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WORK TITLE: The Tethered Mage
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 6
WEBSITE: https://melissacaruso.net/
CITY:
STATE: MA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2017032200
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2017032200
HEADING: Caruso, Melissa
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670 __ |a The tethered mage, 2017: |b ECIP t.p. (Melissa Caruso) data view (graduated with honors in Creative Writing from Brown University and holds an MFA in Fiction from University of Massachusetts – Amherst)
PERSONAL
Married (video game designer); children: two daughters.
EDUCATION:Brown University, graduated with honors; University of Massachusetts–Amherst, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and novelist.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
A self-professed geek, fantasy writer Melissa Caruso has been writing from a very young age. “Before I could actually write words, I dictated stories for my dad to type, or drew them in pictures,” Caruso noted in an interview for the Qwillery website, adding: “When I was a little kid and had insomnia, one of my parents suggested telling myself a story in my head to fall asleep, which was the worst advice ever because then I would lie awake in bed composing a serial epic fantasy novel in my brain instead of sleeping.”
The Tethered Mage
Caruso is author of the proposed “Swords and Fire” fantasy trilogy, which begins with The Tethered Mage. “I got the idea for The Tethered Mage on a long car ride with my husband, when we were talking about how the presence of mages in history would have affected the structure of society,” Caruso noted in an interview for the Qwillery website. The Tethered Mage introduces readers to the Raverran Empire, where some people are born with magical powers. Strictly controlled, these powerful children are early on conscripted into the Falcon army. The story revolves around Lady Amalia Cornaro, heir to the Cornaro title, and Zaira, a powerful and destructive mage.
One day while foolishly traveling alone in the Tallows, a notoriously poor and dangerous district of Raverra, Amalia comes upon Zaira, who is casting forth bales of fire on the city. Although she is not trained in fighting, Amalia sneaks up on Zaira and ties a bracelet around her wrist, which immediately stops Zaira’s wrath. Much to Amalia’s surprise, by placing the magical bracelet on Zaira’s wrist, she has become a Falconer and the only person who can either unleash or control the falcon Zaira’s power. Zaira has spent her entire life hiding the dark power and avoiding conscription into the Falcon army. Zaira, however, possesses a power that could destroy the empire. Meanwhile, Amalia is an heiress and scholar who is well used to the Machiavellian world of politics and power. As Raverra comes closer and closer to war with Ardence, Amalia and Zaira find themselves conscripted into the army. However, Amalia, who has many friends in Ardence, wants to avoid a war at all costs.
“Readers … will be tantalized by the tension with which Caruso skillfully maintains her plot,” wrote a Publishers Weekly critic. Calling the novel “charming and solidly fun,” a Kirkus Reviews contributor also noted: “Caruso does a decent job in creating moments of doubt and tension at key points in the novel.”
The Defiant Heir
The next book in the “Swords and Fire” fantasy trilogy, The Defiant Heir, finds Amalia and Zaira still trying to prevent a disastrous war. The Witch Lord of Vaskandar are meeting to decide on a course of action, and Amalia is determined to go to the Conclave to see if she can stop what would certainly mean destruction for Raverra. Along with the powerful Zaira, Amalia goes on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines. At one point, Amalia has an opportunity to form an alliance through marriage that could save Raverra. However, she is still dealing with her growing feelings for Falcon officer Marcello, whom she first met in the trilogy’s debut.
It turns out that the most viable suitor in terms of political alliance is Kathe, a Witch Lord from Vaskandar. Witch Lords are terrifying, powerful, and considered by many to be not only violent but mad as well. Kathe, however, turns out to be far different, and there is an undeniable chemistry between Kathe and Amalia. “This is a fast, tight, brilliantly entertaining book, atmospheric and full of tension and intrigue,” wrote Tor.com reviewer Liz Bourke. A contributor to the Speculative Herald website remarked that “there are some very convenient resolutions in places” but added: “You just have to go with the flow and not worry about that. I found it very easy since the characters and everything else are so exciting and fun.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 15, 2017, Frances Mortiz, review of The Tethered Mage, p. 33.
Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2017, review of The Tethered Mage.
Publishers Weekly, August 14, 2017, review of The Tethered Mage, p. 56.
ONLINE
Bookpage Online, https://bookpage.com (October 24, 2017), Laura Hubbard, review of The Tethered Mage.
Fantasy Cafe, http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/ (November 9, 2017), review of The Tethered Mage.
Girls in Capes, http://girlsincapes.com/ (October 20, 2017), Feliza Casano, review of The Tethered Mage.
Inklings, http://www.inklingsliterary.com/ (May 4, 2018), author profile.
Melissa Caruso Website, https://melissacaruso.net (May 4, 2018).
Qwillery, http://qwillery.blogspot.com/ (October 24, 2017), “Interview with Melissa Caruso, Author of The Tethered Mage.”
RT Book Reviews Online, https://www.rtbookreviews.com/ (September 25, 2017), Emiliy Walton, “Melissa Caruso on Writing Romantic Relationships While on the Asexual Spectrum.”
Speculative Herald, http://www.speculativeherald.com/ (April 11, 2018), review of The Defiant Heir.
Tor.com, https://www.tor.com (April 24, 2018), Liz Bourke, “Fantasy with Ballgowns and Explosions: The Defiant Heir by Melissa Caruso.”
About
I’m a fantasy writer, tea drinker, geek, and mom, not necessarily in that order. Despite being born on the summer solstice and going to school in an old mansion with a secret door, I have yet to develop any super powers (that I’m allowed to tell you about, anyway). I live in Massachusetts with my awesome video game designer husband and two superlative daughters, and I have been known to do battle in ballgowns.
I’m the author of the Swords & Fire trilogy, an adult fantasy series from Orbit Books. THE TETHERED MAGE is out now, and book two, THE DEFIANT HEIR, is coming in April 2018.
I’m represented by the amazing Naomi Davis of BookEnds Literary.
About
I’m a fantasy writer, tea drinker, geek, and mom, not necessarily in that order. Despite being born on the summer solstice and going to school in an old mansion with a secret door, I have yet to develop any super powers (that I’m allowed to tell you about, anyway). I live in Massachusetts with my awesome video game designer husband and two superlative daughters, and I have been known to do battle in ballgowns.
I’m the author of the Swords & Fire trilogy, an adult fantasy series of intrigue and magic from Orbit Books. The first book, THE TETHERED MAGE, has been shortlisted for a Gemmell Award. Book two, THE DEFIANT HEIR, is out now, and the third book is coming in 2019.
I’m represented by the amazing Naomi Davis of BookEnds Literary.
Melissa Caruso
Melissa Caruso was born on the summer solstice and went to school in an old mansion with a secret door, but despite this auspicious beginning has yet to develop any superpowers. She wrote her first books in crayon at age four and hasn’t stopped telling stories since.
Growing up by the ocean gave Melissa a hunger for the deep mysteries of wild places, from forests to mountains, and she loves to travel and explore. She’s been chased by a mountain goat, sledded in the crater of an active volcano, and accidentally punched a guy in the Vatican Museum. But some of her favorite journeys occur in a comfy chair with a good book and a cup of tea.
Melissa lives in Massachusetts with her video game designer husband, two superlative daughters, a Labrador, and a pair of cats. She graduated with honors in Creative Writing from Brown University and has an MFA in Fiction from the University of Massachusetts - Amherst.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Interview with Melissa Caruso, author of The Tethered Mage
Please welcome Melissa Caruso to The Qwillery as part of the of the 2017 Debut Author Challenge Interviews. The Tethered Mage is published on October 24th by Orbit.
Please join The Qwillery in wishing Melissa a Happy Publication Day!
TQ: Welcome to The Qwillery. When and why did you start writing?
Melissa: I’ve been writing for my entire life. Before I could actually write words, I dictated stories for my dad to type, or drew them in pictures. When I was a little kid and had insomnia, one of my parents suggested telling myself a story in my head to fall asleep, which was the worst advice ever because then I would lie awake in bed composing a serial epic fantasy novel in my brain instead of sleeping. The stories have always been there.
TQ: Are you a plotter, a pantser or a hybrid?
Melissa: Definitely a plotter. I have long, detailed outlines and pages of notes for each major draft of a novel. But I don’t bind myself strictly to the outline—if inspiration strikes or the story or characters seem to want to go in another direction, I roll with it and then update the remaining outline to adjust.
TQ: What is the most challenging thing for you about writing?
Melissa: Transitions! Getting into and out of a scene that doesn’t have a natural dramatic start or finish built in is the worst. I’ll know I have to write a scene where one character tells another a shocking revelation, for instance, but where are they having this conversation? What were they doing before the conversation got to that point? And once I’ve delivered the revelation, how do I end the scene on a sufficiently riveting note that will make the readers keep turning pages, rather than just tailing off lamely? I spend more time trying to figure this stuff out than I do writing the actual scene, sometimes.
TQ: What has influenced / influences your writing?
Melissa: Everything I read, every place I visit, every person I meet. It all goes in a big funnel at the top of a wacky Dr. Seuss machine in my brain and gets spat out the other end as stories. That said, whenever I read something by an author where some aspect of their craft really blows me away—say, the way Neil Gaiman immerses you in a world and makes it feel like a familiar story someone has been telling you since you were a tiny child, or how J. K. Rowling builds plot clues into the very first Harry Potter books for major twists that don’t happen until the last one, or the rhythms of Roger Zelazny’s dialogue, or how Hiromu Arakawa can deliver a huge emotional punch in a scene through the subtlest little details—I try to figure out how they did it and learn a small piece of their magic.
