Chasing the Bard

The Fey are dying, killed by something beyond the boundaries of worlds, and Sive will do anything to save them. So she enlists the help of her trickster cousin Puck to guard the child, and watch him grow into his gift. But a dark power imprisoned by human and Fey, plots to destroy both worlds, and unmake all that they have created.

Can one boy stop the destruction, even if he is William Shakespeare?

Reviews

In the Library Review

Chasing the Bard is a saga of love and betrayal. In a time when magic is slowly dying at the hand of the church, the fey return one last time for help. Philippa Ballantine expertly describes the life and times of Elizabethan England within a story of ancient magic and power. Chasing the Bard deftly weaves history and fantasy within the mortal and fey world. Maybe he was called the Bard for reasons beyond his plays and sonnets.

Chasing the Bard intrigued and mesmerized me with its tale of heartache and sorrow. Sive and Will's relationship captured my heart and I longed for them to be together. Will became more than a part of history, he lived in Chasing the Bard and I will miss him. Philippa Ballantine brilliantly exposes the blindness that causes us to believe we don't need each other whether human or not.

What people are saying...

The Setting

The book is set not only in England, but also in that place where our dreams come from, where the world is made up of the creatures that inhabit our stories. In many cultures this world has many names, in this time and place it is called the Fey. Faeries, Puck, Auberon, they all live there. Their world needs ours, and ours would be a dead place without theirs. It is a place of magic and danger, both alluring as each other to mere mortals.
Of course Elizabethan England is just as fascinating. It is a golden age of achievement. After many long years of turmoil, finally England has a Queen who is different from those that immediately preceded her. Elizabeth said she did not want to make a window into men's souls, and the realm was stable for the first time since her father's arguments with the Catholic church. This was the time of great literature, and great patriotism. But of course every remembers this time as being when William Shakespeare lived, and his words have survived time even better than Elizabeth's beloved England.

Characters

Some are based on real people, some on myth, and some are mine alone.

Sive (Rhymes with 'hive')- the Fey goddess of battle, seen in many guises, and known by many names around the world.

Auberon - King of the Fey, and Sive's brother

Puck- cousin to Sive. The Trickster known for his mercurial nature

William Shakespeare- a talented but barely educated boy, in a rural backwater- who could imagine greatness in his future?

Brigit - Aunt to Puck, Auberon and Sive. Sister to Anu first Queen of the Fey. Guardian of wisdom and insight.

Seed of an idea

The truth is we will never really know what William Shakespeare was like. History is a closed book which we make supositions, educated guesses and dreams on. Unfortunately we will never be able to meet the man who has influenced our language, shaped our theatre, and intrigued his way into our modern world. No one, not even the experts can ever know for sure what went on his mind, how he talked, if he was happy in his marriage or even if he was a good man.
But that makes history fruitful ground for a writer. Authors since Homer on have taken what was past and crafted it for the future.
I have always loved Shakespeare; his richess of language, his exposure of human weakness, and the way he can reach inside a person is unmatched. My musings on what this person could have been, and what magic might have touched his life to bring such greatness about, eventuated in Chasing the Bard.
When I visited Straford in 2001, in the some vein as thousands of others over the years, I could still see the Elizabethan town he would have known, even past the surge of tourists. I stood for ages outside his birthplace, and imagined that I was in the muddy street it must have once been. Driving through the few trees that remain of Arden Wood, I saw the flicker of Puck's shadow.
Travelling to London, I was a groundling for a production of King Lear at the Globe. I would recommend this to anyone, as despite the lack of footpads, nutsellers and prostitutes that Will would have known, the experience is as close as you will come to spending time with the Bard.
So my writing this novel was done out of love, and hopefully any artistic license I may have taken with his story Will would forgive- after all he above all others new the value of a good story. That is at least one thing we can be sure of…

If you would like to find out more about the life and times of Shakespeare- the facts only, read the article I wrote, or check out some of the really great books on the subject. See the back pages of Chasing the Bard for my recommendations