Well, after what feels like a very, very long time, Chosen is finally out. To be fair, it doesn’t just feel like a long time, it has been a long time. Taken was released on August 28th, 2012; Chosen came out exactly one year later minus a day. (In the US, anyway – in the UK it won’t be out until next Thursday, so I suppose this is more like ‘release fortnight’. Or tenday. Whichever.)
Looking back over the books now, in a lot of ways it seems to me that Chosen marks the point at which the Alex Verus novels have become a true series. Fated, Cursed, and Taken might all have followed on from each other, but when I was writing them I wasn’t really thinking about much beyond the current book. Chosen’s the first one which really ties in to the previous books, and the first one that was definitely written with sequels in mind. I’d always meant the Alex Verus books to be readable as standalone stories, but this is the point at which the major long-term plot comes into play.
But anyway, onto some reviews! Chosen’s already had a starred review from Publishers Weekly, but now some of the book review bloggers have had a chance to review it too. Here are the ones I’ve found so far:
Whatchamacallit Reviews
Candace’s Book Blog
All Things Urban Fantasy
I Smell Sheep
And for those who’ve already finished Chosen, the good news is that Alex Verus #5 is in the pipeline too! It’s being rewritten at the moment, but that shouldn’t take too long, and it’ll definitely be coming out some time next year (though I don’t know exactly when). Then once I’ve finished with that I’ll be thinking about further books . . . more on that in a few weeks!
bought it, read it, enjoyed it, and yet, I blame the author for writing such an amazing book, with fully fleshed out characters, that I emphasize with, and then making me hate them after reading this book. Will probably purchase the next book as soon as it is published, but I must say that I expected better from the main character (crazy is it not?)