Rating: 
Summary: Feminine fantasies
Review: (My name is Tracy, but I am male) I am very interested in Irish culture and mythology, but this book was way too feminine for me to be able to wade thru. Most (95%) of the text is long, boring descriptions of the various character's emotional states; the "action" such as it is, is just silly. For example, the hero's brother has gone berserk, and is about to kill an important guest, when he is stopped in mid-sword-stroke by the beauty of the song that the Bard starts to sing. Yeah, right. If you are a fan of bodice-ripper type historical romances, then you will like this book; otherwise forget it.
Rating: 
Summary: As good as the others she has written...
Review: ...which says a lot. Llywelyn writes incredible novels, and this one is definitly up to par. My favorite is still Druids, but this one, a saga of the coming of the Milesians to Ireland, is a fascinating and fun read as well. Well worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: Ending almost spoils the voyage.
Review: As a previous reviewer mentioned, the ending is a problem. While the characters are symbolic more than fully developed, they are a serviceable means of telling the story of one possible way the Gaels settled in Ireland. The history seems plausible and the daily life of this tribe comes across as very true. But after creating an atmosphere that seems to be based strongly on available research, Llywelyn introduces the "little people" and things rapidly go downhill. With cryptic mentions of powerful weapons that were "earthkillers" and the disappearence of the Tuatha De Danann, the book enters the realm of fantasy. Not a problem if it started that way, but quite a shock to this reader after following a journey that seemed very true up until this point. If you can make the leap the author requires of the reader, this book is an interesting look at the history of the Irish.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful well told story
Review: As one with distant Celtic heritage, that did not grow up with any of the wonderful stories that Ms. Llewelyn tells, I am grateful for for insights into the make up of my families psychology. Bard, Red Branch, Lion Of Ireland ect. Help me to both understand where we get some of our predelictions and temperments. So blah, blah, blah, to reviewers who want to show thier scholerly prowess by proving her inacurate.They are stories based on myths and legends, that are most likely based on some exagerated truth. I loved this story.
Rating:
Summary: More Speculative Than Historical
Review: I don't particularly wish to take the wind out of peoples' sails, but this book is more a work of speculative fiction than historical, despite the author's scholarship or the extensive bibliography presented at the back of the book. Very little substantive is known of the Celts, even less than of the Vikings, and while some archeological evidence provides material hints, there is not enough material evidence to do much other than to reconstruct the form of their dwellings and, based upon the artifacts of tools and weapons, postulate upon the level of their material culture and the extent of their trade with other peoples. As with the Vikings, what little primary sources do exist were often written after the fact, as well as by authors that could be considered foes, thus questionable both as to the veracity and bias of the information presented. The bulk of what has come down to us regarding the Celtic peoples of Ireland are in the form of legends and myths originally based upon a bardic tradition and written down long after that oral tradition had fallen into disuse, most often by chroniclers who were neither Celtic nor necessarily sympathetic or familiar with either the culture or religious elements of the tales they transcribed. We are dealing here with legends, and while some broad conclusions can be drawn---as in Robert Grave's "The White Goddess," referred to by the author in the first edition---from shared cultural and mythopoeic archetypes and material evidence, much that has been expostulated about the Celts, both fictionally and in texts attempting to reconstruct their culture and society, will not stand up to close historical scrutiny. This is far more a work of speculative than historical or literary fiction, and should be approached as such. Taken within the context of fantasy fiction, with what little historical basis as can be reconstructed or questionably projected from the scanty evidence, this book is in many ways successful, presenting a fictional culture whose approach to the world and their lives offers the reader an alternative moral and spiritual compass, one in which it is hard not to find sympathy, and compares favorably, as I am sure is the author's intention, with the values of contemporary, modern society. Well written (though the author's periodic multiple shifts of point of view within the same page is at times disorienting, and would be one of the first things a creative writing student would learn to avoid), the author creates a highly detailed if romanticized society and world which captivates the reader's interest, as well as a diverse cast of characters which, unlike some other earlier reviewers, I found complex and multifaceted, despite the fact that the main point of view is that of the bard, Amergin. Essentially a tale chronicling the legendary immigration of Celtic Gaels from the Galician coast of Spain to the shores of Ireland, spurred by the vision of the legendary and perhaps entirely mythic bard Amergin, at least half of the story takes place in Celtic Spain, detailing the familial, religious and social structure surrounding the book's characters, as well as the events precipitating their voyage to Ireland. Much of the first one hundred pages of the book attempt to provide a cultural and historical background for the Celtic population in Spain, accomplishing this through repeated flashbacks that are for the most part expository and only partially successful, drawing the reader's attention away from the characters and the narrative's contemporary setting, often seeming to attempt to recreate