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  • The Tethered Mage

  • Swords and Fire, Book 1
  • By: Melissa Caruso
  • Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
  • Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (157 ratings)
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The Tethered Mage cover art

The Tethered Mage

By: Melissa Caruso
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
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Summary

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 could threaten 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.

Set in a rich world of political intrigue and dangerous magic, The Tethered Mage is a spellbinding debut from a major new talent.

©2017 Melissa Caruso (P)2017 Little, Brown Book Group

Critic reviews

"Charming, intelligent, fast-moving, beautifully atmospheric." (Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library)
" The Tethered Mage spins two captivating tales: a battle of wills between a feisty heroine and her bonded warlock, and a battle of wits between an empire and its rivals. Stuffed with intrigue, romance, and betrayal, this is a scrumptious read." (Vic James, author of Gilded Cage)
"Intricate and enticing as silk brocade. Caruso's heroine is a strong, intelligent young woman in a beguiling, beautifully evoked Renaissance world of high politics, courtly intrigue, love and loyalty - and fire warlocks." (Anna Smith Spark, author of The Court of Broken Knives)

What listeners say about The Tethered Mage

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

New and fresh

I loved this book. It is well written, intriguing with a novel plot. I look forward to the next book in the series

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very Predictable

A difficult one. I actually, on the whole, found it a very pleasant listen, apart from the following reservations:

I found Zaira to be a very unlikeable person and her continued surliness became wearing. Lady Amalia Cornaro came across as being weak. The one bright spark was the narration, which was very good and it is a narrator I will follow.

To sum if, if you like an easy listen; not too challenging, then you will not be disappointed.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good but a little awkward in places

The story is a good concept and definitely has potential, I'm yet to decide if I'll continue with the trilogy though TBH. While the story and idea is good I found some of the story telling and conversations a little stilted and awkward. I didn't check the expected audience and maybe it is aimed at teens or young adults which may explain some of the tamer language used or maybe I'm just used to more blunt and graphic books.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A small comment

This was a really good story to listen too I fully recommend it so buy it

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Have patience it gets better!

So the general book was quite good but I think the majority of it was building a foundation to enjoy the last quarter or even fifth of the story. The last few chapters I thought yaaaas okay okay this is good, so you have to have patience with the slow pace…
Also (maybe a spoiler) but why is Marcello such a wet blanket? Idk how someone can be a lieutenant while mostly being a soft sensitive and hesitant cry baby. And I’m rooting for him so I’m not being mean! I just want him to grow some pears lol.
Apparently the second book is amazing so I’m excited to get onto it straight away! ❤️ I mostly came here for Saskia Maarleveld because she is the goddess of narration I love her voice/adaptability so so much 🙌

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

I absolutely love this book. Such a great story and narration. Just wish they would record the 3rd book in English! Desperate to listen to it!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

good story and easy listening

looking forward to the next book in the series, a timid kitten turning into a fierce tiger.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful Narrator!

Wonderful narrator and an intriguing book, just a tad on the political side for my taste but very well written with an interesting plot. Also had great characters that I loved or loved to hate.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable but slow

I wish I could give more than 5 stars for the narration, which was excellent. All the characters and emotions were distinct and it brought the book to life,

In fact without the narration I think that the quality of the writing and story would have brought the marks down considerably. The overall story was a reasonable, enjoyable work of fantasy but it was dragged down by a couple of factors. I found the overall style and quality of the writing quite poor, it was very simplistic and almost childlike, Not what I would have expected of an adult, as opposed to young adult, fantasy. The early chapters dragged a little and were very slow and I did not really like the main characterisations, which were quite one dimensional, strangely I thought that the secondary characters were better drawn. Amalia was somewhat weak and young-seeming, a bit whiny in places. Zaira was a stronger character but had no emotion but childish, shouty anger throughout most of the book, understandable in some respects but exhibiting no growth until suddenly at the end of the book. The lieutenant just didn't really make sense to me, too young for a position of second in command, too indecisive and generally just a foil.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

So boring I had to return it

I spent several hours really wanting to like this book, but I really couldn’t. It was so boring, I felt like it was skirting around lots of side stories that had no relevance to the main narrative and 3 hours in, nothing of relevance had actually happened. I returned the title and moved on.

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3 people found this helpful