No Tune Ned

In the kingdom of Draveloch, music holds real power, and the greatest bards are heroes who can shape the world through song. Ned wants nothing more than to be one of them. Unfortunately, however hard he tries, his music is truly, spectacularly terrible. After a disastrous concert and the abrupt disappearance of his teacher, Sir Ballantree, Ned sets off to find him, accompanied by a talking, sarcastic goat he picks up along the way. They are soon joined by Yara, a Snarlseeker (the local term for a monster hunter), and the three head off into the wider world of Draveloch, hitting plenty of scrapes and difficulties as they go. Gradually, Ned begins to realise that his terrible music has a power all its own, made stronger precisely because it is so discordant and awful, and his confidence grows along with it. The story builds to a climax in the caves of the singing stones, where Ned discovers he has been summoned by the Crooner Below, a monstrous being who wants to control sound itself and needs Ned’s gift for discord to win his freedom. An epic battle follows, in which Ned’s heartfelt, imperfect music triumphs over polished perfection, which is more or less the moral of the whole tale.

There is plenty to enjoy here. Clove the goat provides some of the book’s best dialogue and comic timing, and Oliver Lendon has clearly put real thought into building the world of Draveloch, with its monsters and its central conceit that sound is a controlling force. That idea is an interesting one and gives the story a distinctive flavour among fantasy quest adventures for this age group.

At times, though, the level of world building detail slows the pace considerably, and younger or less patient readers may find their attention wandering during the more descriptive passages. That said, children who relish immersing themselves in the particulars of an invented world, and who enjoy a quest filled with battles and odd companions, should find plenty here to satisfy them. A likeable, if occasionally overstuffed, fantasy adventure with a good heart and a memorable message about embracing imperfection and finding your own path.