Forged (An Alex Verus Novel Book 11)

If one like mage/ alternative universe, this is another in an excellently written series. That said, as with the Dresden files, it's harder and harder to see how a good outcome will happen for Alex. The real world is depressing enough and filled with enough evil and selfish people. One can wish that the fiction one reads (ultimately you read these for enjoyment) would not be equally depressing. I await the next in this series, but I hope it will ultimately end in a series I can recommended to others and reread with joy. The real world often has things beyond your control. I the fictional world, let the good guy win.

I have groused in recent reviews of this series that we seemed to be gettinga number of "middle books", when the series needed to move onwards.Alex had been advised by his spider-mentor to pick a side or be a side,and in this book he took that advice -- in spades.Alex has got problems. Lots of them. After making a considerableeffort to come to terms with England's Light Council, they are oncemore trying to kill him. His friends are all under surveillance;his girl friend is, on top of being split into light & dark personas,gradually being taken over by a powerful Djin, and the powerfulartifact he acquired to enhance his Divination powers is graduallykilling him.Given the limited time that he has to work with, Alex has decidedthat he is here to kick posteriors and chew bubblegum, and heis all out of gum. I must say that this is a book with an impressivebody-count, and if Alex doesn't enjoy adding to it, he is no longerwilling to be a door-mat, and this applies to even those he onceconsidered friends.Does it work? Well, that would be telling, but I'll just say thatby the end of the book Alex has different problems.Big ones.This book was a very taut return to form.

The series is good. If you're in this deep, you know all about that.This book feels like a filler episode, though. In the absence of his tailor friend, the author has hamstrung himself as one of the deus ex aspects of Alex's support circle is gone, and the writing suffers for it. While it makes sense there isn't a way for the author to nudge his character in the 'write' direction, Jacka doesn't find a way to make Alex's bumbling interesting.There's enough in the histories that I'm willing to wait another book (maybe two) for things to pick up, butAlso, the "twist" at the end is grotesquely predictable, but rather than feeling like the natural consequence of the last few books, it feels kajiggered into place for shock value.If this were a meal, I would have sent it back and had the chicken instead.

Packed with tension and action, but short and cliffhangery. Jacka has announced that the next book is the last, making this one the penultimate showdown. I won't tell you who the final showdown is with, but I will say that in this book he has at least provisionally resolved his issues with two of the following three parties: the Council, Richard Drakh, and Anne. Bottom line: tough, gritty, dark, with some triumphs, but shorter than you'd like.

In the 11th story of Alex Verus series. Alex has powered up with the addition of the ancient artifact : The Fate Weaver. Alex has forged a powerful alliance with the ancient artifact and even though it is slowly consuming the life from Alex, his only chance to defeat the council and save Ann is employing the Fate Weaver.Previously Alex was able to outthink and outsmart his enemies and with the Fate Weaver he can now influence the outcomes. The body count is reminiscent of a John Wick Movie: with Alex and Ann slaughtering the opposition and showing no mercy. The action is incredible. The consequences unknown.A shaky truce between Alex and the Council at the end of the novel, but Ann is not finished in her revenge quest.Hold on to your hat, Risen the final novel is due by the end of this year, and I can hardly wait!

I have enjoyed reading the Alex Verus series and each book has been better than the last. Benedict Jacka is an amazing author with a huge world building talent. He puts Alex and his friends and allies through so many perils and emotions. This book ends on a huge cliffhanger so be forewarned. I have already preordered the next book due in December. All I can say is thank goodness it is in the same year. If you like novels about magic, mages and just fantastic characters, you cannot get a better series than this one. I hope Mr. Jacka continues to write about Alex, Annie, Luna and all the rest for many more novels. Thank you for writing them and giving your readers so much joy and excitement.

Another action-packed Alex Verus adventure. A lot of his old enemies and friends show up again, and there are some hilarious parts. I could have wished for more interactions with his friends but understood why that wasn’t possible. I’m sad that this is the second to last book... perhaps some short stories would cheer readers up afterwards? ;)Note: The bad reviews by some are solely because Amazon shipped the American paperback to British purchasers when the book came out. The novel itself is amazing!

Book number eleven of a twelve book fantasy series. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Ace in 2020. The twelfth book in the series is billed as the final book in the series and I have already ordered it.Mage Verus is not only fighting for his status as a mage, now he is fighting for his life. That means that the rules are now off and every battle is to the death. Not good. But Alex started as a dark mage and to the dark side he returns.

