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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Alex Verus is back in Jacka's third book in this series. Again it continues off the previous book, with an undetermined, though short, amount of time since the last adventure. Just as the previous stories, I was a bit off in guessing what was going to happen next, but was able to guess the end result, for the most part. The enjoyment was in reading how Jacka took the story, and the character interaction, even if they had no part to the end story. Also, after having read the first two books, there is some new character background for some of the secondary characters, which was sort of nice. I like to drop myself into these type of stories dealing with magic in a current time setting. The stories just don't seem long enough, because I am so immersed that I read through it, sometimes in one sitting.
Honestly, I can't decide whether this is 3 or 4 stars and probably it will change on a future reread.
I like Alex Verus. I like Luna and the apprentices. I miss Starbreeze. I actually enjoy much of what Jacka and his universe have to offer.
Unfortunately, I'm also a fan of the Dresden Files. And I'm having difficulty separating the two series. There is SO much similarity between the two. And maybe it's just fantasy tropes (the "good" council that really isn't, the pretty sidekick that might or might not have a romance, the "research guy") and it all kind of gets old. I want to read something different. Not a "what would happen if Harry Dresden lived in London with a slightly different power.
Allll that said, I do really enjoy how magic is treated a little differently here. Where it's a specialty and no one is uberpowerful of everything. Alex's divination powers and Luna's luck powers are incredibly interesting and subtle. I'm curious to see where Anne might go in the future installments of this novel because Alex seems to be collecting apprentices.
I like Alex Verus. I like Luna and the apprentices. I miss Starbreeze. I actually enjoy much of what Jacka and his universe have to offer.
Unfortunately, I'm also a fan of the Dresden Files. And I'm having difficulty separating the two series. There is SO much similarity between the two. And maybe it's just fantasy tropes (the "good" council that really isn't, the pretty sidekick that might or might not have a romance, the "research guy") and it all kind of gets old. I want to read something different. Not a "what would happen if Harry Dresden lived in London with a slightly different power.
Allll that said, I do really enjoy how magic is treated a little differently here. Where it's a specialty and no one is uberpowerful of everything. Alex's divination powers and Luna's luck powers are incredibly interesting and subtle. I'm curious to see where Anne might go in the future installments of this novel because Alex seems to be collecting apprentices.
With each book, I fall in love a little more. I want to call Alex the British Harry Dresden, but that is disservice. It is not at all derivative, it is just that they are both awesome UF series with male protagonists.
Oh, look, Alex Verus saves the day, and the damsels in distress, yet again, despite telling readers he isn't all that powerful. I read up to here to see if there was more than an adventure to face that he overcomes by finding something in his pocket (book #2; I kid you not!) or suddenly has the power or smarts to outwit all of the other mages. There doesn't seem to be any character development on his or any other character's part, so it ends up feeling like an adventure novel where I know the main characters will be fine either because of a deus ex machina moment or Verus simply being find.
Even though the basic outline of these books is repetitive, the world Benedict Jacka created here is still compelling.