The Singing

Post by Ashley
It probably isn't fair for me to write about this book, considering it has yet to be released in the United States, but here we go anyway. I just finished devouring the fourth and final book in Alison Croggon's awesome series, the Books of Pellinor, which runs The Naming, The Riddle, The Crow, and The Singing. I was tired of waiting (U.S. release date is March of this year, even though the book was published in Australia in June of last year), and since I own the first three books, I knew I'd want to own the fourth anyway, so I've been checking Amazon for a U.S. source to start carrying it. I found success on my last check, so I bought it and read it within two days of its arrival.

The books, if you haven't read one, are very Lord of the Rings-esque. The author is also a poet, and she interweaves some very beautiful legends and histories in verse amongst the prose, which is itself quite poetic. Instead of wizards and wands, the power figures in these books are bards who weild the power of music and an understanding of the earth to conquer their enemies---the soulless ones who have given up their True names to serve the darker side of the Balance.

I loved the beauty of the writing and the adventurous action and the power of love blossoming in the darkest of times.

For me, the fourth book felt a tiny bit scattered, and the whole thing was over far too quickly (though that feeling could stem from the speed with which I read it). But even with that said, I still loved it. It's a really great series. Nice and thick fantasy if you've finished those JRR and JK books and are looking for another good series to dive into.