TQ: Describe The Tethered Mage in 140 characters or less.
Melissa: When bookish aristocrat Amalia binds thief Zaira’s fire magic, the reluctant partners must thwart a deadly intrigue before it incites a war.
TQ: Tell us something about The Tethered Mage that is not found in the book description.
Melissa: Amalia’s mother, La Contessa, is one of my favorite characters, and her presence looms over Amalia throughout the whole book. She’s a powerful political force in the Serene Empire, and in Amalia’s life—but she cares deeply about her daughter, even when she’s at her most manipulative and domineering. Their relationship is complicated, and an important thread throughout the story.
TQ: What inspired you to write The Tethered Mage? What appeals to you about writing Fantasy?
Melissa: I got the idea for The Tethered Mage on a long car ride with my husband, when we were talking about how the presence of mages in history would have affected the structure of society. The idea for the Falcon/Falconer system popped into my head— a non-mage linked to a mage, with the ability to bind or loose the mage’s power—and I immediately wanted to write characters negotiating that difficult relationship.
As for what appeals to me about writing fantasy, I’d love to say something deep and profound, but honestly? Because it’s awesome. Magic, dragons, swordfights, fancy clothes—what’s not to love? I also love the freedom to make up an entire world that will support and enhance the story I want to tell.
TQ: What sort of research did you do for The Tethered Mage?
Melissa: I’ve traveled to Venice twice, and I always wanted to set a book there (though The Tethered Mage is set in an original world, the setting is heavily influenced by Venice). I looked up all sorts of details from the late 17th century period I wanted to evoke—boats, military ranks and units, courtship customs, firearms, dance and music, fashion, you name it—but it all kept coming back to Googling delicious Italian food, somehow. I got so hungry researching this book.
TQ: Please tell us about cover for The Tethered Mage.
Melissa: I LOVE MY COVER SO MUCH!!!! The design is by Lisa Marie Pompillo, and the art is by Crystal Ben & Arcangel. The bird silhouette is a symbol of the Falcons (the mage military unit into which Zaira is conscripted), and you can see shadowy details inside it evoking characters, scenes, and settings from the book. I love that the initial impression of the raptor silhouette is so striking, but the closer you look, the more you see inside it. It’s SO PRETTY!
TQ: In The Tethered Mage who was the easiest character to write and why? The hardest and why?
Melissa: The easiest might have been Istrella, who is a side character (teen mad scientist artificer, basically)—I love her, and she’s really fun. The hardest was probably La Contessa, because everything she said had to be brilliant. I kept going back and making her dialogue sharper and smarter.
TQ: Why have you chosen to include or not chosen to include social issues in The Tethered Mage?
Melissa: I think all speculative fiction at least touches on some social issues, since it’s part of worldbuilding to determine what social issues your imaginary society faces. Sometimes it’s more central to the plot or theme of the book than others, of course. In THE TETHERED MAGE, the biggest social issues impacting the characters and plot are how mages fit into society (and the empire’s current policy of mandatory conscription), class differences between the main characters, and political conflicts over how independent the empire’s client states should be. As for issues I chose NOT to include, the world of THE TETHERED MAGE has gender and racial equality and same-sex marriage, because I wanted my characters who are female, gay, and/or PoC to be able to just be their awesome selves in this fantasy world without weighing them down with real-world prejudices to struggle against. I think we need books that show that struggle, but we also need fantasy that shows, say, girls with swords kissing each other without anyone trying to be like “STOP THAT, IT’S TOO AWESOME TO BE ALLOWED!"
TQ: Which question about The Tethered Mage do you wish someone would ask? Ask it and answer it!
Melissa: My favorite questions are ones that pull out fun little details in the answers, so maybe the question I wish someone would ask is “Tell me a random cool piece of Tethered Mage trivia!” Of course, then I have to pick one. Hmm… Here’s one: the general aesthetic of wirework artifice (one of the types of magic in the world of THE TETHERED MAGE) is loosely based on the work of my friend Kendra Tornheim’s jewelry studio, Silver Owl Creations. She does some gorgeous stuff with wire and beads, and is also a computer programmer, and I was thinking of her when I designed this type of magic where the twists in the wire and the position of the beads act a bit like a magical circuit board, forming a logical spatial language that dictates the terms of the spell.
TQ: Give us one or two of your favorite non-spoilery quotes from The Tethered Mage.
Melissa: Amalia frequently calls to mind her Machiavellian mother’s advice, so I’ll give you a couple of those:
“Power wields a light touch, because a light touch suffices.”
“Tell them nothing, and they will fill the meaninglessness of your words with exactly what they want to hear."
TQ: What's next?
Melissa: Right now I’m working on editing the second book in the Swords & Fire series, THE DEFIANT HEIR. It continues Amalia and Zaira’s story, and introduces some new characters and settings I really can’t wait for readers to meet!
TQ: Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.
Melissa: Thank you! My pleasure.
The Tethered Mage
Swords and Fire 1
Orbit, October 24, 2017
Trade Paperback and eBook, 480 pages
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.
Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound
Google Play : iBooks : Kobo
Upcoming
The Defiant Heir
Swords and Fire 2
Orbit, April 28, 2018
Trade Paperback and eBook, 480 pages
Across the border, the Witch Lords of Vaskandar are preparing for war. But before an invasion can begin, they must call a rare gathering of all seventeen lords to decide a course of action.
Lady Amalia Cornaro knows that this Conclave might be her only chance to smother the growing flames of war, and she is ready to make any sacrifice if it means saving Raverra from destruction.
Amalia and Zaira must go behind enemy lines, using every ounce of wit and cunning they have, to sway Vaskandar from war. Or else it will all come down to swords and fire.
“Charming, intelligent, fast-moving, beautifully atmospheric. I couldn’t put it down.” – Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library
“The best kind of fantasy.” – Rosalyn Eves, author of Blood Rose Rebellion
The Defiant Heir is the second novel in a spellbinding new fantasy series.
Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound
Google Play : iBooks : Kobo
About Melissa
Photo by Erin Re Anderson
Melissa Caruso graduated with honors in Creative Writing from Brown University and holds an MFA in Fiction from University of Massachusetts Amherst.
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Fantasy
MELISSA CARUSO ON WRITING ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS WHILE ON THE ASEXUAL SPECTRUM
Mon, 09/25/2017 - 4:12pm — Emily Walton
reddit
MONTHLY EDITION: (#405) November 2017
If you’re looking for a new fantasy series full of magic, danger and devious empires, then look no further than Melissa Caruso’s new Swords and Fire series! Book one, The Tethered Mage, introduces readers to a whole new world, one where magic is scarce and controlled. Natural magic users are taken as children and forced into the Falcon Army. To escape that fate, Zaira has lived her life on the streets. But her magic is rare and powerful, and could change everything.
Caruso stopped by to tell us about her writing process, especially as a writer on the asexual spectrum.
When I was a teen, before I’d even heard the word “asexual” applied to anything besides the reproduction of single-celled organisms, I already knew one thing: I couldn’t write romance.
I remember getting to a certain point in the fantasy novel I wrote in high school and thinking, “Uh oh, these characters should probably be falling in love. I guess their hands can accidentally touch? And then … I’ll just elide it.” I’d make my characters exchange long gazes, and hope the readers could supply the attraction I didn’t know how to write.
I knew how it was supposed to work. I’d had that drilled into me from childhood by everything from Disney movies to gum commercials. Your eyes meet, and there’s this immediate spark … a spark I’d never felt. Then, bam! Sexual tension — a force to which I was immune. It was such a complete mystery to me that I couldn’t even imagine what it felt like.
I didn’t know why I’d never had a single crush, when all my friends were drowning in them, but I was clearly missing some vital magic everyone else possessed. Without it, trying to write a romantic relationship seemed hopeless. All I could do was stumblingly copy clichés, trying to fake a feeling between my characters that I didn’t know how to describe.
I eventually figured out I was on the asexual spectrum. Being ace didn’t stop me from falling in love and getting married, but I was still sure I could never write a convincing love interest. I gave up, and decided I should just try to write books for kids, since then no one would expect romance to be a part of the story.
But while I was writing a supposedly middle grade book, a strange thing happened. I realized that two of the characters were falling in love. Organically, wonderfully, all on their own, without me trying to push them into it.
Finally, when I wasn’t trying, I’d written characters who had chemistry! I’d stopped trying to create a Love Interest, and had simply written two people who had a compelling relationship. I’d meant for it to be friendship, but they had other ideas, and the story took off from there.
After that, I realized something. All my favorite fictional couples (as an avid fantasy reader) had a lot more going on between them than simple fairy tale attraction. I didn’t need to understand crushes to desperately want to know whether Katniss would kiss Peeta or kill him in THe Hunger Games, or to relish Alexia and Lord Maccon’s feisty relationship in Gail Carriger’s Soulless series, or to root for Agnieszka to get together with the Dragon in Naomi Novik’s Uprooted.
Those characters had more than one kind of tension between them. They wanted things from each other besides — or in addition to — kisses. They had profound, personal and complicated obstacles separating them. Their dynamics and interactions with each other would be compelling even if they never became a couple.
I’d been looking at it all wrong, intimidated into thinking the clichés about physical attraction were the substance rather than the surface. I thought because I hadn’t experienced a stereotypical infatuation, I couldn’t write characters falling in love. But the truth was that I didn’t need to understand those stereotypes better. I needed to push them out of the way, and treat romantic relationships not as a mysterious alchemical formula I had to copy down, but as what they are: character relationships. And those, I understood.
