The Bards of Bone Plain [Paperback]

I've been reading Patricia A. McKillip since her very first novel came out, and I think she is one of the most creative imaginers and certainly one of the most sophisticated writers of fantasy of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. From that vantage I think "The Bards of Bone Plain" is the best she's done in many years.

Not, of course, that any of her books are less than elegant and wonderful. Not so. But "The Bards of Bone Plain" is incredibly tightly written, and its fusion with a lightly glossed steampunk quasi-Victorian kingdom and the centuries-long quest of an immortal bard for his lost music just plain works seamlessly. You believe that you can simply step sideways from the mundane to the magical and back, easily and painlessly.

Her characters are well-drawn and are clear and clever enough to spawn one of those BBC miniseries where sparkling dialog is the chief hallmark of civilization. The bemused king watching his youngest daughter be more interested in archaeology than "princessing," while his queen fumes is worth a couple of guffaws and a hiccup. The sad quest of Jonah Cle for his lost magic after failing the three tests on Bone Plain centers the book and provides a sobering thread throughout.

This, here, is the real deal, folks. If this isn't one of the finalists for the World Fantasy Award in 2011, there ain't no justice.

Walt Boyes
Active Member SFWA

I've read most of Patricia McKillip's books over the years, and always look forward to her densely poetic fables dealing with one or more of her favorite themes: magic, music, language, scholars and usually a few cameo appearances featuring beautifully described foods. I am familiar with the parallel plotlines, often alternating from chapter to chapter, and often fancy I can catch a glimpse here and there of my native Oregon in her descriptions of the landscape. I enjoy the thoughtful, image-rich meditations in which she steeps her stories, although I can't always understand the point she is driving at. But this only leaves room for re-reading, as I know I'll always discover something new in her work. Also, I have to mention that Kinuko Craft's beatiful artwork is a perfect complement to the beauty of the stories found within the covers of the books.
This book is not devoid of any of the aforementioned features, and it does have a coherent, straigtforward story. However, I found the plot almost too simple. I could see pretty much the whole trajectory early on in the book, and while that is not necessarily a fatal detriment in work as poetic as McKillip's, I found myself a bit bored with the characters as well. They seemed fairly one-dimensional, save for Nairn, Declan and the mysterious Welkin, who remained a bit too wrapped in mystery for my satisfaction.
Another of McKillip's works, Alphabet of Thorn, is similarly straightforward in plot, but throws in a lot more intersting twists and features more complex characters. Also, the mysterious language which is driving the plot in Alphabet has a more satifying reveal than the runes of The Bards of Bone Plain, which, like Welkin, are never fully delineated in all their glory. The Bards of Bone Plain is a watery, sweet tea compared to the spicier broth that is Alphabet of Thorn.
I will still buy McKillip's books, as there are many aspects of her work that I delight in. I love her quirky, playful side and did I mention her great descriptive powers? However, I will hope that her future works more fully incorporate all of her talents to create a masterful brew of soaring storytelling.

Patricia McKillip does it again! Unique among fantasy writers for her dreamy prose, her ability to meld complex characterization with original fairytale plots, and her ability to slip in a clever twist or two before the story's end, McKillip returns to form after the slightly lackluster The Bell at Sealey Head (great build-up, terrible climax) with "The Bards of Bone Plain."

For his final school essay, Phelan Cle decides to write about Bone Plain, the mysterious plain-lands where his eccentric father Jonah spends most of his days excavating for lost riches. Dotted with standing stones and the subject of many poems and ballads in the bardic tradition, Phelan assumes it'll be an easy topic with which to complete his education. But he soon finds himself sinking deeper and deeper into the ancient records that recount the history of the bard Nairn, an enigmatic figure linked closely with Bone Plain.

Phelan's discoveries are connected to the Princess Beatrice's own work alongside his father on the plain. Uninterested with the life of a princess, Beatrice spends her days among Jonah Cle's archeologists as they dig up the relics of the old bard school, hoping to glean some understanding of the past. The comedic aspect of this novel concerns Beatrice's attempts to avoid her family's obsession with impending weddings and her disapproving mother's constant threats to remove Beatrice to the more lady-like setting of a faraway relative's house.

But there is a parallel plotline at work alongside Phelan and Beatrice's sojourns into the past. Though they exist in what seems to be a quasi-Victoria period that comes complete with steam-powered cars and garden parties, alternating chapters take us back to the more typical medieval era that permeates the fantasy genre, revealing the actual history of the enigmatic Nairn and his journey from a pig-keeper to the tragic circumstances that earned him titles such as "the Unforgiven" and "the Wandering Bard."

As the story unfolds, these two plotlines begin to merge as the past inevitably rushes up to greet the present. As the mysteries of Nairn's past are revealed one by one, the present-day populace is absorbed with the upcoming competition that decides who holds the position of the king's court bard. Phelan's friend Zoe is the favorite among the competitors, but the arrival of a black-clad traveler from the north throws her victory into doubt. This visitor clearly knows more than he's letting on - more about Phelan's research and Beatrice's archeological discoveries, not to mention more about Bone Plain itself.

As always, McKillip's work must come with a disclaimer to new readers: that her prose and style will catch you off-guard with its dreamy, vague quality. Often it envelops the plot and characterization behind a veil of adjectives and similes that take a few seconds to untangle, but which always add to the richness and mystery of the reading experience. It is best described by K.Y. Craft's exquisite cover art: beautiful and intricate and filled with minute detail that demands close inspection.

There are a few slip-ups here and there: a last-minute romance seems tacked up and out-of-nowhere, and her main antagonist (if we can even call him that) is a little *too* ambiguous for his own good, but for the most part this is vintage McKillip. Her fascination with language, music, history, and the relationship between past and present are well utilized in previous books, and here they are refined and thematically connected into a satisfying arc of exploration and discovery. McKillip's characters are sparkling with life, though perhaps a little underdeveloped in this case, and she never gets bogged down in a quagmire of endless world-building and excessive detail. Best of all, McKillips's novels are self-contained. One does not have to collect a dozen or so books in order to get the complete story - here you will get a clear beginning, middle and end within the pages of a single book. If only other fantasists could be so generous to their readers!

"The Bards of Bone Plain" demands a re-read almost the very instant that you finish it, just to better appreciate the way its interconnected stories and characters relate to one another in light of the final chapters' revelations. Personally, I think it's one of McKillip's most accomplished works, though she has yet to dislodge Alphabet Of Thorn from its place as my absolute favorite.

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