Mage's Blood (Moontide Quartet)

Product Information

The first thing you notice will be the obvious parallels in earth geography and naming conventions (shihad=jihad, Hebusalim=Jerusalem, etc) and similarities in religions, races, and cultures.

One particular review that I came across regarding this series even went so far as to say that it was a worthy substitute if you are eagerly awaiting the next George R. While I do believe that Mage’s Blood is a great entry to the series, brace yourselves for a slow beginning with a lot of exposition that you will just have to endure (and internalise!

The magic system here is cool at times, but ultimately disappointing due to the fact that the mages have limitless power.

Who knows, if the quarantine goes on for another year or two, I might even become desperate enough to pick the second volume. Oftentimes the argument of gender tends to come up within the fantasy literature community, and David Hair gives us a great female lead in Elena Anborn. INTRODUCTION: "Most of the time the Moontide Bridge lies deep below the sea, but every 12 years the tides sink and the bridge is revealed, its gates open for trade. At first the continents of Yuros and Antiopia started trading, but eventually -as humans are- the nations of Yuros under the yoke of the Rondalian empire started crusades against the people of Antiopia. But every Moontide, the seas part to reveal the magnificent mage-crafted Leviathan Bridge, allowing trade and communication between the two continents.It can sometimes get too crowded with all the place names, those take time to learn, but he tries to help with the learning curve by using semi-familiar naming and geography. Magi are born of Mage’s Blood and the purer the blood the stronger the mage, Elena is a powerful mage and a skilled fighter in the pay of her former lover, Gurvon Gyle, tasked to protect the Javon monarch and his family.

These characters were incredibly well-fleshed out; they have distinctive voices, different struggles, and I found myself invested in their journey. It really picks up after the first book and somehow the later books made the first book more enjoyable.

I got to the point where I would do anything instead of picking up the book to read another chapter (I think I finished ten other novels while I read this one).