After all, looking around at all the real couples in my own life (not to mention my favorite books and my own experience) made it clear there were a nigh-infinite number of ways to fall in love.
And that was the beauty of it.
—Melissa Caruso
Ready to learn more about Caruso’s new book? You can pre-order it from one of these retailers: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Indiebound
*This post contains affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and purchase an item from the vendor, we receive a percentage of the profit (even if you don't buy the item we've linked to). Thank you for supporting RT Book Reviews!
GENRE: Fantasy
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MELISSA CARUSO ON WRITING ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS WHILE ON THE ASEXUAL SPECTRUM
Mon, 09/25/2017 - 4:12pm — Emily Walton
reddit
MONTHLY EDITION: (#405) November 2017
If you’re looking for a new fantasy series full of magic, danger and devious empires, then look no further than Melissa Caruso’s new Swords and Fire series! Book one, The Tethered Mage, introduces readers to a whole new world, one where magic is scarce and controlled. Natural magic users are taken as children and forced into the Falcon Army. To escape that fate, Zaira has lived her life on the streets. But her magic is rare and powerful, and could change everything.
Caruso stopped by to tell us about her writing process, especially as a writer on the asexual spectrum.
When I was a teen, before I’d even heard the word “asexual” applied to anything besides the reproduction of single-celled organisms, I already knew one thing: I couldn’t write romance.
I remember getting to a certain point in the fantasy novel I wrote in high school and thinking, “Uh oh, these characters should probably be falling in love. I guess their hands can accidentally touch? And then … I’ll just elide it.” I’d make my characters exchange long gazes, and hope the readers could supply the attraction I didn’t know how to write.
I knew how it was supposed to work. I’d had that drilled into me from childhood by everything from Disney movies to gum commercials. Your eyes meet, and there’s this immediate spark … a spark I’d never felt. Then, bam! Sexual tension — a force to which I was immune. It was such a complete mystery to me that I couldn’t even imagine what it felt like.
I didn’t know why I’d never had a single crush, when all my friends were drowning in them, but I was clearly missing some vital magic everyone else possessed. Without it, trying to write a romantic relationship seemed hopeless. All I could do was stumblingly copy clichés, trying to fake a feeling between my characters that I didn’t know how to describe.
I eventually figured out I was on the asexual spectrum. Being ace didn’t stop me from falling in love and getting married, but I was still sure I could never write a convincing love interest. I gave up, and decided I should just try to write books for kids, since then no one would expect romance to be a part of the story.
But while I was writing a supposedly middle grade book, a strange thing happened. I realized that two of the characters were falling in love. Organically, wonderfully, all on their own, without me trying to push them into it.
Finally, when I wasn’t trying, I’d written characters who had chemistry! I’d stopped trying to create a Love Interest, and had simply written two people who had a compelling relationship. I’d meant for it to be friendship, but they had other ideas, and the story took off from there.
After that, I realized something. All my favorite fictional couples (as an avid fantasy reader) had a lot more going on between them than simple fairy tale attraction. I didn’t need to understand crushes to desperately want to know whether Katniss would kiss Peeta or kill him in THe Hunger Games, or to relish Alexia and Lord Maccon’s feisty relationship in Gail Carriger’s Soulless series, or to root for Agnieszka to get together with the Dragon in Naomi Novik’s Uprooted.
Those characters had more than one kind of tension between them. They wanted things from each other besides — or in addition to — kisses. They had profound, personal and complicated obstacles separating them. Their dynamics and interactions with each other would be compelling even if they never became a couple.
I’d been looking at it all wrong, intimidated into thinking the clichés about physical attraction were the substance rather than the surface. I thought because I hadn’t experienced a stereotypical infatuation, I couldn’t write characters falling in love. But the truth was that I didn’t need to understand those stereotypes better. I needed to push them out of the way, and treat romantic relationships not as a mysterious alchemical formula I had to copy down, but as what they are: character relationships. And those, I understood.
After all, looking around at all the real couples in my own life (not to mention my favorite books and my own experience) made it clear there were a nigh-infinite number of ways to fall in love.
And that was the beauty of it.
—Melissa Caruso
Ready to learn more about Caruso’s new book? You can pre-order it from one of these retailers: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Indiebound
*This post contains affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and purchase an item from the vendor, we receive a percentage of the profit (even if you don't buy the item we've linked to). Thank you for supporting RT Book Reviews!
GENRE: Fantasy
TAGS: RT Vip SalonAuthor Spotlight
RELATED POSTS
K.A. Tucker Dishes on the Differences Between Writing Contemporary Romance and Romantic Suspense
Jacqueline Carey Gives us a Behind-the-Scenes Look at Miranda and Caliban
N.K. Jemisin Stops by to Tell Us More About the Broken Earth Series
COMMENTS
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NEXT WEEK IN THE VIP SALON
Next Week
Next week in the RT VIP Salon:
First Chapter: Lynnette Austin's Must Love Babies
Q&A: Eloisa James on Too Wilde to Wed
Excerpt: Nalini Singh's Ocean Light
Feature: Camille Perri's When Katie Met Cassidy
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HARLEQUIN SERIES SCHEDULE
Harlequin Series Schedule: June 2018
Harlequin Series Schedule: May 2018
Harlequin Series Schedule: April 2018
Harlequin Series Schedule: March 2018
Harlequin Series Schedule: February 2018
MONTHLY GRAB BAG
Monthly Grab Bag: Enter Through April 10 2018
Monthly Grab Bag: Enter Through March 10 2018
Monthly Grab Bag: Enter Through February 10 2018
Monthly Grab Bag: Enter Through January 10 2018
Monthly Grab Bag: Enter Through December 10 2017
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Fantasy
MELISSA CARUSO ON WRITING ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS WHILE ON THE ASEXUAL SPECTRUM
Mon, 09/25/2017 - 4:12pm — Emily Walton
reddit
MONTHLY EDITION: (#405) November 2017
If you’re looking for a new fantasy series full of magic, danger and devious empires, then look no further than Melissa Caruso’s new Swords and Fire series! Book one, The Tethered Mage, introduces readers to a whole new world, one where magic is scarce and controlled. Natural magic users are taken as children and forced into the Falcon Army. To escape that fate, Zaira has lived her life on the streets. But her magic is rare and powerful, and could change everything.
Caruso stopped by to tell us about her writing process, especially as a writer on the asexual spectrum.
When I was a teen, before I’d even heard the word “asexual” applied to anything besides the reproduction of single-celled organisms, I already knew one thing: I couldn’t write romance.
I remember getting to a certain point in the fantasy novel I wrote in high school and thinking, “Uh oh, these characters should probably be falling in love. I guess their hands can accidentally touch? And then … I’ll just elide it.” I’d make my characters exchange long gazes, and hope the readers could supply the attraction I didn’t know how to write.
I knew how it was supposed to work. I’d had that drilled into me from childhood by everything from Disney movies to gum commercials. Your eyes meet, and there’s this immediate spark … a spark I’d never felt. Then, bam! Sexual tension — a force to which I was immune. It was such a complete mystery to me that I couldn’t even imagine what it felt like.
I didn’t know why I’d never had a single crush, when all my friends were drowning in them, but I was clearly missing some vital magic everyone else possessed. Without it, trying to write a romantic relationship seemed hopeless. All I could do was stumblingly copy clichés, trying to fake a feeling between my characters that I didn’t know how to describe.
I eventually figured out I was on the asexual spectrum. Being ace didn’t stop me from falling in love and getting married, but I was still sure I could never write a convincing love interest. I gave up, and decided I should just try to write books for kids, since then no one would expect romance to be a part of the story.
But while I was writing a supposedly middle grade book, a strange thing happened. I realized that two of the characters were falling in love. Organically, wonderfully, all on their own, without me trying to push them into it.
Finally, when I wasn’t trying, I’d written characters who had chemistry! I’d stopped trying to create a Love Interest, and had simply written two people who had a compelling relationship. I’d meant for it to be friendship, but they had other ideas, and the story took off from there.
After that, I realized something. All my favorite fictional couples (as an avid fantasy reader) had a lot more going on between them than simple fairy tale attraction. I didn’t need to understand crushes to desperately want to know whether Katniss would kiss Peeta or kill him in THe Hunger Games, or to relish Alexia and Lord Maccon’s feisty relationship in Gail Carriger’s Soulless series, or to root for Agnieszka to get together with the Dragon in Naomi Novik’s Uprooted.
Those characters had more than one kind of tension between them. They wanted things from each other besides — or in addition to — kisses. They had profound, personal and complicated obstacles separating them. Their dynamics and interactions with each other would be compelling even if they never became a couple.
I’d been looking at it all wrong, intimidated into thinking the clichés about physical attraction were the substance rather than the surface. I thought because I hadn’t experienced a stereotypical infatuation, I couldn’t write characters falling in love. But the truth was that I didn’t need to understand those stereotypes better. I needed to push them out of the way, and treat romantic relationships not as a mysterious alchemical formula I had to copy down, but as what they are: character relationships. And those, I understood.
After all, looking around at all the real couples in my own life (not to mention my favorite books and my own experience) made it clear there were a nigh-infinite number of ways to fall in love.
And that was the beauty of it.
