FROM THE PUBLISHER

Izzy has happy memories from when she was very young, and her father had been one of the greatest Bards in the land. But that had been before she had been given over to a foster mother to live a life of poverty, hard work and misery. As Izzy looks forward 19 days to her freedom, a new ruler seizes the throne of her country. Now Izzy and her friend Giraud, the only surviving heir of an out-of-favor lord, are running for their lives.

FROM THE CRITICS

VOYA - Kim Carter

Nineteen-year-old apprentice weaver Isbetta is ready to become a journeyman, as soon as her craft-master Marda acknowledges her skill. Then Izzy inadvertently learns that Marda, Izzy's foster parent, and the burgher Aymar work for the mysterious Black Heron; Marda and Aymar killed Izzy's bard father years ago, Giraud's father and brothers more recently, and are now plotting to kill Giraud before selling Izzy to the local whoremaster. In a desperate attempt to outmaneuver Aymar's thugs, Izzy and Giraud run straight into the clutches of a nasty, cave-dwelling nantatsu. Saved only by the nantatsu's belief that Izzy might be the Worldsinger, the one destined to free the beast from a bard's spell, Izzy and Giraud must ascend Hearthold Mountain to sing the spell-breaking song. Singing the song, Izzy finds an unforeseen power within and unwittingly initiates the transformation of the world into a horrifying evil that only she can reverse. To do so she must travel to the bards' stronghold and convince them to assist her, never suspecting the pervasiveness of the insidious Black Heron's influence.

One of a series of books written to extend the world of The Bard's Tale computer game, Curse of the Black Heron is barely salvaged from its terribly trite beginning by the human foibles of Izzy and the creditably original scenarios that ensue following her singing on Hearthold Mountain. Having enough potential to tease, this could have been a sure-fire winner with better editing. As it stands, however, players of the computer game and readers of the series will be interested, while other fantasy readers may not wish to slog through the first ninety pages to discover the more original and engaging story.