August 14, 2017
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-of-control 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.
August 15, 2017
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.
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September 15, 2017
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 Amalia's sense of nobility. New fantasy-writer Caruso launches her promising Swords and Fire series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)