Rogue Mage series

Bloodring (Rogue Mage -1) by Faith Hunter — Bloodring (2006—Rogue Mage #1) by Faith Hunter

Rogue Mage series, aka Thorn St. Croix by Faith Hunter.

2008-Bloodring (Rogue Mage -1) by Faith Hunter — Bloodring (2008—Rogue Mage #1) by Faith Hunter

Genres and Sub-Genres[]

Dark Urban Fantasy / Apocalyptic Fantasy

Series Description or Overview[]

✥ The Rogue Mage series of fantasy novels were written by Faith Hunter about races of beings inhabiting a post-apocalyptic Earth of the not-too distant future. Some of them possess magical powers. The series is set in the remains of the United States about a century after an apocalypse similar to the one predicted in the Book of Revelation, but with no god appearing. ~ Rogue Mage series - Wikipedia

✥ Faith Hunter portrays a near-future world, caught in the throes of an ambiguous apocalypse, where a woman with everything to hide finds her destiny revealed—where a woman with everything to hide finds her true destiny revealed. As humanity struggles with religious strife and seraphs and demons fight a never-ending battle, a new species has arisen. ~ Bloodring ~ Shelfari

Lead's Species[]

Mage

Primary Supe[]

Angels, mages

What Sets it Apart[]

Narrative Type and Narrators[]

First person narrative told by Thorn St. Croix.

Books in Series[]

Rogue Maage series

Bloodring (2006)
Seraphs (2007)
Host (2007)

Shorts, Novellas, Anthologies and Guides[]

World Building[]

Setting[]

Mineral City: Mountain town in the Appalachian Mountains of Carolina (presumable NC & SC combined)—where story takes place.
Atlanta

Places:

The Trine: Three-peaked mountain outside of Mineral City
Enclave: which is both a prison and sanctuary where the neomages live

The Supernatural Elements[]

Neomages (non-human), Seraphs, demons, apocalypse, winged warriors, Kylen, elemental magc, ice age,

Glossary:

Neomage: Smaller than humans, capable of working power related to some element (stone, earth, water....). Thought not to have souls and called the "unforeseen."
Second unforeseen: Sometimes called half-breeds or mules, part human and part neomage. They are warriors generally bound to a seraph.
Kylen: A descendant of a seraph and human.
Seraph: Powerful winged warriors. They sometimes battle forces of Darkness inflict and punishments on those who break the laws of the Most Holy. Generally believed to be the angels mentioned in the Bible, but some speculate otherwise.
Daywalker: A being that is able to walk during the day, but is still part of the force of darkness.
Champard; Champion/companion. Rupert and Audric and Thorn's champards
Mistrend: Mistress/friend. Thorn is mistrend to Rupert and Audric.
Watcher: (similar to a seraph)

Organizations:

Kirk: House of worship. May hold services for multiple religions.

World[]

✥ A near-future world caught in the throes of an ambiguous apocalypse-where a woman with everything to hide finds her true destiny revealed.

The world didn't end with the apocalypse. And the appearance of seraphs heralded three plagues and a devastating war between the forces of good and evil. More than a hundred years later, the earth has plunged into an ice age, and seraphs and demons fight a never-ending battle while religious strife rages among the surviving humans. ~ Cover blurb

✥ The story takes place about a century after an apocalypse. It includes "neomages", a new race of beings that arose during the time of the apocalypse. They live in an area known as the Enclave, which is both a prison and sanctuary, and are able to work with "leftover creation energy". ~ Wikipedia

✥ As humanity struggles with religious strife and seraphs and demons fight a never-ending battle, a new species has arisen. "Neomages" are human in appearance, but able to twist left-over creation energy to their will. A threat to both humans and seraphs, they are confined in luxurious Enclaves. ~ Shelfari

Protagonist[]

Thorn St. Croix is no ordinary neomage. Nearly driven insane by her powers, she is smuggled out of an Enclave and now lives among humans, channeling her gift of stone-magery into jewelry making. But when Thaddeus Bartholomew, a dangerously attractive policeman, tells her that her ex-husband has been kidnapped, Thorn risks revealing her identity to find him. And for Thorn, the punishment for revelation is death. ~ Bloodring (Rogue Mage 1) by Faith Hunter ~ Shelfari

Characters[]

