#Alex verus

[ferilb]

Spoilers for the Series ahead.

Because we haven´t gotten much memes in this year, I made some more.

My regards to witchcat for keeping the tag alive :]

[witchcatyoshiko]

Reading Veiled by Benedict Jacka

And, if I were friendly with Alex I’d mess with him by thinking it highly probable that I would jump on him or kiss him or something highly affectionate at random times when talking to him

Just so he could have the surprise when looking ahead

Dude needs a hug though, seriously

[panzerkatzee]

Listening to the Alex Verus books atm.. just had to draw this crazy... woman 👀

[timotey]

Look, I’m under kind of a lot of stress at the moment. It’s not that I don’t get what you’re saying; I just don’t have enough attention to spare.

Burned by Benedict Jacka

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[demondarakna]

“It’s easy to say there is another way, when you’re not the one who has to find it.” - Benedict Jacka, Hidden

[mywayornorway]

[blog-of-reaction]

Luna is honestly such an icon

[movie--posters]

Started the Alex Verus books a few weeks ago and just opened book four. I’m loving this series!

[gidionkeep]

Dragon Book Cover Makeover: FATED

Every Monday, my grumpy dragon Windsor takes over my blog to give books a much needed dragon makeover. Windsor is originally from London, so he decided this week to pick a cover that reminds him of home. Although, I think even he might object to seeing his home barbecued. Nonetheless, he’s given Benedict Jacka’s novel Fated a very dragony makeover. As the real cover points out, the “Alex Verus”…

[witchcatyoshiko]

Reading Veiled by Benedict Jackson

And I really like how he gives Alex cool down time. Like he’s generally safe-ish for about a year/half a year before he has a truly traumatic week or two and then he’s back to having at least some time to open his shop.

It’s the lil things haha

[thesillyoldbear]

159th book of 2022 was Benedict Jacka's Gardens. I wasn't expecting this one to be played as a horror/thriller, but damn, if he didn't pull it off.

[middayhoursblog]

I just wanted to add (some of) the amazing German covers, which first caught my eye and led me to read these amazing books. I really like the design of them and wanted to see you :)

ID: German cover version of the books "Fated", "Taken" and "Chosen" by Benedict Jacka.

The first picture showes the cover of the book "Fated" and is bright yellow showing a circle with a hand in the center. A red cube is shown in the open, front-facing plam. The name Benedict Jacka is above the circle, written in green letters. Underneath the cicle is a stylised skyline of London, depicting the Victoria Tower, the London Eye, the Tower Bridge and the Gherkin. Underneath the skyline is the title in German: Das Labyrinth von London. Translated: The labyrinth of London. It's written in green/blue in different fonts.

The second picture shows the cover of the book "Taken" and is bright red. In the center is a cicle with a moth seen from above and the moon. The moth has a skull on it's back. The author's name is wirtten above in white letters. Underneath the circle are, similar to to first cover, some buildings but they are normal houses. The title is wirtten underneath the scenery in white and blue. It says in German: Der Magier von London. Translated: The mage of London.

The third picture shows the cover of the book "Chosen" and is greenish blue. In the center is a circle and within thr cicle is a blue snake with red highlights. Above the circle is the author's name written in orange. Underneath/next to the bottom of the circle are an old telephone box and a double decker bus. The title is written in mostly orange and a bit of white. It says in German: Der Wächter von London. Translated: The guardian of London.

End ID

Alex Verus: Fated

Book by Benedict Jacka

Review by Gery Hristova

Warning!: This review contains the usual random fanart and pointless comics done by me. Enjoy!

I wonder how explaining these books to people would go?

Ok, ok, I know people keep comparing Alex Verus to Harry Dresden. But you know what, now that I have finally read the first 7 books of the Dresden Files (thus becoming a specialist on the topic), I can safely say… I like Alex Verus a LOT LOT LOOOOT better.

Why?

EPIC MAGIC FIGHTS, POLITICS, COOL PLOT TWISTS, MAGIC EVERYWHERE, ONE LOVE-INTEREST, LONDON, PROTAGONIST IS A DIVINER AND IT’S AWESOME WHEN USED IN FIGHTS OR EVERYDAY LIFE, MAGIIIIIIIC!!!!

*continues fangirling for a few more minutes*

Ok, we all have reasons to resonate with some characters/stories more than others.

Me, personally, I adore books filled with more politics, action scenes, magic fights and …ONE LOVE-INTEREST! Ok, it doesn’t have to be ONE, but definitely not every single person with boobs that happens to pass near the main hero!

Back to the point …I mean, back to the~

REVIEW! 

THE SETTING

Best way to describe the series…

Don’t expect police investigations or crime stories involving vampires, fairies, werewolves and others. Nor is the protagonist a powerful avatar, able to use all types of magic through martial arts.

But the world IS secretly inhabited by mages who have their own governing system. AND each mage can only use one type of magic…hmmm, maybe Dresden Files+X-men.

Types of Magicians

Cinder - fire mage, Anne-life mage and Sonder-time mage

You have the most common Elemental Mages who can use powers such as air, fire, water, lightning, force, etc.

Living Mages are mages who can affect living things (either to influence their mind, heal/mess up their bodies, etc)

And the final, rarest and strangest of them all are the  Universal Mages - they can affect time, space, chance, they can see the past or the present, etc.

Anyways, most mages belong either to the Light or the Dark …faction.

