Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC! I am very grateful and happy to explore everything this author will write in the future as well!

An Inheritance of Magic is the first book in a new urban fantasy series by Benedict Jacka. Released 10th Oct 2023 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley Ace imprint, it's 384 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.

The author is talented and prolific. He knows how to write engagingly, and the world building here is very different from the Iron Druid chronicles. The story reads more YA(ish) than his other work, however, there are definitely non-YA descriptions and themes here, such as horrible straight up animal torture which goes on for -pages-. (This one has its own entry on "does the dog die" but all the trigger questions aren't answered yet). It was difficult to read and it's not surprisingly a deal-breaker for a number of readers.

That being said, there is also humor here, clever descriptive prose, nods to the sort of bureaucracy urban fantasy that brings Stross, O'Malley, Aaronovitch, Holt and the other boys in the band to mind, and glimmers of a really good magic system being unfolded presumably in future volumes.

The book ends on a foreshadowing description. There are a zillion overarching unanswered questions/plot developments which are unresolved by the end.

Three and a half stars. Given the publisher, this will be on most library acquisition lists already. Due to the graphic nature of some of the descriptions, it's not recommended for school libraries, especially in areas where book challenges and bans are common. The animal torture and casual cruelty are -very- hard going.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Stephen is learning how to perform magic on his own, with some limited instruction from his dad and very limited funds. However, he is quickly sucked into the schemes of the wealthy magic practitioners who have their own regimented ways of doing things. As he meets more people from one particular magic-oriented family, he realizes there may be a connection to his own mother and his own magical abilities. Overall, a solid start to a new magic series that focuses on power and schemes. As with other Benedict Jacka books, there's a lot of world building in this one and many info dumps on how the magic itself works. The commentary from Stephen when he met Johanna and Ivy was disconcerting and how he viewed women throughout the book was uncomfortable at times. Hopefully that viewpoint changes in future books, as the magic was interesting.

had a blast reading An Inheritance of Magic. It’s entertaining and immersive. All thanks to a relatable protagonist, his struggles, the accessible writing style, and, of course, his feline companion.

Imagine being an orphan with magical powers. A start of a familiar story, right? Stephen Oakwood is just that, but his story turns any preconceptions on their head. All he has besides those magical powers is a cat and a minimum wage job. He’s fumbling around in the dark, trying to teach himself magic but unaware of other magic users. A chance encounter with a scion of a powerful magical family thrusts him into a dark, underground world where Stephen finds out he’s at the bottom of the totem pole and others refuse to recognize him as a major player. He finds the only work he can, the magical equivalent of gig work, and he continues to teach himself and gather resources.

I’m of two minds. I LOVED this book and devoured it, info dumps and all. At its best, it reads like a solitary young man single-mindedly pursuing a passion, desperately working to better himself, and it is quite compelling. I really want to read the second book.

However. There are some elements that made me wish an editor had taken a firmer hand shaping this because Stephen has some tendencies that read “incel” rather than “sensitive, thoughtful young man” and frankly squicked me out. While I hope these were placed in here to show that Stephen will grow, I don’t think that’s the case. I’m going to list the big ones I found below. I scanned a bunch of the Goodreads reviews and was dismayed I couldn’t find others that called these out.

Meeting Johanna for the first time. “She was probably the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. Maybe she fell a little short of the artificial perfection of the models you see on the Internet…” Yuck.
Arguing with Ivy about which of them are more in danger by working alone and encountering raiders.“I thought about pointing out that being a boy made me more likely to get beaten up or stabbed, not less, but something told me that Ivy probably wasn’t interested in hearing that.” No shit, Sherlock. A young woman is NOT interested in hearing that you’re more likely to get beaten up. Guess what’s more likely to happen to her?
Meeting Ivy for the first time. “She was around the same age as me, pretty and athletic looking, with African features…” My dude Africa is home to 1.8 billion people (18% of the world’s population) with remarkably heterogeneous genetic diversity. What the heck do you mean by African features?

Read this about halfway and didn’t connect with any of the characters. It felt very paint-by-numbers with very little heart or substance. The animal abuse made it hard to continue.

