Bloodring

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bloodring (ISBN 0-451-46108-8) is the first novel by Faith Hunter. It was published by Roc Trade on 2006 November 7. This is the first novel in a fantasy series about neomage Thorn St. Croix. It is set in a post-Apocalyptic world, where the world did not quite end as expected.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Thorn St. Croix is a mage, or neomage, living about a century after the Apocalypse. She is living in exile from the Enclave where her own kind live (both as prison and sanctuary) because of the telepathy that threatened to drive her insane when it began during her adolescence. This has forced her to live amongst humans, hiding her true nature lest she be killed, either by the humans - who would torture her first, or by the seraphs who have ruled the earth since the Apocalypse began.

Thorn is a stone mage, and she has channeled most of her talents with stone into lapidary work and jewelry-making, running the store "Thorn's Gems" with her partners Rupert and Jaycee in the small town of Mineral Springs, Carolina, where they all live.

Thorn's life is suddenly disrupted when police officer Thaddeus Barholomew comes to her door and announces that her ex-husband (and Rupert's brother), Lucas, has been kidnapped, and she's a suspect. Thadd, it turns out, is a kylen, progeny of a seraph and a mix of human and mage. Thorn realizes this when he kindles her mage-heat. Amazingly, Thadd appears not to know he is anything but pure human, and were he to discover her secret, he would immediately arrest her for being an unliscenced mage outside of Enclave. She must risk death in order to save the father of her former step-daughter, Ciana - the child of her heart.