My review for The Tethered Mage (Swords and Fire #1) by Melissa Caruso.

The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



The Tethered Mage is a kind of book you give up sleep over. I have read a LOT of fantasy books so I can definitely proudly say this book is one of the best I've ever read. Everything about it is epic, from the incredible worldbuilding, to the amazing characters, to the magic, Everything is so top notch. This is the first book I'm reading from Melissa Caruso and she has been vaulted onto my list of favorites. The world of Raverra is a vast creation borne of brilliance, the execution of it is one of the best I've read. From the first chapter, it's so easy to tell just how good this book is going to be. Lady Amalia Cornaro is the heiress of the most prominent family in Raverra, Her mother is on the Council of Nine, the council that rules and governs the empire. Amalia prefers getting lost in books and her artifice (sort of like crafting magical stuff, it's hard to explain but the idea is bloody brilliant) projects to focusing on ruling and subterfuge. On a mission to recover a super rare magical book called the Muscati, She has an encounter that changes her life forever. Amalia saves a girl Zaria (who is a street thief) from a group of thugs only to realise she's a fire Falcon (another way of saying mage), Zaria let's her fire loose and gets lost in the rush of power. Due to the timely arrival of Lieutenant Marcello who is a Falconer (People who have a bond with Falcons created by a power bonding object called Jess, The Falconers can decide to release the magic of their Falcons by saying the releasing word), Amalia is able to save Zaria and all of Riverra by binding her magic with a jess provided by Marcello thus automatically making her Zaria's Falconer. This is complicated for many reasons the most important being Amalia descends from a noble family that can't loose it's heir to the Falconers. A compromise is made, Amalia will come to the Mews (The beautiful home of the Falcons) for training once in a while and to also get to know Zaria. Things were especially tense and awkward as Zaria hated coming there against her will and She's pretty feisty especially when it comes to having no control over her future. The only bright spot for Amalia is Marcello, they form a tentative friendship that slowly blossoms into more. I love Amalia, She is brilliant, smart, decisive though sometimes unsure of herself. She is also very practical which also helps her a lot. Zaria on the other hand is brash, headstrong, feisty, stubborn and powerful, I do love her though sometimes she is just so aggravating. What elevates this story into excellence is the central mystery that resolves around a brewing war between Raverra and a neighbouring frenemy kingdom Ardence. Amalia at first gets drawn into the whole mess because she is the Falconer to the only fire warlock the empire has (They're super rare and can be used to wipe out kingdoms) and will be needed in case war ensues. That and she will also be in the Council of Nine in the future. Amalia really loves Ardence because she's spent some time there and has a lot of friends in the kingdom. This gives her a cogent reason to try to prevent war between the two kingdoms but unfortunately things begin to escalate. Revelations are made that shows a tangled web of lies and deceit that is threaded deeply between Raverra and Ardence, various players are revealed to be manipulating both sides into an all out war. Things get really personal for Amalia, Zaria and Marcello as their personal lives become entangled in the war and for the sake of their future, they vow to do whatever they can to get to the bottom of the issues. It turns out to fully understand what's going on, they had to enter the Lion's den, this lead to the gang going to Ardence and coming to the realization things are a LOT worse than they thought. It's a lot more complicated than it sounds as so many people is involved in this treachery, one thing I really love about this book is that as all this is happening, there is still time for Amalia, Zaria and Marcello to each have intriguing storylines with amazing character developments, they all get to do their own thing. The worldbuilding in this world is amazing, from Raverra to Vaskander to Ardence, it's all just pure brilliance crafted by a genius author, I am seriously impressed with Melissa Caruso. There is so much action that perfectly blends with the pace of the book, the magic is also brilliantly portrayed in a quite refreshing way, The mystery is one big web that was too delightful to entangle, it kept me on the edge of my seat at all times. This book is a little bit long but worth it, It has everything, action, adventure, magic, romance, mystery, tremendous worldbuilding, deep character developments, awesome characters and a beautiful cover. There is not enough words for me to describe just how good this book is, Just pick it up and see for yourself. I loved how this storyline concluded despite the heartbreaking betrayals and the heart pounding action towards the ending. So many amazing twists and turns you won't see coming, The Tethered Mage will definitely resonate with all readers. Thank you to Melissa Caruso for writing this masterpiece and I can't wait to read what's next.
I'm probably missing some stuff but the book is so vast I can't cover everything but just believe me when I say it's worth your time.

P.S: I so ship Amalia and Marcello, and Zaria and Domenic.
P.P.S: So many conspiracy theories are going to go through your head as you read this and every scenario you come up with will be wrong because believe me you won't see that big twist coming, It made me really love this book.



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