Fated
-
-
4.3 • 233 Ratings
-
-
- $8.99
-
- $8.99
Publisher Description
Enter a “gorgeously realized world”* and meet a mage destined for greatness in the first novel in the national bestselling Alex Verus series.
Alex is part of a world hidden in plain sight, running a magic shop in London that caters to clientele who can do much more than pull rabbits out of hats. And while Alex’s own powers aren’t as showy as some mages, he does have the advantage of foreseeing the possible future—allowing him to pull off operations that have a million to one chance of success.
But when Alex is approached by multiple factions seeking his skills to crack open a relic from a long-ago mage war, he knows that whatever’s inside must be beyond powerful. And thanks to his abilities, Alex can predict that by taking the job, his odds of survival are about to go from slim to none....
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jacka's extremely promising urban fantasy series starter introduces cheeky British diviner Alex Verus, who's caught in the middle of a conflict between Light and Dark mages over an ancient magical weapon. Alex can not only see all possible futures but can often choose which ones to make real, so both sides want to use him as a tool. Alex, alienated from other mages because he has developed empathy for the beings around him, refuses to take sides. To save himself and his dependents Luna, a lonely, cursed young woman, and Starbreeze, an ancient air elemental who's "dumb as a sack of rocks" he's forced to think and move nimbly through London and its associated magical realms. Jacka deftly invents the rules of magic as he goes along, creating an emotionally satisfying story arc and a protagonist who will keep readers coming back.
Customer Reviews
Butcher light
Not quite a Dresden novel, but the first few in that series weren’t really either. It feels like a similar if not same universe. Entertaining and I’ll read more.
Lots of telling, not much substance
I read this just after reading An Inheritance of Magic, Jacka’s latest book, which was the first book I read by him. After reading both it’s obvious how much Jacka’s writing and plotting skills have developed in the interim. Fated starts out seeming like you’re going to be sitting down to a hearty meal, but I finished the book feeling like the hearty meal had been a mage’s illusion and what I’d really eaten was a creampuff. The world-building here is not substantial and the plot is rather thin. It feels like this book has lots of “tell” and not much “show.”
Also, the subtle misogyny that I saw in An Inheritance of Magic is much more blatant here, with protagonist Alex doing things like literally ignoring it most of the times that the woman he’s supposed to care about the most says no to things.
Lastly, the typography of at least the digital edition of this book (I am not sure about the print edition) is rather poor, with tons of typographical errors - especially many cases where there should be a hyphen between two or three words and they are instead smushed together as if they are only one word - as well as right margins instead of justified margins, which makes a book more visually tiring to read.
I agree with previous reviewers that Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series got better and more complex after the first few books. But despite Butcher’s strong endorsement, I finished this book by Jacka feeling like I’d finished an unsatisfying read and unsure whether I want to spend any more time with Alex.
Immensely enjoyable and well crafted.
I had exhausted the supply of fantasy writers that can tell a story with smooth dialogue transition and action at a pace that entertains. Jacka accomplishes both. His ability to reveal the essential rules of his modern day arcana is admirable. Were I to attempt a comparison betwixt Jacka’s highly consumable narrative style and that of others in the fantasy space, I would find myself hard pressed. This is because he competently manages so many of the characteristics of the most enjoyable storytellers in my voluminous library.