Seize Favours (Alex Verus, #6.1) Compiled By Benedict Jacka Format Kindle
the new point of view
What a fascinating look into a day or two in the life of the time mage Sonder.
We get to see what he's been up to and get a peek into his thinking, the why behind some of his actions.
Really enjoyed this. A novella set in the Alex Verus verse, but finally we get to see the world through a different character's eyes: Sonder, the time mage.
Sonder and detective/keeper Caldera work a case of burglary of sensitive documents, which turns into murder, but mostly devolves into political intrigue.
Caldera, a mage notorious for black and white morals much to get detriment and Sonder, a young upstart trying to climb the political ladder, are excellent contrasts at how two people can see the exact same thing so very differently.
When we first met Sonder in the universe, he's a new member of the Scooby gang and a likeable guy.
He kinda disappears for a while, and when he comes back, he's totally reversed his attitude and is kind of a dick.
It wasn't unrealistic, but it wasn't clear enough to me how or why that change came about, This novella does an excellent job of filling in those missing pieces, I wish it had been written sooner so I could have enjoyed it chronologically in the series, I think it would have improved my understanding of later books,
An excellent foray into expanding this universe now that the main storyline is coming to an end, I hope Jacka continues to keep these characters alive, I've never liked Sonder very much, Well, it turns out, neither does anyone else! It was an interesting insight into his character and I enjoy that Benedict Jacka can write morally ambiguous characters and make them compelling.
Because let's face it, people are rarely black and white, Time is seldom your Friend
Sonder consults on a case and a time mage is better than a detective for getting to what actually went wrong to have murder and theft.
But is doing what he does best, . . best for Sonder./stars!
Fantastic short story following Sonder as an auxiliary on a case, Very enlightening to his character, mage society, and some other popular Alex Verus characters, Hope to see more short stories in the future, An enjoyable return to the world of Alex Verus, I think my pleasure was more for the reminder of just how much I liked the series, than for this story per se, since Sonder was not one of the characters I cared much about.
It does make me hope that Jacka continues writing, however I would prefer a new series completely separate from Verus world, rather than more filling in the gaps.
Sometimes it's best to let a good work be, I wasn't too interested in Sonder and mostly got this novella because it's a test run and if it does well, we might get more novellas or short stories set in the Alex Verus world.
There are plenty of characters in this series I'd love to hear from, Sonder wasn't really one of the first I would've asked for, but I ended up enjoying this little glimpse into his head anyway.
Even if it didn't make me like his character any better, Favours by Benedict Jacka
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It has been a few years since I read my last Benedict Jacka novel Fated, I remember the general outlines of the first two books, but I don't remember Sonders, who is the main character in this novella.
Sonders was previously a spearcarrier called in by lead character Alex Verrus,
In Jacka's story, magic users are divided between light and dark mages, and individual mages specialize in various kinds of magic, e.
g. , battle magic, elemental magic, etc, Sonders is a "time mage, " He has the ability to view past events, He's called in to examine a theft of important documents that can be used to blackmail important people on the Light Council.
Murders occur as he investigates and ultimately Sonders finds himself holding a chit in the big game of power politics in the Light Council.
The story is interesting for taking someone who was a plot device in the prior book, like so many expendable characters in similar books, and making him the main character in his own story.
In this regard, we see the world from Sonders' perspective, I couldn't tell if I liked Sonders, He seemed driven to solve the mystery and see justice done, but he also ended up coming across as a mercenary.
Perhaps that was the point of the story, It should be interesting to see how this substory develops, A fantastic notsoshort story, definitely worth its money, A story told from Sonder's POV, A story that didn't make me think any better of him than before, Like Rain so fittingly said, Sonder is a weasel, And the worst thing is, he doesn't see it, He thinks himself better than others better than Alex, Yeah, a weasel and a hypocrite to boot! Disappointing
Sonder is tedious whiney and the story line disappointing.
Even insipid characters are more than two dimensional, I had recognized Sonder as a man who chose not to be brave, chose to remove himself from at risk situations rather than the weak character dipicted here.
.stars
Favours is an "inbetween" novella, set between sitelinkVeiled and sitelinkBurned, It is written from Sonder's perspective, as he is given task to help Caldera to timegate a burglary case,
To be honest, I haven't really been impressed with Sonder, I felt like he changed after the events with Anne and how Alex dealt with the people who were after him.
Like Sonder thought he was "a better person" or above the Dark mages, Honestly, this novella didn't really improve my opinion of him hmph,
I liked the story okay, but yeah, I wish Jacka writes a novella from different character's perspective rather than Sonder.
A nice short novella focused on Sonder, It's a fun little mystery, it reveals quite a lot about Sonder's character, and it reveals more about the morality of the Light Mages.
A lot of work for a short little story! A slight story
This novella is a sidebar to Jacka's gripping series about good guy Dark Mage, Alex Verus.
Disappointingly, Alex himself does not appear in this story, Favours' is told by Light Mage Sonder whose speciality is looking back in Time to see and hear what has happened in a place.
