08/18/2014
The second volume in Hair’s Moontide Quartet (after Mage’s Blood) is mostly dizzying movement, plunging headfirst into a convoluted series of plots, unraveling alliances, and tightening nooses. The great Leviathan Bridge, which was built by mage Antonin Meiros and connects the continents of Yuros and Antiopia, only rises from the roiling tides every dozen years. Now that it has appeared again, Yuros launches a savage crusade against Antiopia, using evil Inquisitors as the vanguard of its attack. Young mage Ramon Sensini is thrown into the middle of the war while executing a dangerous plan to save his family. Meiros’s widow, Ramita, pregnant with twins, is rescued by his daughter, Justina, who trains her in magic that develops in sync with her pregnancy. Ramita’s former flame Kazim is thrust into a plot to destroy Meiros’s mage order, forced to use the soul-drinking magic that he despises. Some parts of the plot that feel slower or less tense are only the eye of the storm, and will keep Hair’s fans satisfied while the storm builds. Agent: HMA Literary. (Oct.)
Scarlet Tides
Narrated by Nick Podehl
David HairUnabridged — 24 hours, 11 minutes
Scarlet Tides
Narrated by Nick Podehl
David HairUnabridged — 24 hours, 11 minutes
Overview
The Moontide has come and the Leviathan Bridge stands open: now thrones will shake and hearts will be torn apart in a world at war.
A scarlet tide of Rondian legions is flooding into the East, led by the Inquisition's windships flying the Sacred Heart, the bright banner of the Church's darkest sons. They are slaughtering and pillaging their way across Antiopia in the name of Emperor Constant. But the emperor's greatest treasure, the Scytale of Corineus, has slipped through his fingers and his ruthless Inquisitors must scour two continents for the artefact, the source of all magical power.
Against them are the unlikeliest of heroes. Alaron, a failed mage, the gypsy, Cymbellea, and Ramita, once just a lowly market-girl, have pledged to end the cycle of war and restore peace to Urte.
East and West have clashed before, but this time, as secret factions and cabals emerge from the shadows, the world is about to discover that love, loyalty and truth can be forged into weapons as strong as swords and magic.
"Hair tells his story with aplomb in a clear and concise prose.... Mage's Blood is one of the better [epic fantasy] first installments I've read in recent years." -staffersbookreview.com
Editorial Reviews
"Scarlet Tides is simply faster, better and even more satisfying that its prequel. So long for the difficult second book—Hair seems to handle these with ease and I'm already looking forward to the third one even though it's so far away."—Liviu Suciu, Fantasy Book Critic
"A mashup of J.R.R. Tolkien and Henry Kissinger... Hair capably spins a rather elaborate storyline, or better multiple storylines, all suitably tangled, given the conspiracies and mind-scramblings that are afoot... the reader will want to keep plenty of gnostic energy on hand...fans of the series will be eager to see what comes next."—Kirkus Reviews
"David Hair's Scarlet Tides, the second novel in his Moontide Quartet series, has been compared to great fantasy epics such as A Song of Ice and Fire and The Wheel of Time, and it easily earns it place amongst them... Scarlet Tides is an engaging, well-developed book."—Fanboy Comics
"Along the way, the author introduces some very unusual fantasy elements and handles them well. One such is a magical construct, the Leviathan Bridge that is underwater most of the time....this engrossing story will continue in the third episode, Unholy War."—Bookloons
"Hair's Scarlet Tides continues a fantastic epic fantasy series with a great cast, immersive world, and fascinating system of magic that builds to a stunning several-hundred page conclusion in the vein of Steven Erikson, where everything possible happens to everyone. He improved on everything that made Mage's Blood so good and added even more oomph to it. I cannot wait to start Unholy War."—A Bitter Draft
"I love the depth of Hair's magic system, as well as the wide variety of his characters...We've got two more books left in David Hair's world, and I can't wait to see what he's got up his sleeves next."—Geeksmash
"Hair takes his time with all these narrative arcs, allowing the characters lots of space within which to grow. Depth of character was a strong point in Mage's Blood and it is here as well. Many of the characters are realistically complex, few remain the same by the end of the novel, and many are thrown into situations that either reveal or create different facets of their personality."—Fantasy Literature Reviews
"A heavy tome with lots of excellent story inside of it."—Novelnaut
"One of the best epic fantasies for a long time... If you do not read any other fantasy book this year, ensure you read Scarlet Tides."—Opionator
2014-10-09
"The windship flotilla has already left for Hebusalim." The ship may have sailed and the sheets may be a little slack, but that doesn't keep Gurvon Gyle, Ramita Ankesharan and company from coming back for more swords and sorcery in Hair's latest.In this second volume of the Moontide Quartet, following last year's Mage's Blood, New Zealander Hair spins a satisfying fantasy that, in some aspects, is a sort of mashup of J.R.R. Tolkien and Henry Kissinger. The Emperor Constant, suitably Byzantine, heads a polity that has designs on its neighbors, and thanks to the happy fact the moontide is on the way and that Rondelmar boasts "all the strongest magi," it seems as if he has a fighting chance to control the known world. Hair is strongest at building said world: The details of geography and ethnography are believable, complete and utterly satisfying. Some of the other kit is more derivative, though, as with the so-called Scytale of Corineus, a gewgaw powerful enough, as the resourceful old Belonius Vult puts it, "to make Noros great—the equal of Pallas." Call it the one Scytale to rule them all: It's big mojo, but we've seen that trope before. Still, Hair capably spins a rather elaborate storyline, or better multiple storylines, all suitably tangled, given the conspiracies and mind-scramblings that are afoot. Suffice it to say that the reader will want to keep plenty of gnostic energy on hand to follow these complex (and sometimes overly long) comings and goings, which, given that there are two more volumes to come, necessarily end on a cliffhanger; as one of the principal players says in closing, darkly, "The real war has only just begun." So it has, and fans of the series will be eager to see what comes next.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940172523489 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Brilliance Audio |
| Publication date: | 10/07/2014 |
| Series: | Moontide Quartet , #2 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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