The very well crafted conclusion to the Alex Verus series. In the afterword the author doesn't rule out writing more in this world, but the series is complete and Alex's tale is told.

It's crunch time. The mariad possessing Anna has control and a plan to resume it's ancient war against the mages who imprisoned so many of it's kind. It's even got Richard Drakh scared enough to liaise with the Council, all his plans being thrown askew (by Alex). Anne having completed her revenge against all those who harmed her has retreated to a shadow realm of one he former persecutors and now the mariad plans to enact a ritual allowing it to free all djinn that had ever been banished. The mages working together have to stop it, although of course working together is always a challenge.

Lots of action with Alex always leading form the front with cunning guile and personality rather than shear bravado. It remains the highlight of this series that even with the extra power and Magic Items he's garnered it's nor about brute force, but the considered application. But there's also some introspection about commitment, and the meaning of it all, and sacrifice. Some characters are killed off whom I didn't expect to die, and their passing is noted with empathy despite their disagreements.

The only minor downside is the slight ret-conning of Richard who loses his air of superiority on fairly weak grounds. But that is more than made by the clever epilogue.

Read them all from the 1st in order, there probably isn't a better urban fantasy series out there. ( )

And then there was war. Well, after Anne dealt with Sagash and Richard made his proposal to the Council for an alliance against Anne and the jinn anyway. Alex is moving towards his own death very quickly - the FateWeaver that allows him to try to save Anne and win the war is also killing him. But then what is new?

The novel ties every dangling end still standing, wrapping up Alex's story. All the preparation, all the actions in the last years come into play into a war that holds humanity as its prize - if the jinns cannot be subjugated and locked again, humanity (both magical and not magical) is going to be in real trouble (for the short time everyone lives anyway). And yet, even in the middle of that, Richard plays his games (and Alex needs to learn more tricks of his own magic if he wants to outwit him - as it had become clear by now, the most powerful Dark Mage, the one everyone is afraid of does not yield any of the more powerful sets of magic out there - he is a diviner, just as Alex is).

The end of the novel is bittersweet -- including the fact that the epilogue shifts the narration to Luna. The story of Alex that we started all those years ago is now over - the story of his world is not. As for the war - well, read the series and see what happened.

It was a satisfying end of a series (and I was surprised in just how many thread got tidied up - even in cases where it seemed that it does not matter - Chalice's last favor for Alex and his promise being fulfilled despite him having so many other things to do at the time (like... trying to stay alive)). The series played on the Dark vs. Light story by essentially showing that there is no difference and it is down to the people.

But one needs to always remember that what we got is Alex's version of the story - outside of the single novella in mid series and the epilogue, we never heard anyone else's take on the action. Including his perception of Anne - and his final actions toward her. In some ways, the whole stories can be summarized as Alex found a woman in trouble, fell in love and saved her. And yet, while not untrue, that was just part of the story. Jacka weaved a lot of those normally expected stories into a single tapestry of a story. And while I am glad that it ended and I got to read it, I will miss it and the characters. ( )

Book 12 finally ends this series. Alex needs to stop the jinn that is inside Anne and somehow keep her safe as Richard is also trying to take the jinn and of course double cross the Light council and screw with Alex’s plans. There is a lot of taking stock in what has happened and all the characters that haven’t made it to the end of the series. The one surprise was a new/old character that has found a voice before the series comes to a close. There is an epilogue for readers that always want a bit more and I for one was glad of it. Hopefully we will see some short stories in this setting at some point.



Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss ( )

Thanks for this story. ( )

A decent ending to the series. ( )