The Blight. The end of Mankind. The Bridge that may be salvation or the final betrayal.
Magic is treacherous, it lied to them all…
In this grimdark fantasy, magic and its guardians have been banished to the Deadlands and the Blight threatens mankind’s survival. Terren, the last remaining city, stands alone against its relentless advance. Ever closer draws the choice they all must make: face the deadly Blight or cross the Bridge to Magic.
Elika, an orphan on Terren’s streets, hates and fears the dark bridge. Many who try to cross, perish. Some reach the other side, only to become motionless shadows in the vast, lifeless landscape of the Deadlands, their true fate unknown.Like everyone else, Elika clings to the hope that purging every lingering echo of magic from the world can stop the Blight.
Then she discovers that magic is hiding within her, and through her it seeks to enact the will of its own. Everything Elika knew about her past shatters, as long-buried secrets about her true birth emerge. Accused of being a mage, many doubt her loyalties. Her gang turns against her. The one man she thought she could trust and love, abandons her.
Hunted and alone, Elika must soon decide: Either destroy the magic inside her or cross the bridge to her own uncertain end. But what awaits them in the Deadlands where the enemy of mankind roams wild?
The Bridge to Magic is a dark and intriguing story of a life between two deaths and an impossible choice to make. It is a tale of hope and survival in a world where neither seems possible.
Alex Thornbury is an award-winning fantasy author. She grew up in Cheshire UK, and developed deep love of history and fantasy thanks to the many castles she visited as a child. Though she grew up to be an Alchemist by trade, she never stopped fantasising about other worlds, dragons and epic battles.
She has abandoned her Alchemy and potion making career, and is now a full time author of high fantasy. After all, who does not love to build new worlds and meet its wondrous inhabitants?
My thoughts: this was a really interesting new YA fantasy series. Caught between the Blight slowly eating up everything and the terrifying chasm that the Bridge spans, Terren teems with rumours. Priestesses peddle a “cure” to being an Echo – infected with a hint of magic, paranoia runs rife as more refugees from the Blight flood the city. Gangs of thieves take in orphans like Elika, stealing to survive, dodging the city’s guards and trying to stay a step ahead.
But something is different about Eli, old Bill Fisher tries to tell her with his stories, but can she believe a man who says he’s 700 years old? Is she an Echo or something more, something dangerous? As the city runs out of time, can Eli turn the tide or is it finally time for her to cross the Bridge to the Deadlands?
As Eli tries to figure out who she is, and why she’s being pursued by so many, as the city tears itself apart and the poorest struggle to survive, everything Eli thought she knew might be wrong. A strong beginning to a new and exciting series.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 