Series: Songs of Magic #5
on February 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
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The fifth book in the Songs of Magic series!
Jason, Erin, and the other Zebras go on a world tour with their enchanted instruments, only to encounter the mysterious supernatural Folk of India and the Far East. While they tangle with their record company, Erin tries to avoid dealing with the secrets she's learned about herself, while Jason pieces together a mystery surrounding a very special golden guitar called Caliburn.
In Faerie, Aoide the Lutist and her troupe finally return home from their long adventure. They're struggling to get new gigs, but Aoide senses opportunity in the form of special new magic mirrors that can broadcast concerts, plays, and other entertainment all over Faerie...
My Thoughts:
Book five in the Songs of Magic series finds The Rioting Zebras jetting off to India, Australia, and other points east on their World Tour where they’re worked to exhaustion with little downtime while bigger changes are brewing back in Fairie.
A documentary crew is following Jason, Erin, Mitch, and Dred around during the world tour, filming them nearly twenty-four/seven for a reality show. When they don’t find much drama amongst the band members, the producer decides to create some—and he quickly figures out which weak spots to poke and prod until someone breaks. I’ll just say that Mitch is the easiest target…
Jason and Erin finally get to be a real couple in Fairyvision, and they are so great together. She’s still struggling with her fairy heritage, but when they are in danger, that kind of lineage does come in handy to fight back. Jason is supportive as ever, but will it be enough in the end?
The band encounter good and bad Fairy Folk in the far corners of the world on their tour, but determining who’s a friend and who’s a foe isn’t that easy—especially when Mitch is basically being a douche to everyone. Danger is omnipresent from fans and Folk alike, and the bandmates are on edge that much more.
Aoide and her band travel back to Siddhe City with a wagon full of silver from man world so they can buy new instruments because Aoide and the wolf failed to get the magical instruments back from Jason. Still out of work, the band mates find a new work opportunity at the fair when high-tech mirrors debut, allowing Folk to watch programs from their homes. If Aoide and the fairy band sign a contract to play on the new magic mirrors, will this lead to steady work or the fame and fortune that Aoide secretly craves?
Over the course of the five books in the Songs of Magic series, JL Bryan has taken what started as a fun, campy, young adult series about what kind of shenanigans a band can get into if they stole magical instruments that can entrance humans, and he skillfully molded them into great examples of careful world building and evolving characters that hold your attention while still carrying the main entertaining essence. Fairyvision is a little bit darker in tone (which I thoroughly enjoyed), but the trademark puns are still present in their punny goodness along with interesting parallels between fairy world life and real world items.
I give this fifth installment a solid five out of five. Each book delves deeper while the characters evolve down paths I never thought I’d see. Full of fun, quirky characters and even weirder names for plants and animals in Fairie, this series is a great pleasure to read and draw parallels to real life.
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hey, thanks for this review, i’ll read it too and than i’ll comment 🙂
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I love the band’s name. Not sure what zebras have to riot over but it’s a memorable name, for sure! And as long as the puns are still rockin’, this series can come a-knockin’! (sorry…not sure what happened to my brain there.)
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Crap! How did this series already get to book five? I won the first book last year and I very much want to try this series. It sounds so fun. I like that it is evolving as well. What a stunning cover!
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