—Melissa Caruso
Ready to learn more about Caruso’s new book? You can pre-order it from one of these retailers: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Indiebound
Fantasy MELISSA CARUSO ON WRITING ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS WHILE ON THE ASEXUAL SPECTRUM Mon, 09/25/2017 - 4:12pm — Emily Walton reddit MONTHLY EDITION: (#405) November 2017 If you’re looking for a new fantasy series full of magic, danger and devious empires, then look no further than Melissa Caruso’s new Swords and Fire series! Book one, The Tethered Mage, introduces readers to a whole new world, one where magic is scarce and controlled. Natural magic users are taken as children and forced into the Falcon Army. To escape that fate, Zaira has lived her life on the streets. But her magic is rare and powerful, and could change everything. Caruso stopped by to tell us about her writing process, especially as a writer on the asexual spectrum. When I was a teen, before I’d even heard the word “asexual” applied to anything besides the reproduction of single-celled organisms, I already knew one thing: I couldn’t write romance. I remember getting to a certain point in the fantasy novel I wrote in high school and thinking, “Uh oh, these characters should probably be falling in love. I guess their hands can accidentally touch? And then … I’ll just elide it.” I’d make my characters exchange long gazes, and hope the readers could supply the attraction I didn’t know how to write. I knew how it was supposed to work. I’d had that drilled into me from childhood by everything from Disney movies to gum commercials. Your eyes meet, and there’s this immediate spark … a spark I’d never felt. Then, bam! Sexual tension — a force to which I was immune. It was such a complete mystery to me that I couldn’t even imagine what it felt like. I didn’t know why I’d never had a single crush, when all my friends were drowning in them, but I was clearly missing some vital magic everyone else possessed. Without it, trying to write a romantic relationship seemed hopeless. All I could do was stumblingly copy clichés, trying to fake a feeling between my characters that I didn’t know how to describe. I eventually figured out I was on the asexual spectrum. Being ace didn’t stop me from falling in love and getting married, but I was still sure I could never write a convincing love interest. I gave up, and decided I should just try to write books for kids, since then no one would expect romance to be a part of the story. But while I was writing a supposedly middle grade book, a strange thing happened. I realized that two of the characters were falling in love. Organically, wonderfully, all on their own, without me trying to push them into it. Finally, when I wasn’t trying, I’d written characters who had chemistry! I’d stopped trying to create a Love Interest, and had simply written two people who had a compelling relationship. I’d meant for it to be friendship, but they had other ideas, and the story took off from there. After that, I realized something. All my favorite fictional couples (as an avid fantasy reader) had a lot more going on between them than simple fairy tale attraction. I didn’t need to understand crushes to desperately want to know whether Katniss would kiss Peeta or kill him in THe Hunger Games, or to relish Alexia and Lord Maccon’s feisty relationship in Gail Carriger’s Soulless series, or to root for Agnieszka to get together with the Dragon in Naomi Novik’s Uprooted. Those characters had more than one kind of tension between them. They wanted things from each other besides — or in addition to — kisses. They had profound, personal and complicated obstacles separating them. Their dynamics and interactions with each other would be compelling even if they never became a couple. I’d been looking at it all wrong, intimidated into thinking the clichés about physical attraction were the substance rather than the surface. I thought because I hadn’t experienced a stereotypical infatuation, I couldn’t write characters falling in love. But the truth was that I didn’t need to understand those stereotypes better. I needed to push them out of the way, and treat romantic relationships not as a mysterious alchemical formula I had to copy down, but as what they are: character relationships. And those, I understood. After all, looking around at all the real couples in my own life (not to mention my favorite books and my own experience) made it clear there were a nigh-infinite number of ways to fall in love. And that was the beauty of it. —Melissa Caruso Ready to learn more about Caruso’s new book? You can pre-order it from one of these retailers: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | IndieboundSkip to main content LOGIN REGISTER CONTACT US Fantasy MELISSA CARUSO ON WRITING ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS WHILE ON THE ASEXUAL SPECTRUM Mon, 09/25/2017 - 4:12pm — Emily Walton reddit MONTHLY EDITION: (#405) November 2017 If you’re looking for a new fantasy series full of magic, danger and devious empires, then look no further than Melissa Caruso’s new Swords and Fire series! Book one, The Tethered Mage, introduces readers to a whole new world, one where magic is scarce and controlled. Natural magic users are taken as children and forced into the Falcon Army. To escape that fate, Zaira has lived her life on the streets. But her magic is rare and powerful, and could change everything. Caruso stopped by to tell us about her writing process, especially as a writer on the asexual spectrum. When I was a teen, before I’d even heard the word “asexual” applied to anything besides the reproduction of single-celled organisms, I already knew one thing: I couldn’t write romance. I remember getting to a certain point in the fantasy novel I wrote in high school and thinking, “Uh oh, these characters should probably be falling in love. I guess their hands can accidentally touch? And then … I’ll just elide it.” I’d make my characters exchange long gazes, and hope the readers could supply the attraction I didn’t know how to write. I knew how it was supposed to work. I’d had that drilled into me from childhood by everything from Disney movies to gum commercials. Your eyes meet, and there’s this immediate spark … a spark I’d never felt. Then, bam! Sexual tension — a force to which I was immune. It was such a complete mystery to me that I couldn’t even imagine what it felt like. I didn’t know why I’d never had a single crush, when all my friends were drowning in them, but I was clearly missing some vital magic everyone else possessed. Without it, trying to write a romantic relationship seemed hopeless. All I could do was stumblingly copy clichés, trying to fake a feeling between my characters that I didn’t know how to describe. I eventually figured out I was on the asexual spectrum. Being ace didn’t stop me from falling in love and getting married, but I was still sure I could never write a convincing love interest. I gave up, and decided I should just try to write books for kids, since then no one would expect romance to be a part of the story. But while I was writing a supposedly middle grade book, a strange thing happened. I realized that two of the characters were falling in love. Organically, wonderfully, all on their own, without me trying to push them into it. Finally, when I wasn’t trying, I’d written characters who had chemistry! I’d stopped trying to create a Love Interest, and had simply written two people who had a compelling relationship. I’d meant for it to be friendship, but they had other ideas, and the story took off from there. After that, I realized something. All my favorite fictional couples (as an avid fantasy reader) had a lot more going on between them than simple fairy tale attraction. I didn’t need to understand crushes to desperately want to know whether Katniss would kiss Peeta or kill him in THe Hunger Games, or to relish Alexia and Lord Maccon’s feisty relationship in Gail Carriger’s Soulless series, or to root for Agnieszka to get together with the Dragon in Naomi Novik’s Uprooted. Those characters had more than one kind of tension between them. They wanted things from each other besides — or in addition to — kisses. They had profound, personal and complicated obstacles separating them. Their dynamics and interactions with each other would be compelling even if they never became a couple. I’d been looking at it all wrong, intimidated into thinking the clichés about physical attraction were the substance rather than the surface. I thought because I hadn’t experienced a stereotypical infatuation, I couldn’t write characters falling in love. But the truth was that I didn’t need to understand those stereotypes better. I needed to push them out of the way, and treat romantic relationships not as a mysterious alchemical formula I had to copy down, but as what they are: character relationships. And those, I understood. After all, looking around at all the real couples in my own life (not to mention my favorite books and my own experience) made it clear there were a nigh-infinite number of ways to fall in love. And that was the beauty of it. —Melissa Caruso Ready to learn more about Caruso’s new book? You can pre-order it from one of these retailers: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Indiebound *This post contains affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and purchase an item from the vendor, we receive a percentage of the profit (even if you don't buy the item we've linked to). Thank you for supporting RT Book Reviews! GENRE: Fantasy TAGS: RT Vip SalonAuthor Spotlight RELATED POSTS K.A. Tucker Dishes on the Differences Between Writing Contemporary Romance and Romantic Suspense Jacqueline Carey Gives us a Behind-the-Scenes Look at Miranda and Caliban N.K. Jemisin Stops by to Tell Us More About the Broken Earth Series COMMENTS ADVERTISEMENT NEXT WEEK IN THE VIP SALON Next week in the RT VIP Salon: First Chapter: Lynnette Austin's Must Love Babies Q&A: Eloisa James on Too Wilde to Wed Excerpt: Nalini Singh's Ocean Light Feature: Camille Perri's When Katie Met Cassidy RT WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Fill out the form below and click "SUBSCRIBE" to receive RT's NEWSLETTER with the insider scoop on the hottest books and authors. Get the latest news and gossip and updates on the RT Convention! 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Skip to main content LOGIN REGISTER CONTACT US Fantasy MELISSA CARUSO ON WRITING ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS WHILE ON THE ASEXUAL SPECTRUM Mon, 09/25/2017 - 4:12pm — Emily Walton reddit MONTHLY EDITION: (#405) November 2017 If you’re looking for a new fantasy series full of magic, danger and devious empires, then look no further than Melissa Caruso’s new Swords and Fire series! Book one, The Tethered Mage, introduces readers to a whole new world, one where magic is scarce and controlled. Natural magic users are taken as children and forced into the Falcon Army. To escape that fate, Zaira has lived her life on the streets. But her magic is rare and powerful, and could change everything. Caruso stopped by to tell us about her writing process, especially as a writer on the asexual spectrum. When I was a teen, before I’d even heard the word “asexual” applied to anything besides the reproduction of single-celled organisms, I already knew one thing: I couldn’t write romance. I remember getting to a certain point in the fantasy novel I wrote in high school and thinking, “Uh oh, these characters should probably be falling in love. I guess their hands can accidentally touch? And then … I’ll just elide it.” I’d make my characters exchange long gazes, and hope the readers could supply the attraction I didn’t know how to write. I knew how it was supposed to work. I’d had that drilled into me from childhood by everything from Disney movies to gum commercials. Your eyes meet, and there’s this immediate spark … a spark I’d never felt. Then, bam! Sexual tension — a force to which I was immune. It was such a complete mystery to me that I couldn’t even imagine what it felt like. I didn’t know why I’d never had a single crush, when all my friends were drowning in them, but I was clearly missing some vital magic everyone else possessed. Without it, trying to write a romantic relationship seemed hopeless. All I could do was stumblingly copy clichés, trying to fake a feeling between my characters that I didn’t know how to describe. I eventually figured out I was on the asexual spectrum. Being ace didn’t stop me from falling in love and getting married, but I was still sure I could never write a convincing love interest. I gave up, and decided I should just try to write books for kids, since then no one would expect romance to be a part of the story. But while I was writing a supposedly middle grade book, a strange thing happened. I realized that two of the characters were falling in love. Organically, wonderfully, all on their own, without me trying to push them into it. Finally, when I wasn’t trying, I’d written characters who had chemistry! I’d stopped