If there were one word to describe Carol Berg’s Song of the Beast it would be original. Overall, this story was very inventive and took some familiar ideas then twisted them into a completely new direction. I will just give you the blurb from the back instead of trying to do it myself and not give the book justice.
Brutal imprisonment had broken Aidan McAllister. His celebrated voice is silent. His hands ruined. His music destroyed—and with it the visions he once gave a kingdom ravaged by dragon war. The god who nurtured his talent since boy hood has abandoned him. All he wants to do is hide.
But no one ever told Aidan his crime. And when pursuers threaten to throw him back in the prison he’s just left, he’s driven to discover the truth, risking his hard-bought freedom to unlock the mind of his god and the heart of his enemy.
So the plot sounds amazing, right? Well, while I really enjoyed the overall product and at the end pretty much all of the promises were delivered, the delivery was not quite as good. For the first bit of the book it was just going. The plot that had seemed so overwhelmingly awesome was not even existent. There was some action along the way, don’t get me wrong, but it just seemed to lack a real purpose. Now, when the plot did catch on it caught on and I was definitely on a ride that was quite enjoyable.
Besides the lack of plot at the beginning there was another major problem that stuck out to me. This is just my humble opinion, but I did not truly enjoy all of the point of view shifts since the narrative was in first-person. Now, I would have been fine if the story was just Lara and Aidan, for the most part it is, but there are also two other point of views that derailed me. Something else that relates is that much of the climax for the other point of views is off screen. I felt like that was a grand opportunity for this problem to redeem itself, but since much of the climax had to be told instead of shown it was a bit of a let-down.
Alright, now that I am done with the negatives let us carry on to the pros of this story. One, Berg has a serious gift with crafting unique characters. These characters can rank with the greats of the fantasy genre with how unique they are. With that, Carol Berg makes each of them true to their character for absolutely every second of the story. She does not make them change their minds or have them lose touch with themselves just so she can get them where she wants. No, every decision her characters make, whether smart or not, are made because they are so firmly ground in their character and their past.
Something else that amazed me was this novel’s climax. While parts of it leaned a bit to the deus ex machina it had me gasping for air. A few amazing twists that I did not see coming kept me tearing away pages. There was a bit of foreshadowing that felt like it was missing, but the foreshadowing that was there was so well crafted that I could see how everything was leading to that point. As a whole, this climax was very cool, but also allowed this novel to be self contained.
So, if you want a stand-alone high fantasy novel with dragons, action, devious plots and characters you cannot help but feel for, Song of the Beast is for you. Also, it is a great place to try out Carol Berg’s work, seeing that it is Mrs. Berg’s first work and has just been re-printed with an awesome new cover.
Carol Berg’s website is here
Content:
-Language: There is language used, standard fantasy fare (no F-bombs). Rarely is it used in more concentrated amounts.
-Violence: Um….yes and it is amazing, though there are no really visceral or grisly scenes that I can remember.
-Sexuality: Nothing is shown, but there is fair share of innuendo and references. There are some situations, but nothing is given screen time.
-I recommend this for 14-15 and up, because of the slower beginning and the surprising amount of innuendo.
My rating:
8/10
(Almost 7.5)
-Dylan
P.S: Have you read any of Carol Berg’s work? If so, tell me in the comments below!