Benedict Jacka

The main story of the series is over but the universe it had created did not stop existing when the story ended (spoiler alert: the jinns lost the war again). And here we are, the middle of the winter, a few months after the war ended. A team of adepts is hired to steal a ring from a hut deep in the Romanian woods. What their employer missed to tell them was who owns the hut. Things go interestingly wrong for everyone involved... including the person who hired them.

In his introduction, show more Jacka puts this novella in a genre adjacent to urban fantasy. I'd still think it fits the genre the main Verus sequence is in - but it also verges on horror. Seeing Anne through someone else's eyes reminds us that we did not really get much of the real Anne in the series - she was always either split in 2 or possessed (or both) and even when she was somewhat herself, seeing her through Alex's eyes, especially in the later part of the series was never going to show us the real Anne. Or the real Alex for that matter. In the aftermath of the series end, none of them was who they once were - both by choice but also because of how the rest of the mages pushed them. It was also interesting to see how the adepts (and possibly even the mages) who were not in the final battle saw the whole battle and war.

If you like your stories to end with the good people being good and the bad being bad, that series was never going to be for you. This novella makes that even more clear than the novels did. And Anne is one scary woman - not that we did not know that of course.

Don't try to read this story as a standalone or before you finish the main series - while the story itself may work, it will be a very weak one without the series as a backdrop and it spoils the end of the series in a major way (or 3). show less

Let me state clearly where I stand when it comes to Alex Verus: I think he’s the greatest Urban Fantasy protagonist ever.

I’ve enjoyed every single book in the series and I enjoyed this latest instalment as well – just not as much as most of the others, unfortunately.

Why though? The trademark humour is there, Luna is there and so are Anne, Variam, Arachne and others. Sadly, they mostly take a place on the backseat this time.

Luna barely gets any serious “stage” time; she’s show more generally around and worries a lot but doesn’t get to do or experience much. For such an important character that’s pretty sad.

We do get to see more of Anne who has a more “active” role in the proceedings but she remains unrefined and pale compared to many other characters. Maybe part of that is my own perception, though; I’ve never felt that Anne added much to the books – she always felt like the obligatory love interest and I never found her especially interesting. It’s probably because of that I don’t care very much about the role she plays in this tenth book.

Personally, I think even the air elemental Starbreeze – who is FINALLY back in this book – is a lot more interesting and even more important.

The story is rather simple as well: The war between Britain’s Light Council and Richard Drakh is ongoing and Alex comes to realise he will have to step up his game and make some hard decisions in order to actually achieve at least some of his goals and protect those he loves.

And that he does: He plunges head first into the action and does what has to be done – the personal consequences – as of yet unclear – be damned. The personal and character changes these bring are subtly shown by Jacka and that’s a large part of why I still enjoyed this book.

One of the major downsides can best be illustrated by a direct quote from the book:

“I looked at the house for a moment longer, feeling as though a very old piece of unfinished business had just come to an end.”

Reading many parts of this book makes me feel exactly like that: “Being on a clock” (as Alex puts it) – because we’re nearing the end of the series – makes Jacka pick up loose threads from earlier books (so loose I often didn’t even remember them...) and put quite some effort into resolving them. That, in itself, is commendable but I’d rather have had some real character development beyond Alex himself and that is sorely lacking in “Fallen”, unfortunately.

Jacka is setting up his stage for the final books, makes previous characters reappear (cf. Starbreeze or Meredith), makes some others disappear (and that one character to boot! How dare he!) and is generally preparing to move on to greener pastures. That we feel this in the tenth of twelve planned books is a bit premature, I think.

Maybe, though, it’s again me who already feels saddened by the thought of having to say goodbye to Alex Verus whose adventures have brightened up my reading time.

Last but not least, don’t worry if you’re a fan – you will enjoy “Fallen” (aptly titled!) as it’s fast-paced, suspenseful and features much of what we came to love. I just wish it had been less of a “blast from the past” and more of a future-oriented book.

If you’re new to Alex Verus, don’t start with this book, though. This is one of those series you need to read in order.



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Honestly, this installment is a little clunky -- it was hard to remember all the details from previous books, and Alex's insistence that he should be able to predict every possible scenario but that his friends shouldn't beat themselves up about the same, unrealistic expectation is a little... well, Diviner check thyself?

But as per usual, once I got into the story I just absolutely could not put it down, and was delighted (what, what last page reveal!?!?!?) and appalled (oh, Anne!) at the show more continuing adventures of our heroes. Yay for Luna reviving the magic store, yay for Arachne and her tough loving /figure it out, Alex speeches, yay for a new bubble world of safety. Not entirely sure what to make of the dark mages suddenly seeming so reasonable, but I expect that discomfort is exactly what Jacka wants us to contemplate. It's a mess, what happens next? Can't wait! show less

When you learn that you are to be executed in a week and that does not turn to be the worst thing to happen to you that week, you probably need to rethink some of your life choices. Alternatively, you can behave like Alex Verus and just continue doing things your way - trying to protect the family you somehow acquired along the way and looking for a way out of that little problem of being sentenced to death.

After the relative slowness of the previous 2 novels, all of the build-up finally show more pays off. Alex had been really annoying a lot of very powerful people and one of them strikes where it hurts the most - the death sentence is for Alex and everyone connected to him. Of course, all the maneuvering and shenanigans that cause people to be pissed off at him also managed to make some people to care enough for him - enough to warn him and to assist him in looking for a way out.

The obvious way - leave England and never come back does not really work - even if Alex could have done it on his own, his friends are a different matter. And while he is trying to find a solution, another mage (or three) decide that this is the perfect week to harass him for being on Richard's side and working for him (because once a dark mage apprentice, always a dark mage of course - plus the return of Richard and the rise of the dark mages, including getting into the Council for the first time, did manage to rattle everyone's cage).

A few attempts at everyone's lives later (some of them more creative than others), yet another attempt in burning Alex's shop (and home) and our rag-tag band seems to be hopelessly destined to finally run out of luck despite all their attempts to do something and prevent the executions at the end of the week.

The end of the novel made me laugh. Not because it is funny or because it would make anyone's life easier. But while attempting to stop Alex from doing things he never planned to do anyway, the light mages of Britain managed to get themselves into a bigger mess than they were trying to prevent happening. And who remains caught in the middle of it all? Alex Verus of course.

Let's see what happens next. show less