trying to create a Love Interest, and had simply written two people who had a compelling relationship. I’d meant for it to be friendship, but they had other ideas, and the story took off from there. After that, I realized something. All my favorite fictional couples (as an avid fantasy reader) had a lot more going on between them than simple fairy tale attraction. I didn’t need to understand crushes to desperately want to know whether Katniss would kiss Peeta or kill him in THe Hunger Games, or to relish Alexia and Lord Maccon’s feisty relationship in Gail Carriger’s Soulless series, or to root for Agnieszka to get together with the Dragon in Naomi Novik’s Uprooted. Those characters had more than one kind of tension between them. They wanted things from each other besides — or in addition to — kisses. They had profound, personal and complicated obstacles separating them. Their dynamics and interactions with each other would be compelling even if they never became a couple. I’d been looking at it all wrong, intimidated into thinking the clichés about physical attraction were the substance rather than the surface. I thought because I hadn’t experienced a stereotypical infatuation, I couldn’t write characters falling in love. But the truth was that I didn’t need to understand those stereotypes better. I needed to push them out of the way, and treat romantic relationships not as a mysterious alchemical formula I had to copy down, but as what they are: character relationships. And those, I understood. After all, looking around at all the real couples in my own life (not to mention my favorite books and my own experience) made it clear there were a nigh-infinite number of ways to fall in love. And that was the beauty of it. —Melissa Caruso Ready to learn more about Caruso’s new book? You can pre-order it from one of these retailers: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Indiebound *This post contains affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and purchase an item from the vendor, we receive a percentage of the profit (even if you don't buy the item we've linked to). Thank you for supporting RT Book Reviews! GENRE: Fantasy TAGS: RT Vip SalonAuthor Spotlight RELATED POSTS K.A. Tucker Dishes on the Differences Between Writing Contemporary Romance and Romantic Suspense Jacqueline Carey Gives us a Behind-the-Scenes Look at Miranda and Caliban N.K. Jemisin Stops by to Tell Us More About the Broken Earth Series COMMENTS ADVERTISEMENT NEXT WEEK IN THE VIP SALON Next week in the RT VIP Salon: First Chapter: Lynnette Austin's Must Love Babies Q&A: Eloisa James on Too Wilde to Wed Excerpt: Nalini Singh's Ocean Light Feature: Camille Perri's When Katie Met Cassidy RT WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Fill out the form below and click "SUBSCRIBE" to receive RT's NEWSLETTER with the insider scoop on the hottest books and authors. Get the latest news and gossip and updates on the RT Convention! Email Address * First Name Last Name RT TOP PICKS AT BARNES & NOBLE FIND THE LATEST RT TOP PICKS! ON BARNES & NOBLE FIND NEW EBOOKS WITH AMAZON Find New Ebooks The Thief: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood $14.99 (265) Still Me: A Novel $13.99 (752) Accidental Heroes: A Novel $14.99 (183) Bones Don't Lie (Morgan Dane Book 3) $5.99 (389) Ads by Amazon HARLEQUIN SERIES SCHEDULE Harlequin Series Schedule: June 2018 Harlequin Series Schedule: May 2018 Harlequin Series Schedule: April 2018 Harlequin Series Schedule: March 2018 Harlequin Series Schedule: February 2018 MONTHLY GRAB BAG Monthly Grab Bag: Enter Through April 10 2018 Monthly Grab Bag: Enter Through March 10 2018 Monthly Grab Bag: Enter Through February 10 2018 Monthly Grab Bag: Enter Through January 10 2018 Monthly Grab Bag: Enter Through December 10 2017 Advertising | Contact Us | RT Review Source | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer RT Book Reviews © 2009 - 2018. All rights reserved. Fantasy MELISSA CARUSO ON WRITING ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS WHILE ON THE ASEXUAL SPECTRUM Mon, 09/25/2017 - 4:12pm — Emily Walton reddit MONTHLY EDITION: (#405) November 2017 If you’re looking for a new fantasy series full of magic, danger and devious empires, then look no further than Melissa Caruso’s new Swords and Fire series! Book one, The Tethered Mage, introduces readers to a whole new world, one where magic is scarce and controlled. Natural magic users are taken as children and forced into the Falcon Army. To escape that fate, Zaira has lived her life on the streets. But her magic is rare and powerful, and could change everything. Caruso stopped by to tell us about her writing process, especially as a writer on the asexual spectrum. When I was a teen, before I’d even heard the word “asexual” applied to anything besides the reproduction of single-celled organisms, I already knew one thing: I couldn’t write romance. I remember getting to a certain point in the fantasy novel I wrote in high school and thinking, “Uh oh, these characters should probably be falling in love. I guess their hands can accidentally touch? And then … I’ll just elide it.” I’d make my characters exchange long gazes, and hope the readers could supply the attraction I didn’t know how to write. I knew how it was supposed to work. I’d had that drilled into me from childhood by everything from Disney movies to gum commercials. Your eyes meet, and there’s this immediate spark … a spark I’d never felt. Then, bam! Sexual tension — a force to which I was immune. It was such a complete mystery to me that I couldn’t even imagine what it felt like. I didn’t know why I’d never had a single crush, when all my friends were drowning in them, but I was clearly missing some vital magic everyone else possessed. Without it, trying to write a romantic relationship seemed hopeless. All I could do was stumblingly copy clichés, trying to fake a feeling between my characters that I didn’t know how to describe. I eventually figured out I was on the asexual spectrum. Being ace didn’t stop me from falling in love and getting married, but I was still sure I could never write a convincing love interest. I gave up, and decided I should just try to write books for kids, since then no one would expect romance to be a part of the story. But while I was writing a supposedly middle grade book, a strange thing happened. I realized that two of the characters were falling in love. Organically, wonderfully, all on their own, without me trying to push them into it. Finally, when I wasn’t trying, I’d written characters who had chemistry! I’d stopped trying to create a Love Interest, and had simply written two people who had a compelling relationship. I’d meant for it to be friendship, but they had other ideas, and the story took off from there. After that, I realized something. All my favorite fictional couples (as an avid fantasy reader) had a lot more going on between them than simple fairy tale attraction. I didn’t need to understand crushes to desperately want to know whether Katniss would kiss Peeta or kill him in THe Hunger Games, or to relish Alexia and Lord Maccon’s feisty relationship in Gail Carriger’s Soulless series, or to root for Agnieszka to get together with the Dragon in Naomi Novik’s Uprooted. Those characters had more than one kind of tension between them. They wanted things from each other besides — or in addition to — kisses. They had profound, personal and complicated obstacles separating them. Their dynamics and interactions with each other would be compelling even if they never became a couple. I’d been looking at it all wrong, intimidated into thinking the clichés about physical attraction were the substance rather than the surface. I thought because I hadn’t experienced a stereotypical infatuation, I couldn’t write characters falling in love. But the truth was that I didn’t need to understand those stereotypes better. I needed to push them out of the way, and treat romantic relationships not as a mysterious alchemical formula I had to copy down, but as what they are: character relationships. And those, I understood. After all, looking around at all the real couples in my own life (not to mention my favorite books and my own experience) made it clear there were a nigh-infinite number of ways to fall in love. And that was the beauty of it. —Melissa Caruso Ready to learn more about Caruso’s new book? You can pre-order it from one of these retailers: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Indiebound Fantasy MELISSA CARUSO ON WRITING ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS WHILE ON THE ASEXUAL SPECTRUM Mon, 09/25/2017 - 4:12pm — Emily Walton reddit MONTHLY EDITION: (#405) November 2017 If you’re looking for a new fantasy series full of magic, danger and devious empires, then look no further than Melissa Caruso’s new Swords and Fire series! Book one, The Tethered Mage, introduces readers to a whole new world, one where magic is scarce and controlled. Natural magic users are taken as children and forced into the Falcon Army. To escape that fate, Zaira has lived her life on the streets. But her magic is rare and powerful, and could change everything. Caruso stopped by to tell us about her writing process, especially as a writer on the asexual spectrum. When I was a teen, before I’d even heard the word “asexual” applied to anything besides the reproduction of single-celled organisms, I already knew one thing: I couldn’t write romance. I remember getting to a certain point in the fantasy novel I wrote in high school and thinking, “Uh oh, these characters should probably be falling in love. I guess their hands can accidentally touch? And then … I’ll just elide it.” I’d make my characters exchange long gazes, and hope the readers could supply the attraction I didn’t know how to write. I knew how it was supposed to work. I’d had that drilled into me from childhood by everything from Disney movies to gum commercials. Your eyes meet, and there’s this immediate spark … a spark I’d never felt. Then, bam! Sexual tension — a force to which I was immune. It was such a complete mystery to me that I couldn’t even imagine what it felt like. I didn’t know why I’d never had a single crush, when all my friends were drowning in them, but I was clearly missing some vital magic everyone else possessed. Without it, trying to write a romantic relationship seemed hopeless. All I could do was stumblingly copy clichés, trying to fake a feeling between my characters that I didn’t know how to describe. I eventually figured out I was on the asexual spectrum. Being ace didn’t stop me from falling in love and getting married, but I was still sure I could never write a convincing love interest. I gave up, and decided I should just try to write books for kids, since then no one would expect romance to be a part of the story. But while I was writing a supposedly middle grade book, a strange thing happened. I realized that two of the characters were falling in love. Organically, wonderfully, all on their own, without me trying to push them into it. Finally, when I wasn’t trying, I’d written characters who had chemistry! I’d stopped trying to create a Love Interest, and had simply written two people who had a compelling relationship. I’d meant for it to be friendship, but they had other ideas, and the story took off from there. After that, I realized something. All my favorite fictional couples (as an avid fantasy reader) had a lot more going on between them than simple fairy tale attraction. I didn’t need to understand crushes to desperately want to know whether Katniss would kiss Peeta or kill him in THe Hunger Games, or to relish Alexia and Lord Maccon’s feisty relationship in Gail Carriger’s Soulless series, or to root for Agnieszka to get together with the Dragon in Naomi Novik’s Uprooted. Those characters had more than one kind of tension between them. They wanted things from each other besides — or in addition to — kisses. They had profound, personal and complicated obstacles separating them. Their dynamics and interactions with each other would be compelling even if they never became a couple. I’d been looking at it all wrong, intimidated into thinking the clichés about physical attraction were the substance rather than the surface. I thought because I hadn’t experienced a stereotypical infatuation, I couldn’t write characters falling in love. But the truth was that I didn’t need to understand those stereotypes better. I needed to push them out of the way, and treat romantic relationships not as a mysterious alchemical formula I had to copy down, but as what they are: character relationships. And those, I understood. After all, looking around at all the real couples in my own life (not to mention my favorite books and my own experience) made it clear there were a nigh-infinite number of ways to fall in love. And that was the beauty of it. —Melissa Caruso Ready to learn more about Caruso’s new book? You can pre-order it from one of these retailers: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Indiebound
Print Marked Items
The Tethered Mage
Frances Mortiz
Booklist.