Wow wow wow - Alex has really grown up and is taking the lead in owning his future in a decisive, combative and active manner and I love the developments in Alex's character we've seen take place over the series to date. It hasn't come without cost though, to him and to his friends.I enjoyed the relentless action but I particularly liked the proximity the author gives us to Alex's decision-making, divination ability and morality. Alex is still very much the same guy who struggled to reconcile his ideals alongside his circumstances and the wrong-doing he experienced as an apprentice and at the hands of the Light Council. Now he's taking steps to own his future and his conversations about responsibility for actions and outcomes with Jagadev, Morden, Landis and Levistus are intriguing and full of insight of what the future may hold for Alex, and what would be worth living, or dying, for.Morden's presence in this book is notable. He emerged early in the series as a typical dark mage baddie, but has become more nuanced, complex and considered, and I believe has had a significant role in enabling Alex's ability and confidence to challenge the power-players.I am really excited for the final book in this series as I'm sure the author will deliver something outstanding! I am also really looking forward to reading whatever Benedict Jacka turns his skills and attention to next.Note - this is not the book to start with for someone new to the series, I'd strongly advise starting at the beginning and reading each book to get to this thrilling installment.

I love these books, there is nothing I don’t like about them. Except.... the length of time I have to wait for the next one! All I can ask is, PLEASE Benedict write quicker! I’ve done my usual of staying up till midnight for the book to hit my kindle at 12.00 midnight and it’s now 14:23 and I’m finished. Now I’ve got to wait another year to find out what happens.Seriously though, I love the characters, I love the setting, I love the writing style I just love these books. It’s been so amazing to see Alex grow in power, he’s always been underestimated, but I just wish he could get a break and those freaking idiots on the council leave him alone and go after the real villains, ie Richard, et al. Instead they are again after Alex and being so heavily invested in this character I hate them! Spoilers here, I miss Arachne, I miss Anne, good Anne, I miss the interaction the 4 of them had and I hate that Alex can’t even go to see Luna without fear of placing her in jeopardy. Alex comments on how he misses his safe places, his shop, Arachne’s lair, the safe house in Wales and the interaction between the 4 friends, and I’m totally on board with that. That doesn’t mean I did not love this book, but I’m pro Alex all the way, he’s the good guy, the council are complete numpties and he’s forced to use nefarious means to just survive, and I so want him to get a break from constant pursuit. A few books back when he and Anne were declared outlaws and were on the run around the world for a large portion of the book I was exhausted for him! And it’s like that now for him in this book. Under constant pressure to keep moving before they pinpoint his location. Of course this adds to the breakneck spread of the book, which is amazing, but it does exhaust you after a while. He loves Anne, desperately wants to free her from the jinn whilst eliminating Levistus who is the most powerful member of the council now, in the hope it will remove the target from his back are the main themes. But his interaction with Anne is obviously very limited now, as is his time with Vari and Luna for their own safety and I feel so sorry for him on his own without his friends to just talk to! I could’ve punched Sonder for his attitude, I’ve never liked him though, slimy little git. Why is he the golden boy of the council and Alex the pariah, because he had the misfortune to be apprenticed to Richard like a million years ago grrrrr. Anyway it’s a fabulous book, I’m going to reread the entire series again now, like I do every year and dream of a world in which Benedict Jacka publishes the next book in 3 months sigh.I would not recommend jumping in to the series on this book. Read from book 1 you won’t be disappointed. But once again I’m left wanting more and playing in my mind the possible scenarios for the next year. A fabulous read, I loved it.

To be clear; I'm not disappointed in the text, because I've not yet read it, but rather it's the physical book itself. I was aware that the style of the cover illustration had changed but I hadn't also picked up that the dimensions of the book had changed as well. This new book is considerably smaller than previous ones in the series and both the font and spacing are much tighter too. IMO these changes are unwelcome; they make the book harder to read and it also looks out of place on my bookshelf when placed alongside its peers :-(

I ordered in advance of publication expecting to receive the UK edition as I have on previous occasions. However, I received the Canada/USA version which is much smaller and has a smaller sized font, so is difficult to read. It will also not match the rest of the series on the book shelf. Misleading as Amazon displays UK design for Kindle version to which search defaults.I will keep it, as I have been eagerly awaiting reading it since reading "Fallen" last year. Perhaps that is what "Mass Marked Paperback Means" - if so will have to avoid in future.Please note star rating is not a criticism of the book itself, as I haven't read it yet, just of this format and Amazon service.

I was looking forward to reading this book as soon as it arrived (today) but I can't read it. The text is so small that I am going to have to buy a magnifying glass before I can do so - really disappointed in the size of the book and the text - not the usual standard of previous booksIt appears that I have the American version of this book. Living in the UK and ordering from Amazon.UK I expect to receive the UK edition which matched the original photograph on the website.