• Age: 9 to 15
• Grade: 6 to 9

Linda Smith has previously published three novels with Coteau: The Minstrel's Daughter, Talisa's Song, and The Weathermage. Together, these titles make up the "Tales of Three Lands" trilogy, a series that acted as a prequel to Smith's previous "The Freyan Trilogy", published by Thistledown Press. She also published several children's pictures books, and poetry and short fiction in literary periodicals.Both Talisa's Song and The Minstrel's Daughter were finalists in the British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta Young Readers Choice Awards. Born in Lethbridge, Alberta, Linda earned a B.A. with distinction from the University of Calgary. She then moved on to the University of Alberta, where she earned a Library Science degree. She also attained her Masters in Children's Literature from the Centre for the Study of Children's Literature at Simmons College in Boston, Massachussetts. Linda went on to work in Saskatoon, Nova Scotia and Boston. From 1984, she made her home in Grande Prairie, Alberta, where she worked as a children's librarian, and eventually wrote full time.Linda passed away in August, 2007

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Talisa’s Song

As this second volume in the Tales of Three Lands series opens, Talisa is experiencing intense disappointment. Her opportunity to shine as one of the five winners of a prestigious music competition in the neighbouring realm of Freya has been eclipsed by a neartragedy: the attempted assassination of the Freyan Queen. Wanting badly to prove her giftedness, both to herself and her family, Talisa impulsively decides to stay in Freya and apprentice with a highly respected musician. This also allows her to further develop her friendship with Cory, a talented young sculptor whose family has wrestled with extreme poverty ever since their landlord mercilessly evicted them from their farm. Embittered by the injustice, and by the callous disregard of the well-to-do members of Freyan society, Cory and others like him try to band together to take action and demand changes. But when more hot-headed members of their contingent take matters into their own hands, Cory finds himself in jeopardy. It falls to Talisa to protect him which she does by fleeing with him back to her home in Uglessia.

The two very different socioeconomic systems that are portrayed in Freya and Uglessia, and the uneasy peace that exists between them, forms an interesting contrast. Typically, in this middle installment tensions are mounting on several fronts, laying the groundwork for the climactic encounters to come in the final chapter of this trilogy. Readers will look forward to learning more about the artists’ plans to protest the plight of the Freyan poor, and they (including myself!) will be anxious to learn Cory’s fate after his capture at the end of this book. Talisa, too, still has much to come to terms with, including the fact that her musical gift is just as important, albeit different from, the magical gifts of her family. The setting and characters in this book are well-realized and form the basis of a thoroughly enjoyable fantasy story!

Talisa’s Song (Tales of Three Lands)

In Book Two of the superb trilogy, Talisa is studying music in the great city of Freyfall. When a new friend is accused of a terrible crime, Talisa has to find a way to help him.