Mage's Blood (The Moontide Quartet)
British author Hair, previously recognized for his young-adult books, has now produced his first adult novel, the first of a planned tetralogy. The lands of Yuros and Antiopa are divided by an impassible strait. Once every 12 years, however, the tides sink to the point that the mage-built Moontide Bridge emerges, and trade is possible between the two lands. Still, armies can also cross the bridge, and the ruling Magi of the Yuros are preparing for another try at conquering Antiopa. And that is just to start. Hair has done a competent—if in places derivative—job of world building, and his characters are of a high order. The dubious point is his pacing. His stage is so large and his characters so many that the pacing is outright bouncy. --Frieda Murray