Levstas - a Light Mind Mage 

Both factions can be equally evil and cruel (it’s only a matter of whether you feel the need to hide the bodies or brag about them). There is a constant struggle for power and status, even among the Light mages. Therefore, enlisting/enslaving/black-mailing useful minions is a great pass-time for the big players in the magical society.

And having someone who can see the future in your team can be highly profitable.  

THE PROTAGONIST

Alex Verus is a diviner. No, he cannot shoot deadly bullets made of air, disintegrate you with a touch or anything as flashy, but he can come up with other creative ways to hurt you if he feels like it and annoy the crap out of you while he’s at it. This rare type of mages specializes in information- they can learn any new skills instantly just by checking into the future in which they’ve spent hours/days studying them; they can find out any dark secrets about you if they put their mind into it; they are hard to surprise, hard to kill and hard to be found if they don’t want to be found. Random chances and free will limit the certainty of their predictions, but Diviners are the best at exploiting any situation to fit their needs.

THE PLOT

Nevertheless, being a neutral mage (not belonging to either the Dark or the Light faction), means that Alex Verus has plenty of time to mind his own business (a small shop selling books, herbs and other “magical” thing-a-ma-bobs), advise any confused novices and, of course, look through the future for the fun of it…sometimes resulting in answering his customers’ questions before they even ask them.

Alex’s peaceful and predictable life comes to an end when he becomes the centre of attention for major players in the magical world. They all have one thing in common - they need a diviner (who hasn’t gone into hiding yet) to retrieve an ancient, seemingly-impossible-to-get, artefact. Corrupt Council members, powerful Dark Mages, dangerous acquaintances from his past, are just a few of the new additions to Alex’s list of people-to-avoid-at-any-cost. The only question is: should he run or will his curiosity be the death of him.<spoiler>(the fact that there is a sequel, gives it away, I suppose.</spoiler>

WHAT BOTHERED ME IN BOOK 1 AND DOES IT IMPROVE?

-LUNAAAAA -  One of Alex’s few friends, an adept with a very dangerous ability, Luna is one of the main reasons readers can decide to turn away from the series. GOOD NEWS - she doesn’t stay a useless wimp for long (only in the first 2 books). And neither does Alex keep treating her like a pet dog. XD

 -Illogical deisions- The first book has a few, which I didn’t notice during my first read (cause I was having too much fun!)

WHAT I REALLY REALLY LIKE!

Alex vs Onyx - All you need to know is that Onyx is a Dark Force Mage who absolutely despises Alex! Every scene where these two interact or fight with each other are priceless!   

Romance -  It’s not Luna.  Rather slow (it takes a few books until you even realize there is one), but worth it! One of my favourite fictional couples of all time! 

And Morden…I like Morden too…how many fanarts did I do?

AUDIOBOOKS

The audiobooks are pretty good! It took me a bit of time to get used to the narrator’s style since I read the first five books myself and had different voices for the characters, but other than that I have no major complaints.

COVERS

“I LOVE THE BRITISH ONES!” is what I would’ve said before THIS HAPPENED!

WHY PUBLISHER!!! WHYYYYYY! Now I need to buy the new ones as well in order to have matching covers…you’re so cruel…

I like the new ones too…

WEBSITE AND EXTRAS: 

There is a WHOLE encyclopedia regarding the Alex Verus’s world! Definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan.

CONCLUSION: 

Despite having read a HUUUUUGE amount of Urban Fantasies featuring male mages as protagonists, there’s something about the Alex Verus series that totally captivates me: maybe it’s the awesome divination magic that is used in a super creative fashion; maybe it’s the world-building that might seem limited compared to other books, but it’s very well-thought-out, detailed and believable; maybe it’s Alex himself. Whatever it is, I consider Alex Verus to be one of my top 10 favourite series of all time (and top 3 favourite Urban Fantasy series)

Will I recommend to friends: if you enjoy Urban Fantasy, then definitely YES! Paperback, Hardback or Audiobook: Paperbacks are perfect (wait for the new covers to come out if you’re living in the UK). Audiobooks are great too, but it took me some time getting used to the narrator. Nevertheless, still worth buying and highly enjoyable!

RECOMMENDATIONS

Here are some other similar Urban Fantasy series:

Dresden Files - DUH! Ok, half of the readers adore it, the other half hate it with passion! I tend to deviate between the two. Crime/Mystery/Urban Fantasy. 

Iron Druid - Focuses more on pagan deities (Celtic, Norse, Slavic), fairies and other mythical creatures. Couldn’t get into it, but it’s the second most popular one, so…

Peter Grant  -Very different and original. The style wasn’t my thing, but if you’re looking for a Fantasy/Crime book with an English twist, then go for it. 

Daniel Faust - More of an anti-hero, a lot darker and gorier than the rest. Barely any magic though… 

Prof Croft  - A Harry Dresden Fanfiction :D  that I enjoyed more than the majority of Harry’s books! Nevertheless, lots of similarities with the Dresden Files…

Happy Reading!

[incorrectspquotes]

“Sorry, Nefarian. Well, actually, I’m not sorry at all. I’d say it was nothing personal, but it really is.”

Skulduggery Pleasant, probably

[incorrect-sunflower-sibs]

Lester: You know this guy?

Meg: So do you, he tried to kill you.

Lester: Doesn’t narrow it down much.

Meg: As in, more that once.

Lester: You’re going to have to be more specific.

Meg: Three years ago.

Lester: More specific.

Meg: In the summer.

Lester: More specific.

Meg: Oh come on, your memory’s not THAT bad.