Mage's Blood

The Moontide Quartet, Book 1

By: David Hair

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Length: 26 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

David Hair is the award-winning writer of two young adult fiction series, The Aotearo and The Return of Ravana (based on the Vedic epic The Ramayana). Mage’s Blood, the first volume of a series called The Moontide Quartet, is Hair’s first work of adult fantasy. In a starred review of Mage’s Blood, Publisher’s Weekly said, "This multilayered beginning to the Moontide Quartet plunges listeners into a taut network of intrigue and mystery that tightens with each chapter. Hair portrays a stark and beautiful world breaking apart, with both good and evil characters desperate to reshape it through magic, war, and treachery. This strong debut should draw in fantasy readers of all stripes."

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 Magi are hell-bent on ruling this new world, and for the last two Moontides they have led armies across the bridge on "crusades of conquest". Now, the third Moontide is almost here, and this time the people of the East are ready for a fight... but it is three seemingly ordinary people that will decide the fate of the world.

©2012 David Hair (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Published by arrangement with Quercus Editions Ltd (UK).

Nick Podehl is great as usual, but only read this if you've read everything else in the genre...

If you are looking for something along the lines of ASoIaF, WoT, Malazan Book of the Fallen, anything Sanderson has touched, or King Killer you are looking at the wrong book. This is woefully sub-par compared to series and authors of that caliber.

The main characters in this series are boring and honestly don't have many redeeming qualities. Plenty of awkward situations in the book as well as unbearably pointless and slow parts. This could have been shortened by 5 hours and still been enough to get the actual story across.

All of that being said, I'm probably going to try to slog through this series because I don't have anything else to read right now until someone good releases a new book. If it gets better I'll take this post down.

Nick Podehl

What other book might you compare Mage's Blood to and why?

Vaguely like the Game of Thrones novels in that it is an epic story across multiple continents with separate story lines that are all on a collision course together.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

The story and performance were top notch. I often listen to books during my commutes and more than once I found myself in my driveway just sitting in the car because the book was too good to turn off.

Any additional comments?

I'll be honest: I had never heard of this book or this author. I purchased this book solely on the criteria that it was a fantasy novel that was read by Nick Podehl; and I was not disappointed in the least. These days, I consume almost all of my literature through audio books so I have experienced my fair share of audio book narrators (both good and terrible) and without hesitation I put Nick Podehl at the top with the best of them. His range of voices is without compare - I instantly know which characters are speaking and it really allows the reader to fully immerse into the story.

One of the best audio books I've had the pleasure of listening to since the King Killer Chronicles.

Irritating Storytelling

As a whole, the series is based on a pretty unique and complex kitchen-sink type magic system set in a not too creative landscape that roughly mirrors a stereotype of Earth cultures... basically, Europeans vs near east split by a 300 mile body of water. The stereotypes are not particularly subtle.

I could have been OK with this construct if every single encounter between opposing groups didn't follow the same pattern - the good guys are consistently and repeatedly inept regardless of where they sit in the magic structure and the bad guys are nearly omnipotent in nearly every encounter. This is a world where apparently 90% of the population on both sides of the water are somewhat to completely evil (for no apparent reason) - there are few sympathetic characters.

The books have moments where they're great - those moments are just interrupted by long sections of narrative that drives one insane because of the crazy inconsistencies or stupid behavior of the characters.

Finally, based on the numerous loose ends in Book 4, I assume this "Quartet" is not the end of the story. Book 4 ends in a rushed fashion that certainly leaves a lot of plot lines unfinished.

Hate! the CHARACTERS BUT like the book.

Any additional comments?

Yes a solid 2 stars. I actually like the story of this book but it is fouled up by the characters. That's impossible you say. No story can be good without it's characters being liked wither good or bad. Well I'm here to tell you this author has done it. You see in the book the story would take ONE step forward and then a character would come along and do something stupid and then we're going TWO step back.

