The Ravenmark Saga
Fantasy
October 1, 2012
480
Art is power, Music is magic, And no one is what they seem. When powerful and charismatic painter Lord Malrec brings newly-unemployed music teacher Alannys Gale to Ravanmark, it seems to be the answer to her prayers. She's had all she can stand of the power plays and politics at the middle school where she used to work. But Lord Malrec has plans for her...plans that may not be as noble as they appear. The more she sees of Ravanmark, the more it looks like she may have jumped from the frying pan into the proverbial fire--power plays and politics surround her from the first breath she draws there. And it looks like the biggest player of all...may be her. Music is magic in Ravanmark, and Alannys is a professional musician. A plot unfolds in darkness against the controlling and secretive royal family, and her newfound power may be the key to its success. From the moment she arrives, Alannys knows the nasty feeling of being a pawn in someone else's game of chess. She must begin the tricky business of choosing her side in the coming war. But how can she make a choice, when there is so much she doesn't know? And can she survive the consequences, if her choice is wrong? In a world with magic whose true power is shrouded in the mists of time, and whose people are not always what they seem, Alannys must use all of her strength and courage to harness her power and shape her own destiny as the Music Mage.
Ok. This book was infuriating. Partly because I had such high hopes for a musical approach to a magic system, and partly because of the idiotic things that the characters did throughout the course of the book.
First, a quick summary: The Music Mage is about Alannys, a music teacher, who is transported to a world where musical ability (and, in fact, all art) produces magical effects. Musical ability is extremely rare and also taboo because of the power that can be wielded. A maniacal bad guy is trying to capture her for nefarious purposes, and she meets a handsome prince in the process.
I considered not finishing the book about seven times, but each time plowed ahead anyway. The actual writing was fine, as was much of the dialog and character development. However, I have major problems with the way the premise of the book was executed, especially being a musician. I also have problems with characters making decisions and doing things that are just irrational.
Major spoilers ahead.
So, the premise of this book is that singing and music in general are magic. Fine. We have a <i>music teacher</i> transported to this world. Ok. This promises to be interesting, especially because she is an expert in all things music – singing, many different instruments, music theory, etc. Allanys is told that music is magical and she accidentally stops it from raining by singing “Rain, Rain Go Away.”
Any rational person at this point would sing! A lot! To figure out what she could do, to understand her limitations, to see if particular approaches to singing yielded better results, to see if old nursery rhymes hold power, to see if she could sing-song anything she wanted or if it had to rhyme… It actually pained me that Alannys made it stop raining accidentally and then didn’t sing at all again for several days. I am a dorky computer programmer and amateur musician, and I sing, whistle, or hum several times a day without even thinking about it.
So the bad guy, Malrec, who called Alannys into this world through a painting (more art-magic) starts to charm and seduce her. They go on a carriage ride into the forest, then for a walk, and then he tries to rape her. She doesn’t sing. She doesn’t really know what she can do (see above rant). However, she threatens to sing, and this stops the bad guy. He leaves her in the forest. So she’s alone, and cold, and wearing a dinner gown. It is dark, so she tries singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” but realizes that she’s in a forest and can’t see the stars. Bummer. So she gives up!!! AAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHHH!!!!!! She just wanders in the forest. How about singing a song about a campfire? Or singing a song about a torch? Or a bunch of fireflies? Or a Flashlight? Or a winter coat? Or a tent? Or just being warm? Or on the beach? Or that it is sunny outside? Or that there is a magical path through the forest that she can follow? At that point in the book I thought of dozens of things that might be able to help her, but she just wanders in the dark. Like, I get it if none of that stuff would work for some reason, or the author didn’t want them to work for some reason, but seriously – why would she not try any of that?
So Alannys is wandering through the woods, and happens upon the horse groomsman from Malrec’s castle. He gives her a ride, and they start going back to the castle. He tells her this, and she says “no I don’t want to go there.” But she goes anyway. Back to the place with the man who just tried to rape her. I think that is some pretty bad logic.
Anyway, all of this takes place in the first 20% of the book. I can’t believe that I kept reading after this point, but I did. I finished the book. She meets some friends, has some adventures, and… stuff. Every chapter contained similar terrible decision-making, and also had me flummoxed as to why she didn’t sing.
Much later in the book, Alannys decides that she needs to go back and get her violin from her world, because it is her favorite type of instrument to play, and this world doesn’t have instruments because music is rare and forbidden. Her and her friends sneak back into the bad guy’s castle, they use a painting to send her back to her world, and she goes and gets it. AND THEN NEVER PLAYS IT THE REST OF THE DAMN BOOK. We have no idea what musical instruments are capable of in this magic system. She never even cracks the case open! For like 200 more pages in the book! The other thing that kills me about this is that an instrument can be made out of anything. You don’t need a fine violin to make music… You need a stick and a pot. Or a hollow tube. Or a bottle that you can blow across. Or a friggin kazoo (easy to make)! Or a horn. Or a string with a hollow gourd. Or just your hands clapping. Etc., etc.
At the end of the day, this infuriated me so much because I really loved the idea of the premise. If the magic system was different and didn’t involve music I honestly would have given this 3 stars instead of 1. The character development and plot were fine, and lots of the dialog was good. I liked the two princes, and I liked a lot of the friends that Alannys meets along the way. But I just couldn’t get into the story because of the way that Alannys did not explore her magic powers. She sings like eight times in the whole book, and that is a travesty.