Book Review of The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso

 

Name of Book: The Tethered Mage

Author: Melissa Caruso

ISBN: 978-0-316-46687-5

Publisher: Orbit 

Part of a Series: Swords and Fire (The Defiant Heir and The Unbound Empire are sequels, as well as Rooks and Ruin Trilogy) 

Type of book: fantasy, alternate Italy in 1700s, politics, manipulation, mages, magic, prison, slavery, soldiers, war, mobilizing, nobility 

Year it was published: 2017

Summary:

In the Raverran Empire, magic is scarce and those born with power are strictly controlled – taken as children and conscripted into the Falcon Army.

Zaira has lived her life on the streets to avoid this fate, hiding her mage-mark and thieving to survive. But hers is a rare and dangerous magic, one that threatens the entire empire.

Lady Amalia Cornaro was never meant to be a Falconer. Heiress and scholar, she was born into a treacherous world of political machinations. But fate has bound the heir and the mage.

War looms on the horizon. A single spark could turn their city into a pyre.

The Tethered Mage is the first novel in a spellbinding new fantasy series.

Characters:

The main character in the story is Amalia, a noblewoman of high echelons who has a domineering mother who is highly informed and gifted in manipulation. Amalia, meanwhile, strikes me as a type that sees her birth and station as more of a burden and her mother's lessons as to be used only when necessary. She is also rebellious and highly intelligent and is a university student. Zaira is best described as a gifted and orphaned street rat who may use crude language, but is she is more adept at reading the room and moods than given credit for. The other important character is Marcello Verdi, a rising lieutenant in the Mews (place where mages are kept) who has feelings he shouldn't be having. He is very kind-hearted, loyal and will do whatever he can for Amalia.  

Theme:

What is the line between slavery and safety?

Plot:

The story is in first person narrative from Amalia's point of view. Right away the reader is presented with an action scene where Amalia unwillingly becomes a Falconer (a mage controller) to a fire warlock named Zaira. The problem is Amalia's mother is of high echelons where its forbidden to be a Falconer. The fantasy world is presented in manageable information chunks which means that not once have I felt lost or confused about how the world worked and the story is easy to follow along. Along the way as well a mystery is presented with high stakes of war between the cities of Raverra and Ardence. Meanwhile the reader is also presented to Vaskandar which stands in direct contrast to the Serene Empire (Prime example is treatment of mages.) Manipulation and subtlety is a must among the warring factions because one wrong move will trigger untold suffering and a war. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Melissa Caruso is the author of THE TETHERED MAGE, first in the Swords and Fire trilogy, out now from Orbit books.

Opinion:

In my teens and twenties, I was a great lover of Role-playing games (think Lord of the Rings fantasies) and one of the games that I eventually loved was Dragon Age Origins, thus I googled once if there are any books that are quite similar to Dragon Age Origins, and lo and behold! Melissa Caruso's Swords and Fire Trilogy was one of the recommendations! Reading only the first book so far, I have to say that I definitely imagine the novel would be a great video game in vein of Dragon Age series, for it has high stakes, subtlety as well as action and amazing characters and world building. Oh yes, there is also the narrative of exploitation of mages and the morality of how they are to be seen; as slaves or soldiers? An all too relevant question in this world. The style had a subtle Young Adult feel to it, but the politics as well as manipulation are at a sophisticated level and are very gripping. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)