The Tethered Mage

Swords and Fire, Book 1

By: Melissa Caruso

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

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. And as 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.

©2017 Melissa Caruso (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"A rich world, political intrigue, and action that keeps you turning pages - The Tethered Mage is classic fantasy with a fresh voice." (Jeff Wheeler, author of The Queen's Poisoner)

"Intricate and enticing as silk brocade. Caruso's heroine is a strong, intelligent young woman in a beguiling, beautifully evoked Renaissance world of high politics, courtly intrigue, love and loyalty - and fire warlocks." (Anna Smith Spark, author of The Court of Broken Knives)

"An enchanting voice and an original world you won't want to leave." (RJ Barker, author of Age of Assassins)

great pace and growing protagonists

loved this, and didn't know I had the first and second of the trilogy. nonetheless, I appreciated the growth, albeit slow, for Amala and even Zahira. but she, Zahira grated on me a bit, but she grew into someone loveable. Lt. Verde, he's a person that is all well intentioned, but my God, just shut up sometimes, haha. overall, I enjoyed the story, and the ending people, I only guessed two out of the few who were bad... so to speak. pacing and performances, top notch.

Loved it!

The story was amazing. the world is so vibrant. the intrigue was papable. danger and betrayl around every corner!

the performance was spot on. i really loved it!

Surprising success

I read other reviews about the heroine being uninteresting and male lead simply getting a lead role just because ‘he’s there’, and I tend to agree… but the supporting characters and premise are enough to carry the book. Also, by the end, I felt like our heroine had progressed a ton. I still think we need a lot more out of Lt. Marcello to make him worthy of his status. Dynamite narrator, as with most of the books she’s done.

Captivated and enthralled from beginning to end!

There was so much intrigue and excitement I found it nearly impossible to find a moment to pause listening. It is a rare gift to so artfully blend storytelling and Rich language with the sense of adventure and unpredictability which this story aChieves magnificently! Fantastic work and I eagerly await the next novel!

Great epic fantasy!

This is a great epic fantasy with great storytelling of a new type of magical world, engaging characters, and a plot that keeps you wanting to read more! I also recommend the 2nd and 3rd Sword and Fire books. I just wish the third book had an audiobook as well, you can only buy that paperback or Kindle version for that 3rd book.

Characters childish and frustrating

Solid fantasy with a unique magic system. I had a really hard time rooting for either of the main characters. They want to change the world but without sacrificing anything in the process, which comes across as unrealistic and grating. The falcon is more outspoken about it, demanding freedom and mocking those around her while not putting in any positive effort into changing the world she hates. The falconer spends most of the book pouting because politicians are not honest and because she just wants to be a *normal girl* but then gets angry about things being the way that they are and wonders why she has no power to make change. Girl, I'm sorry, but you have to understand the system in order to play it. I did really like the ending. It was fast paced, and the main characters experienced some of the tough choices they needed to think about in order to accomplish their goals. Overall, a solid read but I won't be looking into the sequels.

Loved this!

Second time reading and I liked even more than the first time around. Can’t wait to continue on with the trilogy

Fantastic, great narrator.

This book has everything I love. Political intrigue, betrayals, magic, romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this. A+ for narrator, she was great.

Amalia is a wonderful main character. what she may lack in physical prowess/magic ability, she more than makes up for in smarts, which is refreshing (as I also love badass MC's that'll slit your throat, and have read many of those, so this came up as something a little bit 'different' for me in that regard, and I loved it). Though, one thing I have to say is, there were a few times I wanted Amalia to get angry. maybe once or twice at Zaira.

Which brings me to secondary characters, whom I also enjoyed. I loved Zaira's personality and how she never backed down and said what she meant. I like how she didnt change her views, even at the end, for anyone. And, may I say, bi-representation, whoop! Marcello, La Contessa, Estreya. All very good characters. (forgive any misspellings)

I am definitely going to be picking up the 2nd one and watching for the 3rd one.

Couldn't put it away

What did you like about this audiobook?

So for the past week, every chance I got I could not put it away.

I picked this book up because of friends had recommended it. What I found was a strong main character, a background of intrigue that was more than intriguing, and action that left me wanting more. It was like reading a fantasy version of the Georgian era..

How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?

Zaira cause she was anything but stereotypical. Sassy, and independent she was anything but a typical mage idea.

Does the author present information in a way that is interesting and insightful, and if so, how does he achieve this?

I really appreciated the depth and cadence of her different voices. Her range made it easy to imagine almost any character she preformed and gave life to each of them

What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?

Absolutely yes.

A different type of Mage tale.

I really enjoyed this Audio book because it was a different take on magic and how to control magic. In this tale, the Mage has an habbit of loosing control of their magic and destroying whole cities and multiple lives. To control the Mage, they can be tethered much like someone would tether a hawk or falcon. This is done with a magical tether that is placed around the wrist of the Mage. The story gets interesting when the daughter of a very high ranking noble tethers a very dangerous fire mage to save the city from burning to the ground.
A very well written and narrated story. Solid 4 stars!