Product Description

From the Isle of Echoes the forces of good and evil are held in harmony by those who hear and sing. When a mainlander's ship is wreeked and the Merlee half creatures are heard crying across the waves the lives of three novice Singers are changed forever. Rialle, the heroine, who hears the cry of the Merlee, is sent to calm them with Challa, her voice as sweet as sunlight. Frenn, her friend and protector, follows as a stowaway while Kherron, the rebel, allows his desire for freedom to take him into danger and a headlong clash with the enemy and their mysterious powers. All are caught up in a dangerous and sinister web, battling against the powers of darkness that threaten to destroy their world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #165824 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
SongQuest is an excellent adventure-quest, rich in powerful description and invention. Like Harry Potter, it is based in a school--a school for Singers, children who are learning to command songs which can control thought. The different kinds of songs are powerful tools for good in the right hands but can be deadly dangerous when misused: challa the dream song, soothing and healing as people sleep; kashe, for healing through laughter; shi, a song of pain, for healing through tears; aushan, a scary song that brings life to inner fears; and yehn, most frightening of all and very rarely to be used, which closes doors in the head leading to a kind of living death. In their final year of training, three children Rialle, Frenn and Kherron get caught up in the brutal battle between the forces of good from their home, the Isle of Echoes, and the evil wielded by the Kingdom of the Karch. Each must use their particular skills to save the half creatures, the merlee and the quetzal, who are being ruthlessly slaughtered by the Karch. Rialle has the true Singer's gift for both singing and listening but Frenn and Kherron each have a special part to play, too.

SongQuest is the first of what promises to be an absorbing fantasy sequence which satisfies on many levels. (Ages 10-12 years) --Julia Eccleshare

From the Author
Song Quest has a future!
Song Quest is my first novel. It grew from two short stories published in two different fantasy magazines that between them demanded to be a longer story... One was about the half-human, half-fish MERLEE whose songs had power over the wind and waves; the other created the PENTANGLE and the ECHORIUM (although I didn't know what the bluestone building where Singers lived was going to be called back then!) I was lucky enough to find an editor called Barry Cunningham who also thought these stories should be a book, and Song Quest was the result. When we won the Branford Boase Award in June 2000 for Best First Children's Novel, it was wonderful to know that other people, too, thought the story deserved to live. But we didn't stop there!

Fans of Song Quest might be interested to know that I have already written CRYSTAL MASK, the second book in the sequence, and that there will be a third just as soon as I get back to my "real-work" computer. All the Echorium books will be published by Barry Cunningham's new company Chicken House, since Element are now sadly out of business. This means that those of you who have been looking for Song Quest on this site should soon be able to find it... watch this space!

Customer Reviews

A book to escape into
I was enthralled reading this. What a delightful book. It is written in a similar vein to the Anne McCaffrey "Chronicles of Pern" although I found Song Quest lighter and it was much easier to follow the different characters. It was uplifting, while at the same time, made you angry with ignorant humans and how they harm the world around them, intentionally or not. I will be looking to read more of Katherine Roberts' writings.

wonderful read for young and old alike.
Although this is in the childrens section this book captures the imagination for the young and old (I'm in the 'old' category!) and is well worth a try. I read all 3 books in this series in a week and I'll certainly read more from Katherine Roberts. Give it a go, and if you're an adult like me then don't be embaressed by picking a book from the kids section.

An excellent fantasy story
Song Quest is a well-written fantasy novel, which appeals to those who enjoy the Harry Potter series, but perhaps feel that they're growing out of it.

On the Isle of Echoes, three young novice Singers are learning new skills in the Echorium. There are five different songs that the Singers learn - one that makes you sleep, laugh, and one that even can cause death.

When Rialle, the best in the class, hears the cry of the merlee half-creatures, she's sent on an amazing quest to protect them. Accompanied by the Second Singer, and her friend Frenn who stows away, she risks danger along the way. Little does she know that Kherron, her enemy at the Echorium, is working for what she's fighting against. Will he end up being a friend or foe?

A very readable story - it takes a while to get into it, but after a slow start, the story really picks up. Amazon recommends this for 10-12 year olds, but I'm 14 and enjoyed it thoroughly.