What a unique story with magic and world building. The super rich control everything in this world.
We follow Stephen who has potential magical talent but magic takes money and Stephen doesn’t have it.
But Stephen gets an opportunity that he can’t turn down so he decides
To go for it and develops his magical talent which is called drucraft,
But he soon learns he needs to become the best he can.
This is a first book in this series and if you’re a fantasy reader or Benedict Jacka fan you will enjoy this. The only thing I didn’t care for is there animal cruelty which’s is just not my thing so maybe skip over that part it does get better.
Thank you netgalley

I was both worried and excited to start reading this book when I received it in the mail a few weeks ago. I went through a phase where all I was reading was urban fantasy, so I think I burned myself out on the genre. I also love the Alex Verus books and was worried that a new Benedict Jacka series wouldn't be as good. I'm happy that I can say I was worried for no reason at all. An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka was a fantastic read from start to finish. I've never really been a big Grimdark fan, but books like this are why I find myself reading the genre more and more.

With this book, I think it's evident that Benedict Jacka invested a considerable amount of effort and thought into crafting an immersive world. The characters are more than just words on a page; they almost come to life as fully developed and relatable people, exhibiting a depth and complicit that adds an extra layer of authenticity to the series. Additionally, it's impossible to discuss this book without talking about the fantastic magic system that Benedict Jaka meticulously created. I found it to be both intriguing and well-developed, leaving me eager to explore it more as the series unfolds.

The only thing I was disappointed with in this book is that instead of explaining certain things naturally via the story, we got a few fairly large info dumps instead. However, I do think this was a fairly minor drawback and didn't overshadow my overall enjoyment of the book at all. The richly developed characters, intricate world-building, and interesting story held my fascination throughout the whole book. I'm eagerly anticipating the next book because I can only see this series getting better. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a new book to read.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book i think it unique in it magic system. I think there was a lot of infomation to process as i read this one, and probably need a re read or two before the next book. I almost quit reading it when the cat got hurt as i am not a fan of animals getting injured or dying even if just a story. I do see how the author used it as a means to help the main character learn more about the duracraft and what it can do. I think the cat gets its revenge in a unique way and i did finish it and it was well worth the read.

So many pros with this book but a couple big cons too. The world building is deep, but that means the pacing is so slow and I admit, I got bored. The characters really weren't developed so it overall felt like not a lot happened in the middle of the book. I like the unique magic system that was setup and I think there could be a lot of payoff in future books but unfortunately, I didn't get any in this one.

One Sentence Summary: Stephen is a young man struggling to make ends meet and with finding time to practice his drucraft, until a contentious meeting with House Ashford has him putting all of himself into his drucraft to prepare for an uncertain future.

In Brief
In a world where magic, called drucraft, belongs to the wealthy, living on the fringes has never been more dangerous. In this first novel in an urban fantasy series, Stephen Oakwood is a young man in a dead end job with just his cat and his meager drucraft to keep his off-work hours occupied. But that changes when, after meeting with a mysterious young woman from House Ashford who knows a lot more about him and drucraft goes wrong, Stephen is attacked by drucraft-charged strongmen. After he narrowly escapes, his life ends up changing forever as he decides he needs to devote himself to his drucraft just to stay alive. Things take a worse turn when his cat is horribly beaten, and Stephen will go to any lengths to save him, unexpectedly opening himself up to his full potential. Unfortunately, House Ashford members now have him on their radar, but Stephen has chosen to take his vanished father’s words to heart: to get stronger in his drucraft. An Inheritance of Magic is sometimes thrilling with fast-paced action scenes full of physical and magical fighting, but it spends most of its time building the world and detailing its complicated and intricate magical system. For fans of underdogs, Stephen doesn’t disappoint, and, now that the foundation has been laid, one can hope for meatier plots in future books.

