This was a satisfying and very well done end to the series. It really is incredible how far Alex Verus has come over the course of the series- the character development for the surviving cast has been phenomenal. This was extremely fast paced and exciting. Many thanks for an arc of this book!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this review copy. A brilliant end to a wonderful series.

What a great end to the series! There's not a lot I can say without massive spoilers, but I like that this ties off a lot of loose ends and makes Alex think about motivations and do some introspection! The fight felt like it was different to a lot of the ones we see in earlier books too - not only does Alex have more power, but he has lost a lot of the items he's previously relied on, so we see a new sort of innovation from him. I also love that we see him try to learn something new and get told he's no good at it!

Honestly a perfect ending to a great series. 4 stars.

Risen by Benedict jacka (Urban Fantasy, Adult) After nearly ten years, twelve books, 4,000 pages, magic, mayhem, murder, love, betrayal, loss, monsters, friendship, dream worlds, ghosts, politics, fire, blood, and all of the many millions of possible futures, and a body being slowly but surely taken over by a magical object, Alex Verus has come to his final moment. Did it live up to everything that came before? Short answer, Yes. Long answer, better than I hoped!
Jacka has managed to create a character, and a world that seems to have found a just right niche in urban fantasy. Whenever someone says, I loved series A, but I'd like a hero who isn't just ridiculously over-powered. Enter Verus with his seemingly minor and easily overlooked ability to divine possible futures. I loved series B, but it was a bit too sexist. I mean, Alex definitely notices the beautiful women around him, but never gets gross or weird, or describes them like a femme fatale. I loved series C, but it's gotten boring and formulaic. Yep, not a problem! Even though his readers would have been happy to be waiting on a new book, I'm really happy that Jacka chose to stick to his guns a finish up the way that he always intended. And it's an excellent ending. I personally felt as though there were larger arcs of three -four books within the series. Alex on the council for example, but the grand epic story arc was always going to be right now. A lot of media bowed to outside pressure and found themselves in a meandering mess *cough*Supernatural*cough*, but there are a few that really stuck the landings. Babylon 5 was always going to end where it did, despite the tears and heartbreak that came with it. And Alex was always going to be caught between the Council, Anne, and Richard. And what Jacka manages to do is accept the inevitable ending, and got here. I mean, he WENT THERE. It was prophesied, it was promised. He did the thing that I was so sure that he was going to avoid, and then he absolutely stuck the landing.
I am 100% happy with this grand finale. Unlike the unfortunate ending of the Iron Druid series which has basically been unanimously agreed to not exist, this is exactly the right ending. I would have zero problems with handing book one to anyone and promising them a wild but excellent roller-coaster ride

I recently discovered this series and I think this was an excellent way to end and I was a bit sad because I had to say good bye.
It's epic, gripping, a page turner I couldn't put down.
I loved every moment of it and loved what happened and the characters.
I hope to read soon the new series by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

After nearly ten years, twelve books, 4,000 pages, magic, mayhem, murder, love, betrayal, loss, monsters, friendship, dream worlds, ghosts, politics, fire, blood, and all of the many millions of possible futures, and a body being slowly but surely taken over by a magical object, Alex Verus has come to his final moment. Did it live up to everything that came before? Short answer, Yes. Long answer, better than I hoped!

Jacka has managed to create a character, and a world that seems to have found a just right niche in urban fantasy. Whenever someone says, I loved series A, but I'd like a hero who isn't just ridiculously over-powered. Enter Verus with his seemingly minor and easily overlooked ability to divine possible futures. I loved series B, but it was a bit too sexist. I mean, Alex definitely notices the beautiful women around him, but never gets gross or weird, or describes them like a femme fatale. I loved series C, but it's gotten boring and formulaic. Yep, not a problem! Even though his readers would have been happy to be waiting on a new book, I'm really happy that Jacka chose to stick to his guns a finish up the way that he always intended. And it's an excellent ending. I personally felt as though there were larger arcs of three -four books within the series. Alex on the council for example, but the grand epic story arc was always going to be right now. A lot of media bowed to outside pressure and found themselves in a meandering mess *cough*Supernatural*cough*, but there are a few that really stuck the landings. Babylon 5 was always going to end where it did, despite the tears and heartbreak that came with it. And Alex was always going to be caught between the Council, Anne, and Richard. And what Jacka manages to do is accept the inevitable ending, and got here. I mean, he WENT THERE. It was prophesied, it was promised. He did the thing that I was so sure that he was going to avoid, and then he absolutely stuck the landing.

I am 100% happy with this grand finale. Unlike the unfortunate ending of the Iron Druid series which has basically been unanimously agreed to not exist, this is exactly the right ending. I would have zero problems with handing book one to anyone and promising them a wild but excellent roller-coaster ride

This final Alex Verus book is almost all magical battle as the Light Council goes to war against Anne (Alex's lover) who has been possessed by a powerful jinn-like thing with an army of jinn to call on. Alex signs up for the fight with the intention of rescuing Anne, while the Council wants her deader than dead. Swinging into the fight in the side of the council is Richard Drakh, dark mage and once Alex's apprentice master. Alex doesn't trust him, of course. Richard has been his enemy all through this series. You just know that the final showdown will be in here somewhere - and you'd be right.

The council, rife with internal politicking, still doesn't trust Alex - its only one book ago that they had a kill order out on him, and some of the mages he used to class as freinds are no longer on his side. Luna, his one-time apprentice, now a mage in her own right, is along for the fight and also hoping to rescue their friend, Variam (also possessed).

