Marked

By this point in the series we're well and truly in the main plot arc, with most of the pieces in position and each book moving the plot a little further forward without reaching any grand conclusion of its own. This time round, Alex has gained at least some nominal authority and political standing within the mage world, a far cry from the humble beginnings of the first few, more standalone books. There's perhaps less of the worldbuilding, too, given how much has already been set up by now - although, for what it's worth, we do get to see the inside of this world's equivalent of Azkaban, and, more significantly, the workings of the very highest levels of mage authority in Britain.

And yet it's all still a fun read with good action scenes and great characters. If things are still left open at the end, there's nonetheless some major progress on a couple of elements that have been hanging around in the background for a while (both connected with Anne, in different ways). It could all feel like treading water as we move on to whatever comes next, but the story zips along quickly enough that it never really does.

Marked
Benedict Jacka

CAWPILE SCORE
C-9
A-6
W-8
P-8
I-9
L-8
E-10
TOTAL-8.29/10

CAWPILECharactersAnne vs Anne its dark Anne calling the JinnMeredith the coward—to scared to not do something she knows is wrong, but unable or willing to leave.AtmosphereThe setting is almost irrelevant to the story taking place.but the Elsewhere stuff has a great feel to it.WritingPlotAlex is on the council, working to retrieve the imbued items. They want Morden to coop betray drakh. Find out where drakh is. Council goes in gets butt handed to them. Dark Anne breaks Morden out of jail. Alex rescues Anne in elsewhere and Vari/Luna rescue her bodyInvestmentLogicSomebody in the council had to know about Dark Anne before hand or why specifically get Verus to Prison. Drakh riling up the adepts to weaken the position of the light mages. I'd be surprised if the council makes it through the series without exploding. Senior Council is again a bunch of losers with their heads so far in the clouds as to be virtually worthless.EnjoymentMiscVisiting the DRAGON again. What your choices would have been Talking with Deleo. Luna calling out Verus about calling her RachelAlex taking down the Splintered Crown. And calling out Chimaera for being hired to kill him from Levistus. The Adept Talis being sent back to Levistus in pieces at a party.Alex finally telling Anne about his feelings.Dark Anne breaking Morden outThree way tie. – Dark Anne—Drakh—Jinn Elsewhere Fight DarkAnne and the Jinn
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 08/14/22