Bloodring

Bloodring by Faith Hunter

Rogue Mage Series #1

Bloodring is told from the perspective of Thorn St. Croix. Thorn is a stone mage, the only one of her kind who is not confined to a mage community called Enclave. On the run, she must keep her identity a secret for fear of her life. If she is found by the Seraphs, who are angel-like beings, she will be sent back to the enclave where she faces certain insanity for she has a "gift" of mind reading her own kind, and thousands of minds get a little noisy. However, if she is discovered by the humans she hides amongst she faces death by stoning. When a temptingly attractive police officer named Thaddeus knocks on her door in the middle of the night to tell Thorn her ex-husband has been kidnapped, she must risk using her powers to find him, even with the fear of discovery looming over her.

I found the first half of this book to be a very frustrating read. I did not have much of a clue what was going on in the novel, and just when things started to become clear new revelations would be made, further confusing Thorn's identity. I enjoy a little mystery to a character, but this book could have used just a little more back story sooner for everything to make more sense. The book loosely follows biblical aspects, and at root is a war between good and evil. Thorn is on the side of "light" and makes stands against the evil "darkness" that tries to hurt the ones she loves. She is a very strong character, and when she sets out to do something she perseveres, not matter the risk to herself. One aspect I didn't care for was the "mage-heat," it is portrayed as this all consuming desire, but never seems to serve a true purpose in the book other than to "throw a wrench" into things for Thorn, possibly in future books it will have more meaning, but for this book I just didn't feel it was necessary. Poor Thorn had enough thrown at her without it. Thorn's personality, her "voice," is great and her world is interesting, however the story was hard to follow at times. The ending resolution was only a partial one, and the peace Thorn gains seems tentative at best. With how the ending played out, there is definite potential for this series, and I think as more about Thorn's true identity and past are revealed, the better it will get.

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Bloodring (Rogue Mage, Book 1)