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'Mad Maudlin'
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[NOV.
19, 2003]
"Mad
Maudlin," by Mercedes Lackey, edited by Rosemary Edghill, Simon &
Schuster, 439 pages, genre: science fiction, fantasy
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Review by Bobbi Reddix
"Mad Maudlin" is the sixth book in the
"Bedlam's Bard" series by Mercedes Lackey, and I must say it is also
one of the best. Although it is one in a series, it can also be read
as a single book. By reading book six, you get a sense of the
purpose and history behind Eric the Bard and the group of gifted
people called the Guardians to which he belongs.
Eric Banyon is a young man living in
post-9/11 New York. He grew up in a home with parents who valued him
only for his musical ability and who eventually drove him to a
destructive behavior described in the first story in the series,
"Knights of Ghosts and Shadows."
Eric's talent with the flute gains the
attention of the "elves" of California, and he learns of its magic
and the magic within himself. When the elves of "Underworld" take
Eric under their wing, the adventures begin. Eric embarks upon an
epic adventure involving the world of myths and magic and one that
also involves the discovery of himself.
In "Mad Maudlin," Eric and his band of
guardians hear tales of a "ghost" haunting the homeless children of
the streets, a ghost who goes by the name of Bloody Mary. As urban
legend dictates, anyone who sees or is seen by her is marked by
death. The Guardians first dismiss this tale as the resurrection of
an old myth until people begin to turn up dead…
[to top of second column in
this review]
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 To further complicate matters for the
young Bard, he discovers he has a brother who has mysteriously
disappeared from the same home Eric abandoned 17 years earlier and
is rumored to be living among the homeless of Manhattan. Eric uses a
bit of Bardic magic to search for his long-lost brother and is
surprised to learn there is a bit of magic gone awry, keeping him
from completing his task.
The
"Bedlam's Bard" series is a must-read for the lover of urban
fantasy. Although it's not necessary to read them in order, you
might discover that after reading one, you're hooked. Other books in
the series are "Bedlam's Bard," 1992; "The Chrome Borne," 1999; "The
Otherworld," 2000; "Beyond World's End," 2001; and "Spirits White as
Lightning," 2001.
[Bobbi Reddix,
Lincoln
Public Library District]
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