Characters	What	About
Thorn St. Croix	Stone Neomage	owner of Thorn's Gems; illegally hiding as a human;
Rupert Stanhope	Part Owner of Thorn's Gems	Lucas' brother; Loves Pre-Apocalyptic musicals
Lucas Stanhope	Thorn's ex-husband	Rupert's brother;
Marla Stanhope	Lucas' first wife	mother of Ciana
Ciana Stanhope	Thorn's step-daughter	Lucas' and Marla's child; once Thorn's step-daughter and still the "daughter of her heart.";
Audric Cooper	owns a shop; half-mage, warrior	Friend to Thorn, rents a store front from Thorn's Gems; half-breed (human/neomage) bound to seraph. He is a dead-miner (think scavenger)
Jacey	Third partner in Thorn's Gems	Married to Zed
Shamus Waldroup	town's kirk senior elder	and highest ranking of town fathers, owner of the bakery across from Thorn's Gems;
Benaiah Stanhope	Mole Man
Zeddy	Jacey's eldest step-son
Thaddeus Bartholomew	detective	Cousin of the Stanhope family, ("hand of the law")
Barak	Watcher (similar to a seraph)	freed in the battle in Rogue Mage Book 2: Seraphs
Cheran Jones	Metal Mage	emissary from New Orleans Enclave
Raziel	Seraph
Earnst Wladroup	chief bishop	chief bishop of the Atlanta kirk; Shamus' brother;
Jasper	Town Elder	friend of Thorn
Cheriour	Angel of Punishment and Judgment	Cheriour has visited Mineral City at least twice before
Cissy	Jacey's daughter	Jacey's 9-year-old daughter

To expand the table, right-press on a row of the table or (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add row.

Rogue Mage Timeline[]

BloodRing Timeline

2011 — June – first plague begins, the Plague of Blood. Appearance of first seraphs (angels of judgment and death).
2011 — September – second plague begins.
2012 — January – third plague begins.
February – on the heels of the start of the third plague, birth of first neomages.
February – appearance of first Darkness.
February – start of the Last War between seraphs and evil.
2026 — 14 years after birth of mages, the seraph Barak is injured. Takes refuge with Daria’s family.
2027 — Appearance of neomage gifts. Daria comes into mage heat and into her neomage gifts. She is 15. She mates with Barak.
2028 — Birth of first litter of kylen.
2030 — End of Last War. It lasted 18 years.
2032 — First human/neomage war. Mages were 20 years old. First mage heat between mages occurs when seraphs rescue them.
2040 — Creation of the Enclaves.

Current Timeline

2117 — 105th Anniversary of the start of the Last War. 87th anniversary of the last battle.

Thorn’s Amulets:

Black and green jade bear — blanks her mage attributes and stores strength
White onyx Arctic seal — link to enclave power deep in the earth
White onyx fish — sphere of protection or shield
Jade elephant — charmed circle
Large bear — turquoise, power from the deeps, for crisis intervention
Cougar, red brecciated jasper — glamour for looking like a plain, middle-aged woman
Pink quartz rose — calm.
Rune of forgetting – a moss agate carved in the rune shape
Shield — sphere of shielding — white onyx fish
Sleeping cat carved out of bloodstone — energy sink.
Frog carved from black and clear agate — healing
Clear quartz rings and nuggets used for illumination
Wild mage amulets:

1. Citrine, citrine nugget shaped like a pear with a nub of a stem and a small leaf.

2. The sapphire with lots of dark inclusions, a poor quality stone carved in the shape of a fat owl.

3. The zoisite carved like a cherry. A tiny ruby inclusion looked like a gemstone worm in the green matrix of the zoisite.

People of the Enclave world Genetic structure:

✥ Offspring of the supernats and sentients:

Kylen: Winged offspring of mage and seraph are kylen. They are viable, male.
Mules: offspring (second unforeseen) of humans and mages-sterile.
Kylen–Human: Kylen can breed with humans and produce viable offspring. These are also kylen, but with weaker powers in each generation. After the third generation, the wings tend to shrink and disappear.
Mage on mage breed: viable offspring, but need seraphs to create mage-heat, which allows females to ovulate.
Devil Spawn: Darkness and humans breed devil-spawn in huge litters.
Watcher: Darkness, unwilling mages, a Watcher,
Succubi: ole Man’s progeny breed succubus-larvae.
Daywalkers: Darkness and Light breed daywalkers.

~ Source: Rogue Mage Timeline | Faith Hunter

Author[]

Faith Hunter

Website: Official site of Faith Hunter. Virtual home to vampire hunter, Jane Yellowrock!
Genres: Urban Fantasy

Bio: A native of Louisiana, Faith Hunter spent her early years on the bayous and rivers, learning survival skills and the womanly arts. She liked horses, dogs, fishing and crabbing much better than girly skills. Still does.

