Fated by Benedict Jacka

The protagonist in Fated is Alex Verus, a wizard who runs a magic shop and has powers of divination. He has the ability to foresee the future, a power that makes him very popular with light and dark mages who are trying to gain possession of a fateweaver, an ancient relic found in a London museum that is being highly protected. Alex is a pawn in these machinations as he is given the option of helping these various forces in attaining this relic or die. His main objective is to keep himself and his friend, Luna, safe, something that isn’t an easy task with all of these mages gunning for him.



I really like the character of Alex Verus. He isn’t an overly powerful wizard. In a one-on-one fight against mages more skilled in battle, he will get mauled. He has to overcome this disadvantage by outsmarting and outmaneuvering his opponents. Although he isn’t very powerful, his skills in divination are really cool. He can look at all of the various paths his decisions would result in, and pick the one with the most favorable outcome. I like the fact that he isn’t this super-powerful protagonist that can just crush all in his path. It makes his problems to solve all the more interesting. The story moved at a fast pace and never lagged at any point. The conclusion was satisfying and didn’t betray the build-up. The writing was high-level and everything about it was very enjoyable. I highly recommend this novel and am looking forward to reading more about Alex Verus in the future.