All Things Urban Fantasy's Reviews > Marked

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

The Alex Verus series is consistently strong and entertaining which is impressive since it is so easy to fall into the trap of getting stale or repetitive as a series nears the double digits. MARKED, the ninth book in this series is no exception. It hits the ground running with the tiniest of time spent on rehashing developments from previous books. It's grimmer because the stakes are higher now with Alex's enemies drawing nearer. We delve more into the politics of Light and Dark mages and Alex and his friends meet with more dangerous battles as the magic they are up against is more powerful. I like the way each book in this series slowly ramps up the danger building up slowly over the series and also how the characters naturally evolve due to their experiences.

As the books have matured, Alex has matured as well over the series growing his network of friends, enemies, and increasing in power and responsibility through his position on the Light Council. The battles in MARKED are fun to read mainly because of Alex's diviner powers. It's an awkward analogy but I think of Neo from The Matrix moving in slow motion narrowly avoiding bullets whenever Alex sees the future possibilities and reacts in time to avoid danger.

MARKED is captivating storytelling with unexpected twists and revelations, political power grabs, and magical mayhem. It's solid urban fantasy goodness and I'd recommend starting at the beginning not only because this is a really good series to read but it get complicated fast.