Extended Thoughts
On a first glance through this book, it looks a bit intimidating. There’s a very detailed glossary with words that seem familiar, but have equally detailed meanings in this world. Fortunately, once I started reading, I found I only referenced it for my own amusement. The reader is really eased into this world and how the magic works thanks to a protagonist who doesn’t know much more than the reader, but I appreciated the reference material as it did help remind me of what different things were and how they worked. Unfortunately, other than a few long action scenes, An Inheritance of Magic isn’t actually much more than that.

The story opens slowly and simply, focusing the reader on Stephen Oakwood, a young man struggling to make ends meet who loves his cat more than anyone else. After the disappearance of his father, Stephen has split his attention between spending his days at a dead end job and the rest of his time working on his drucraft, this world’s form of magic. One evening he passes by a girl who has a cryptic message for him, and, shortly after, he finds another young woman standing in front of the house he rents a room in. She tells him about the powerful House Ashford and suggests he might actually be a member of the House himself. Things go south quickly, though, and Stephen finds himself brutally attacked and kidnapped by a couple of strongmen who also happen to be magically enhanced. Thanks to his quick thinking, Stephen gets away, but now he’s on the radar of some very powerful, very wealthy, very spoiled cousins, leaving him to do nothing more than to prepare for future attacks and do as his dad told him: get stronger. So he essentially spends the rest of the book learning and experimenting as much as he can.

I really liked the way this book sounded in the description. I liked that it sounded like the wealthy controlled the magic in this world and here’s this young man who has access to it, but is just on the fringes of that wealth. I expected some kind of conspiracy or power struggle that Stephen gets mixed up in. I didn’t expect that this would happen, but Stephen is still on the outside looking in so the reader doesn’t actually really know what’s going on. It was fun to see Stephen devote himself to his drucraft, learning how to properly use it and find a way to use it to make a living, but I really wanted some kind of power struggle between the Houses and I didn’t get that. It’s mostly in fighting and a young man who’s mixed up in it but has no idea what to do with it all.

An Inheritance of Magic read mostly like a huge info dump. I can understand that since the magic is very different and required a great deal of explanation regarding how it works. But I wanted more story to go along with it. All I really got was Stephen trying to figure it out on his own with the help of a local priest. There were times when it seemed like he might get a friend to help him, but no one in the drucraft world was particularly helpful or interested in being helpful and all of his other friends didn’t believe drucraft was actually real. So most of the book was just world building with a handful of long action/fighting sequences that kept things interesting but quickly became repetitive.

I liked Stephen, and especially liked that he was so devoted to his cat. He’s young and naive and has no real direction in his life. He lives in a tiny bedroom with not much to his name and, despite having a handful of friends he regularly meets up with, his closest companion is a cat who prefers to spend his time wandering outside. But I didn’t feel sorry for him. Actually, I didn’t really feel anything but mild curiosity and interest in him. He was actually kind of bland to the point where I sometimes forgot he was actually narrating the story. But he grew as his mastery of drucraft grew, and I respected his dogged pursuit of knowledge and his willingness to experiment and continue to try, even when he had to ask the priest for help and then spend weeks reading dense religion-oriented texts. He really put in the work and, despite showing his youth and naivety, he really did learn how to get what he wanted and had a good moral compass, which is more than I can say for a lot of his newfound relatives.

Other than learning about Stephen and drucraft, the only other thing this book had going for it was the action sequences. These were long and magic-filled, and typically involved Stephen somehow getting the upper hand on more powerful opponents or being smart enough to figure out how to get away. They were interesting in that they showed how drucraft could be used for battle as well as Stephen’s ingenuity, but I found them to be too long and, honestly, not exactly interesting by the time the last one came about. I would have loved to see more magic put to better use, but it seemed to be mostly used for fighting or as a way for the wealthy to live frivolous lives. This book was also littered with passably helpful characters who were more irritating than anything else, so I was pleased to not see them ever again.

On the bright side, since this is the first in a new series, now that the basics of the world have been laid, I’m hoping for meatier stories going forwrad. This is an interesting world, though I am scratching my head a little when it comes to how out in the open drucraft seems to be, yet Stephen’s friends don’t actually seem to think it’s real. The dichotomy of that still puzzles me as there are clear instances of drucraft at use.

