Ferrett Steinmetz's Fix

As the title says if you liked the others this is more and bigger but also even more personal if possible. Read them first for maximum impact.

Great read!

It is hard for me to say which book of the three I liked the most. Flex was new and shiny and introduced me to the 'mancer world. Fix solved the only issue I had with The Flux in that it did not stay mired and thrash around a little too much when there was a problem to be solved.I enjoyed the was that Paul was sidelined and his powers cut back after the big ramp up at the end of the second book, and that allowed space for the other characters to step forward into the spotlight. Ferrett has a way of making his characters people you care about, and the final book is certainly emotional as they face stark choices of pain and sacrifice no matter what they choose. The actual ending was well thought out and emotionally satisfied. Pretty much the only sub-plot if did not fully like was the Valentine relationship grinding. With the two people in it being action oriented, it just seemed to be a little too angst filled. It still worked, but they seemed to just be stuck for a lot of the book.The action and magic scenes are good and the descriptions of the consequences of the rifts over Europe were well thought out and described. As in the other two books, tons of gaming cultural references and even a little bit of Broadway mega hit references in a few chapter titles.The book left me happy to have spent the time reading all three books and I look forward to Ferrett's next novel.

I've been waiting for this third and final installment to the 'Mancer series, and Ferrett did not disappoint.Though it'd been a good few months since I'd read the last book, Fix does a good job reorienting you, reminding you of how things have settled out across the series so far and who the major players are.If you cherish slow build-ups, you're out of luck with this book. It takes off running, and rarely slows down. It kept me glued to my screen across the three days it took to finish it, and the tortuous path Ferrett leads the characters through absorbed me thoroughly.Sacrifice, romance, fathomless rage, furious combat and cunning plans-within-plans all wait to delight, horrify, shock, and satisfy the reader.Ferrett has written well, and Paul, Aliyah, and Valentine got under my skin. I hurt for them, I cheered for them, I cried for them. Beyond the glittery trappings of urban fantasy's magic and artifacts, the 'Mancer series shines with thoughtful characterization, character growth (realistically, not always in positive directions) and fresh takes on ideas that make for fascinating plots I couldn't glimpse the end of.

Fix is the final instalment of Ferrett Steinmetz’s Mancer series and brings to a conclusion a story that I’ve found totally absorbing and unique.I think for this particular review I’m not really going to delve too much into the story. I don’t want to give anything away and I’m going to make the assumption that you’ve read the previous two books in the series. If not, well then, I strongly suggest, nay implore, you to do so. I also recommend not reading further in case there are spoilers for the first two books lurking below.This is a very entertaining series that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. If you love gaming and movies and all sorts of culture references, huge splashes of fun and a world that brings to you a new form of magic with oodles of action then I think you’re going to love this series.At the end of the last book I remember wondering how this family unit, that I’d come to enjoy reading about so much, would actually get on or even survive. Let me say from the outset that this book puts you through the wringer a little bit in that respect and in fact has something of a different feel to the first two. The first story totally blew me away and was really good fun. The second is considerably more serious and leaves you wondering what’s going to happen next. The third, starts in a totally innocuous way with the characters that we already love trying to fit into a relatively normal, everyday, lifestyle. Of course they’re anything but ‘relatively normal’ being incredibly strong ‘mancers’ and things pretty quickly go to hell in a handcart whether they wanted it to or not. Something about the road to hell being paved with good intentions should be inserted here I think!Yes, I started reading Fix with a sense of dread and that was basically something that was set to develop quite strongly as the story progressed. We have a set of people who, whether you like them or not, are on the run, outlaws. You have a young girl with such strong magical abilities that it’s really quite scary to think of what’s going to happen to the world if she suffers from teenage angst! And basically you have this whole wannabe family situation just waiting to go wrong – with of course the massive implications and potential casualties along the way if that really happens. This is a family that you might love to read about – but they’re dangerous – okay, I still love them.For me Fix had a very different feel to the first two books. This is a book that looks more at consequences and examines actions. It’s a more difficult read in that respect because rather than everything being about kickass fun and badass goodies in capes we actually get to see some of the implications of what really happens when people wield magic. Now, there are always two sides to every story and this is the same here and in that respect I think that the author pulls a wonderful twist out of the bag which I really didn’t see coming.In a way this is a coming of age story with a difference. We feel Aliyah’s longing for acceptance and rebellion against her own family unit. It’s kind of inevitable, she’s growing up and wants her own space – in fact, she wants to blend in and be accepted more than anything else. We witness Paul as he goes through the emotions of trying to protect his daughter and wreaking total havoc as a result and then having to face the consequences and guilt of his own actions. We also have the wonderful Valentine who is also suffering a little bit of an identity crisis.On top of this we finally get to visit Europe, broached and highly dangerous but nonetheless intriguing. And we learn a good deal more about ‘mancy’ and the Unimancers and discover that things are not always as clear cut as they seem.Put in a nutshell, yes, this is a more difficult read. It has the feeling of a series that is growing up, in much the same way that Lord of the Rings started with birthday parties and fireworks but then led to war, this series started out with fun and references but then took us down the road of consequences. Magic always has payback and we experience this quite fully in Fix. So, yes, this is a less easy read, but then in another respect very satisfying. The author doesn’t make this easy, there isn’t any wand waving to conjure away the badness – we finally begin to understand the real implications of everyone’s actions and it isn’t always pretty. There are usually two sides to every argument and its not always easy to decide who’s right or wrong and this is something that becomes very evident in Fix.I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this series and have no hesitation in recommending it. I don’t think that Fix had the high octane, sometimes laugh out loud feel, of the previous two books but I think it was the perfect ending to the Tsabo story.I received a copy courtesy of the publisher through Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.