Burned by Benedict Jacka
May. 29th, 2016 12:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Alex Verus has a magic shop in Camden, London, and an uncanny ability to see the future.
But suddenly it’s his future that seems inescapable. Because the Mage’s Council of Great Britain has named him a traitor and ordered his death in seven days’ time, and there’s no way anyone can get out of that.
Alex’s friends – Luna and other apprentices he’s taken in – are tainted by association. They’ll also be marked for death when the ruling comes into play, and very quickly Alex becomes locked in a race against time to save them.
Perhaps he might even remember to save himself.
It’s several months since VEILED and Levistus has made good on his promise to destroy Alex by convincing the Mage’s Council to pass a death sentence on him. The sentence will be carried out in 7 days time and as an extra nasty twist, it also applies to his dependents Anne, Luna and Variam. Fortunately the sentence won’t be publicised until it’s due to be carried out, which gives Alex time to save those he cares about. That means getting Chalice’s help to pass Luna through the journeymen trials so she’s no longer his apprentice, while simultaneously getting Anne and Variam’s apprenticeships transferred to Variam’s master Landis. As for Alex himself, hope comes from old frenemy Lyle - he works for Undaaris who sits on the Mage’s Council and who’s willing to overturn the sentence if Alex will accompany the Keepers on a secret mission to Syria. But nothing is ever simple for Alex, which is why he also finds himself facing attempts on his life by Dark mages for reasons he can’t even begin to fathom and who, frankly, need to get in line …
The 8th in Benedict Jacka’s ALEX VERUS SERIES has an explosive start with stakes that have never been higher but it cannot escape the filler feel (an issue that affected my enjoyment of VEILED) in part because you have a good sense of how it’s going to end up while little of note happens in the overriding series arc concerning the return of Richard Drakh and his plans for the future. This is a shame because there are some great scenes in the book and some fascinating developments (my favourite being what happens in the always fractious relationship between Alex and Caldera), I welcomed Sonder’s awkward return and Jacka continues to strip Alex of allies and things he cares about (which partly makes the end of the book so inevitable) while setting up a possible romance between Alex and Anne. However the central mission goes on for too long for the ho-hum pay-off, I was disappointed by the resolution to Luna’s storyline and for once the political manoeuvring failed to keep me interested – mainly because so much of it consists of having alliances explained by other characters. That said, the ending promises a truly thrilling 9th book and while this book didn’t quite do it for me, I will definitely check it out.
The Verdict:
The 8th in Benedict Jacka’s ALEX VERUS SERIES has an explosive start with stakes that have never been higher but it cannot escape the filler feel (an issue that affected my enjoyment of VEILED) in part because you have a good sense of how it’s going to end up while little of note happens in the overriding series arc concerning the return of Richard Drakh and his plans for the future. This is a shame because there are some great scenes in the book and some fascinating developments (my favourite being what happens in the always fractious relationship between Alex and Caldera), I welcomed Sonder’s awkward return and Jacka continues to strip Alex of allies and things he cares about (which partly makes the end of the book so inevitable) while setting up a possible romance between Alex and Anne. However the central mission goes on for too long for the ho-hum pay-off, I was disappointed by the resolution to Luna’s storyline and for once the political manoeuvring failed to keep me interested – mainly because so much of it consists of having alliances explained by other characters. That said, the ending promises a truly thrilling 9th book and while this book didn’t quite do it for me, I will definitely check it out.
Alex Verus has a magic shop in Camden, London, and an uncanny ability to see the future.
But suddenly it’s his future that seems inescapable. Because the Mage’s Council of Great Britain has named him a traitor and ordered his death in seven days’ time, and there’s no way anyone can get out of that.
Alex’s friends – Luna and other apprentices he’s taken in – are tainted by association. They’ll also be marked for death when the ruling comes into play, and very quickly Alex becomes locked in a race against time to save them.
Perhaps he might even remember to save himself.
It’s several months since VEILED and Levistus has made good on his promise to destroy Alex by convincing the Mage’s Council to pass a death sentence on him. The sentence will be carried out in 7 days time and as an extra nasty twist, it also applies to his dependents Anne, Luna and Variam. Fortunately the sentence won’t be publicised until it’s due to be carried out, which gives Alex time to save those he cares about. That means getting Chalice’s help to pass Luna through the journeymen trials so she’s no longer his apprentice, while simultaneously getting Anne and Variam’s apprenticeships transferred to Variam’s master Landis. As for Alex himself, hope comes from old frenemy Lyle - he works for Undaaris who sits on the Mage’s Council and who’s willing to overturn the sentence if Alex will accompany the Keepers on a secret mission to Syria. But nothing is ever simple for Alex, which is why he also finds himself facing attempts on his life by Dark mages for reasons he can’t even begin to fathom and who, frankly, need to get in line …
The 8th in Benedict Jacka’s ALEX VERUS SERIES has an explosive start with stakes that have never been higher but it cannot escape the filler feel (an issue that affected my enjoyment of VEILED) in part because you have a good sense of how it’s going to end up while little of note happens in the overriding series arc concerning the return of Richard Drakh and his plans for the future. This is a shame because there are some great scenes in the book and some fascinating developments (my favourite being what happens in the always fractious relationship between Alex and Caldera), I welcomed Sonder’s awkward return and Jacka continues to strip Alex of allies and things he cares about (which partly makes the end of the book so inevitable) while setting up a possible romance between Alex and Anne. However the central mission goes on for too long for the ho-hum pay-off, I was disappointed by the resolution to Luna’s storyline and for once the political manoeuvring failed to keep me interested – mainly because so much of it consists of having alliances explained by other characters. That said, the ending promises a truly thrilling 9th book and while this book didn’t quite do it for me, I will definitely check it out.
The Verdict:
The 8th in Benedict Jacka’s ALEX VERUS SERIES has an explosive start with stakes that have never been higher but it cannot escape the filler feel (an issue that affected my enjoyment of VEILED) in part because you have a good sense of how it’s going to end up while little of note happens in the overriding series arc concerning the return of Richard Drakh and his plans for the future. This is a shame because there are some great scenes in the book and some fascinating developments (my favourite being what happens in the always fractious relationship between Alex and Caldera), I welcomed Sonder’s awkward return and Jacka continues to strip Alex of allies and things he cares about (which partly makes the end of the book so inevitable) while setting up a possible romance between Alex and Anne. However the central mission goes on for too long for the ho-hum pay-off, I was disappointed by the resolution to Luna’s storyline and for once the political manoeuvring failed to keep me interested – mainly because so much of it consists of having alliances explained by other characters. That said, the ending promises a truly thrilling 9th book and while this book didn’t quite do it for me, I will definitely check it out.
