Alex Verus, my favorite episodic British mage. Alex has come a long way from his little storefront helping adepts and normies. He strides on the line between Light and Dark. Mainly finding a path of survival through it all for himself and his little band of mages. Not much has changed in that. He is playing bigger games on the council, but the outcome is still relatively the same. Stay alive.

We've been with Verus for nine novels now. The books are heavy in dialog and narrative with sporadic fires of magecraft. By book 9 I don't know if we need such a breakdown in how the politics work. I kind of got glassy-eyed at being reeducated at how the council works. Anyone in their right mind wouldn't be starting this late in the series so let's roll.

Going beyond the series is in a pretty good place. Relationships are firm, enemies are well outlined, and Verus' questionable character is finding his path forward. Movement, growth, evolution--I like. In this episode, you'll get more council workings, plots, loose canons, leaks, assassinations, and that new pesky dark Jinn. All are trying to move the Drakh saga forward more.

Which will bring up a tickling thought of how much farther does this series have to go? Maybe two more to culminate Richard? Then we could let Verus rest. Jacka has built a world or at least a nation, lots of room for exploration and usage of the ground rules we've learned about.

Anyhow, another good serial to read in the Alex Verus universe. If you've read up to now, you won't stop even if I told you to. So, read on, it's entertaining.