An Inheritance of Magic reads as little more than world building, but, considering how intricate the magic seems to be and how clueless Stephen is, it feels like a good way to start this series. There are a lot of things for this series to deal with, most notably what happened to Stephen’s dad and what, exactly, is the connection Stephen has with House Ashford. I really have no clue what the overarching story is, but, with the foundations laid, I’m hoping the next book will bring in more of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka was a wonderful surprise, as his “Alex Verus” series is a tough act to follow. But An Inheritance of Magic has the base to be a fascinating world with a magic system that can expand as the books continue to be released.

On top of the struggle and toil of the average working-class person lay a glittering, secretive world of magic and magical families. Empires rise and fall at the behest of heads of family. It is cutthroat, and unforgiving, and if you do not have the right blood or relations, you will be swept under the rug like errant dust. Our protagonist, Stephen Oakwood, is the embodiment of dust to these people.

Stephen Oakwood, 22, works and lives paycheck to paycheck in London. It wasn’t always like this. A few years ago, Stephen’s Father had to disappear in a hurry with the promise of returning, but young Stephen struggled to keep a roof over his head and food in his mouth. At this point in the story, I appreciated and enjoyed how Jacka addressed the economic divide between classes, seen not just in food eaten and clothes worn but in the ability to have spare time. If you are constantly hustling, with one accident, doctor’s appointment, or unexpected repair away from debt and financial ruin, you do not have time to lift yourself from your current situation. The time you do have is when you attempt to create a buffer. “He has talent and potential, but turning that potential into magical power takes money, opportunity, and training. All Stephen has is a minimum-wage job and a cat.” It is unnerving and wholly accurate. And as someone who has had to use government assistance to keep themselves fed at one point, I get it. I not only get it, but while reading this section of the story, I felt low thrumming anxiety wash over me like a cicada buzzing in my ear. It is an exceptionally clever piece of writing.

Right away, Stephen has one strike against him in this upper-crust world of magic: he is poor. The second thing he has is that he is formally untrained. Stephen is, for lack of a better word, “plucky.” He has much pluck. While his friends are dating, drinking beer, and doing what most men his age do, Stephen works harder and longer than anyone. This world of magic is closed to him; his father is gone, and there is very little info on the internet. If he learns anything about this incredible spark of “something” called Drucraft, it will be by the grit of his mind and the blood of his hands.

Suffice it to say that Stephen is driven by both practicalities, being able to support himself enough to have time to study and passion. This story is the epitome of the underdog trope. You want him to succeed if for no other reason than Hobbes, Stephen’s cat who acts as Stephen’s constant companion. But the world seems to be against Stephen with insurmountable odds from mighty people. Watching everyone who has wronged Stephen fall to their ruin as the books continue will be fun.

Weakness-wise, the first story of an extensive series like this with a large world has a lot to cover. It needs to drop the information about Stephen’s living environment, the rules of magic, who is the story’s antagonist, and lead us to the next book. Because of this, some parts felt wordy, with a lot of information dumped on the reader at once. I understand the necessity of this and tend to look past that entirely when reading. But it may be a factor for some readers that could take them out of the story.

When I heard that there was a new urban fantasy series from Jacka, I was elated. I adored his previous one and was a long-time fan, and his second foray into urban fantasy is no “sophomore slump,” quite the contrary I think. Inheritance of Magic takes some of the best aspects of the urban fantasy genre and mixes them with Jacka’s well-honed craft, and we are left with excitement now and hopefully for years to come.

After reading the Alex Verus series and enjoying it, I was so excited Benedict Jacka was starting an entirely new series, in a brand new world, with a brand new magic system.

Steven Oakwood has been orphaned, well sort of. He isn't actually sure either of his parents are dead just that his mother disappeared when he was very young and his father when he was almost eighteen. His mother, he doesn't believe is coming back, but his dad left a cryptic message and Steven has been looking for him ever since.

He is just a normal 20 something kid, trying to survive on his own with a few solid friends for back up and his Lithuanian roommates. Mostly he is just trying to get by, which gets harder when a few people claiming to be part of his mom's side of the family start showing up and bringing nothing but trouble with them. Now Steven is caught in the middle of some family feud between some siblings and cousins all trying to be named heir and he needs to up his magic game fast or get crushed as collateral damage.

