Phelan Cle, a student at the bardic school in Caeru, never really wanted to be a bard. His decidedly unmusical and eccentric father, Jonah had other ambitions for his son, however, pushing Phelan toward music at every turn. Now that Phelan is about to finally graduate, he’s determined to make things easy on himself . He’s chosen perhaps the most commonly researched, straight-forward topic possible for his final dissertation…the myths and songs surrounding Bone Plain, said to be the origin of bardic tradition, poetry, and song, the place where Nairn the mysterious Wandering Bard failed the equally mysterious Three Trials and vanished from history. No one knows the location of the Plain, or even if it ever existed outside of metaphor and folklore.  However, as he digs into the stories and records, he begins to piece together the surprising truths behind the tale. Meanwhile, his archaeologist father and his best student, the unconventional Princess Beatrice, continue digs of their own. When Beatrice discovers a mysterious artifact and and even more mysterious buried doorway, the final pieces of the puzzle surrounding Bone Plain and Nairn the Wanderer begin falling into place.

Lyrical, complex, and mythic in scope yet entirely human in detail, “The Bards of Bone Plain” is an example of McKillip at her best.