Infinity Concerto

"The Infinity Concerto" - Book One of Songs of Earth and Power - is a very deep book; multi-layered and textured. I believe it will likely take me several readings to find all the meanings that are embedded in the story. The basic storyline revolves around Michael Perrin, a thoughtful young man who wants to be a poet. He befriends a composer named Arno Waltiri, who it is said wrote a concerto called The Infinity Concerto that was so unusual that it drove its listeners mad - and many of those listeners disappeared. Waltiri claims that the concerto was primarily inspired by a man called David Clarkham, who subsequently disappeared; Arno gives Michael a key and a piece of paper with directions to follow, that should lead him to Clarkham. Waltiri dies soon thereafter. Despite warnings from Waltiri's wife Golda that Waltiri repented of his choice to give these to him, Michael decides to go ahead and follow the directions - and ends up somewhere . . . that is not Earth anymore. Forced to learn to survive, Michael has to grow up and grow strong very quickly - but is he just a pawn in some hidden power struggle? Or is he something else altogether? Some sections of this book seemed rather slow moving, but everything was necessary for the plot. Because the plot is so intricate, at times ponderous prose is necessary to bring about all the necessary information. All-in-all, I found the story quite enjoyable and I am also enjoying the beginning of the sequel, The Serpent Mage. Those who are fans of epic fantasy, stories of the Sidhe (especially of the darker natures thereof) or simply well-crafted alternate realities, please do not miss this one. I do not know how easy it is to pick these books up separately - I have the omnibus edition of the series, as noted above (Songs of Earth and Power). A recommend from me!

This story takes fantasy out of the usual dragon, unicorn, and magic users arena. The rewrite of the Serpent Mage in the combined stories of Songs of Earth and Power does full justice to the tale begun by this book. A great read!

This is the 1st book of a 2 book series. The last is The Serpent Mage. Both books have also been combined as another title, "Songs of Earth & Power." My detailed rating would be 4.1 for this book. The essential story of this book is very simple. The main character (Michael) is forcibly drafted by the Elves (Sidhe) to learn magic. It's a traumatic experience. But that's not the strength of the book. Bear generally writes fairly hard SF. The magic here has some interesting physics to it! But the best thing is the history. Bear provides a detailed history starting at the beginning of time. Not exactly with quarks either. This extremely complex history of the 5+ sentient races on Earth drives the whole story, and you learn that history a piece at a time through the two books. Why is Michael drafted by the elves? You find out by the middle of the second book. This first book would not be satisfying all by itself. You need the second also. If you like friendly elves, this is not the series for you. Most of the elves here are cold, cruel, and callous. Why? That's part of the history!

This is the 1st book of a 2 book series. The last is The Serpent Mage. My detailed rating would be 4.1 for this book. The essential story of this book is very simple. The main character (Michael) is forcibly drafted by the Elves (Sidhe) to learn magic. It's a traumatic experience. But that's not the strength of the book. Bear generally writes fairly hard SF. The magic here has some interesting physics to it! But the best thing is the history. Bear provides a detailed history starting at the beginning of time. Not exactly with quarks either. This extremely complex history of the 5+ sentient races on Earth drives the whole story, and you learn that history a piece at a time through the two books. Why is Michael drafted by the elves? You find out by the middle of the second book. This first book would not be satisfying all by itself. You need the second also. If you like friendly elves, this is not the series for you. Most of the elves here are cold, cruel, and callous. Why? That's part of the history!