Rhapsody

Rhapsody, n, (1542) 1: a portion of an epic poem adapted for recitation 2 archaic: a miscellaneous collection 3 a (1): a highly emotional utterance (2): a highly emotional literary work (3): effusively rapturous or extravagant discourse b: Rapture, Ecstasy 4: a musical composition of irregular form having an improvisatory character.

Elizabeth Haydon is a major new force in fantasy. Equipped with a quick wit, Haydon has a sharp ear for dialogue, panache with characters, and that essential ability to transport her readers into her own fantastical world-a world so real you can hear the sweet music of Rhapsody's aubade and smell the smoldering forges within the Cauldron.

Rhapsody is a woman, a Singer of some talent, who is swept up into events of world-shattering import. On the run from an old romantic interest who won't take no for an answer, Rhapsody literally bumps into a couple of shady characters: half-breeds who come to her rescue in the nick of time. Only the rescue turns into an abduction, and Rhapsody soon finds herself dragged along on an epic voyage, one that spans centuries and ranges across a wonder-filled fantasy world.

The brilliant new saga is born ...

Rhapsody is a woman, a Singer of some talent, who is swept up into events of world-shattering import. On the run from an old romantic interest who won't take no for an answer, Rhapsody literally bumps into a couple of shady characters: half-breeds who come to her rescue in the nick of time. Only the rescue turns into an abduction, and Rhapsody soon finds herself dragged along on an epic voyage, one that spans centuries and ranges across a wonder-filled fantasy world-- a world so real you can hear the sweet music of Rhapsody's aubade and smell the smoldering forges deep within the Cauldron.

"The debut of a great new fantasy talent. With Rhapsody, Elizabeth Haydon begins an epic saga worthy of Eddings, Goodkind, and Jordan.... A spell-binding storyteller with the rare ability to manage memorable characters with both intimacy and power."--Romantic Times (4-1/2 stars out of 5)

Elizabeth Haydon first began writing in the fourth grade. Writing a play was one option in a history assignment so, along with a couple of friends, she put on a fairly awful play she had written which was called The Clue in the Diary. Writing fiction became a dream at that point. She took courses in college, but didn't believe she would be able to make a living from it.

She had read C.S. Lewis as a young child, J.R.R. Tolkien as an older one, and some fantasy in college, but had lost touch with the field after that. She was working in educational publishing in 1994 when she met up with an editorial friend and mentor in New Orleans at the American Library Association conference. He asked her to write for him a fantasy that might cross over to other genres and contain some of their shared mutual interests: medieval music, history, anthropology, and herbalism among others. Since they had been drinking Dixie Blackened Voodoos, she was initially hesitant to take on the project, worried that he might have been a bit tipsy when he suggested it. But when it became clear he really wanted her to do it, The Symphony of Ages was born.

These novels have made numerous "Best of the Year" as well as national bestseller lists. The Romantic Times called it "an epic saga worthy of Eddings, Goodkind & Jordan". A harpist and madrigal singer, Elizabeth Haydon lives on the East Coast with her husband and three children, where she is writing fantasy novels for both The Symphony of Ages for adults and the Adventures of Ven Polypheme for children.