Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Book Review: 'Chosen" by Benedict Jacka


I don’t publicly advertise that I’m a mage, but I don’t exactly hide it either, and one of the odd things I’ve learnt over the years is just how much you can get away with if you’re blatant enough. Hide something behind smoke and mirrors and make people work to find it, and they’ll tear the place down looking for what’s there.

Alex Verus is a diviner who can see probable futures—a talent that’s gotten him out of many a tough scrape. But this time, he may be in over his head. Alex was once apprenticed to a Dark mage, and in his service he did a lot of things he isn’t proud of.

As rumors swirl that his old master is coming back, Alex comes face to face with his misdeeds in the form of a young adept whose only goal is to get revenge. Alex has changed his life for the better, but he’s afraid of what his friends—including his apprentice, Luna—will think of his past. But if they’re going to put themselves at risk, they need to know exactly what kind of man they’re fighting for…  - from Amazon.com

Again, I got so into this story that it was hard to put own the book. Verus is back in the fourth installment of this series, along with the friends he has made in the previous books: Luna, Sonder, Anne, and Variam. This time Alex is being hunted for revenge for something that happened while an apprentice to the dark mage, Richard. I would share more, but really don't want to ruin the story.

Jacka has done a great job in the series with building up not only new characters in each installment, but greater character development as the the story line continues. I think it was on the first book I had said I would like to know more of Alex's past, and this book helps fill in so much more detail, even if from a slightly different point of view than expected. And the added 'hint' at the end, that there (hopefully) be at least another book to be released in the future (again - no spoilers!). Definitely the best book so far in this series!!

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