Fated: The First Alex Verus Novel from the New Master of Magical London

Benedict Jacka

Mar 2012 · Hachette UK

About this ebook

The start of a compelling new urban fantasy series based in Camden, featuring Alex Verus - a mage with a dark past who can see the future . . .

***The million-copy-selling series***

'Harry Dresden would like Alex Verus tremendously - and be a little nervous around him. I just added Benedict Jacka to my must-read list. Fated is an excellent novel, a gorgeously realized world with a uniquely powerful, vulnerable protagonist. Books this good remind me why I got into the storytelling business in the first place' Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files

Camden, North London. A tangled, mangled junction of train lines, roads and waterways. Where minor celebrities hang out with minor criminals and where tourists and moody teenagers mingle.
In the heart of Camden, where rail meets road meets leyline, you might find the Arcana Emporium, run by one Alex Verus. He won't sell you a wand or mix you a potion, but if you know what you're looking for, he might just be able to help. That's if he's not too busy avoiding his would-be apprentice, foiling the Dark, outwitting the Light, and investigating a mysterious relic that has just turned up at the British Museum.

The books in the Alex Verus series are as follows:
Fated
Cursed
Taken
Chosen
Hidden
Veiled
Burned
Bound
Marked

Ratings and reviews

2.5 Stars I was genuinely looking forward to reading this novel, I really enjoy the Urban Fantasy genre and have been lookign to try a few new authors and I had seen people raving about this novel and comparing to the PC Peter Grant books (which I am a complete fan girl about) and the Harry Dresden books (on my wishlist to try). Oh dear me was I disappointed. Here's the thing, they are billed as being Urban Fantasy set in Camden. For me they were just pure fantasy that happened to have a quasi-real world setting. There is no real interaction between the magical folk and the regular humans and no acknowledgement of the wider implications for the two rubbing against each other. Camden and the wider London area just seem to be there to act as a draw for the reader and make you think you are getting something you aren't. Then throw in a stroll through a London Park to meet up with a magical, centuries old creature; a magical party in Canary Wharf and explosive happenings in the British Museum. The settings are largely irrelevant to the plot and it may have worked better to have this set in a complete fantasy world that the author could manipulate to his desires. As it is I did feel a little "conned" by the Urban Fantasy tag because for me it simply isn't. Then we come to the magic and the nagical people and creatures. The magical system just doesn't seem to be coherent. This is sadly true of our main character, and narrator, Alex Verus. He is supposed to be able to see all the possible futures for a course of action and then states that until a decision is made he cannot see how things will work out but he is still able to manipulate events by choosing the timeline he wants to happen. This doesn't make any sense at all because although he has made a decision to follow one possible thread the ultimate outcome of it depends on the decisions made by other invested parties and not just him. Yet, time and time again everything happens as he predicted it would. I got irrationally angry at this and the more the book progressed the less able I was to let it slide. Alex's back story was interesting but the reveal was drawn out for far too long, indeed I spent a good portion of the book wondering if I had joined part way through the series and should already know what all these asides were about. Nope, it really is the first one the author just wants to drip feed us the information. The "voice" of Alex Verus is actually one of the most enjoyable things about the book and along with the action sequences the only thing that kept me reading. For me this is a missed opportunity as there are some great ideas for a magical world here but just not executed to their full potential. I have seen reviews that say the second in the series is much better but from having read this one it would have to be a freebie before I would consider picking it up.

3.5 stars I quite enjoyed the story. It needed more editing as it was a little repetitive in places. I anticipate the series improves after this opening novel.

Such a good introduction to Alex, can't wait to read more of him. Amazing reference to Harry Dresden too.

About the author

Benedict Jacka became a writer almost by accident, when at nineteen he sat in his school library and began writing in the back of an exercise book. Since then he has worked for the civil service and studied philosophy at Cambridge, but has always found the time to keep writing.