Bloodring

There's a lot of potential in this book but there isn't enough actual to keep me going. I mean, the whole angels and UF feel with magical crystals and mystical overwhelming sex energies that tie into the magic system IS fairly interesting, at least on paper.

It's also a fairly average post-apocalypse tale set in the deep cold.

I don't know. I never really connected with the main character and only mildly cared about where the story was going. A potential world-building is only as good as the characters who live in it, and the Mage-Heat stuff was... weird. Not good weird. Just... weird.

Maybe this could have been the next hottest thing but it's been years and it just isn't.

I had a lot more fun reading her Jane Yellowrock UF.

I read this book after I read the first two "Jane Yellowrock" books, and I liked it even better than that series.

Thorn's world is interesting and frightening, and her voice is both intelligent and casual. "This is the world, stop staring, we're used to it." She's a bit frightened, but it carries the seriousness of their new world.

The detail in the story is exquisite. The characterizations of the other characters could have gone deeper, but I did enjoy them. The build up of prejudiced humans made the loyalty of Thorn's friends all the more impressive.

I can see how some readers might find it disorienting, because the story starts and moves very fast, but I enjoy that type of storytelling. I also feel that Hunter gives us enough show more information to be able to both understand that story as it progresses and piece together the world as we go along (instead of the monotonous description of the "world" that a lot of author's waste time going into). show less

The Rogue Mage series by Faith Hunter is set in a post-apocalyptic world, some generations after Seraphs revealed themselves to the world and joined forces with humans to battle demons. Magic is unleashed upon the world when the offspring of Seraphs & humans come of age; these "mages" have the ability to cast spells, create amulets & wards. Because of their powers, they are kept in enclaves and strictly monitored. The heroine of the series, Thorn St. Croix, is a rogue mage, living as a human outside the mage enclaves, which is illegal. Thorn makes a living crafting jewelry, which comes naturally to her since she is a stone mage, with an affinity for rocks & gemstones. Thorn is surrounded by close friends, none of whom know the truth show more about her magic abilities.

In Bloodring, the first book of the series, Thorn is reluctantly pulled into the limelight when she is suspected of involvement in the kidnapping her ex-husband. Thorn must clear her name. Complicating matters, she is attracted to the lead police officer, Thaddeus.

The series is an interesting blend of urban fantasy and apocalyptic theology (though it's a new theology -- upon their arrival, the Seraphs declared all major religions inaccurate and thus a new religion is created). The author's world-building is detailed and consistent, gorgeously described. In particular, Thorn's affinity for gemstones, colors, and the building of magic spells is beautifully covered in great detail; I found it fascinating, but working with gems & colors & magic may not be everyone's cup of tea. The characters are also well drawn, interesting, and likeable, even minor characters; and the relationships between the various characters are believable and ring true. I would read the series for the characters alone, but the unique setting and descriptive writing has me rushing out to get the next book. show less

This book is huge. Not so much because of the length of the book but the sheer amount packed in here - especially this really original world.

Honestly, if someone has sold this book to me as a post-rapture word, a world after the book of Revelations, a world where the angels came down and massacred huge chunks of humanity, I would be leery.

But what about that world where the angels never confirmed any one religion? What about when the Most High never actually appeared (but pointing that out is a quick way to get dead)? What about a world where actually fighting each other over a religion is the quickest way to get you dead by angel?

We have a world where religion and religious rules have definitely risen to prominence, piety is common show more and all but mandatory (there’s a lot of pressure even when it’s not mandated) and religious laws dominate. But at the same time everyone is kind of uncertain as to what the laws need to be. One interesting element of this is that they seem to have avoided the very common trope of just defaulting to “sexual” crimes (probably because most authoritarian religion seems to devolve to that level) and we see a lot more fierce punishments for things like swearing. It’s an interesting and unique political situation with religion ascendant and in control but without the certainty or single religious dominance you’d expect from such a world

It’s also been several generations since the end of the world so humanity is doing what we always do - backslide. Thorn notes that things that would never have been tolerated 10 years ago are now creeping back into the human media

