Hidden

Like many readers, I ended up giving Benedict Jacka's Fated a shot because I was told that it was perfect for fans of Jim Butcher's popular series. The next couple of books shared many of the qualities and about the same shortcomings as the early Dresden Files installments.

The aspect in which the two series differ the most is that while Butcher took the macro approach for the Dresden Files, with the storylines expanding and a slew of characters being introduced in each new title, Jacka took the micro approach for the Alex Verus sequence. The plotlines are more circumscribed, the cast much smaller even though there are new additions in every novel. And though the greater story arc continues to grow, it's evident that Jacka's series will never be the sprawling behemoth that the Dresden Files have become over the years.

And to be honest, I'm okay with that. These two series, even if they share a number of similarities, are totally different beasts and must be treated as such. The last volume, Chosen, was a bit odd at first, more of an origin story for the main protagonist than a work that pushes the plot forward. But in retrospect, it's obvious that we needed to discover the truth about Alex and what happened when he was the apprentice of a Dark mage for everything else to make sense moving forward.

To all ends and purposes, it appears that Hidden is another such interlude in the series. After his recent falling out with Anne, Alex learns that she was kicked out of the apprentice program and is now isolated. When she gets kidnapped and taken into the shadow realm of her former master, with the Keepers unwilling to face a Dark mage on his own turf and matters bogged down in Council politics, Alex is the only person who may have a chance to save her before it's too late.

Here's the blurb:

With his talent for divining the future, Alex Verus should have foreseen his friends’ reactions to the revelations about his previous life. Anne Walker no longer trusts him—and has also cut all ties with the mage community after getting kicked out of the apprentice program. As a favor to Luna, Alex’s own apprentice and Anne’s best friend, he checks in on her only to be told to leave her alone.

Then Anne gets kidnapped. The Council Keepers of the Order of the Star believe Dark mages from her past may be involved. Working with the Keepers, Alex and Luna discover that Anne has been taken into the shadow realm of Sagash, her former Dark mage mentor, and they must find a way to rescue her.

But another shadow from the past has resurfaced—Alex’s former master may be back in London, and Alex has no idea what his agenda is...

Like its predecessors, Hidden takes place a few months following the events chronicled in the last book. Alex Verus, a little known diviner until he was thrust into a Council matter of great import, has now gained quite a reputation. Although supposedly a weak diviner, powerful Mages who have crossed him have somehow gone missing and a lot of his peers now believe that there is a lot more to him than meets the eye. Trying to keep everything low key hasn't been working all that well for him and, as a do-gooder at heart, the poor guy just can't help getting involved in matters that will put him into the line of fire. So when Anne, who hates Alex for getting that group of Adepts killed in the last book, never mind that these people would have killed him and everyone he holds dear, is overpowered and taken to a shadow realm, Alex knows that he must act quickly before she gets killed or worse.

I've said before that Alex Verus continues to grow on me with each new book. He was a more quiet and inconspicuous protagonist early on, but he is also growing as a character and coming into his own with each new novel. Being virtually powerless in terms of brute strength against other mages, Alex must rely on his wits to come out on top. That more than anything is what keeps this series fresh and interesting. As mentioned in my previous reviews, his first-person narrative isn't as witty and entertaining as that of his counterpart from the Dresden Files. Alex doesn't have the charisma and the repartee that make Harry such a likeable character. And yet, Verus is a more thoughtful and humane person, one that makes an impression on you the more the story progresses. In Chosen we saw that there is a decidedly ruthless side to Alex, one that we haven't seen before. Being magically weak, it is his intelligence as well as this ruthlessness that allows him to overcome the challenge that would put the lives of those he loves in danger. Still, that ruthlessness may not sit well with those whose lives it helped save. Anne and Sonder, especially, have yet to come to terms with what Alex was forced to do to protect them all and they want nothing to do with him. In many ways, Hidden is also Anne's origin story. How well that will play into the rest of the series, time will tell.

As a matter of course, Hidden is another very short work. Still, somehow Benedict Jacka is able to cram a lot more in terms of plot than most writers would manage with such a limited pagecount. As mentioned, this one is about Alex's attempt to rescue Anne and doesn't move the story forward as much as the first few installments in the series. It doesn't mean that there is no progress whatsoever. It's just that we'll have to wait and see how the events from this novel will impact the rest of the story.

Hidden features another thrilling and unexpected endgame, one that leaves the door open for a lot more to come. Over the course of five volumes, Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus series continues to grow in both quality and scope. Which bodes well for the upcoming sequels.

The final verdict: 7.75/10

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