A Quick Note On This Review: This article includes affiliate links to Bookshop.org as a way of supporting both local bookshops and my own ability to write.
Lady Amalia Cornaro has a mind more interested in artificing than the political machinations that her mother would like her to have; as the only Cornaro heir, Amalia is on the fast track to a future of politics and national intelligence when she comes across a young woman wielding fire magic in the town square. Amalia’s future suddenly takes a turn when she’s the one that secures the jess on the fire mage named Zaira, binding their lives together permanently. However, just as the two are starting to build a semblance of trust between them, secret machinations are begun that, if left unchecked, could lead to a devastating war neither is prepared to fight.
The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso is a high fantasy novel that is a bit more formal than some of her other books like The Last Hour Between Worlds, but it does still has quite a bit that’s precisely in-line with Caruso’s unique style. Rather than leaning into the traditional format for high fantasy where the protagonist is exceptional, Amalia isn’t as perfect as some other main characters within the genre. There’s nothing to indicate that she possesses exceptional beauty, intelligence, or capabilities, but she does possess enough intelligence and curiosity to drive her to study theories of magic without being able to actually practice it. Further, Amalia’s position as an heiress to a powerful political operator in the kingdom doesn’t dominate the relationships she forms because Amalia is largely indifferent to any of the responsibility such a position entails.
Zaira, by contrast, has a significant power in being the only person in the entire kingdom to wield fire magic, which is one of the ways that the kingdom has been able to maintain its stability for so long. And yet, Zaira is little more than a thief who is deeply irreverent of the Falcon/Falconer system, established bounds of propriety, or anything else that Amalia and other “respectable” characters are likely to approve of. Ultimately, Zaira’s irreverance helps make her magnetic in every scene, because she adds depth to the perception of the situation while offering some humor into otherwise tense scenes, and provides a valuable foil to Amalia so that it’s highlighted for readers that even as the protagonist and company are searching for a way to protect the status quo, it is still a fundamentally flawed society that they’re part of.
For casual readers, Caruso’s book would be enjoyable for anyone interested in high fantasy novels that lean heavily into elements of political intrigue. The Tethered Mage is also likely to appeal to readers who enjoyed The Last Hour Between Worlds, but would like the story to be more grounded in familiar elements of the high fantasy genre. There are also some LGBTQ+ elements to Caruso’s novel, which could be appealing to some readers, though it should be noted that it plays a small role in the larger story.
For writers, The Tethered Mage provides many similar lessons to The Last Hour Between Worlds, but it does add to it with regards to social criticisms and magical systems. Starting with magical systems, it’s been noted in other reviews that the magic system Caruso created feels similar to slavery, which is a fair observation. Caruso’s magic system isn’t necessarily as brutal or cruel in all the ways that slavery was, but elements of the storytelling could be misinterpreted to be an excuse for slavery; given Caruso’s other works, it’s likely that she will interrogate this later in the series, but it’s worth noting that writers interested in creating a bonded pair in their stories could learn from “The Tethered Mage” what may be misconstrued and how one may be able to pivot. For the social criticism piece, writers who feel a strong need to highlight a social critique in their works would benefit immensely from emulating Zaira’s character, as she does a great job of walking the line between editorializing and being an engaging, three dimensional character.
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What’s Next?
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The Writerly Review 