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jacey
Audiobook read by Will Watt
Stephen Oakwood is looking for his dad. Stephen’s magic use has brought him to the attention of The Winged, a mysterious group who hold the key to his father’s location. This continues directly from the previous two books, so not the place to start with this series. The narration is good. Stephen has taken a job as bodyguard to Calhoun, the heir of the Ashford family, At the same time he's trying to build his magic by raiding wells of power illegally, and making more sigls for himself, for both defence and offence. His long-term quest to find his father is resolved early in the book. He also seems to be finding more favour with his estranged mother and is becoming more involved with the Ashford family generally, though he's still wary of them, and rightly so. The head of the family – his grandfather – doesn’t seem to care much for him and only sees his value in how he can be used. There is a secret magical society, the Winged, alternately seeking to recruit or kill him. He must choose a side, his family or the Winged. He doesn't much care for either. I thought this was going to be the third book in the trilogy, but the ending is - if not a cliffhanger - not really resolved, and it seems as though this is going to be a series rather than a trilogy. To be honest, I'm a fan of Jacka's writing in general, but this was a little disappointing. It reads a bit like a middle book. It meanders, but doesn't really go anywhere. Sure, by the end of it, Stephen's life is moving into a different phase, but he's not settled. Sure, he foils an assassination attempt (on Calhoun) and kicks arse in a major set-piece fight or two, but there are no major wins. Stephen learns a few things, but he still doesn't have all the knowledge he needs. So there's obviously going to be a follow-on. Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus novels were a buy on sight series for me, this series less so. Stephen is not such an engaging main character as Alex, maybe because Alex had made all his coming-of-age mistakes by the time the series started, and in this series we're living through Stephen's uncertainties and missteps.
