Fallen [Jun 13, 2019]

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Fallen - Benedict Jacka. June 13th.

[Brittany]

I am absolutely in for this one!

[Timelord Iain]

Woo... I love these books... so much crazy sh!t happens... sad to know we're approaching the end of the series... only 2-3 books left, I think... Jacka has made a couple comments on his website about it... it's reached a point where he's actively started thinking about what he's going to write next, once the series is over...

[Brittany]

Yeah there's going to be 12 books in total with the last one likely out in 2021. I'm sad it will be ending but at the same time glad its not going to be extremely dragged out.

[Timelord Iain]

Brittany wrote: "Yeah there's going to be 12 books in total with the last one likely out in 2021. I'm sad it will be ending but at the same time glad its not going to be extremely dragged out."

Exactly... each book has been better and better, but things need to resolve, eventually...

[Timelord Iain]

Release has been pushed to October 10th, so we need to push the BR to October 17th

[Brittany]

Damn, good to know though

[Montzalee]

I just gotmy notice for a buddy read but this book isn't out until October.

[Timelord Iain]

Yea... I mentioned we need to push the BR to October 17th, just hasn't been updated in other places...

[Charlie]

I've ordered my book from Amazon, should get here tomorrow if anyone still wants to read it.

[Charlie]

Started this, 4 chapters in, really enjoying it. It's good to be back in this world again. I can't remember much of the last book honestly but it's not really affecting me understanding of this book so far. I will say, I still hate (view spoiler)[ the freaking light council. They're such hypocritical pricks. All of the scheming and backstabbing and political bullshit is ridiculous. There's real people's getting hurt and they don't give a toss. I honestly don't understand why Alex bothers with any of them. (hide spoiler)]

[Brittany]

Once I finally get myself a copy I'll read it and join in on the discussion

[Charlie]

12 chapters in (view spoiler)[ holy crap! Alex is super powered. That Fateweaver is either going to be his salvation or his doom. At this point I'm not sure what would be kinder honestly. He's fallen so far from who he was. The way he killed everyone in the mansion was scary.

It's just not fair. For years Alex has tried to do the right thing, to be a good person, and he's forced to do terrible things. After everything, he's went Dark. It's definitely cool to see super scary Alex but my heart is breaking for him. Watching him helpless as he beat Anne was awful.

I'm dying to read on but also scared to. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain]

Forgot about this, since it never got updated date... getting my copy now...

[Charlie]

Finished this last night. I flew through it, read the whole thing in less than 24 hours at the detriment of my other books. (view spoiler)[ I thought the ending was excellent. I'm really looking forward to the next book, Dark Alex is super interesting. Combined with Dark Anne, I think there's going to be some mayhem. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain]

About to read myself... ended up doing Unkindest Tide first...

[Charlie]

Hope you like this on Iain, I thought it was brilliant, I just wish it were longer.

[Timelord Iain]

Chapter 5: Typical Alex... (view spoiler)[one minute he's talking to "Evil Anne" trying to get her to merge with Good Anne, and 5 minutes/pages later, he's proving her right when he tries to get Good Anne to release Evil Anne and use the djinn to escape capture...

No idea where this book is going, but Alex/Anne being in trouble with the Light Council is par for the course... I'm starting to wonder if any of Alex's relationships with Caldera/Saunders are salvageable, at this point... they're too busy being part of the corrupt system surrounding them... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain]

Charlie wrote: "Started this, 4 chapters in, really enjoying it. It's good to be back in this world again. I can't remember much of the last book honestly but it's not really affecting me understanding of this boo..."

Basically this...

[Timelord Iain]

Chapter 7: This is going to be horrible... (view spoiler)[and it's all Alex's fault... 3 chapters ago, Alex told Ariadne that he felt safer than he had in years, and that's why he hadn't been studying the Dreamstone the way he would have been back when he was isolated and running his store... and here we are in the first situation in the entire series where he has no way to win or hold out to find a winnable solution...

I paused to type this at about the most heartbreaking moment, when Anne is happy to see Alex in captivity, but Alex isn't in control anymore... (hide spoiler)]

Richard: (view spoiler)[Gotta say, at this point, he's right... I'm not saying his goals are righteous or anything, but Alex has been trying to be the best of both worlds for too long, and just ends up being run ragged... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain]

Chapter 12: OK... this is awesome... (view spoiler)[Alex Verus has just turned into Colin Firth in Kingsman, basically... this crazy fight sequence where Alex controls fate reminds me of this battle sequence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3zdY... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain]

Charlie wrote: "12 chapters in holy crap!..."

Reading your spoilers early had me worried... but for the most part, (view spoiler)[I'm still rooting for Alex, and can see that his nature hasn't changed much... he's just integrating his 2 natures, instead of handicapping himself.

