost a third of the book, I had well and truly settled into the story observing things from his angle when it all changes and Narim, who is one of those that have helped Aidan escape his hunters becomes the storyteller. From then on we see a regular change of narrator.
Normally I have no problems with stories that are told from the viewpoint of different characters, but for some reason in this book I found it interrupted the flow of the story possibly because I was so used to Aidan that I never felt quite as familiar with the other narrators. Still, it was an enjoyable read, the fact that I did not put it down will attest to this, and I will undoubtedly re-read it again in the future.
The story revolves around Aidan McAllister who has escaped from prison after years of torture. He still has no idea why he, the highly talented and admired musician, cousin to the king, should have been subjected to the torture and years of silence under the guard of the feared Ridemark Dragon Riders. Why do they fear him and what is his connection to the Dragons that help the Riders defend the land from invaders?
With the help of some unusual, some dubious and some surprise friends, he gradually unravels both his past as well as his destiny, all the time hunted by enemies that want nothing more than to silence him forever.
The story is fast paced and does not always go in the direction you expect it to, though I don't think it is quite as 'quirky' as some of Carol Berg's other books.
So why four rather than five stars you ask. Well... we start the book from Aidan's Point of View and after almost a third of the book, I had well and truly settled into the story observing things from his angle when it all changes and Narim, who is one of those that have helped Aidan escape his hunters becomes the storyteller. From then on we see a regular change of narrator.
Normally I have no problems with stories that are told from the viewpoint of different characters, but for some reason in this book I found it interrupted the flow of the story possibly because I was so used to Aidan that I never felt quite as familiar with the other narrators. Still, it was an enjoyable read, the fact that I did not put it down will attest to this, and I will undoubtedly re-read it again in the future.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Disappointing
I have to say that I found this a rather disappointing read. I wasn't sucked into the story or really cared about any of the characters. Read more
Published 19 months ago by mabel
Very Imaginative
This is one of the most imaginative fantasy books I have ever read and I have read a lot of them! Quite often, I can guess where a twist might be appearing or if indeed what the... Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2009 by Annette Gisby
Carol Berg's prose is like sampling fine wine... delectable!
Trying to find the words to describe Carol Berg's writing, the storyline, the characters.... It is almost impossible. Read more
Published on 28 May 2003 by Pat Richards
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