"The Singer of All Songs" by Kate Constable

Rating: 4

Description: Calwyn is a young ice priestess in Antaris, an isolated mountain community, when she comes across an injured young man while singing the renewing chantments for Antaris's magical wall. The other priestesses feel threatened by Darrow, but Calwyn is intrigued by the mysterious chanter. He tells her of an evil sorcerer who intends to be the Singer of All Songs, master of all nine powers of the land of Tremaris, who will gather the chantments without regard for their singers. And when he reaches Antaris, destroying the only home Calwyn has ever known, she leaves the mountains with Darrow on a quest to stop him. Calwyn meets many new people, and encounters strange new chantments, including those of iron, wind, beast, and seeming, the magic of illusion. Calwyn becomes more and more powerful with each new chantment she learns, but will it be enough to stop the self-styled Singer of All Songs?

Review: "The Singer of All Songs" is a marvelous fantasy. The world itself seems to be typical fantasy realm, but the form of the magic is unique and interesting, and the author masterfully pulls you into the chantments, until you can almost hear the music. The characters other than Calwyn sometimes pale into the background, and Darrow, the male lead, is irritatingly broody, but it's not bad enough to detract from the story. "The Singer of All Songs" is well worth the read, and I can't wait for the next book in the trilogy!