Hopefully, by the end of the series, he can be a fully realized Gray Wizard, willing to do what needs doing to create a better world... that's the difference between him and Richard/etc, really... the Light Council is steeped in the status quo and political power, and the Dark leadership is gungho at the opposite end of the spectrum or really just willing to be more open about their actions...

In the middle, you have people like Alex, and half the Dark mages he's worked with throughout the series, like Cinder and Luna's teacher... (hide spoiler)]

I'm still near the beginning of chapter 12 tho, so maybe my comments are inaccurate...

EDIT: Finished the fight sequence: (view spoiler)[OK... that was pretty harsh, but really, these people and their ilk have been trying to kill Verus for 10 books... if he'd let the last couple go they'd have probably tried to stab him in the back during the fight with Onyx... or Onyx would have killed them... there's no way Verus would have been able to pass them along to magical law enforcement...

Maybe I'm making excuses, but tons of minions like these die in action movies all the time, and that's what this book feels like, more than most... (hide spoiler)]

[Charlie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Charlie wrote: "12 chapters in holy crap!..."

Reading your spoilers early had me worried... but for the most part, I'm still rooting for Alex, and can see that his nature hasn't changed much... he..."


I agree with pretty much all of this Iain. I think the white council need to get their heads out of their hypocritical asses. Not all dark mages are murdering lunatics and some white mages absolutely are

Alex and the other dark mages who are relatively normal people need to be able to have a say in this world. There has to be some balance.

[Timelord Iain]

Chapter 13: (view spoiler)[It's great to have confirmation of Richard's magic... there's been speculation that Richard was a diviner since the book where he was the Man in the Suit for the whole book, at least... once people started noticing how we never saw Richard cast magic directly, just using artifacts (and djinn, apparently)

I'm loving the revelations about Rachel/Deleo, too... makes so much more sense... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain]

Finished... not too surprised... every book ends with enough lingering plotlines/cliffhangers to wish we didn't have to wait a year for the next book... at least since about the halfway point of the series, when (view spoiler)[Richard showed back up (hide spoiler)]

One of the things I love about this series is the realistic timescale... so many UF series seem to take place in a crazy small time frame... some of these books span a whole year on the page... and it's been 6+ years now since the beginning of the series...

[Charlie]

I love the timeframe too, makes all the character growth seem really organic.

[Brittany]

Read it a couple weeks ago, I agree with what has been said here.

(view spoiler)[ I loved when Richard pointed out to Verus that he is in this situation because of himself and that Alex finally had to make some tough decisions and not sit on the fence anymore.

I cannot stand Caldera anymore, she is far too righteous and her belief that the council is always right and everything else is wrong just gets to me. Verus screwed up this relationship first with his dishonesty but I doubt it would've mattered with the person she has become.
I think his relationship with Sonder is salvageable. He appears to be realizing that life isn't black and white and didn't want to go back to look at the scene where Anne released the Jinn again.

I was also happy to know for sure what Richard's magic is. I figured he had to be a diviner. I'd love to know more about what he is giving the Jinn.

Dark Anne is crazy and I look forward to what happens in the future there. Hate that Alex was forced to beat Anne for her to take on her dark side. Like Alex said though, for now their enemies are the same so he will leave her be. But what will happen once she's killed the worst of them?
Also the fateweaver, so cool! Wonder how his new arm will continue to grow and morph his life. What will be the consequences for that power? (hide spoiler)]
Looking very forward to the next book. Only 2 to go.

[Charlie]

@Brittany (view spoiler)[ Agree about Caldera, she's so self righteous, I can't stand her.

I think Richard is fascinating. I would actually love a few spinoff books about him and what he's been up to all these years. I never thought he was a diviner. I'm not sure what I thought he was exactly but that wasn't my guess.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens with Dark Anne. I'm hoping she'll merge with good Anne and become whole. (hide spoiler)]

[Brittany]

@Charlie (view spoiler)[ Agreed! I'd love to see what Richard has been up to!

That would be great if she can finally find a way to accept both parts of herself. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain]

Would be nice to see someone manage it, considering Delio...

[Nicolas]

hey,does anyone knows about Benedict Jacka's Ask luna posts? is a posting thing he's been doing for a couple years here he answers things in character as Luna.
Can anyone tell me how do i sent a question?

[Timelord Iain]

Nicolas wrote: "hey,does anyone knows about Benedict Jacka's Ask luna posts? is a posting thing he's been doing for a couple years here he answers things in character as Luna.
Can anyone tell me how do i sent a qu..."

http://benedictjacka.co.uk/ask-luna/

[Nicolas]

Thanks!