In grade school, she fell in love with fantasy and sifi, reading five books a week. Faith now shares her life with her Renaissance Man and their dogs in a Enclave of their own. ~ Faith Hunter Full Bio: About | Faith Hunter ~ or ~ Goodreads | Faith Hunter

Contributors[]

Cover Artists[]

Cliff Nielsen — The first editions of the series, books 1–3, by Roc publishers

~ Source: ISFdb: Cover: Bloodring / isfdb: Cover: Seraphs / isfdb: Cover: Host

Other Contributors[]

Audio Book Narrator: — Source:
Editor: — Source:

Publishing Information[]

Publisher: Roc Fantasy
Author Page:
Bk-1: Paperback, 1st Ed, 336 pages, Pub: Nov 7th 2006—ISBN: 0451461088
Bk-2: Paperback, 1st Ed, 356 pages, Pub: May 1st 2007—ISBN: 0451461479
Bk-3: Paperback, 1st Ed, 340 pages, Pub: November 6th 2007—ISBN: 0451461738

Book Cover Blurbs[]

✤ BOOK ONE BLURB—Bloodring (2006): In a novel filled with exhilarating action and lush imagery, Faith Hunter portrays a near-future world, caught in the throes of an ambiguous apocalypse, where a woman with everything to hide finds her destiny revealed...

No one thought the apocalypse would be like this. The world didn't end. And the appearance of seraphs heralded three plagues and a devastating war between the forces of good and evil. More than a hundred years later, the earth has plunged into an ice age, and seraphs and demons fight a never-ending battle while religious strife rages among the surviving humans.

Thorn St. Croix is no ordinary neomage. All the others of her kind, mages who can twist leftover creation energy to their will, were gathered together into Enclaves long ago. There, they live in luxurious confinement, isolated from humans and exploited for their magic. When Thorn's powers nearly drive her insane, she escapes—and lives as a fugitive, disguised as a human, channeling her gifts for war into stone-magery and the pacific tasks of jewelry making. But when Thaddeus Bartholomew, a dangerously attractive policeman, shows up on her doorstep and accuses her of kidnapping her ex-husband, she retrieves her weapons and risks revealing her identity to find him. And for Thorn, the punishment for revelation is death. ~ Goodreads and Author

✤ BOOK TWO BLURB—Seraphs (2007): The follow-up to Bloodring finds neomage Thorn St. Croix facing her ultimate test. Deep in the mountains beyond Mineral City, an imprisoned fallen seraph needs her help. There, the armies of Darkness assemble to ensure this rescue will be Thorn's final descent. ✥ Living among humans in a post—apocalyptic ice age, neomage Thorn St. Croix is a source of both fear and fascination for the people of Mineral City and now she faces her ultimate test.

Deep under the snow-covered mountains beyond the village, an imprisoned fallen seraph desperately needs her help. There, hidden in the hellhole, the armies of Darkness assemble to ensure this subterranean rescue will be Thorn's final descent? ~ Goodreads and Author

✤ BOOK THREE BLURB—Host (2007): In a post-apocalyptic ice age envisioned by Faith Hunter in Bloodring and Seraphs, humans continue their fight to survive amid the warlike forces of Light and Darkness—and struggle to understand the seraphic and demonic beings who have invaded their world....

After risking her life to save the residents of Mineral City from a fallen seraph of the underworld, Thorn St. Croix finds herself finally accepted, albeit warily. Not so the mage who arrives from the Council of Seraphs, and who could be her greatest ally - or her most dangerous foe.

But a terrible danger threatens Mineral City. The bonds of the Dragon have been loosed and it will soon be free. Darkness and its minions overtake the town, setting off avalanches and cutting off communications. At the mercy of Darkness, Thorn must rally the townspeople together—for only as one can they survive. But her loyalty will be tested by someone she once lost to the Dark: her twin sister.. ~ Goodreads and Author

First Sentences[]

Bloodring (2006): I stared into the hills as my mount clomped below me, his massive hooves digging into snow and ice.Claws gripped my throat, shutting off my air, and Raziel laughed against my mouth.
Seraphs (2007): Claws gripped my throat, shutting off my air, and Raziel laughed against my mouth.
Host (2007): I'd been feeling itchy all day, like something was about to happen.