by Carol Berg

How much is required of a man chosen by a god?

Brutal imprisonment has broken Aidan McAllister. His voice is silent, his hands ruined, his music that once offered beauty and hope to war-torn Elyria destroyed. The god who nurtured his talent since boyhood has abandoned him. But no one ever told him his crime. To discover the truth, he must risk his hard-bought freedom to unlock the mind of his god and the heart of his enemy.

Read an excerpt of Song of the Beast
Reviews of Song of the Beast
People, Places,and Pronunciations from Song of the Beast

NAL/Roc Books
ISBN 978-0451464231
(See larger size.)

What happens to a hero after the grand and terrible events of his story are over? When no one's seen him for almost three years, a trustworthy soul might be sent out to take a look, especially as events are turning serious in the world he changed. Take a peek:

     After a lonely month's slogging through that chilly, rainy, miserable wilderness, one might expect the excitement of my first royal mission entirely exhausted. But as I approached the summit of yet another steep rise, anticipation still shivered my skin. Would the legend be waiting beyond this crest? The Dragon Singer, Aidan MacAllister, beloved of the gods? Would he dwell in a temple or palace or a fortress of dragon bones? Or would I top this verdant, boulder-strewn slope and walk straight into one of his visions?
     Tales said that at the height of his fame, before he was thrown into prison and broken, Aidan MacAllister's music could transport your soul right out of your body. No matter how terrible your circumstances, for that one moment you would exist in a place of beauty and harmony. What a wonder that must have been.
     I scanned the clouds lowering over the crags and stretched my hearing into the unsettling quiet.
     Then again, I might only find the Singer's beasts beyond the rise. The dragons. Perhaps I'd find naught but the Singer's scorched bones.
     One might expect the excitement of my first royal mission entirely exhausted after a lonely month's slogging through that chilly, rainy, miserable wilderness. But as I approached the summit of yet another steep rise, anticipation still shivered my skin. Would the man be waiting beyond this crest? The legend. The Dragon Singer. Aidan MacAllister, beloved of the gods. Would he dwell in a fortress of dragon bones or in a god-wrought temple? Or would I top the verdant, boulder-strewn slope and walk straight into one of his visions...

Find this book online through Indiebound or Amazon.com.
They are available in Kindle and various other electronic formats, audio edition from Audible.com, as well as the print edition.