114.2 (Sept. 15, 2017): p33.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
The Tethered Mage.
By Melissa Caruso.
Oct. 2017. 480p. Orbit, paper, $15.99 (9780316466875); e-book (9780316466868).
Amalia, heir to the Cornaro title, should not have been wandering alone in the Tallows, the poorest district
of Raverra. And though admirable, it was unwise of her to intervene in a standoff when she had no skills to
bring to a fight. As it turns out, all she needed was the ability to sneak up on an uncontrolled mage who was
unleashing balefire on the city, then slip a bracelet on the mage's wrist. She didn't realize that doing so
would link them together, making her a Falconer, the only person who could unleash or seal Zaira's power,
and Zaira her falcon. This all occurs in the first chapter. As this exciting fantasy proceeds, Zaira and Amalia
must learn to work together as they navigate the city's social scene and are dragged into politics as Raverra
edges closer to war. Neither lady is fond of protocol, so they muddle along, relying primarily on instinct and
Amalias sense of nobility. New fantasy-writer Caruso launches her promising Swords and Fire series.--
Frances Moritz
YA: Teen fantasy fans will appreciate this coming-of-age story in magical setting. FM.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Mortiz, Frances. "The Tethered Mage." Booklist, 15 Sept. 2017, p. 33. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A507359886/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d3f042f5.
Accessed 26 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A507359886
Caruso, Melissa: THE TETHERED
MAGE
Kirkus Reviews.
(Aug. 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Caruso, Melissa THE TETHERED MAGE Orbit (Adult Fiction) $15.99 10, 24 ISBN: 978-0-316-46687-5
The first of a trilogy set in a land inspired by late-17th-century Venice--but with magic, gender equality, and
same-sex marriage.Bookish Lady Amalia Cornaro will one day have to step into her mother's role as
intelligencer and politically powerful member of the Council of Nine, rulers of the Serene Empire of
Raverra. But her reluctant entree into politics comes more quickly than she would have expected or wished
when she volunteers to bind herself to Zaira, a rogue warlock who in a fit of anger has unleashed balefire
that could devastate the whole city. The only way to stop her is for Amalia to put a tether on the girl's wrist,
which will link them for the rest of their lives. All the mage-marked in Raverra are conscripted into the
Falcons, the empire's cadre of magical soldiers, and each is linked to a Falconer, who can loose or seal the
mage's power on command. A noblewoman such as Amalia isn't supposed to be a Falconer, and Zaira has
spent her entire life in the gutter hiding from the Falcons. But Zaira is too potent a weapon for anyone to
ignore. Amalia will have to win over the furious warlock and take a more active political role when it
becomes clear that someone is fomenting war between Raverra and Ardence, a neighboring client realm
where Amalia has many friends. It's a pleasure to journey with shy and slightly awkward Amalia as she puts
her scholarship in magic and puzzle-solving skills to good use, gaining confidence and proving that perhaps
she's not as politically unskilled as she thought. There is an obvious but still sweet, star-crossed incipient
romance between Amalia and Marcello Verdi, lieutenant of the Falconers. That Amalia and Zaira will
eventually build trust feels like a foregone conclusion in books of this type, but debut author Caruso does a
decent job in creating moments of doubt and tension at key points in the novel. Charming and solidly fun.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Caruso, Melissa: THE TETHERED MAGE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Aug. 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A500365027/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=9c53dce6.
Accessed 26 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A500365027
The Tethered Mage
Publishers Weekly.
264.33 (Aug. 14, 2017): p56.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Tethered Mage
Melissa Caruso. Orbit, $14.99 trade paper (480p) ISBN 978-0-316-46687-5
With great power come great adventures and responsibilities in this politically aware fantasy lightly infused
with Renaissance Italian flavors. Young aristocrat Amalia Cornaro--heir to her mother's powerful position
on Raverra's ruling Council of Nine and a friend to many in the restless city of Ardence--inadvertently
becomes a mage handler (Falconer) while trying to rescue rogue fire warlock Zaira from her own out-ofcontrol
balefire spell. Consequently, they are both automatically conscripted into the Raverran Empire's
military, and, magically linked, must learn to work together under the direction of the doge himself. Amalia
is romantically tempted by Lt. Marcello Verdi, the earnest if socially lower Falconer second-in-command.
Debut novelist Caruso puts her characters into well-worn situations (mismatched teammates, unwilling
heirs, unacceptable loves) but permits the social constraints on individuals, such as automatic conscription
of mages, to have honest and logical bite. The Italian elements are window dressing, and there are no
detailed parallels between Raverra and Venice other than the occasional gondola, which leaves room for
Caruso to include ahistorical notes such as same-sex marriage and female generals. Readers may not be
surprised by the outcomes of dilemmas but will be tantalized by the tension with which Caruso skillfully
maintains her plot. Agent: Naomi Davis, Inklings Literary. (Oct.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Tethered Mage." Publishers Weekly, 14 Aug. 2017, p. 56. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A501717110/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=07bf64ba.
Accessed 26 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A501717110
BOOK REVIEWS
Fantasy with Ballgowns and Explosions: The Defiant Heir by Melissa Caruso
Liz Bourke
Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:00pm 4 comments Favorite This
It is difficult, sometimes, to speak about something that you loved wholeheartedly. To set out to review a work that carries you away and lifts you out of yourself with delight is to set out to reveal the vulnerability of your joy—and that can be a frightening thing.
I really liked Melissa Caruso’s The Tethered Mage. But I loved its sequel, The Defiant Heir: wholeheartedly and without reservation, so much that I doubt my ability to be fair about it. In The Tethered Mage, the reader was introduced to the world—the Venetian-esque empire of Raverra, with its enemies—and to characters who were only beginning to discover their hidden depths. In The Defiant Heir, Amalia Cornaro is no longer a young woman unsure of her ability to step up to the mark, far more confident of her skill with scholarship than politics; and the fire warlock Zaira—linked to Amalia against her will in The Tethered Mage and conscripted into the magical arm of Raverra’s military, the Falcons—is no longer quite so unwilling or unable to trust anyone. I’m a sucker for stories about friendship, and The Defiant Heir centres around (among other things) the complicated friendship between Zaira and Amalia, and between Zaira and her maybe-lover, a fellow Falcon called Terika.
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Well, there’s also Amalia’s conflict between her feelings for Falcon officer Marcello, her friend, and the fact that she can’t afford not to think of the political value of her potential marriage alliances—especially when several of the Witch Lords that rule Raverra’s powerful, magical neighbour Vaskandar are threatening to invade Raverra and its allies. One of the other Witch Lords, Kathe the Crow Lord, offers to court Amalia as part of a political manoeuvre that could benefit them both, and duty means Amalia can’t very well refuse.
