My early reflections ran more as reviews and weren’t tarnished by my clever little titles. This was a YA book that caught my attention at the time, I was contemplating writing my reflections. It also was a book that made me aware of a sub-genre of Fantasy that was gaining some traction- Gun Powder Fantasy reflecting that time in our collective histories where gunpowder was the technology letting European countries and the U.S. dominate other societies.
The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
I described this to a co-worker as magic and court intrigue set against a Venetian background. It’s a coming of age story which is a favorite theme of mine to read. We are introduced to two main characters Lady Amalia Cornaro and Zaira, Falconer and Falcon. Which also mirrors the foundation of the world that we are visiting. Caruso’s husband posited to her that if magic was real the magic wielders would hold the power. This inspired Caruso to consider a world where magic wielders were weapons used by those in power. The idea of the Falcon (magic wielder) and Falconer (magic controller) was created.
It is set against a fantasy Europe with a strong nod to Venice. There seems to be a burgeoning branch of fantasy where magic exists during the time of the gunpowder empires. Meaning that the level of technology is past the use of swords and armor. I lump Tethered Mage into this group although technically the level of technology would put it a little before that time more in the 1600s but as kingdoms were established beyond the Feudal world. So a little bit of actual gunplay and the threat of cannons reside next to the threat and use of magic.
Other players of note include Amalia's mother, La Contessa, a power player in the politics of the Empire and Marcello a Falconer, rising up in the ranks of that branch of the military. Settings are two major cities Raverra and Ardence which also represent their respective countries and the focus stays with those cities. Honorable mention goes to the country Vaskandar which will come into play in future books.
The story moves at a nice pace, growing Amalia as a character. Zaira is somewhat one dimensional until the end when a bit more is revealed. Must confess that there were some unexpected turns in the story even when some things were apparent there were still curves to what was happening. All in all a fun read, an interesting world mining a little bit of some other fantasy works but making it fresh. Well worth the time of reading and unlike many other series I purchased the next book while still in the first quarter of the story.