This was a really great introductory book. We get to learn all about Drucraft (the magic), essentia (the stuff used to power the magic) and Wells (places different types of essentia pool) in our introductory journey. It is something that takes years and years dedication and practice to be able to use well. Steven used to be taught by his father, who made him master the fundamentals others in big houses might not focus on. Steven's journey into magic is believable and he isn't just super powerful and the chosen one in a day.

Great friends, terrible blood relatives, a super cat named Hobbs and a possible mentor to Steven make for a very interesting first book. Through Father Fawkes we learn that even besides the magic houses there might be something else that is playing a different long game as well. There are so many great directions to take this story and so many things to explore I look forward to continuing on is this world.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

You sold me on magic belonging to a man working a minimum wage job with a cat.

An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka is a fantasy novel about Stephen Oakwood, who is a young man on the edge of this hidden world. He has talent and potential, but turning that potential into magical power takes money, opportunity, and training. All Stephen has is a minimum wage job and a cat. But when a chance encounter with a member of House Ashford gets him noticed by the wrong people, Stephen is thrown in the deep end. For centuries, the vast corporations and aristocratic Houses of the magical world have grown impossibly rich and influential by hoarding their knowledge. To survive, Stephen will have to take his talent and build it up into something greater—for only then can he beat them at their own game.

I loved this book! As it allowed a normal average man to have magic. Which is slowly becoming one of my favorite tropes. I also loved Stephen's cat, because you can't exactly go wrong with a magical animal companion.

The first book in a new series by Benedict Jacka. That fact alone tells you this will be an entertaining read that kicks off by introducing us to Stephen Oakwood, a young man with unlimited potential but very limited resources. The first book in a series sets up the cast of characters and the communities in which they live and work. This one is no exception to that rule. The characters are divided into the "haves" and "have nots" which also draws the line on the magic available to each one. Jacka's Alex Versus series is a favorite read for me and many more of his fans. I'm hoping this one will generate the same fan crazy stories. I know I'll be watching and waiting for book #2. 5 easy stars.

I am a big fan of the Alex Verus series so was excited to see the author begin a new urban fantasy series. In this world, those who have magic have an advantage over everyone else, particularly those who belong to one of the magical Houses. It reminded me a little of the Harry Potter world, except colder, much more mercenary, and more adult.

Stephen Oakwood is the main character. He is a very young man who has some magical talent but lacks the support to develop it - his mother is dead and his father has disappeared, leaving him on his own. He works and barely makes enough to keep a small apartment and feed himself and his cat. To develop his magic, he would need to go to a school of magic and he hasn't the funds or the time for it.

Stephen enters a magical contest on a whim, and unfortunately draws the attention of some young adults from magical families. They seem to look at him as competition and also as someone beneath them. They didn't stop at contempt - they attacked. The best part of the book to me was after the attack, when Stephen stopped reacting and took the offense.

I am looking forward to seeing what he does in the next book. I received an e-arc of this book from Berkeley Publishing Group/Ace via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed it.

Thank you Berkley for the gifted paperback and accompanying eARC.

An Inheritance of Magic follows Stephen Oakwood, a twenty-one year old Londoner. Though Stephen has a great group of buddies, he's pretty alone in the world, as his mother abandoned him when he was a child, and his father has disappeared. It's just Stephen, his crappy filing job, and his amazing cat named Hobbes.

But Stephen isn't an ordinary young man... He has magical gifts, and has only begun to scratch the surface of his potential. When he crosses paths with a long lost relative, Stephen's mundane life is about to explode into a glittering, magical, often dangerous world of politics, power, and resources he's only dreamed of!

This was WONDERFUL!!!! And a major testament as to why I step outside my comfort zone so often. Urban fantasy is not my typical read, but this sounded like a great pick for October, and boy was it a fun read!! it's beautifully paced, action packed, and surprisingly accessible. I struggle with fantasy at times, but this was so easy to follow. Jacka's writing style just works for me. The story is clever, interesting, and engaging, and I couldn't wait to pick this up to see what was going to happen next. The author laid the groundwork for a fantastic series here.