Rumours of Vaskandrian preparations for war—and Amalia’s personal knowledge of Ruven, the son of a Witch Lord of Vaskandar, and his twisted ambitions—see Amalia, Zaira, Marcello and his Falcon-artificer sister, and Terika and her Falconer, sent to the Raverran client state Callamorne, on the border with Vaskandar, to shore up both morale and defences. Amalia is related to the Callamornish royal house, and she’s there to add her skills in diplomacy—and the threat of Zaira’s destructive fire magic—to the balance. But the Falcons have a traitor in their ranks. When an ambush sees Terika carried off into Vaskandrian territory, Amalia and Zaira try to pursue. But they find they’ve bitten off a bit more than they were expecting. In order to rescue Terika and thwart the full magical might of Vaskandar, Amalia must accept Kathe’s invitation to the Vaskandrian Conclave, where the question of war with Raverra will be decided—and she must intrigue as cleverly and as cunningly as it is in her power to do, and make hard choices, if she’s going to succeed.
There’s a subset of fantasy that I tend to classify as “ballgowns, swords, intrigue and explosions.” Amanda Downum’s The Drowning City and The Bone Palace were my previous exemplars of this subset, but now I can add The Tethered Mage and The Defiant Heir to the list of outstanding examples. In addition to ballgowns and swords, The Defiant Heir includes among its attractions extremely creepy sorcerers, volcanoes that may be magically induced to erupt, and magically (as well as politically) charged negotiations.
Caruso’s characterisation is a delight: all her characters have distinct voices and come across as whole people with needs and desires and narrative arcs of their own—something that’s not always guaranteed in a novel written in the first-person perspective. The narrator, Amalia, has a sense of humour that’s just dry enough to leaven The Defiant Heir‘s tenser moments, and her humour has a counterpoint in Zaira’s outspoken crudity and sharper tongue. The growing friendship between them is excellently depicted, as is Amalia’s growing acceptance of the costs of her responsibilities, and Zaira’s hard-won choice to pick people to be loyal to, even at the cost of some of her freedom. The relationship between Zaira and Terika is elegantly characterised, as is the mistrust-laden flirting between Amalia and Kathe—and the friendship between Amalia and Marcello.
This is a fast, tight, brilliantly entertaining book, atmospheric and full of tension and intrigue. I adored it.
The Defiant Heir is available from Orbit.
Liz Bourke is a cranky queer person who reads books. She holds a Ph.D in Classics from Trinity College, Dublin. Her first book, Sleeping With Monsters, a collection of reviews and criticism, was published in 2017 by Aqueduct Press. Find her at her blog, where she’s been known to talk about even more books thanks to her Patreon supporters. Or find her at her Twitter. She supports the work of the Irish Refugee Council and the Abortion Rights Campaign.
Web Exclusive – October 24, 2017
THE TETHERED MAGE
Bound by blood and magic
BookPage review by Laura Hubbard
At first glance, it would be easy to write off The Tethered Mage as another coming-of-age novel with an interesting magic system. To do so would mean missing a breathtaking book. Equal parts fantasy and political intrigue, The Tethered Mage pulls readers relentlessly through labyrinthine turns of conspiracy, adventure and romance.
The Raverran Empire’s complete control over magic users has allowed it to expand through threat of violence. Warlocks, referred to as Falcons, are controlled by conscription into the Raverran army at a young age. Falconers have complete control over when Falcons can use their powers, which are only unleashed for the good of the Empire. But the balance of power within Raverra is a tenuous one. When Amalia Cornaro, heir to one of the most powerful houses in the realm, captures a powerful fire warlock who threatens to burn the city of Raverra, she endangers that balance. Amalia is pulled into the life of a Falconer, a role previously forbidden to her because of her noble blood. Her Falcon, the street-hardened Zaira, has avoided conscription long enough to recognize that “the good of the Empire” and her own interests do not necessarily overlap. As Zaira and Amalia come to terms with their new relationship, they are pulled into a conspiracy that puts the Empire—and everyone they love—in danger.
While most of her characters are young adults, Caruso avoids some of the pitfalls of writing about that age group. Her characters are nuanced and thoughtful, driven by duty to country and family. That isn’t to say that Caruso neglects relationships within her novel. Rather, she doesn’t limit herself to romance or allow it to absorb Amalia or Zaira, and it’s refreshing to have those entanglements take a back seat in service of the plot. Instead, Caruso’s characters’ nonromantic relationships drive the action, pulling each away from duty and forcing them to make difficult decisions.
Although the political machinations surrounding the young women are complex, the story never drags. Instead, it sends the reader digging into each sentence to find the key that will make the conspiracy surrounding Amalia and Zaira’s adventure fall into place. This first entry into the Swords and Fire trilogy is worth every moment and every page, and it should make anyone paying attention excited about what Caruso will write next.
Review of The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
Nov
09
2017
The Tethered Mage
by Melissa Caruso
480pp (Trade Paperback)
My Rating: 8/10
Amazon Rating: 4.1/5
LibraryThing Rating: 4.33/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.96/5
The Tethered Mage, the first book in the Swords and Fire trilogy, is Melissa Caruso’s debut novel—and what a wonderful debut it is! It’s Venetian-inspired fantasy featuring great characters (including a variety of women), magic, political intrigue and mystery, friendship, and a dash of romantic entanglement, but what truly sets it apart is the solid worldbuilding. I found it so exciting and compulsively readable that I could hardly put it down, and I ended up staying up until 2:00 AM finishing it since I had to know how it ended.
To her mother’s chagrin, eighteen-year-old Lady Amalia Cornaro is more interested in studying the creation of devices than politics, but Amalia is forced to become politically involved after she accidentally breaks the rules to save the city of Raverra…
When returning from a clandestine book-buying trip to a part of the city of which her august mother would surely disapprove, Amalia stumbles upon a young woman being threatened by three men. Though Amalia realizes it’s unwise for her to get involved as La Contessa’s only daughter and heir to her position on the Council of Nine, she also feels that morality demands that she attempt to help and therefore steps in. However, it is soon obvious that the woman does not need any help: she is a rare and dangerous fire mage, the same type that has historically been the difference between winning and losing for the Empire.
Even after the men have been consumed by her flames, the mage continues to burn, ignoring Amalia’s desperate pleas to stop before she destroys the entire city. In the midst of the chaos, she’s found by Lieutenant Marcello Verdi of the Falconers, the company that controls magic for the Empire, who informs Amalia that the mage has lost control and is unable to stop herself. Since he’s already bound to a Falcon, he cannot prevent her from using her power, but Amalia can if she can only manage to slip a jess around the other woman’s wrist.
Amalia braves the fire and is successful, and the magic of the jess binds the mage’s power. Both Marcello and Amalia are relieved that the city is no longer burning, but their relief doesn’t last long: when Marcello followed the customary procedure developed for emergency situations just like this, he didn’t realize he was recruiting the Cornaro heir, breaking the law that nobles from ruling families cannot be Falconers. Unfortunately, there is no way to undo this, and Amalia is now the only one who can bind and release the magic of the most powerful of all the Empire’s Falcons.
War looms on the horizon for the first time in fifty years, and if there is a conflict, Amalia will be expected to unleash the mage’s flames upon the city she’s come to think of as a second home—and her only hope is to follow the trail of treachery to its source and end the war before it begins…
The Tethered Mage is a fantastic first novel that particularly excels at characters, worldbuilding, and telling the type of compelling story that leads to late-night-to-early-morning binge reading. The societal system for handling magic and the resulting consequences are thoughtfully done, and the major characters all have human flaws and realistic struggles based on their backgrounds (plus I very much enjoyed reading about both Amalia and the fire mage, Zaira, as well as Amalia’s mother and her exceptionally competent right-hand woman).
Though it wouldn’t be as captivating without its cast of characters, the worldbuilding is what primarily sets The Tethered Mage apart as fresh and unique. Rather than being ruled by a monarch, the Serene Empire is primarily run by a doge, elected to this lifetime position by an Assembly dedicated to law-making, and the Council of Nine, which includes five elected officials and four members of ruling families who inherit their positions. A neighboring country is controlled by power-hungry mages who can and do inflict extraordinary horrors upon their people, but the Serene Empire’s vast power comes from their system of controlling magic. Once a child with the mage mark is discovered, they (and, if they wish, their family) must move to the Mews where they will be trained and eventually matched with a Falconer capable of binding and releasing their power as necessary (in cases in which their power does not endanger others, they remain unbound most of the time). The Falcon and Falconer are a pair, and the mage is free to leave the Mews—as long as they are accompanied by their Falconer, who can unleash their power if necessary for self defense and bind it again if it becomes a threat to innocent bystanders or even the city as a whole.
In an interview at the back of the book, Melissa Caruso discussed how this idea for the book’s premise was the result of wondering how a world with mages would be able to prevent them from taking over. When asked about the overarching theme of freedom vs. protection, her response includes the following line: “I wanted the individual characters and the world as a whole to be struggling with the issue of how to handle mages, and I didn’t want there to be an easy answer that would solve all the potential problems.” She completely succeeded, and these complexities and the way she showed the variety of effects caused by this system were among the novel’s greatest strengths. The Tethered Mage demonstrates the disruption it can cause for families with a child who develops the mage mark, the changes resulting from going from years of peacetime to imminent war, and even why some mages prefer the protection of the Mews to the alternative.
