Book Review – Forged by Benedict Jacka
Forged by Benedict Jacka (Alex Verus #11)
Fantasy | Adult | 312 pages
Published on 3rd December 2020 by Orbit
Synopsis
Alex Verus faces his dark side in this return to the bestselling urban fantasy series about a London-based mage.
To protect his friends, Mage Alex Verus has had to change – and embrace his dark side. But the life mage Anne has changed too, and made a bond with a dangerous power. She’s going after everyone she’s got a grudge against – and it’s a long list.
In the meantime, Alex has to deal with his arch-enemy, Levistus. The Council’s death squads are hunting Alex as well as Anne, and the only way for Alex to stop them is to end his long war with Levistus and the Council, by whatever means necessary. It will take everything Alex has to stay a step ahead of the Council and stop Anne from letting the world burn.
My rating:
Review
I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
This is the penultimate instalment in the Alex Verus series I believe, and it really jumps right into the action. As a result, it took me a little while to get into this at the start. Once I remembered what had happened at the end of the last book, I was sorted!
We really see Alex lean into his darker side here – not necessarily as a dark mage – but in terms of the decision he reached before about killing when being targeted. The body count in this book is pretty high! And they often don’t weigh too heavily on his conscience. Though I thought a couple of the battles and deaths in particular should come back and haunt him and I will be intrigued to see if I’m right!
The finale is pretty epic too – we get some interesting interactions with characters he’s not previously wanted to work with, and a big fight with the council. But the very end really left me needing the next book and I’m not sure when it’s out – definitely not soon enough!
A great instalment to the series, and something that has left me in serious anticipation of the final book. 4 stars.
Buy Forged by Benedict Jacka from Waterstones.
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2 Comments
Ellie
Wow, glad you enjoyed! Not heard of this before so thanks for sharing your review!
LiteraryLeisha
Glad to hear you liked it! I was unaware of this series until now!