Marked

I usually pick up the annual Alex Verus novel as soon as it comes out. They're a cut above the average urban fantasy out there.

As with all the Alex Verus novels, this is a fun, quick read with deft characterisation and a self-contained plot which also feeds into a larger story arc.

Jacka has talked about the series up to now having been mainly about getting the players in place for the core series arc; there's one critical change in this novel, and some minor blurred lines are made a little clearer.

As a stand-alone, it essentially is a caper novel - a failed caper novel, much as many spy novels are about failed operations. This isn't much of a spoiler: Verus expects it will fail, the perspective of the reader suggests it will fail: the show more interest lies in seeing how it fails and what the aftereffects are.

Up to the standards of the rest of the series. show less

And here we are - Alex is on the Junior Council (sitting in for Morden who is accused of (and had admitted to) the attack which led to the Dark Mages led by Richard stealing a huge amount of magical items). Not something that was on his 5 years plan. Or any plan whatsoever. The Council is scrambling, trying to find the missing objects and it is Alex who ends up leading a lot of the effort - and trying to stop the mages from going into a full war with the adept community.

The core of the novel is an attempt to trap Richard - which Alex (and because of that the readers) knows will fail - but everyone seems to think that they know better. Much amusement follows and at the end we have Alex having shown his allegiance (not that a lot of show more people believe that), having burned some bridges and finally admitting that he is in love. Of course, there is also the problem of Morden - finding out why he was so eager to admit his guilt is important to finding out what Richard's plan may be. And as it turns out, everyone had been looking in the wrong direction for a very long time - while Alex realized earlier that Richard was after Anne and not after him all that time, the whole situation finally leads to a mess that puts everyone in danger. Again. At least this time the danger is combined with better feelings.

The end leaves us with Alex and Anne resolving some of their issues but with a secret hanging over their heads - one which may end up being more dangerous than the death sentence earlier. show less

Still love this series, but it's falling into patterns, as the politics repeat and repeat. I feel as though this one indicates some serious character growth that may lead to new things in the future, and I'm excited to see where it leads.

OMG, I couldn't be happier with that ending. :)

Jacka has been one of my favorite go-to guys for UF series ever since another fireball-flinging wizard stopped gracing the page. Ahem, D.

Fortunately, Alex Verus has all the snark and even more magical goodies and artifacts and a much nastier set of problems to deal with.

Like being a replacement for Morden on the White Mage council and living up to the issue of leadership. Yeah, leadership. WEIRD.

Anyway, a sting operation trying to bring down Richard is well underway, but it's the personal developments I like even more.

TOTAL POPCORN GOODNESS. :) I dance every time one of these books come out?

Alex has to help the sceptical Light Council negotiate with the Dark Mages to help find the missing artefacts. He also has to deal with events from previous books and deal with problems from previous adventures. He's also having to ask some questions about his own motivations and emotions.

Some of the details are messy but it does across as realistic, the politics is well thought-out and messy and the magicians come across as very human.

Alex is tracking down the magical objects that were lost in the last book. He is still working for the Council and they still don’t trust him. The feeling is mutual and Alex is always looking for the knife in the back from them. When they decide he needs to help them convince Richard to come to their side everything goes to pieces. I really don’t want to say what since going into detail will ruin the twist.
An enjoyable book and I really like the narrator for these audios.

Mit 'Der Geist von London' geht Alex Verus endlich in die neunte Runde, und es bleibt einfach eine tolle Reihe. Dieser Teil ist zwischendrin wieder einer der ruhigeren Sorte, wendet sich Alex als Ratsmitglied zu und ist mit entsprechenden Situationen ausgestattet, aber trotzdem ist es spannend und macht immer noch Spaß. Man erfährt immer neue Facetten, erlebt, wie Alex in seine neue Aufgabe wächst und es bleibt auch einfach immer noch ganz genau so wie immer. Wäre ja kein Alex Verus Band, wenn nicht alles irgendwann maßlos schief gehen würde, oder? Außerdem bietet diese neue Position unglaublich viele Möglichkeiten, sodass ich mich wirklich frage, ob Alex nicht zu einigen Änderungen beitragen könnte. Das wäre aber natürlich show more Spekulation.

Es ist jedenfalls eine tolle Fortsetzung und kommt sogar auf einer kleinen Ebene zu einem ganz schönen Ende. Obwohl dieses Buch alles andere als ein Abschluss der Reihe ist. Es bleibt immer noch gefährlich, die Karten wurden wieder komplett neu gemischt und es kann nach den letzten Ereignissen wieder so ziemlich alles passieren. Ich habe absolut keine Ahnung, wohin all das führen wird, aber Richards Pläne scheinen umfangreich und ich will wirklich gern wissen, was das Ziel ist!

Viele Begegnungen lassen neue Perspektiven in Bezug auf Alex und die anderen Charaktere zu. Arachne begegnet man hier allerdings nur sehr, sehr selten. Ich persönlich finde das schade, aber es macht auch total Sinn. Wobei es auch hier Andeutungen gibt, die mir die wildesten Ideen in den Kopf kommen lassen.
Insgesamt ist und bleibt es eine klasse Fortsetzung und eine klare Empfehlung. Lest die Reihe (aber beginnt unbedingt mit Band 1. Aller höchstens bei Band 5, danach ist kein Quereinstieg mehr möglich und auch da hätte man schon genug verpasst. Ich empfehle eindeutig den ersten Band als Einstieg) show less