Daram (Tales from Taihandria) by Hetty Crane

In the country of Taihandria, in the world of Arethea, the star gods have long since vanished, and their language—music—is outlawed since it has magical power and can change the very land itself. When the Solanese sahhar Manon Valen secretly performs a daram, an ancient, long-forgotten song ritual, she desperately hopes that the spell will produce a champion who will unite her oppressed people against their repressive Taihandrian overlords. Instead, her entreaty is answered by the appearance of five bumbling troubadours—the English rock band Sun—from a place Manon has never heard of, Earth.These bewildered musicians suddenly and inexplicably find themselves performing before a raucous medieval audience, and are deemed heretical sorcerers. With four of the band imprisoned, their one hope is that their guitarist, Robin Wood, will find help by forming an alliance with Manon Valen and her people, who think Robin is a singularly gifted sorcerer. But when this alliance can be forged only if Robin and Manon—who don’t even like each other—take part in an extraordinary Solanese ritual that binds them together, things get complicated. Daram is a spellbinding, humorous, and richly imagined novel that creates unforgettable characters readers will come to love.