It’s also really well done how the balance is set out. Because it would be easy to portray the Seraphs as wonderful saviours of humanity - and that’s clearly the spin and there’s definitely a cult that has grown around them - but Thorn sees it as a cult. Equally the depictions of the Seraphs arrival and the end of the world is depicted as duly horrific. The idea that the Seraphs are all good and pure is strongly challenged despite the spin. At the same time we have the dark powers, the monsters from the depths, demonic forces et al that humanity and the Seraphs allied against - so we do have the seraphs as being humanity’s protectors and destroyers, humanity’s shield, but also the sword which could come down at any time if humanity break the rules they’re STILL not entirely sure they understand. It’s all complex and nuanced and precarious

Add into that is Thorn, a Neo-mage. A woman with magic and, by official doctrine from the Seraphs, soulless. Registered and sequestered, Neo-mages are both an incredible asset to humanity for their skills but also feared and persecuted when unlicensed and not in their official communities. Thorn is surrounded by neighbours who would murder her if they found out about her while at the same time seriously considering hiring mages at exorbitant cost to help them with the town’s problems.

Oh and the world is a dystopia - not just because of the end of the world which means there’s a lot of salvaging and a lot of things mankind just doesn’t have the numbers to produce any more and is now working to produce in numbers what was once taken for granted. There’s no suggestion the technology is lost - it’s just hard to maintain the supply chain and production methods with most of the population dead. But the world is also entering a mini ice-age which doesn’t just mean cold, but also worries like glaciers forming in the mountains above the town

Throw in demons coming out at night and haunting the world and we have a much scarier world - and, obviously, an equal dependence for the decimated population on the Seraphs.

This world is FULL and it is FASCINATING and I understand there’s an actual RPG game that has built up around it because this world is amazing. I could happily just keep reading more world building and more and more and more and more

But in a book? All of the above is huge and complex and fascinating. And then we see different neo-mages with different powers and different sources of power - with the added complexity of elements from other specialties draining them (Thorn, a stone mage, is drained by water and moonlight). Then we throw in the descendents of humans and Seraphs, the descendents of mages and humans and the mixing of these blood lines all creates different complexities - and on top of that the dark side also has it’s own different forces and bloodlines

I love the world, but sometimes I feel like I need a guide to read separate to the story as it can be hard to follow all the ins and outs and complexities. This is sometimes not helped by the writing - especially when Thorn is deep in her magic and bonding with stones, I’m not always entirely sure what has exactly happened. This is especially the case later in the book towards the end with a grand finale where Thorn faces down the big bad hordes and it’s epic and it’s amazing and it’s exciting and powerful and… and I only have the slightest clue about what actually happened.

Read More show less

Faith Hunter's world is a freshly unique one -- life after Revelations, where technology is on the fritz, humanity has been culled, and angels rule the world. Navigating this world can be confusing as Hunter tries to provide history and backstory without slowing down the plot. The effort is worthwhile, though, for an unusual sotry that blends desolation with innovation. And while the religious tones were a little heavy for a heathen like me, there's always something exciting and fearsome about angels -- especially hunky ones -- and I was pulled right in. I have every intention of picking up the rest of this series in the near future.

I'm currently re-reading the series to see if I feel the same way.

This series struck me as different from all the other Urban (post-apocalyptic) Fantasy that I've ever read. I must have started it 4 or 5 times before I got past the 1st page, and felt pretty stupid when I finally did.

Most folks probably know Ms. Hunter from her Jane Yellowrock books (HUGE kudos for not whitewashing the latest cover). I started with the Rogue Mage books and moved on from there. I really wish we could get more on this character. There is some odd RPG stuff going on with a book? for that, but nothing on the novel front for this series.

Despite this, the current trilogy of books is WELL worth a look. I recommend them for any UF fan although they are show more apocalyptic fantasy. Also, ignore the horrible synopsis on Goodreads/Amazon. show less

What did I think? I liked it okay, enough to have moved on to the second book straight away. I like the characters, am interested in seeing where she goes with it.

There isn't really any sex to speak of in book one, but in the interest of full & fair disclosure she talks about it plenty. In fact she beats that proverbial dead horse on nearly every page. I'm hoping it isn't quite as "in your face" come book two. It got a bit annoying after a while.

Still, I'm really interested to see how this plays out, I haven't quite decided yet what she's trying to say about "religion" in general, and what the deal is with the Seraphim. Good Guys? or Bad Guys? The "dark things" are for sure bad guys...and the Seraphs fight them, but there's still show more something weird about them. show less