Risen by Benedict Jacka (Alex Verus series: Book 12)

Alex Verus has experienced a lot. Looking back, it seems improbable that he would have progressed this far. Without his pals, he undoubtedly would have passed away a long time ago. But it’s been simple to overlook what Alex is really capable of up until recently. Flashes of the potential of his power and the darker aspects of his character that so fascinated Drakh have been diminished by his internal moralising. Even though he was so adamant about becoming the good person, his “best choice at the time” choices led him down the normal path of a Dark Mage. Because of this, he has wasted a lot of time trying to deny or cope with the reality that he was never going to be a Light Mage.

We should’ve been aware. With the exception of a few standouts, the best characters have all been wonderfully evil or downright insane. In Team Bad, Benedict Jacka has given readers an amazing ensemble of people with grey moral fibres (as well a load with zero ambivalence and more than a dash of evil). While reading, I’m not sure I fully understood how fascinating, if not even vital, some of their decisions actually were, illuminating what may have been a road that Alex has eventually chosen for himself. (You’ll have to read Risen to find out if he ends up in the same kind of place; I won’t say whether he does.) In any case, my own reading of the entire series has been touched by Jacka’s ongoing reshaping of Alex’s ethical framework, which is most evident in the past 2-3 books. Seriously, the Light Mages are a bunch of conceited jerks. Although this has been clear the entire time, the cumulative stupidity and extreme pettiness of their deeds have given some Dark Mages’ actions a whole new perspective. It was accomplished deftly. From the beginning, we have walked every step of the way by Alex’s side. We’ve somehow ended up on the incorrect (? ) side. How simple it was to arrive here

The most crucial question in this concluding chapter was always going to be how Verus could successfully control his dual nature and still prevail—if such a result was even feasible. I had no idea how Jacka would wrap it up, but I loved how it turned out. Even while it makes me sad to say goodbye, I believe Jacka did his series fair with the intense battles and the character fates for everyone who survived. I’ll stop talking here.

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This is a fantastic series that I can’t wait to read again. Recommended.