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A review by erin_penn
The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
4.0
I'm about half-way through so I thought I would write the review, that way I can't post spoilers.
I've been doing a lot of editing recently and while reading my mind keeps drifting off into editing mode to find something to correct, and there isn't anything. Good verbs, good nouns, nice flow of sentences and transitions. So pleasant.
A tad too much Chekhov's Gun - if something is introduced, you know it will be used. While the gold standard for short stories and plays, which need to be trimmed to the basics, novels should wander a bit, introducing non-essential side stories as red herrings, especially if the main plotline is a mystery. So far every little side bit glaringly is the Gun on the wall.
Plus side means everything you read and see in the story is propelling the story forward full-steam. Even side trips feed into the main plot.
And the story reads like an urban-fantasy/thriller with a dash of steampunk instead of what I expected which was a standard-fantasy/political-mystery. Every chapter ends on a note making your turn the page. Scenes are charged with action and tension, yet tease at the intellect with the mystery. Very nice balance.
Overall a very good story. I look forward to more in the series.
Finished reading the book.
So I am not really feeling the "theme" / "moral" of the story which is people should be given choices because the moral is only being applied to one person in the book.
I've been doing a lot of editing recently and while reading my mind keeps drifting off into editing mode to find something to correct, and there isn't anything. Good verbs, good nouns, nice flow of sentences and transitions. So pleasant.
A tad too much Chekhov's Gun - if something is introduced, you know it will be used. While the gold standard for short stories and plays, which need to be trimmed to the basics, novels should wander a bit, introducing non-essential side stories as red herrings, especially if the main plotline is a mystery. So far every little side bit glaringly is the Gun on the wall.
Plus side means everything you read and see in the story is propelling the story forward full-steam. Even side trips feed into the main plot.
And the story reads like an urban-fantasy/thriller with a dash of steampunk instead of what I expected which was a standard-fantasy/political-mystery. Every chapter ends on a note making your turn the page. Scenes are charged with action and tension, yet tease at the intellect with the mystery. Very nice balance.
Overall a very good story. I look forward to more in the series.
Finished reading the book.
Spoiler
And there is one thing which bothers me on a sociological level. Everyone is angry at how the Falcons don't have a choice in their lives once they are detected as mages. My problem is this society does not give ANYONE a choice. Our MC was declared the heir BEFORE SHE WAS BORN. Dominic dragged into politics because of his birth. The Falcon had an indentured servant contract when we first find her - and the Mews investigates to see if they need to reimburse the "owner". I interpret this as contracts like these do exist ON CHILDREN, even in a country without slavery. The technology and society being presented in the Italian Renaissance (a refreshing change from the Proto-Generic-Medieval of most fantasy) which rocked things away from the Feudal, everyone is things tied to one political entity (true person), but hadn't fully reached industrial age of people as individuals have value.So I am not really feeling the "theme" / "moral" of the story which is people should be given choices because the moral is only being applied to one person in the book.