"The stunning stand-alone sequel to Lament . . . The book's backdrop, so firmly rooted in Celtic myth, is scary, mysterious, magical, and horrifying." —Booklist
"Ballad is giddy, intoxicating, and threatening all at once... a sheer edge read." —Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author of Terrier & Trickster's Queen
Nuala is part muse, part psychic vampire. While the freedom to sing or write or create is denied her, her mark across history is unmistakable: a trail of brilliant poets, musicians, and artists who have died tragically young. She has no sympathy for their abbreviated life spans; every thirteen Halloweens she burns in a bonfire and rises from her ashes with no memories of what has come before other than the knowledge of how her end will come.
James is the best bagpiper in the state of Virginia—maybe in the country—plus he's young and good-looking: just Nuala's thing. But James, supremely confident in his own abilities and in love with another girl, becomes the first to ever reject Nuala's offer. He's preoccupied with bigger things than Nuala: an enigmatic horned figure who appears at dusk and the downward spiral of Dee, his girlfriend-who-isn't.
It becomes obvious to James that Nuala's presence, the horned king of the dead, and Dee's slow self-destruction are all related, and that Dee is the center of a deadly faerie game. While James struggles to unwind the tangled threads of the story, Nuala shadows him, seeing her conflicted, dual nature reflected back at her in him. She finds herself lending him inspiration for nothing. Not quite for nothing—for the hope of requited affection. But even as James begins to realize his feelings for both Dee and Nuala have changed, the thirteenth Halloween descends, with its bonfires and rituals for the dead, one deadly to Nuala and the other to Dee. James can only save one.
BUY THE BOOK from an independent bookstore via IndieBound or order through Amazon.
US edition: Flux, October 1, 2009, ISBN: 978-0738714844
Foreign editions: The German rights to Ballad have been bought by Droemer Knaur
Music written for and inspired by Ballad Composed by Maggie, performed by Maggie and Kate Hummel
You can listen to the music below three ways! For immediate listening, use the little play graphic. To listen in a new window in Quicktime, click the blue link. Or to download the file to your computer, PC users right mouse click and select the "Save As..." option. Mac users, hold down the Control key and click on the image to see menu options, and choose "Save Link As..." Note that Maggie's music is made available as a free download for your non-commercial listening usage and for nonprofit fan-videos. When used for any fan material, please credit Maggie with the title of the song, her full name and a link back to this page.
The Ballad playlist (rock music I listened to while writing Ballad)
"Running Up That Hill" - Placebo
"Starts with One" - Shiny Toy Guns
"The Stone" - Ashes Divide
"Get Some" - Chevelle
"Map of the Problematique" - Muse
"Paralyzed" - Rock Kills Kid
"Hemorrage" - Fuel
"Invasion" - Eisley
"Follow" - Breaking Benjamin
"CrushCrushCrush" - Paramore
"Start the Machine" - Angels and Airwaves
Praise for Ballad
"Maggie Stiefvater excels at writing wonderfully complex characters who face wickedly impossible obstacles. Ballad had me hooked until the pulse-pounding end. Readers who loved Lament will devour Ballad and plead for more!" —Carrie Ryan, author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth
"With its razor wit, compelling characters, and deliriously beautiful prose, Ballad will make you laugh and gasp out loud even as it breaks your heart." —R. J. Anderson, author of Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter
"Ballad is a love letter to James fans. Period. . . . I laughed and gasped and wrung my hands with worry for this boy. And I miss him now that it's over." —Angieville (read the full review here)
"Three words: addictive, magical and wicked." —The Story Siren (read the full review here)
"Nuala is, hands down, my favorite fictional faerie lover. She's uncertain, smart, conflicted—just beautifully three-dimensional." —Charlotte's Library (read the full review here)
"I can finally say that Ballad lived up to my expectations and then some. . . it was heartbreaking beautiful." —Fantastic Book Review (read the full review here)
"Filled with suspense and adventure. Ms. Stiefvater has created a dark, thrilling world that I look forward to visiting again." —Anna's Book Blog (read the full review here)
"This may be my favorite aspect of Stiefvater's novels. You don't "win" by having bigger guns or stronger magical powers, but only by being willing to do the right thing even when it hurts." —Fantasy Literature.com
"That's what reading Ballad was like: an experience that swept me away into James and Nuala's world of music and love and pain and desperate hope." —In Bed With Books (read the full review here)
BUY THE BOOK from an independent bookstore via 
Nuala
