Bingo Review 15: Fresh Start
I’ve kind of had my eye on The Tethered Mage, Book One of the Swords and Fire trilogy, and using it for the starting a new series square worked out just fine. Looking at the cover I actually just noticed that one of my favorite fantasy writers, Genvieve Cogman, approved of it too; I don’t always have great luck with things authors I like like, but maybe this is an exception. I should also admit that by the end I was wondering “Is this actually set in an alternate {spoilers- a little}? It feels like that.” Then I go to the little author interview in the extras and low and behold, I was right. I like it when that happens too.
Imagine a vaguely Renaissance region of Europe in one of the more powerful city-states. One of the ways Raverra and the Serene Empire has kept its power and recent peace is through its Falcons and Falconers. If you have magic, then you are a Falcon, literally bound to your Falconer who has the ability via some magical artifice to release your magic or to stop it. If you are a Falcon, you don’t really have a choice; anyone with enough magic to have a ‘mage’s mark’ is compelled to become one, but it’s all right really because they will treat you pretty well (?), unless they deploy you as a living weapon. Lady Amalia Coronaro is the scholarly daughter of one of the most powerful politicians in Raverra, who accidentally becomes Falconer to Zaira. Zaira, the Falcon, is your standard street-wise sassy pants who resists being forced into become Falcon. Trouble is, she has a rare fire magic that she can’t really control. Thus Amalia and Zaira first have to learn to tolerate each other, and then save the world when schemers of various and somewhat unknown origins and intentions appear to be trying to start a war between Raverra and Ardence.
There’s a lot of political maneuvering, a lot of investigating and discovering, and a little romance (more for Amalia, but Zaira has a few prospects too). Amalia is pretty well developed character who grows through the novel; Zaira, not so much, and that’s kind of a shame because she could have been a really interesting foil. Some of the side characters are also pretty interesting, like Amalia’s friend Domenico and her mother La Contessa. Her uncle Ignazio has some surprising depths, although some of it could use a little more explanation, but I suspect that’s for book 2. Hopefully Ruven gets some more detail, because he’s being set up to be a pretty challenging villain for Amalia, and it would be nice if he was a little interesting, and the same goes for Istrella, Falcon sister of the dashing Falconer Lieutenant Marcello, although Istrella is less villain than just potentially interesting as a sort of mad scientist type Falcon.
I have to say, I really enjoyed this. It’s an interesting enough story with some depth, but also not terribly deep or dark, as some YA fantasy can be. This was developed enough that I actually forgot I was reading something that’s designated YA. It’s a reminder that a good story in an intriguing world with interesting characters doesn’t need that kind of label; it’s just good. The problem now is do I run out and get book 2, or do I continue with my reading plan?