Sunday 25 March 2012

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: An Alex Verus Novel 1: Fated - Benedict Jacka

Release Date: 15/03/12

SYNOPSIS:

Camden, North London. A tangled, mangled junction of train lines, roads and waterways. Where minor celebrities hang out with minor criminals, 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.


REVIEW:

I’m a big fan of the Urban Fantasy title, however the book has to do a number of things for me in order to help it stand out:
1) It has to be different to anything out there already.
2) It has to hit with a huge impact as being a debut it’s the authors chance to impress having had a lot of time to polish.

What this title has going for it is that the author brings to the fore a whole new world that has not only interesting aspects but characters that step up and fight for what they believe. It’s a decent enough offering but when you add the blurb from Jim Butcher on the cover it really should be something that is outstanding and this is just a title that for me is just better than average.

That said, I did like it, as I enjoyed spending time with the principle character but when you add just too many similarities to Harry Dresden I was left wondering what it brought to the fore that Jim hasn’t done before or better. Which in my opinion was sadly not enough of a difference for me to recommend it on the same level as that series.

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