I really don't like books where the smart, powerful and courageous characters DIE while the dumb, haven't got a clue, easily manipulated and always making the wrong choices characters LIVE some how. Especially when those choices get the good characters killed. Every good character in this book dies because of a bad choice of a bad character everyone of them without exception. I'm sorry but that is just cheap writing. Switch up the game a bit. I mean that just goes against the laws of nature. The only reason they're still alive is because they are the main characters in any other right they would have been cut from the herd and slaughtered or used as cannon fodder. Oh yeah an did I mention that all of the bad competent character lived. I'm just saying it's a bit lop sided.

I just find it amazing how he managed to kill off or enslave every competent character in the book. HE REALLY GOT LAZY WITH THE LAST COMPETENT CHARACTERS DEATH. If you have read it you know what I mean. If you haven't. I'll just tell you.THEY JUST DIE NO REAL REASON GIVEN AT ALL and he made it clear no reason will be given. LAZY WRITING. I mean your book is over 20 something hours why give up now. For those who have read it please do not try to tell me that trash was satisfying to you.

Hard to get into but then good

Not sure if it was just too jumpy in the beginning, or because I got interrupted so many times before I could get started, and had to listen to the first several chapters multiple times, but once I identified all the players the story flowed. Even though it heads towards a predictable destination all the twists and turns are unexpected and imaginative. I look forward to having time to listen to the sequel.

Slow start, great book. Narration was fantastic.

It's always hard getting into a new series of this stature, but this was well done. I enjoyed the character development, and by the end I was already adding the second book to my cart.

Cardboard characters in a mediocre story

What do you think your next listen will be?

Not the sequel to this book.

Have you listened to any of Nick Podehl’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

He is a god amoung ants and the reason why I took chance on this book. Sadly, not even he could redeem it.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No, not really. Also annoying was the deus ex machina approach to magic.

Any additional comments?

By the end of this book I found I still didn't care for any of the main characters. I didn't like the good guys nor hated the bad ones; their development throughout the mediocre plot was bland and unfulfilling. I finished the book hoping it would leave me wanting, but it did not. The only thing it left me wanting was to find a new story to read. I will not continue with this series.

Best Fantasy Series of the Year

If you could sum up Mage's Blood in three words, what would they be?

Engaging, Engaging, Engaging

What was one of the most memorable moments of Mage's Blood?

I don't want to make any spoilers, this book has a ton of memorable moments.

I really emphasized with the characters and the situations they were put into.

Which character – as performed by Nick Podehl – was your favorite?

Aleron is my favorite. At the very beginning I was put off by the different Character Story lines. Then they were all brought together and it just gelled. The book starts a little slow but just keeps getting better and better.
Also the 2nd book is out and amazingly enough it is just as good as the first. So many times an authors 2nd book just isn't as good. But David Hair knows how to keep it going.

My pet peeve is Game of Thrones Series. 3 good books and then the guy decided to keep the series going forever and write 1000s of pages and nothing happens!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A complex story like this just won't make it to the theaters.

Any additional comments?

Great Narration, Great Story. Takes a little while to get into it but then you'll be hooked.!
This is less simple then many of the Epic Fantasy Series and I enjoyed the change.

Pretty good, I'll continue the series

It seemed like a lot of time was wasted in the first half of the book going into useless details. Half way in though, it really picked up.

I love the narrator! The magic system is strange and seems like anything goes, but it was still a great part of the story.
I'm planning on purchasing the next book in the series with hopeful expectations.

Good idea but awful story

All of the interesting characters were killed off early leaving a mess of two dimensional characters without any redeeming value

Absolutely brilliant!

The story is absolutely fantastic, with so many twists and turns, the literature of the book itself is fantastic. Nothing is skipped, it's word for word and Nick Podehl is an absolutely fantastic voice actor, the many different voices feel real and imaginative and I was immersed in it, absolutely fascinated and always looking forward to the next time I'd get a chance to listen to the next part!

racist and transphobic (at the very end)

it's hard to move past the dirty-eastern-savages-your-colonist-knows-best overtones and the visceral transphobia at the end. The names of the countries are changed but it's obvious where the writer was referring to.

