TL;DR Review – A riveting look at blooming love in the wake of trauma. Complex characters, epic action, and a wonderful expansion of the world.
Synopsis:
She was beautiful the way the ocean was beautiful. In a new way every time one looked.
She is water, bright and alluring, fathomless and profound. He is a bridge between peoples, artist and criminal, vengeful and compassionate.
Amara Mutar has risen to the highest ranks of Tamar society by her wits and ambition. But it is not high enough to keep those she loves, and herself, safe from a past that will not release her.
Cassian Haydar has sunk as low as it is possible to sink, but he intends to take back what is his, and crush those who took everything that mattered from him—after he’s done stealing back all the other lives they’ve robbed.
In exchange for a betrothal that would secure Amara’s position and freedom, the Tamaran Sultana sends her on a dangerous hunt for lost mages of the Third House, in the last place any mage should be. Amara and Cassian, brought together deep inside the Republic, discover they have nothing, and everything, in common.
But their paths were never meant to converge, and there are horrors in the heart of a rising Empire that threaten both Amara’s plans and every mage in Tamar. Knowing the fate of the Circle rests in her hands, Amara must choose whether to serve her heart, or her people.
He was a shore upon which she crawled from the dark deep of her magic and fell against to breathe, and taste the air again.
Full Review:
Siren and Scion picks up shortly after the events of Storm and Shield, dropping us instantly into the middle of all the excitement, action, and intrigue that has made me fall so deeply in love with the Mages of the Wheel series.
Our female protagonist, Amara, is introduced as an arrogant, scheming merchant who comes before the Sultana to (politely) demand she be allowed to marry the second-in-line to the throne. Not a great start for a character we’re supposed to like, right?
But no sooner as we’ve been given plenty of reason to dislike Amara, we’re shown the true woman beneath the façade. A woman who uses the wealth she’s accumulated to help abused and battered women who cannot help themselves. A woman who cares deeply about a very small circle of people who she has allowed herself to trust after all the hardships she has endured.
Then we’re whisked away across the ocean to meet Cassian, a con artist, gambler, thief, and general rogue. Or so we’re led to believe at first—when he cheats at dice and earns a beating for it. But as we get to see more about Cassian, it becomes clear that he, too, is more than just what he seems. There are layers and nuances to him that are only hinted at in the beginning.
Reign and Ruin felt like a proper epic fantasy, while Storm and Shield was an adventure story. Siren and Scion, on the other hand, is a character study. Don’t get me wrong: there is a great deal of action and worldbuilding, magic and mayhem, but where this story shines is in its exploration of who these two broken, wounded people are.
Both Cassian and Amara have suffered greatly, and have built up facades and personas to protect themselves from the hurt and abuse—both to shield their minds and hearts from past traumas and to ensure they never have to feel that pain again.
But as we get to know them chapter by chapter, we see those shells stripped back one layer at a time, and the flawed, broken, vulnerable, frightened people beneath. Through their developing connection to each other, they’re able to find a way past the hurts, to embrace their power, and become whole.
As with every Mages of the Wheel story, there is a great deal of time spent on the magic system (the Wheel with its six Houses), exploring both how magic shapes the characters (Amara’s a truly spectacular powerhouse when unleashed) and how it impacts the world (the Sultanate that is governed by magic, and the Republic that fears and seeks to fight it).
We’re given a proper glimpse at the enemy that all our favorite characters will one day have to fight when the Republic and its legions inevitably launch an attack on the Sultanate. And, in true epic fashion, we’re shown just how dangerous that enemy is. Undefeatable, in fact, unless the Sultana can succeed in her quest to unite the magical houses.
Once again, the character development is spellbinding, the blossoming attraction and romance between the characters is breathtaking, the steam and spice are dialed ALL THE WAY TO THE MAX, and the story strikes a masterful balance between character development and plot. It’s romantic fantasy done so, soooooo right!
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