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Angieville: BALLAD: A GATHERING OF FAERIE Sep 24, 2009 (12 of 12 found this helpful)
BALLAD is the sequel (perhaps companion novel would be a better term) to Maggie Stiefvater's debut novel Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception. In a shift similar to the one in between Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely), BALLAD switches narrators from Dee to her best friend James Morgan. And James, like Marr's Leslie, is in rather a lot of trouble. The story follows his struggle to recover from narrowly escaping death at the hands of homicidal faeries in order to protect Dee, as well as his stuttering attempts to deal with life after telling his best friend he's in love with her and having her not return the sentiment.
Even though James doesn't care much what happens to himself, he does still care about Dee (almost against his will). And so he follows her to Thornking-Ash Conservatory, enrolling in a school full of gifted musicians guaranteed to annoy the crap out of him, in order to be near her. And despite the fact that he's a piper and they have no program to suit his level of expertise. But Dee barely talks to him. And when she does their brief conversations are hideously awkward, full of meaningless banter and superficial smiles. Meanwhile the faeries are far from finished meddling in James' life. On his way back to school after a spectacularly failed piping lesson, James runs into an unusual faery named Nuala. Unbeknownst to James, Nuala is a faery muse who gifts her chosen humans with unmatched artistic ability only to feed on their souls until they burn up and die. Nuala has been without a human for too long and is intent on claiming James. All she needs is an invitation...
BALLAD is a love letter to James fans. Period. If you liked yon lanky, loquacious lad before you will fall head over heels in love with him in this installment. Witty repartee and quirky t-shirts aside, BALLAD brings us infinitely farther into James' mind than the brief but enticing glimpse we got in Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception And what's there is richer and more painful than one might expect from his humorous exterior. The sort of deal Nuala offers is the height of temptation for this troubled young man who is obsessed with music and excellence and who is so very alone. BALLAD is a tighter story than its predecessor and that fact was clear from page one. James and the cadre of disciples he gathers round him like a cloak at Thornking-Ash fairly leap off the page at you until all you want in life is to be chummy and sarcastic with them all day long. Nuala is a different story. The chapters alternate between James and Nuala's point of view (with a few text messages from Dee interspersed here and there). And as she gets to know and appreciate James, I came to like her more and more. But Nuala didn't ever quite come into focus for me as much as James did. Of course, he's a hard act to follow. For as he edges closer and closer to completely unravelling, his witty facade gets sharper, more honed, more irresistable. Both to the reader and the psychic vampire obsessed with him. I laughed and gasped and wrung my hands with worry for this boy. And I miss him now that it's over.
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Lush and Lovely Oct 5, 2009 (4 of 4 found this helpful)
It doesn't happen nearly often enough which, of course, only makes it that much more special when it does. That delicious glow starts deep inside - sometimes only a few pages into a book. It's golden and warm and magical and it's telling you that you're going to love the book in your hands, that you've found one of those rare stories that is perfect for you and that is destined to linger in your mind long after you've read the last page.
Maggie Stiefvater's Lament, with its beautiful language and angsty, romantic story of seemingly doomed love, was one of those books for me. When her second novel, Shiver, failed to touch me in the same way, I felt sad, wondering if Lament would prove to be a one off. But then I read Ballad and the magic was there again.
*Happy sigh.*
Ballad isn't a fast paced, action-packed adventure. If that's what you're in the mood to read, look elsewhere. Instead, Ballad is slow and lush and gut-wrenching, with gorgeous writing that paints a detailed picture of the emotional devastation of loving someone who truly loves you in return but not in a romantic way. The guy in love is James Morgan; clever, complicated and brilliant. The girl he loves is Deirdre (Dee) Monaghan, his best friend who, in Ballad, is still mourning Luke, the tortured and tormented assassin from Lament who may no longer even be alive and is certainly beyond her reach.
Ballad picks up shortly after Lament. Musical prodigies James and Dee are both attending the Thornhill-Ash School of Music. James knows the school has little to offer him, but he followed his heart, wanting to stay close to Dee. Unfortunately, Dee has been changed by the events of Lament and both she and their friendship seem broken. They rarely see one another and when they do cross paths, their conversations are stilted and brief. To make matters worse, shortly after arriving at school James and Dee realize that their encounters with the fae are not at an end. Dee's seeing Them - James doesn't know how often or in what context - and James himself is nightly hearing songs about the dead.
Entering into this unsettled world is Nuala, a leanan sidhe. Despised by the fae for her nearly human state, Nuala is a muse who bestows dreams upon and steals years of life from the talented humans to whom she gives the gift of brilliance. And she has set her eyes on James. She can, she knows, make him even more incredible than he already is and in exchange, he can make her "warm, alive & awake". Nuala is a strong and intriguing character and Stiefvater has done a wonderful job both at making her likable and at keeping her distinctly non-human. Watching her character evolve is a real pleasure.
