Changes

Generally speaking, urban fantasy works best when it provokes the imagination to see more in familiar 'real world' locations (London in Alex's case). Benedict Jacka takes this one step further, here by hereby taking a real -world topic and applying it to a fantasy world. The parallel world of the mages seems to have a parallel ecological problem: magical beasts are slowly sliding into extinction. This is a problem with connotations for Mr Verus as he has a friend who happens to be an 8ft tall spider. (I like Arachne so I'm willing to go with it.)

The only bit of this second novel that doesn't improve on the first is the climax. The maze-like quality of the chase at the end of ''Fated'' added to the excitement, developing a claustrophobic element compared to the more almost mundane action-themed climax in ''Cursed''. There are good plot reasons for this and, as previously mentioned, ''Cursed'' as a whole is superior so this should be treated as a minor whimper rather than any form of a rant.