And while I'm not usually one for a series when I have to wait months or years for the next installment, but I'll gladly wait on this one.

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

4.5 hearts

I am excited to have a new series from Benedict Jacka! I read a bit about the magic on his website before reading the book. It was short reading and gave me a bit more of a foundation for the story.

I like the main character, Stephen, who has some long-time friends but really no safety net in his life. His mother left when he was young and his dad disappeared two years ago about the time he turned 18. He has been practicing his magic but barely has time with his day job, doing laundry, paying bills, and so forth. He has a room and a cat named Hobbes. Stephen really wants a job in Drucraft or a way to pursue his magic full-time.

His dad had encouraged him to practice the magic before he left. Stephen thinks he might have been kidnapped as there was a car who seemed to always be watching and following. Now it seems a car is watching Stephen and eventually a relative he doesn't know asks him to a party at the family home.

Stephen goes as he wants to learn more about what happened to his mother and father. It turns out the family is very well to do. The main grand-children have everything paid a home, clothes, and magical education at the top schools. Over the course of the book, Stephen learns a lot about his family, why he isn't part of it, and works on his magic. He has to work hard to find trustworthy people to tell him things he needs to understand.

I enjoyed the process of learning more about the magic and the family as Stephen learned. Some of the things felt just a little like Stephen is a special snowflake but since he got a bad deal on everything else I didn't mind it. His information and education is hard won.

I loved how far he progressed and the skills he added. I am looking forward to the next book (in about a year!) as there is so much to learn yet. This is often the way with urban fantasy series; the world and characters are developed over the series. I recommend this new series and can't wait to read more.

I cannot believe how fast I read this! I picked it up before bed and next thing I know, it’s 11:00pm and I’m almost 50% through the book! So of course, first thing Monday morning (yay, weird holidays!) I pick it right back up and finish it off before lunch. This book was so addictive.
Stephen Oakwood has been on his own since his father disappeared three years prior, scraping by on a meager temp agency salary. His friends are all at uni or getting on with their careers at this point in life, but Stephen seems pretty directionless. It seems that might all be about to change when a young woman shows up at his doorstep claiming to know not only about him, but also his drucraft - a form of magic that draws from particular Wells - and tells him he’s actually a distant member of House Asheford. Up until he reveals he can create sigls, or the objects that give the magic its function, and since that makes him competition she instead gets her hired men to beat him up. Suddenly, Stephen is drawn into this incredibly dangerous world where he has almost no power in comparison to the wealthy House members and corporations that use drucraft and his entire goal becomes narrowing that power gap.
The author mentioned in the foreword that An Inheritance of Magic is an introduction to this brand new world and Stephen Oakwood, with the intent of writing a lengthy series. This did very much feel like a set up for exciting things to come, but I didn’t mind at all. We’re introduced to drucraft, Stephen, some very basic level of power dynamics amongst the wealthy and powerful, and even a mysterious, shadowy figure named Byron. This does feel like the beginning of what might be a progression type fantasy, but I don’t think the entire focus will be on Stephen ‘leveling up’ per se, more that he must inevitably get stronger as he learns more about his magical craft.
I’m very excited to see where this series goes after such a strong and entertaining start! I like Stephen’s pluck and go get ‘em attitude and Hobbes the cat was a delightful addition after he had a very rough start in the book. The book ended on a small cliffhanger (how will the character react!?) so I’m hoping I don’t have to wait an entire year until the sequel is released, though I suspect I won’t be so lucky. If you need more urban fantasy in your life, I’d recommend checking this out!

I love character driven fantasy and this one is very character focused. Stephen is a very sympathetic character. But while I’ve read many a villain none ever quite got me to the same instant **** you b**** as Lucella’s actions. I mean I’ll read book two purely in hate for her and the horse she rode in on. Any misery inflicted on that character’s head will have me cackling in glee. Sure, I want Stephen to succeed but more than that I want Lucella to suffer.