Also, just because it's set in the alternative past doesn't mean it's ok to use an antiquated view of the world that was never true.

Awesome!!!!

Would you listen to Mage's Blood again? Why?

Yes, there are so many amazing characters, a brilliant story with so many twists, I just couldn't drag myself away.

What other book might you compare Mage's Blood to, and why?

I think Mage's Blood is too original a story with its multi cultural characters to compare to any other book.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Every scene where Elena fights back and wins through despite the odds.
It is very difficult to name one scene in such an epic story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The snake people's short lives.

Any additional comments?

Please hurry up with the final part of the trilogy! these are amongst the best books I have ever read/listened to.

Listen to the reviews

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If the writing wasn’t so disjointed & the storyline didn’t jump around so much & if the character actually got on & did things it might have been ok.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

No idea, was like the first film in a series where they try to set the scene for the following films just without letting you know what the story is actually going to be eventually, I found myself wishing that they’d just get on with it & do something interesting

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Can’t answer this question

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Real disappointment, Nick Podehl is a brilliant narrater but even his skill couldn’t do much with this book.

Any additional comments?

If there was ever a rewrite of this book it would really help if the timeline didn’t keep jumping forward & backward in time by weeks or months, it’s too confusing to try to work out where, when & who your listening about & limit the amount of storylines being disjointedly expanded at one time. I persevered to the very end of the book hoping that something would happen to pull all the storylines together & some clear explanation of what Moontide is, which is repeatedly referred to all through the book & where the story was heading but sadly all I came away with were lots of questions that will never be answered.

Unbelievable story

I put myself in the “very picky” reader category, a story needs to draw me in early on to maintain my interest and wow this certainly doesn’t disappoint. At the time of writing this I am half way through book 3 in the series and it is without question one of the best fantasy series I have ever read (well listened too). David Hair has managed to create a true epic that uses real world visualisation, to which we can all relate, in an east versus west style battle with magic (or Nosis) at the fore and I have to congratulate him on an unbelievable job well done. Whoever chose Nick Podehl as the narrator needs an award as it was a stroke of genius. He is so good that I have found myself searching for other books with him as the voice behind the story. His ability to capture the scene coupled with a different voice for the MANY characters is truly special and if this was a film casting they definitely found their star. Can’t wait to finish book 3 and move on to Ascendants Rite and I will definitely be exploring his other books.

hard to follow

I found it very hard to follow and get into after 10 hours I still wasnt invested and was already looking for a replacement. the story chops and changes so much

disappointing

It's unusual for a high fantasy author to be so devoid of original thought that he has to borrow heavily from reality. This could easily be an Alternative History book instead of fantasy. Would it be so difficult to create a unique world with its own cultures, instead of mingling Turkish with Italian? The only reason to draw so heavily on reality is that the reader (or listener) can draw from their own knowledge when the author misses out details.
Parts of the story are entertaining enough, but I never went out of my way to listen to more of the story than I usually do (my commute to work). I often read or listen to the first book of a series to see how it grips me. This was promised as some sort of Game of Thrones meets Lord of the Rings, but it's simply mundane.

It got better.

The start of the book just sounded like a copy/paste of different holy books.
The end was better, but I will not be litsening to more of this series.
Nick Podehl was good as always.

Boring and not engaging

What would have made Mage's Blood better?

I found most this book boring and not engaging. I force myself to finish it and it got a little better as we got near the final parts of the book, however couldn’t get interested in any of the characters.

I can’t understand why so many have given this book 5 stars, I have no plan to get the other books in the series.

A really enjoyable listen

I loved this book. A great storyline and I'm lookimg forward to the sequels.
Podehl is always a great narrator.