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Bard's Oath    by Joanne Bertin Amazon.com order for
Bard's Oath
by Joanne Bertin
Order:  USA  Can
Tor, 2012 (2012)
Hardcover, e-Book
* * *   Reviewed by Wanda Plourde

In this follow up to The Last Dragonlord and Dragon and Phoenix, Leet is a Master Bard whose magic makes people entranced by the stories he tells. But lately Leet has been working on something dark and forbidding.

Leet seeks revenge on those he believes caused the death of the woman he loved. Bitter and consumed with hatred, he had a very special harp made, uncaring of any consequences. The harp is twisted with a very dark and evil magic. To accomplish his revenge, Leet travels to the horse fair to use unsuspecting people as his pawns. One such is Raven, a very young horse breeder who is at the fair hoping to make a name for himself - he will end up with a name, but not the one he wants.

Raven is a good friend to the Dragonlords and also to one of the horse breeders he works with. After being subjected to Leet's harp magic, Raven is totally unaware of what was done to him and supposedly causes a death of a lord. Accused of murder, Raven turns to his Dragonlord friend Linden for help. But Raven cannot remember a thing and Linden has nothing to go on but an old tale, with music the only clue. Will Linden be able to save his friend Raven or will Leet succeed in his revenge by destroying all his enemies?

As a huge fantasy fan, I rate Joanne Bertin with some of the best. A master bard herself, she weaves intrigue in multiple layers to spin an awesome story.

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