Book Review: Fated by Benedict Jacka

[Prof. Sky Alton]

Title: Fated
Author: Benedict Jacka
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Alex Verus
Summary:
Living in modern London, Alex is a diviner (probability mage) with the power to assess all the possible futures in a given moment. After events in his past which left him feeling abused by dark mages and betrayed by light, he’s taken refuge away from their deeply political world. Unfortunately, an ancient artefact has been found and many groups want to gain its power for themselves. And they happen to need the services of a diviner.
Prose: The world is engaging and has a fairly unique magic system, though that’s not fully explored in the first book. Alex is a strong narrator who you can get behind and his gift makes for a very unique way of experiencing the story. The artefacts and locations are almost a love child between steampunk and Sci-fi which I quite enjoyed.
Cons: The writing lacked depth and the pacing was uneven in places. It was also missing humour which I felt let it down as the character and situation could certainly have allowed for it. The character’s themselves had complex motivations but perhaps due to that lack of wit and levity on occasion, they were hard to warm up to and their relationships sometimes fell flat.

All in all, a good, fast paced read with enough to keep you engaged. I'm still deciding whether or not to carry on with the series.