However, even the most content of Falcons were never allowed to choose their lot in life, and one reason I loved Zaira so much is that she never lets the other characters forget this! Though secretive about her past, she is blunt and outspoken when it comes to her feelings about her present situation, and her dynamic with Amalia as they slowly learn to work together was well done. Amalia feels terrible that her attempt to help Zaira led to her being conscripted into the Falcons, apologizes to her, and tries to befriend her, but Zaira is quite clear that none of that changes the fact that she’s furious about becoming a Falcon and wants nothing to do with Amalia. Yet the two cannot escape that they’re bound together now, and they end up in situations in which they both have something to offer. It is a bit stereotypical that one of them is book-smart but not street-smart while the other is illiterate but a survivor who knows her way around the city, but they do complement each other nicely and it makes for entertaining reading.
Amalia is obviously quite different from Zaira, but she too is an intriguing character. After she becomes a Falconer, she faces a lot of situations she feels unprepared to handle, but in addition to being about whether or not she and Zaira can develop mutual trust, it’s also about Amalia becoming more politically savvy and stepping into the role she was born for as the Cornaro heir—and being her own person instead of simply La Contessa’s daughter. Throughout the course of the novel, she faces obstacles related to her dependence on an elixir that keeps her alive, her encounters with a creepy foreign prince who abuses his power to control other people’s bodies against their will, and her feelings for Marcello, of whom her mother does not approve. I also enjoyed reading about her interactions with many of the other characters, especially her intelligent and feared mother and, of course, Zaira. It was also wonderful that in addition to the budding romance, there were plenty of friendships too—both with other women and a man (it’s refreshing to see both female friendship and a platonic male/female friendship in the same book, as well as a setting with gender equality and acceptance of same-sex marriage).
Though it has numerous wonderful qualities, this is not a book to read if one is looking for subtlety or beautiful writing. The prose is not particularly notable since it’s a fairly typical straightforward first person narrative peppered with infodumps, but it is quite readable with some fun dialogue, making it effortless to breeze through.
The Tethered Mage is one of the most engaging novels I’ve encountered this year, debut or otherwise, and it is easily my favorite 2017 debut set in a secondary world. Its characters and universe make it memorable, and I’m looking forward to the next installment, The Defiant Heir, in April 2018!
My Rating: 8/10
Where I got my reading copy: ARC from the publisher.
Read an Excerpt from The Tethered Mage
REVIEW: The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
REVIEW: THE TETHERED MAGE BY MELISSA CARUSO
By Feliza Casano October 20, 2017 Books
Amalia Cornaro is the heir to one of the most powerful women in Raverra, and she knows it — which is why she never should have become a Falconer, accident or not. In her attempt to save the city from a rampaging magic-user, Amalia tethered herself to the powerful fire warlock Zaira, a young woman who’s spent her entire life running from the virtual enslavement of the Falcon system in the Raverran Empire. Now they’re tethered together, for better or for worse, and political strife in one of the Empire’s vassal states could cause the whole thing to go up in flames.
I’ve been looking forward to The Tethered Mage for months. While I love fantasy, I tend to enjoy sleeker series to epics, and the compact length of The Tethered Mage combined with the description promising a street rat and a noble bound by fate, I knew this book would shoot towards the top of my reading list.
Despite my high expectations, The Tethered Mage didn’t disappoint: Caruso’s writing reads like an adult fantasy successor to Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books, including my favorite of her quartets, Protector of the Small. Amalia, who narrates the novel, interacts with people from all walks of life: her mother, la Contessa Lissandra Cornaro, whose high expectations for her daughter are nothing if not stifling; her friend Domenic Bergandon, a noble from a different city more interested in rare books than politics; Marcello Verdi, the lieutenant Falconer who accidentally binds Amalia into becoming a Falconer herself; and, last but far from least, Zaira, the eponymous mage, who was scooped up from a life in the Raverran slums when Amalia unwittingly jessed her.
Caruso handles female characters as every fantasy author should, granting them agency, complexity, and power of every type — magical, intellectual, and physical. Amalia makes for a charming high fantasy narrator: heir to an important household with the reticence of a woman surrounded all her life by suck-ups and manipulators. And it barely took a quarter of the book for me to fall madly in love with Zaira, who’s cuttingly witty and a total asshole. But, as she points out to Amalia, that very trait is one of the weapons that’s kept her safe all her life.
Much of the story is devoted to political unrest in Ardence, a city-state that’s become part of the Raverran Empire. Amalia is sent to diplomatically soothe the situation (which she doubts she can do) only to discover a complex layering of issues surrounding the movement for Ardence’s independence.
One of my favorite aspects of The Tethered Mage is its discussion of how the mages should be treated. Zaira, who’s spent her whole life trying to avoid being “captured” as a Falcon, thinks that mages should be allowed to live as they wish, but Amalia’s experience with Ruven, prince of the mage-ruled nation of Vaskandar, convinces her that absolute lawlessness for mages is simply not safe for those who have no magic.
The ethical quandary Amalia’s faced with in this regard deals well with a topic that usually rubs me the wrong way when it comes to stories that use people with powers as stand-ins for marginalized groups: unlike the actual marginalized groups of the world, people with magic in a world where it’s relatively rare are an actual immediate threat to the people around them.
For example, the comic series X-Men is frequently interpreted as a clear allegory for civil rights — except that the X-Men themselves, along with other mutants, clearly present a very immediate danger to the powerless people around them. Likewise, Ruven embodies all the reasons that the Raverran Empire regulates mages in the first place: he’s cruel, injuring or killing the magic-less people around him just because he can, believing very seriously that his inborn magic makes him inherently superior to those born without.
By contrast, Amalia and Marcello are mildly horrified by the attitude of Marcello’s younger sister, Istrella, a Falcon whose magic involves building machines. Istrella is very young, and Marcello is appalled that the Empire wants her to build weapons to be used in war — but Istrella doesn’t mind in the least. Since the Empire gives me everything I could want or need, she reasons, why shouldn’t I make weapons for them?
Istrella’s attitude is basically everything that disgusts Zaira about the Falcon system — but Istrella’s also correct that the Empire provides her with safety, food and shelter, research materials and equipment, and literally anything she wants. Like other Falcons, the Empire took Istrella out of an unpleasant and potentially unsafe situation, making the morality of the system itself morally gray. The solution isn’t presented conclusively in The Tethered Mage, setting it up to be further explored in the next installment of the trilogy.
The Tethered Mage is a gorgeous, fresh fantasy debut filled with political intrigue and ethical quandary, from the regulation of magic to a region’s participation as part of a major political territory. I highly recommend this series for adults who loved Tamora Pierce’s work as children or teens, and it’s also a great read for fantasy lovers who don’t want to be mired in an endless multitude of narrative voices.
4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads | Indiebound
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Review: The Defiant Heir by Melissa Caruso
APRIL 11, 2018
Review: The Defiant Heir by Melissa CarusoThe Defiant Heir by Melissa Caruso
Series: Swords and Fire #2
Published by Orbit on April 24, 2018
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 560
Source: Publisher
Thanks to Orbit for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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four-half-stars
I need to just start out with stating how much I love this book and series. It is a refreshing and lively fantasy that has characters that I just can’t get enough of. The entire concept of a non-magic user being tethered to someone with magic, with the ability to essentially turn their abilities on and off, and tying their lives to one another creates very interesting dynamics. Having Amalia, the heir to the Empire, also be a Falconer puts her in a really unique position. The throw in that Zaira, her falcon, is a fire mage, and things get really interesting.
In the last book, we saw Amalia’s relationship with Marcello both start to bloom, but also become stifled as the reality of her duty as heir made it apparent she had to remain open to suitors that could gain the Serene Empire a political advantage. In the Defiant Heir, her relationship with Marcello is further tested and strained as an opportune suitor presents her with enormous possibility politically. It is something she can’t just dismiss. The problem? This suitor is not a normal noble, but a Witch Lord from Vaskandar. Witch Lords are the things of scary childhood stories, with their ability to bend nature to their whims, using trees to attack. the are characterized as mad and violent. They are the things nightmares are made of.
But then we actually meet Kathe, and while he may not be who Amalia pictured as a suitor, there’s no denying there’s some level of chemistry. It’s not the innocent wholesome type of love she feels for Marcello, but rather an exciting and electrifying relationship that offers something new and different. There’s something to be said about mystery and a bit of danger. It’s exciting and Amalia enjoys it (whether she will openly admit it or not).
Kathe loves to play games, and always keeps things very, very interesting. He’s a bit of a wildcard that brings anything but the expected. I always liked Marcello, but I have to admit to kind of rooting for Kathe at this point. I am really hoping to learn more about him in the next book and am quite curious where his relationship with Amalia is headed. It’s hard to deny the benefits for the Serene Empire to have Kathe on their side. Especially as war with Vaskandar is beginning to look inevitable.
I’ve focused quite a bit on Amalia’s relationships, but this book is certainly more than just that. Amalia and Zaira have landed an invitation to the Conclave in Vaskandar. It’s a gathering of the 17 Witch Lords where they vote on matters of the land, including going to war with the Serene Empire. This is the first time someone from the Serene Empire has been invited and Amalia is determined to make the most of it to try and save her people. After the events in the last book, the council takes Amalia more seriously, but it is still a huge amount of responsibility and she still has to prove herself to them.
And Zaira is still very much Zaira. She always livens any party and brings a refreshingly truthful and often humorous perspective on things. It’s hard not to love her.
My only very slight comment (or reader warning) that could be considered less than positive, is that there are some very convenient resolutions in places. You just have to go with the flow and not worry about that. I found it very easy since the characters and everything else are so exciting and fun.
This is an amazing and fun series so far. I wish I had the next book in hand so I could just go straight into it. Highly recommend these books!!
four-half-stars