Mage's Blood (Moontide Quartet)

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The months count down at an ever increasing pace, the Moontide approaches and the world’s fate rests on three unlikely heroes. 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. Patience pays off though, as the book finishes setting the scene and gradually builds up momentum in the middle chapters. The parallel to Islamic/Indian cultures clashing with western culture is something that I was interested in because of everything that is going on in the world today.

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.The way they slowly start to interweave with each other is beautifully crafted and doesn't feel at all forced. So I felt like I wasn’t really taking a very big chance when I picked up the first volume, Mage’s Blood based primarily on all of the good publicity.

As the series name implies, Mage's Blood is only the first in what is meant to be series of four books, and as such there is much left wide open for huge things to come.

In the meantime, the hardships due to the Crusade led to a revolt in a southern province of the Empire, Noros, which while defeated is still shrouded in some mystery today and now in 927, one year before the next opening of the bridge, the Empire prepares the "Crusade to end all crusades", while the Antiopians have declares holy shihad to defeat the invaders. I probably should have given up after the first hundred pages or so, when the shallowness of the worldbuilding and the thinness of characterization became apparent, but it’s been several years since I left a book unfinished, and I didn’t want the first one to be one of my fantasy trips. The next Moontide is coming in a year, and The Rondian Emperor wants to use this time to rule both continents, but this time the people of Athiopia will be prepared. 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.

Nevertheless, it makes for a slower start, when an author has to cycle through the perspectives while introducing all the main players, and the first couple hundred pages were dedicated to this task. Simply describing one side as always bad and the other as always good and then never deviating from that template doesn’t do it for me. There are also auxiliary characters accompanying the main protagonists, including Ramoni (that is Roma) princess Cymbellea di Regia, or Ramita’s significant other, one Kazim Makani that play their part in the story. 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. He’s created a fascinating and diverse group of people that I understand despite their cultural differences.These citizens are led by Elena Anborn, former Yuros assassin turned guardian and chief councilor to the most influential royal family in Antiopia. In fact, it's to be encouraged because we see xenophobia and sexism in these high fantasy books and realize how silly it is that these things exist in our world. They are positively ancient and powerful, they lay their plans through centuries and work with proxies from behind the scenes.