This contrasts with Alex's power of seeing many possible futures, Sonder has just returned from Washington when he is called on to assist grumpy Keeper cop, Caldera, investigate a theft and a murder which may be linked to Mages in high places.
I don't think that Favours' is likely to win any new fans for the series since Sonder is rather a dull narrator.
I was hoping for greater insights into Sonder's deteriorating relationship with Alex and his allies, It was interesting to learn more about how timesight works, Jacka is very good at creating specific forms of magic with plotdriving limitations, One theme which this novella shares with the main series is the issue of how much the way other people see us influences our behaviour.
That does make this rather slight story worth reading, A sidestory from Alex Verus's magical world, this novella features the time mage, Sonder, who was an ally of Alex's in the early books of the series.
It's set between Alex's bookVeiled andBurned, during the time Alex is working for the Keepers, who police magic in Britain.
After a year of secondment in Washington DC, Sonder returns and is immediately called in work with earthmage Keeper Caldera who is as grumpy as ever.
There's been a burglary. Incriminating papers have been stolen and Sonder looks into the past to see if he can identify the burglars, One thing leads to another and we see how and why Sonder follows his head rather than his heart, and picks a side.
Honestly I enjoyed having a story set in this universe that isnt from Alexs perspective but I hope theres more that isnt from Sonders.
I went into this hoping it would make me understand Sonder more and grow to like him again but it just made me hate him more.
He is the worst. Still a very enjoyable read though I hope more are to come, Anything from the Alex Verusverse is a welcome read and I highly enjoyed the novella about Sonder, a sidecharacter of the regular Verusseries.
It is definitely a nice addition to the series and an insight into a character that somewhat shifted his loyalties.
. . except he probably did not switch loyalties in his own point of view, because he is loyal to himself and his career.
This story gives a little more background and another character's point of view which is always interesting, It also explains how another magic type works, something that could not be explained in the regular stories, because Alex simply is not able to know this.
I really hope there will be more novellas and shortstories, Mr. Jacka, please keep'em coming! This is a short story told from Sonders perspective, primarily featuring him and Caldera, Alex is only mentioned in passing,
Nevertheless, this short story definitely makes you feel right at home back in the Verus universe,
I never really liked either Sonder or Caldera and both their behaviours here just firmly cement this antipathy.
Sonder is opportunistic and primarily worries about his future, whereas Caldera takes out her frustration on both Sonder and Anne whom the former pressures into service.
Knowing the events in ”sitelinkRisen” I was able to mentally lean back and enjoy the show,
Four out of five for a surprisingly good story,
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Interesting to get Sonder's perspective, He really is not a nice person, It's actually refreshing for an author not to try to justify a character's flaws, Sonder is just a jerk, Recommended for all the Alex Verus fans out there, This was a nice quick read, I loved Sonders when he was first introduced all the way back in the first book, but I guess he grew and changed, or maybe he's always been that way.
In any case, I didn't care for him, and this was a nice look into his psyche, I still don't care for him, but I can at least understand where he's coming from a bit better now.
Nice solid story. This Sonder point of view short story in Benedict Jacka's sitelinkAlex Verus Series occurs after sitelinkVeiled and before sitelinkBurned.
Sonder, newly returned from an assignment in the United States of America, is summoned to partner Caldera on a case.
She is cranky
but he does his job, and as they are closing in on the suspects, politics and influence starts to interfere in their investigation, starting with "suggestions" and ending with veiled threats, that Caldera chooses to ignore, cynically informing the young Sonder:
“Youre not worth shit as a Keeper if you can be pushed around.
”
Sonder ponders this but he's not the same, likeable young mage that used to enjoy being part of Alex's inner circle.
His philosophical disagreements with Alex over his resolution of the Nightstalker problem and his attempt to persuade Luna to cut Alex loose which did not go down well has created a schism between him and the group.
He's still on good terms with Anna, but even their relationship has underlying issues, He "mis"uses his timesight and is hurt to discover how others perceive him,
At the end of the day, Sonder uncovers something and makes a choice, One that isn't that surprising since unlike all the others in Alex's group who have had a tough past Alex, Variam and Anne were formerly associated with Dark Mages, Luna only being an adept, Sonder is one of the privileged magical elite who has never had to struggle.
I mean, literally, his only major complaint is being taken for granted, If non mages are second class citizens whose lives can be snuffed out at the whim of the Light Council, so be it, even if Luna was one of them.
So it's no surprise that he ended up choosing to to keep the Status Quo, because that's what he is most comfortable with.
Even Caldera managed to stick to her guns, but Sonder decides flexibility is more important, justifying it with something closely approaching cognitive dissonance.
It makes sense from a character perspective, and yet I was a bit saddened because I used to like Sonder, a lot.
But now I just want to knowthings:
Favours is a novella set in the Alex Verus universe that takes place in between Alex Verus, Veiled, and Alex Verus, Burned, told from the perspective of the time mage Sonder.
Returning to London after his yearlong assignment to Washington D, C. , Sonder is called into Keeper HQ to work with Caldera on an investigation, What looks at first like a simple burglary quickly turns into something much more difficult and dangerous, forcing Sonder to choose where his loyalties lie.
.