There's one problem that might prove insurmountable - Alex knows he's dying. The immensely powerful Fateweaver has replaced his missing hand, which gives him a real edge as it helps him to nudge the futures he can see in the direction he wants them to go, but the Fateweaver is gradually taking over Alex's body creeping up his arm to his shoulder, and when it reaches his heart, that will be that. But the Fateweaver was made for battles such as this, and so Alex ends up in the forefront of the fight.

Alex has come a long way in twelve books. He started out as a mild magic shop owner in Camden Town, but circumstances led him to gather a few trusted friends around him and to cross swords with the Council and with Richard Drakh. He's always tried to be on the side of the light, but he's done a lot of dark things in order to save himself and those he loves. How will it all turn out? Though I got a little tired of all the battle sequences after a while, I found it a satisfactory end to the whole series.

Risen ends the twelve-book-long Alex Verus series. Verus has come a long way from a minor mage keeping a magic shop in London to one of the most powerful mages in the country, thanks to some special items, like fateweaver, which allows him to choose the paths the future takes. Unfortunately it comes with a price of slowly killing him by turning him into stone.

Alex doesn’t have a lot of time left, but he still needs to handle the two major issues in his life before he dies: save his ex-girlfriend Anne from being possessed by an evil jinn, and end his megalomaniac former teacher Richard.

I’ve never entirely understood Alex’s relationship with Anne. If I recall correctly, she was an ex-girlfriend already when the series started, and all his dealings with her have made him seem like a dumped guy obsessing with his ex. For most of the series, she’s seemed happy with the choices she’s made, but Alex has to know better. That the jinn does become the master of her in the end is exactly the ‘I told you so’ moment she calls it—and she still hopes he leaves her alone. He doesn’t.

His dealing with Richard is more satisfying and it’s left to the very end. Alex is at his last breath—literally, as his lungs have stopped working—and he has to pull off the impossible before dying. A death scene in first person narrative is never easy, but the author does a passable job with it.

And then he immediately ruins the poignant moment by jumping to his author voice to mock the reader. I’ve seldom encountered a stupider move in a book, and I can’t believe his editor allowed it to go through. What did he think? That we wouldn’t read the epilogue otherwise? Not that I really cared for what happened to Alex’s apprentice Luna, but she did give us the closure with Alex and Anne. [spoiler] That she’s turned from evil to someone who bakes and happily keeps a home is something else again. Are there no other roles for women than a mother and a bitch? [end spoiler]

But most of the book is taken by an endless battle. It starts around 8% mark and continues to the very end. I don’t generally care for battles, and this was mind-numbingly long and pointless. It really didn’t add anything to the story and was merely something the reader had to suffer through to get to the main part, Anne and Richard.

Now that the series is over, I have mixed feelings about it. It had its good moments, but the best books were in the beginning. We have a closure of sorts for Alex, and that’s good enough for me.

In addition to being the twelfth book in the series, this is also the final instalment of Alex’s adventures. So as well as providing yet another gripping adventure, Risen has to provide a fitting and satisfactory ending to this popular, long-running series. I would add that if for any reason you haven’t read any of the books, or have missed out a few – please don’t tuck into this one unless you’ve at least read Fallen and Forged, or you won’t fully appreciate the enormity of what Alex has gone through. Unlike many books in a series, I cannot claim that you won’t understand what is happening – Jacka is very adept at ensuring the reader does know some of the backstory to what is going on. And as a result, this one took a bit of time to get going.

I didn’t find this a problem, as I felt this was also in line with Alex’s character development. After all, he is facing his imminent death due to a lethal magical infection – so it makes sense that he is thinking about how he got to this stage and who is responsible for the mess he’s in. I’ve always been impressed with Jacka’s characterisation of Alex as a divination mage – the way his ability to see into the future very rapidly wanes as the possibilities multiply is spot on. And while it does give him some advantages in a fight, given he often has lacked the weaponry of other mages, avoidance and nudging others into making mistakes has generally been his only way to survive. So how can this play out in a massive pitched battle against some truly terrifying beings – his former girlfriend being one of the most lethal adversaries?

By now, Alex has become equipped with some mighty tools of his own. And his first-person narration as someone who now has the ability to wreak revenge upon the disturbingly long list of people who have badly twisted his life in the past, is masterful. Alex has never been the cuddliest of protagonists – and this time around, his aloof persona that tries to keep everyone at a distance rings absolutely true. So that by the time it all kicked off, I was completely invested in the story and desperate for Alex to be able to succeed – though that seemed to be an impossible dream.

I was also very aware that Jacka doesn’t flinch from killing off established characters, if it serves the story – and there are losses during the battle that made me wince. So in addition to providing a gripping, action-filled plot – does Jacka also bring this series to a fitting conclusion? Yep. It completely works for me. I’m sorry to see the end of this classy, well-written urban fantasy series – but so glad to see the story safely landed. Very highly recommended for fans of the series. While I obtained an arc of Risen from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

Alex Verus has led us a long dance over the last twelve books, from a low level magician hiding in plain sight selling cheap magic tat in a shop in Camden to the linchpin between the light and dark mages.

Now, in the series finale can Alex foil the Djinn which possesses the body of his girlfriend Anne and save the girl? It's going to take an unprecedented alliance between the Council, the Dark mage Richard Drakh, and Alex and his small but trusty gang. But when no-one trusts anyone else how will that work?

I can't tell you any more about the plot - suffice it to say that the action starts immediately and never seems to stop for the entire book. Alex, as ever, uses his brains to persuade, coax, blackmail, threaten and force everyone to follow his plans.

For me this was a fantastic end to what has been an engrossing series. All the loose ends got tied up to my satisfaction and the end was totally satisfying.

Obviously not for anyone who hasn't read the previous eleven books, but if you don't like to start a series without knowing that it ends satisfactorily (and we can all thank the TV series Lost for that particular paranoia) then rest assured, your time will not be wasted.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.