a past too vast to be successfully contained within the scope of a hundred pages. I found this attempt to provide extensive background to the book's setting enervating to the narrative's main plot line, over-reaching itself in its effort to anchor the book's events within a quasi-historical setting. Nor is the ending entirely satisfying, though my dissatisfaction is not based upon its fantastical elements, as some other readers have complained. As stated earlier, this work is, in essence, fantasy, and the introduction of the Tuatha De Danaan is appropriate, both in terms of the book's format as well as the mythic associations of this legendary people with the Celtic migration and "conquest" of Erin. Nor is this the first overt introduction into the story of speculative elements, unless the reader is to accept the magical properties of divination, voices heard upon the wind, or the druidic groves as historical skills and knowledge since lost to present day society. The dissatisfaction I had with the book's conclusion comes with its abrupt and unresolved ending, in which the conflicts that have dominated the latter pages continue, presuming---indeed inferring and creating---an expectation of resolution that never takes place. One is left wondering as to the future, expecting and wanting further development to the unresolved events surrounding the remaining characters. This is compounded by the tidy romantic rewards of the book's main character. Had this been another author's work, the obvious assumption would be that the book's conclusion was serving as a launch for a second book that would pick up where the first left off. However, this is not the case here: there are no successive books by Llewelyn continuing the saga begun here of the life of the Irish bard Amergin. Instead the last words spoken in the narrative are left begging for a future that never arrives. Overall, a well written book that is bound to appeal to fans of Celtic mythology or fantasy guised as history. However its rewards are muted somewhat by the author's attempt to apply too broad a brush at the beginning, and an inability to fully resolve the story's conclusion, which prevents this book from being ranked among the best fantasy currently has to offer.
Rating:
Summary: A True Writer
Review: I found The Bard a good read, not Morgan Llywelyn's best but very good. The deeper you get into the work the more you are pulled into it. I was sad to see it end...while she pulls you to do further reading. The Bard would surely cause me to seek out other Llywelyn works, of those that I haven't already consumed. You find yourself feeling for the characters, resenting some, while admiring others. Pity for a some and joy for a few. I found myself trying to think ahead, predicting the next turn... sometimes with success, other times with suprise. I would highly recommend this work to anyone with an interest in Gaelic roots & interest.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: I recently picked this book up, after reading all of Llywelyn's books from The Irish Century series (which I also recommend, as they are the best books I've ever read). This book is truly wonderful. It's not realistic (nor do I think it was intended to be), but it has that wonderful quality that all of Irish myth and legend has: the ability to transcend time and space. This book is a true tribute to the legacy of Irish storytelling and bardic tradition.
I give it 4 stars, though (4 1/2, if it'd let me), because the ending is a bit abrupt; but this may just be Llyewelyn's way of letting the reader know the story of Ierne is still continuing.
Rating:
Summary: A True Writer
Review: Morgan Llywelyn is a true fantasy writer. She adds whole new levels to the original tales that we all know.
Rating:
Summary: Exquisite depiction of Ireland's legendary ancestry.
Review: Ms Llywelyn in this exceptional book about the legendary be-ginnings of the Irish people blends together the conceivablehypothesis of an Iberian migration and the ephemeral mythology of Irish fairy folk origins. Her depiction of Amerghain, the main character in his quest to achieve the poem of his lifetime is intertwined with the equally intense quest that his family members have to make their own marks on the landscape of time. There is here all the pagentry of a royal court and there is also the intangible essence of faith, magic, and deep seated beliefs. Notable is the research that went into this book which gives it the inescapable element of being more than fiction and yet the author proves quite capable of endowing the distant legends and lore with all the flesh and blood and emotions that are the keys to connection with these seemingly faceless names from a time now often forgotten. A superbly written and highly enjoyable book for anyone with even a remote interest in history or magic that is always associated with the land of Eire!
Rating:
Summary: A retelling worth reading
Review: This is what a novel based on Celtic legends should look like. Llywelyn certainly knows how to write, but where she goes above and beyond the call of duty is her willingness to extensively research scholarly and oftentimes dry sources. Likely, she heard the legends of Ireland's past growing up, yet she nevertheless presents extensive bibliographies at the end of her novels. Bard is no exception. While artistic license is taken in order to draw the modern reader into the tale, it is clear that Llywelyn knows what she is doing, breathing new life into the people of Ireland's mythological tradition while remaining faithful to the source.
However, I did find difficulty with references to "the Mother" regarding the earth, given that Llywelyn cited Robert Graves' silly The White Goddess as a source, but it is a mistake easily overlooked. Also, the end of the novel seemed slightly forced, as if Llywelyn was stretching to connect the De Danaan natives to the Milesian conquerors.
Regardless of its slight flaws, Bard is an excellent read filled with compelling characters, comfortable prose, and an exciting retelling of the events of The Book of Invasions.
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