From: Elaine Felicity
Hi Luna,
been taking a trip down your memory lane – one question:
How did you get Alex out of hospital after he got stabbed?
I need details!
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Uh, Iām not sure the statute of limitations has run out on that one yet.
We did try talking to them. But once Anne had a look at Alex, she told us that he was going to be dead inside of an hour, and then that hospital guy wouldnāt listen when we tried to explain. If heād just let us take Alex away, everything would have gone smoothly. And it wasnāt as though anyone got hurt.
From: Ryan
Congratulations on becoming a Journeyman Mage! Have you been approached by other mages for anything yet? And have you chosen your mage name? If so, would you be willing to share your choice?
Thank you
A couple of mages have approached me, but not with anything I really want to do. To be honest, they havenāt really been treating me like a mage at all ā itās more like they think Iām one in name only. Itās kind of annoying. Havenāt figured out what to do about it yet.
Iāve been turning over ideas for names. Most mages go for some kind of name tied in to what they can do, or what they want other people to think they can do. Others go for some historical mage they want to emulate or something. Problem is, neither really appeals to me all that much. I never cared much about mage history, and given how mages treat me, Iām not sure if I really want to emulate them anyway. And naming myself after what my curse does would just be depressing ā is that really what I want to go by for the rest of my life?
Maybe I ought just to stick with Luna. But that feels kind of unsatisfying as well. I dunno.
From: Vancefreed
Alex is obviously very afraid of Richard. But he is not omniscient and has to have flaws — can’t Richard using his skills and magecraft hold his own.
And the leading light mages seem hardly any different in practice that the dark. Is Richard preparing to take the gloves off and find ways to be feared and more powerful himself because he is getting ever more boxed in.
Iām assuming youāre getting Alex and Richardās names mixed up there.
I think the problem Alex has with ātaking the gloves offā is that the whole reason he split away from Richard was because he DOESNāT want to be as ruthless as Richard is. I mean, if he was willing to knife someone for a profit, he wouldnāt have left in the first place. That said, trying to be ethical doesnāt do you much good if it just gets you squashed like a bug.
I dunno. Iām kind of glad heās the one who has to figure this out and not me, to be honest, because I donāt have any great answers. I mean, Alex could have improved his situation a ton plenty of times before now. All heād have had to do would be say āyesā to Levistus or to Richard, and do what they told him. But then, thatās the problem, isnāt it?
From: David
Give what we learn about Crystal at the end of Taken, why at the beginning of the book is she trying hard to enlist Alex’s help?
Heh. If youād spent as much time around Light mages as I have, you already know the answer.
Think about it. Crystal is (was) a Light mage. So what she knew about Alex at the time is what all the other Light mages āknewā about Alex. First, he was the (willing) ex-apprentice of Richard, second, he didnāt want to join the Council, and third, heād been involved in the suspicious disappearances of not one but two Light mages, Griff and Belthas. Put that together, and what do you get? You get something between āshady mercenary typeā and āassassinā. That was who Crystal thought she was hiring.
These sorts of reputations donāt go away fast. Itās been years, and I still get Light apprentices who are freaking terrified to go near me. Between being Alexās apprentice, and Anneās friend, they all assume Iām some sort of black-widow-in-training. We laugh about it, but it does get annoying at times.
I am 74yrs. old and I love your Alex Verus novels. Intelligent and refreshing, a great escape for me.
Ruth I’m 42 and feel EXACTLY the same!