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<blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 7070531" data-attributes="member: 20564">I read the first Alex Verus book by Benedict Jacka and liked it.&nbsp; Good but not fantastic, but I'm willing to give a series a book to really get in it's groove.&nbsp; Especially urban fantasy - I enjoy the genre but it feels like gems are harder to come by so I'll hunt them down a bit harder.&nbsp; I went to order the second and it had an &quot;order 2, 3 &amp; 4&quot; at a good price, so I picked them all up.&nbsp; (Woo, D&amp;D 5e slow publication schedule means more money in the hobby budget for fiction!)I'm half way through the second one and have not been making meaningful progress.&nbsp; I expected as a series the second book to try and expand the world, but so far it looks like (very) unlikely coincidences to involve almost all the same players as the first book.&nbsp; It's building on their relationship in good ways, but it's really stretching the imagination that some are involved at all.&nbsp; As well I have problems with the consistency of the title character's use of magic, using it one scene to do X, and then another scene completely forgetting it can do X and ruminating that he wished he had a way to do it.But at other times it's got some great bits.I haven't been making fast progress through it, but having picked up 2-4 I sort of feel I can't just abandon it.&nbsp; If I stop reading to pick up another book that's probably what I will do in fact, if not intentionally.The worse part is that I've got two books burning to be read next, actually recommended in last month's reading post here.&nbsp; &quot;Little, Big&quot; by John Crowley and &quot;The Fifth Season&quot; by N.K. Jemisin.&nbsp; I'm itching to read them, and I think that may be part of why I'm not having patience with this book.&nbsp; If it was gripping me a little more I'd be through it, but because I get annoyed at it occasionally I've been putting it down a lot and these other books have been calling to me.They know my name and where I live.So I'm trying to power through so that the setup for book 3 (and then book 4) is intact but letting me switch to the other books as next on my list.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Blue, post: 7070531, member: 20564"] I read the first Alex Verus book by Benedict Jacka and liked it. Good but not fantastic, but I'm willing to give a series a book to really get in it's groove. Especially urban fantasy - I enjoy the genre but it feels like gems are harder to come by so I'll hunt them down a bit harder. I went to order the second and it had an "order 2, 3 & 4" at a good price, so I picked them all up. (Woo, D&D 5e slow publication schedule means more money in the hobby budget for fiction!) I'm half way through the second one and have not been making meaningful progress. I expected as a series the second book to try and expand the world, but so far it looks like (very) unlikely coincidences to involve almost all the same players as the first book. It's building on their relationship in good ways, but it's really stretching the imagination that some are involved at all. As well I have problems with the consistency of the title character's use of magic, using it one scene to do X, and then another scene completely forgetting it can do X and ruminating that he wished he had a way to do it. But at other times it's got some great bits. I haven't been making fast progress through it, but having picked up 2-4 I sort of feel I can't just abandon it. If I stop reading to pick up another book that's probably what I will do in fact, if not intentionally. The worse part is that I've got two books burning to be read next, actually recommended in last month's reading post here. "Little, Big" by John Crowley and "The Fifth Season" by N.K. Jemisin. I'm itching to read them, and I think that may be part of why I'm not having patience with this book. If it was gripping me a little more I'd be through it, but because I get annoyed at it occasionally I've been putting it down a lot and these other books have been calling to me. They know my name and where I live. So I'm trying to power through so that the setup for book 3 (and then book 4) is intact but letting me switch to the other books as next on my list. [/QUOTE]

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