Mage's Blood (Moontide Quartet)

Product Information

The West clash with the East after a magical bridge is constructed that connects two separate continents of Yuros (west) and Antiopia (east).

Ahm from Islam, Shihad from Jihad, Hebusalim from Jerusalem, Shaitan from Satan, holy crusades, then there’s also Shiva, Ganesha, and Parvasi from Indian; these are only a few, there are still so many more like the months, seasons, and days; the list goes on.

But once every twelve years, the Moontide sees the waters sink to their lowest point and the Leviathan Bridge is revealed, linking east to west for twenty-four short months.

Who knows, if the quarantine goes on for another year or two, I might even become desperate enough to pick the second volume.

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. A lot of epic fantasy series have used real-life inspirations, culture, and history and implement them into their world-building, but they were able to twist them into something that felt distinctive like we’re diving into a completely new world. The Magi are hell-bent on ruling this world and have led armies across the bridge on crusades of conquest. The two continents of Yuros and Antiopia are divided by a huge body of water, unable to be crossed by sea or air due to the high tides and gusting winds. Character development is pretty much non existent, everyone seems to act purely on the shallowest motives, which telegraphs all the "plot twists" from a mile away.

The word immigrant is never mentioned and the wildlings are not predominantly people of color, yet readers can easily deduce what this plot point is referring to in terms of real-world inspiration. The last two crusades were devastatingly successful in Yuros’ favor and there is a growing fear in Antiopia that when the next Moontide raises the Leviathan Bridge again, the next crusade may spell the final end for Antiopia.But every Moontide, the seas part to reveal the magnificent mage-crafted Leviathan Bridge, allowing trade and communication between the two continents. I was very eager to get started and had high hopes that I would be deeply engrossed in this book and ultimately the rest of the series going forward. Conversely, the majority of the characters living in Antiopia were just simple people looking to be left alone. Elena is in a position of power due to the post she's been holding for many years as a spy on the royal family, reporting back to Gurvon. This being David Hair’s first foray into “adult fantasy” he succeeds on multiple levels, but unfortunately the majority of characters are young adults and with that comes whiney teenage angst.

Each person has an important role to play though, and this was made clear by the climax and the ending, which is in a word incredible. Hair also does well with the secondary characters, their PoV scenes don’t clutter the narrative, yet include as much detail as the main characters. 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. The Crusades mentioned in the first few chapters are obviously a reference to the Christian crusades of the 11th and 12th century in which many Muslims living in that part of the world were forced to either convert or die.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. Thankfully, the pacing issue persisted merely in the first half, and the first half wasn’t all bad because Hair’s characterizations for the cast of characters introduced here was incredible.