While I loved Nuala, the heart of Ballad remains James; strong, smart and funny James, the tormented genius who writes compulsively on his hands and arms and finds himself growing increasingly attracted to a creature who, should he make a deal with her, will ultimately kill him.
Each chapter of Ballad is told from either James or Nuala's first person point of view with insertions of unsent text messages from Dee to James that give us hints of the continued danger Dee faces and the uneasy state of her mind.
Dee's Aunt Delia, James' roommate Paul and Sullivan, the oh-so-intriguing-teacher-with-a-past are all interesting supporting characters that flesh out the story, adding to its depth.
While Ballad is being touted by some as a stand alone, a companion novel rather than a sequel, I really feel you have to read Lament first in order to fully appreciate Ballad. For one thing, if you skip Lament, you'll never understand James' love for and devotion to Dee because, in Ballad, she often comes across as being nearly as heartless as the faeries.
And heartless the faeries are. These are dark beings, lacking in compassion, careless of life and without mercy - not onl
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Ballad Oct 30, 2009 (1 of 1 found this helpful)
The Summer & the events with the faeries have ended. James & Deirdre are now attending the music school ThornKing-Ash, where it seems life has gone back to normal. But then James and this music catches the eye of a Soul snatching faerie named Nuala...
Ballad continues the complex battle between human and faerie. It makes for one riveting tale, highly enjoyable. Filled with suspense and adventure. Ms. Stiefvater has created a dark, thrilling world that I look forward to visiting again. I was so excited to see that James was narrating this book, he kinda got pushed aside in book one, and I thought his personality too intriguing not to get his own book. If you think you'll like this book, I suggest reading Lament to see how James & Deirdre's story began.
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Awesome! Oct 21, 2009 (1 of 1 found this helpful)
Description: After nearly being killed by the faerie court in the course of a political coup, James is ready to head off to boarding school and leave it all behind. Maybe he'll even manage to reconnect with his former best friend, Dee, now that Luke is out of the picture. But as James gets settled in at school, he starts to realize that the faeries may have followed him, and life is not going to get any easier. When he meets the mysterious creature Nuala (say it Noola), he strikes an uneasy truce that might grow into something more. That is, unless the capricious faerie queen decides to drive them apart.
My thoughts: Wow. I loved this book.
While I enjoyed Lament, I have to say that Ballad is better! The slight choppiness in the writing that bothered me with Lament is gone, replaced with beautifully flowing prose that suits the story incredibly well.
The narration in Ballad alternates the perspectives of James and Nuala. I adore James as a protagonist. His witty narration is fun and easy to read, keeping a certain lightness in the story even when events take a dark turn. And his interaction with Nuala is fantastic. Nuala is a great character to spend time with as well. Her dark and mysterious history has created a personality that's edgy and not particularly good-natured, but she's vulnerable enough to make her likable.
Fans of Dee will be sad to know that she takes a minor role in this story, sticking mainly to the background. Readers keep up with her through her unsent text messages to James, inserted randomly between chapters to advance the storyline. I also loved Sullivan, and I'll be interested to know what happens to him in the future if Stiefvater decides to continue with this world.
On the negative side... I can't really think of anything that I didn't like. This is a great book! Read it!
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Another Enchanting Read Oct 14, 2009 (1 of 1 found this helpful)
I'm not really sure how I came across the first book in this series, Lament, but I think it was while reading some blogs last year that recommended it as a good read. I ordered for the library and decided to read it before putting it out on the shelf because I hadn't heard much about the content just that it was a pretty good book.
Lament actually ended up being one of my most favorite books...ever. Maggie is a wonderful storyteller and her writing is just magical. I have been anticipating Ballad for months now and was completely happy with the results. I was worried that I would be too focused on missing the main characters from Lament, Dee and Luke but James and Nuala's story is just as compelling and we do get glints of Dee and Luke here and there.
The setting for Ballad is a private high school for super talented musicians where James and Dee both attend. Dee is overwhelmed with thoughts of Luke and James must deal with the fact that his love is unrequited. When he meets Nuala he senses how dangerous she is but is immediately drawn to her.
Despite her intentions there is something different about James and Nuala takes risks to find out more about him. When the battle lines are drawn between humans and faeries she must make choices and decide where she belongs.
Exquisite writing and an enchanting tale make this a must read. It may be my own wishful thinking but the ending definitely leaves the possibility for more to the story...but that, ladies and gentlemen, is still a tale to be told...