Mage's Blood (Moontide Quartet #1) by David Hair

Far below the impassable oceans of Urte lies the Leviathan Bridge. Every twelve years, during the Moontide, the enchanged structure rises from the depths, connecting the advanced magical society of Yuros with the resource-rich lands of Aniopia. Built to facilitate trade between the two continents, the Leviathan Bridge brought wealth and prosperity to both. But two Moontides ago, the Rondian Emperr launched a Crusage of conquest to the East, sending his armies of Magi across the Bridge to plunder Atiopia. A Second Crusade twelve years later cemented a new cycle of war. Now the Third Crusade approaches, during which the Emperor plans to subjugate Antiopia once and for all. But this time the people of the East are ready. With vast forces mobilizing on both sides of the Bridge, the greatest armed conflict of the age is about to begin. But sometimes, even against the backdrop of history-changing events, the actions of individuals can change everything. 

If this sort of fantasy is your genre, you'll want to add this one to your collection.  It begins dreadfully slowly.  I found myself falling asleep three times until I was able to get past the scene setting and to the actual pulp of the story.  Once I got there, though, I found myself intrigued.  I can't say that I enjoyed all of the characters, but some of them really fascinated me and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next.  This is not a quick read that you'll finish in a day.  You won't want to.  You'll need a break randomly before jumping back into Hair's world.  It's worth it though and by the time you've finished, you'll be glad that you did.

A few unusual things I'd like to point out.  Hair actually is quite genius in his writing.  Though the storytelling is mediocre, his wording is melodious.  Each chapter has a seemless transition from the last.  It took me a little bit to pick up on it, but it's quite well done.  You'll be reading about one character in a chapter and what's going on in his/her life and another person will be mentioned, or another situation, near the end.  Then when you begin the next chapter, it's the chapter of either that person or the person pertaining to that situation.  It became a game for me to pick out the transition point at each chapter beginning.  The second thing that impressed me were the characters.  Though some of the characters are more developed than others, it's fascinating that there's such an array of them.  By that, I mean that I found characters that I was fascinated with and could connect with.  People from all different walks of life will.  There's a minimum of one character for each type of person out there.  Every personality profile is contained and easily detectable. 

For anyone willing to take the time, this could be a great read.  Again, this is not a light read, meant only for mindless entertainment.  This is a hand-crafted novel that should be appreciated.

 

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  Shawn