Master of Music: The Bardic Isles Series: Book One

by Marla Himeda

Overview

From an award-winning author and lifelong musician comes the first novel of The Bardic Isles Series.

Not long after the Druids came to Eire, the Bards mysteriously vanished from the annals of history, fleeing their native shores to begin life on a remote chain of islands ... the Bardic Isles. And there, over two centuries later, a village boy is born with a gift of music that hasn't been seen since the exodus.

For young Kaelin, music has become both a blessing and a curse. Compelling songs rise within him, begging to be played, but he begins to suspect they are dangerous. When tragedy strikes, Kaelin is convinced his music is responsible. Overcome with grief and guilt, he refuses to play his own music again - but it torments him, demanding release. By the time a Master Bard visits the village four years later, Kaelin is desperate. Only a Master could possibly free the torturous music within him ... but what will happen if he does?

Unique in the fantasy genre and a great read for all ages, this is pure, character-driven storytelling. Instead of the usual fantasy tropes of magical creatures or spells, it is brought to life with the incredible magic of music. The audiobooks feature the actual music described by the narrator, all of which was composed by the author.

The Bardic Isles Series has won nine international awards, including:

• 2024 Readers' Favorite Fiction Audiobook Gold Medal Winner,
• 2024 IP Awards Outstanding Audiobook Winner
• 2023 IAN Fantasy Book of the Year Winner
• BookFest Audiobook Silver Medal Winner
• B.R.A.G. Medallion

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781959900009
Publisher:	Marla Himeda
Publication date:	04/13/2023
Series:	The Bardic Isles , #1
Pages:	378
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.84(d)

About the Author

Marla Himeda is a lifelong musician who has taught piano and clarinet for eighteen years at Punahou Schools and for over half a century in her own studio. She teaches her own theory and composition courses, coaches ensemble groups, and is a prolific arranger of chamber music for winds. She has performed in the Seattle Opera House, the Seattle Art Museum, and many concert venues in Hawaii, where she has lived for the past fifty years near Mount Olomana, whose twin peaks sparked the birth of Bardic Mountain. She is a member of the National Music Teachers Association and Opus 5 Winds, and is principal clarinetist for the Honolulu Wind Ensemble. The author will happily lose herself in good stories of any genre, but she has a special love for fantasy. Her books feature the harp, flute, and pipes as the primary Bardic instruments, for, as she regretfully admits, neither the clarinet nor the piano had yet been invented. The Bardic Isles Series is a merging of her two passions-music and writing-and portrays a world that she unabashedly admits loving to escape to. The author believes that we should all have a Master Bergid in our lives, and she was very lucky to have three of them: Michiko Miyamoto and Professor Randolph Hokanson, both amazing piano teachers, and Frances Walton, an inspiring Youth Symphony director.Visit the author at mhimedabooks.com.

Editorial Reviews

2024-10-09
In Himeda’s fantasy novel, a young boy embarks on an adventure of a lifetime to apprentice under a Master of Music, and unlocks his own hidden powers along the way.

Eleven-year-old Kaelin loves and fears music with equal measure. He believes that his flute playing was responsible for a concurrent horrific event that occurred when he was younger, so he now only plays in the forest, where no one else can hear him. The boy lives with his older sister on the Bardic Isles, where the Bards fled after coming close to extinction by the hands of the Druids, more than 200 years before. After hearing the visiting Master Bergid play music that Kaelin himself had composed the day before, he follows the musician and asks to become his apprentice. The two make their way to Elegy for the Spring Council, and the Master slowly discovers Kaelin’s extraordinary gift: “If he focused intently on something in the clearing—a rock, leaf, or tree—he could hear its music, wondrous music that seemed to define its very essence.” As Kaelin sets about exploring his unique abilities, he’ll be forced to confront his own past, as well as the music within Elegy’s Bardic Mountain—the power of which threatens to drain him completely. Over the course of this novel, Himeda employs realistic dialogue and a clear, immersive tone that moves the action effortlessly forward as characters develop. She’s creatively crafted a fantasy novel in which magic comes from music itself, which some readers may consider to be a bold move. It’s a decision that pays off well, though, and the author employs clever touches that build upon the musical aspect, such as dividing the book into “movements” made up of individual chapters. Although the worldbuilding is robust throughout, complete with epic backstories, the novel skips lightly toward its emotional conclusion—one that’s satisfying but also leaves things delightfully open-ended for a future installment of the Bardic Isles series.

A brisk, expertly crafted tale that delivers an important, uplifting lesson about the power of music.

Kirkus Reviews