Hero's Song: The First Song of Eirren

This book for middle-graders probably would have appealed greatly to me at age 11, but I could never quite get into it. It felt like Hero's Song did its utmost to hit every fantasy cliche down to the cast: the humble gardener, the tomboy archer, the bard, the elf, the old wizard as the mentor, the bad guys who are absolute evil without any nuances. It felt like it was trying to be Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, but without that charm and sparkle. The plot is also predictable, and I think it would have been transparent to me as a kid, too. I rushed through to the end, not because I enjoyed it, but because I wanted to get it over with.

I like this book it is interesting and good and makes me feel confident in my own writing? This is because it's not overly amazingly written like some other books that blow you away by how the author weaves language. But that doesn't take away from the story in anyway. It was still a good exciting quest. It was also not exceptionally heartwrenching which was good. You knew good would prevail and it does. Though things feel a bit anticlimactic at times, things pick up a lot in the second half and feel more exciting.

I like all the characters. Collun is a sweetie. Brie is badass. There was some weird possibly romantic tension between them but nothing came of it in this book.

Overall, a cute book that I would recommend if you are looking for show more something classic and not too involved. show less

This was a solid YA fantasy, a bit of a mix of Irish legend and the Hobbit. It was a little jarring when some chocolate showed up! Things were left open for the sequel, but I'm not tempted.

Engaging characters do much to carry this charming tale, but it is overly simplistic for my taste. The Gaelic terminology and use of Irish folklore adds some interest.

I found this book a little stilted and derivative... East, a later work by the same author, is much stronger. All the same, I enjoyed it enough to read the next one in the series.

This is the first in a series. It was written competently but I stopped reading in the middle of it because it just wasn't that interesting.