Burned by Benedict Jacka

"Diviner Alex Verus finally made one too many enemies on the Council of mages, and now one of them is angry enough to have him executed. Fighting for his life is nothing new for Alex, but this kill order also calls for the deaths of his dependents--and there's no way he'll let Luna, Anne, and Variam take the heat."--Cover, page [4].

Burned
Benedict Jacka

CAWPILE SCORE
C-8
A-8
W-7
P-8
I-9
L-9
E-10
TOTAL-8.43/10

Book 7 and boy is it heating upStarts with a Call BTW your death is scheduledCAWPILECharactersALEX LEVISTUS LANDIS Symmaris, CHALICEArachne you need to align or become a GREAT power. Helakion—I wish he had better advice than just cut and run. Don't care about peopleSenior Council are bunch of losers.Alex's Shop Morden SONDER and CALDERA better figure some things outLuna and Variam together.. Alex and Anne togetherAtmosphereDeath of the Shop and his MistcloakWritingThe countdown of everyday making it feel .Resign from Assignment. And face death sentence or stay and face assassination. How about don't pressure death.PlotI know Levistus has a hard on for killing Alex, but surely the other senior council members can think for themselves. Hey we don't want him to work with Richard. Lets alienate him even more from us. What can we do to help ourselves prevent him from turning. Kill him. Of course. Its not like anybody has tried that before. The only way they get him is through Luna which isn't a very light mage thing to do.InvestmentHard time putting the book downLogicCharacters make choices consistent with their character even if the logic for doing it, isn't the smartestEnjoymentLike for Like. Come to beat. Get beat. Come to kill get killed.. Teaching new Adepts/Sensitives/Mages about how things work. Why so scared of him.MiscWhy Does RICHARD want Alex so badly. Drives Rachel crazy. Deleo Redemption arc dragon prophecy.Alex Tricking anne awayAlex and Anne on the runTalk with the "SPD basically” whats that sword. Super strength speed, but murder rampage. What do you use it for. I don't. Why have it then. So nobody else goes on a murderous rampage of course. The Assassin's getting mad Alex won't just give up and die. Grenade throw back
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 07/31/2022

Fantastic addition to the series. Can't wait for the next installment.

Not, I feel, one of the best books in the series. Verus is always up against seemingly insurmountable odds, but here, the threat is just a bit too all-encompassing. There's a general feeling of gathering gloom, albeit lightened up by some good bits along the way, and the corrupt politics of the Light Mages is perhaps, a bit overplayed in order to set up the core plot. The ending is kind of depressing, too. Having said which, it's by no means a bad story, with some good use of the setting; I just didn't like it as much as some of the earlier books.