Play Book Tag discussion

Fated
by Benedict Jacka
3 stars

Alex Versus is a mage, a diviner whose power allows him to see the future. Trained under a Dark mage, which turned out badly to say the least, and dismissive of the Light mage council which didn't help him when he needed it, Alex lives on the fringe of magical and human society running a shop in London. He has a few supernatural friends and Luna, a cursed human.

Alex dismisses a request by the Light council to advise on a historical artifact, then has to fight off some Dark mages who want him to break into said artifact. As more players approach him Alex discovers the few diviners in England have fled and he is the last one available. More than ready to run himself Alex stays when Luna gets dragged into the situation. Up against mages far more powerful than himself Alex has to find a way for he an Luna to survive.

Short, fun magical adventure. Similar in tone to the Harry Dresden novels (including an explicit nod at the start) it's not a surprising plot, but enjoyable for it comfortable predictability... on purpose I believe. I think I'll try another book in the series to see where it may go after all the introduction required of a first novel.

I binge-read the whole series and really liked them. The writing style settles down but the mage politics get more complex and the themes also become darker. Definitely worth trying the next one to see if you continue to like it