Sonderbooks Book Review of Hero's Song

****Hero's Song*

The First Song of Eirren

by Edith Pattou

Reviewed May 7, 2004.
Magic Carpet Books (Harcourt), San Diego, 1998. First published in 1991. 315 pages.

I found this book by Edith Pattou because I thoroughly loved her recent book East. I didn’t like this older book as well, but that probably just shows that she’s grown as a writer over the years. Hero’s Song was still a good fantasy adventure tale.

Collun’s sister Nessa was staying at the capital, and she has disappeared. He knows that he needs to go find her, but he’s a gardener, not a fighter. Then a kesil, an old man, tells him that he must not delay any longer. It is time to do what he knows he must.

Along the journey, Collum picks up some companions and soon finds that evil creatures are on his trail. The stone his mother gave him seems to have magic powers, and he learns that his mother may not have been the person he thought her to be. Soon he realizes that much more is at stake than only his sister’s life.

It’s unfortunate that I read this book so soon after Eragon. Although Hero’s Song isn’t as stereotypical in following the “Hero’s Journey” model as Eragon, the story was still a little bit predictable and a little too familiar. Still, this is a good tale, with echoes of Irish legend. I think that fans of the best-selling Eragon looking for more adventures along those lines would enjoy it.

Reviews of other books by Edith Pattou:
East
West

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

***Hero's Song

The First Song of Eirren

by Edith Pattou

****Hero's Song*