A Bridge Between Two Volumes of a Long Saga
The Blood Mage Texts by Sherwood Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have to approach these books carefully, because in many ways I know too much about them. I've been reading them for decades, in various forms from raw first draft to successive attempts to tame that initial exuberance and bend it into something acceptable to an acquiring editor's tastes, and finally to indie publishing. And my first introduction to this world was in fact the final several books of the great war this book is building toward.
As a result, I know that a number of the characters in this book are not who or what they appear to be -- and that will become critical in subsequent books, so I need to be careful what I reveal, let I spoil important surprises, especially ones that involve sudden reverses.
This book was originally part of the book that follows, but that volume was becoming unwieldy, so the decision was made to peel it away into a separate short novel, a bridge between the two novels on either side. It deals with two mysterious small books of magic that had been hidden away in the library of the tyrannical dark-mage king Wan-Edhe (actually a title, literally "the King," rather like the titles of several 20th century tyrants literally meant "the Leader"). These problematical volumes are dropped into the hands of the Young Allies (a group of youthful leaders who've come to power far too soon, thanks to the failures of the adults in their lives) by a mysterious renegade prince, for unknown purposes of his own.
Even as our young heroes are struggling to translate the ancient language in an unfamiliar script, the Enemy is on the move. Norsunder Base has gotten word that these lost books are back out in the world again, and several ambitious dark mages want to be the ones to grab them. They're willing to do anything to gain them, including torture and dark-magic torments.
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