Welcome to the midway discussion of The Lark and the Wren by Mercedes Lackey, our winner for the Mercedes Lackey theme! We will discuss everything up to the end of Chapter 12 (right before the Kingsford Faire). Please use spoiler tags for anything that goes beyond this point.

The Lark and the Wren (Bardic Voices #1) by Mercedes Lackey

Ghost and bard...

With the proper schooling young Rune would be one of the greatest bards her world has ever seen. Even if only she knows it. Unfortunately, the daughter of a tavern wench at the Hungry Bear, no matter how talented, doesn't get much in the way of formal training. What she does get is frustrated.

One night, to back up a brag she probably wouldn't have made if she weren't so mad, she went up to play her fiddle for the Ghost of Skull Hill. Everyone knows that no one who has ever gone up Skull Hill at night has come down again. Not alive, anyway.

But when the ghost appears Rune strikes a bargain: if the ghost tires of her playing before morning her life is his; if he is still listening when the sun glints over yonder hill she will have earned both life and a sack of silver. Let the music begin...

Bingo: First in a Series HM, Entitled Animals, Criminals, Bards HM, Romantasy, Small Town

I'll add some comments below to get us started but feel free to add your own. The final discussion will be in two weeks, on Wednesday August 28, 2024.

As a reminder, in September we'll be reading The Wings Upon Her Back . (And in October it is The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow)

What is the FIF Bookclub? You can read about it in our Reboot thread here."