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.

“An Inheritance of Magic” by Benedict Jacka excels, creating a world with compelling worldbuilding and magical machinations that are truly believable. Just like in the real world, the rich stay rich and those without power or money must strive beyond their limits to make their way. 

One of the aspects I love is that Benedict Jacka sets the mysteries up right away in the first chapter. While it seems like it is a slower pace, that pace allows him to build a truly compelling world full of rich details and a premise that is authentic, especially set in comparison with the world we live in. If there is magic, the rich having it and maintaining their grip on power is truly believable. 

I also love the character of Stephen. While the character does have magic, he doesn’t have many special skills beyond anyone else so I like that the character is written as being determined and hard working in figuring out magic and how he can use it to his benefit, despite his disadvantages. I also really enjoyed his maneuvering into the world of the rich and powerful. While his journey is slower, that adds to the richness of the story and the complexity. 

If you like rich and compelling worldbuilding, full of details and a believable world where just having power doesn’t make you rich, this is the novel for you. The novel is complex, entertaining, and I definitely want to read more about the world and the characters as soon as I can.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I’ve never read Benedict Jacka before, but I was drawn to the cover and the premise of An Inheritance of Magic. The first in a new series (and a long one at that, if the author’s note and the length of Jacka’s prior series is anything to go by), it provides a solid introduction to the world. While it’s set in the modern world, it simultaneously hearkens to the past with its House structure, with a handful of these aristocratic families hoarding money and power. The magic system of drucraft is also interesting.
Stephen is a relatable protagonist from humble origins, whose mother abandoned him when he was a child. However, he’s magically gifted, and the questions around his origins, leading to the others’ interest in him. He goes on a journey, simultaneously learning magic and learning more about himself along the way.
One of the draws for me was the cat on the cover, and I was not disappointed. Hobbes is an absolute delight and constant presence.
While this book is very much a first installment, and it’s more world building and setup than anything else, there’s still some payoff to make this worth it. Along with the character growth on Stephen’s part, there’s some great plot development, and a pretty good central mystery connected to his origins and what happened to his mother, with solid twists and turns.
This is a solid first-in-series, and while I’m willing to check out the next installment to see how it continues from here. I’d recommend it if you enjoy urban fantasy, especially of the long-running series variety.

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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THIS IS HARD
I want to limit my comparisons between this new series and Jacka's previous series to just one section—but that's not going to happen. It makes sense, I suppose. It's Jacka's first non-Alex Verus book (other than the two hard-to-find children's novels), so comparisons are inevitable, but I don't want to turn this into an X vs. Y situation.

I will say at the outset, that if it wasn't for the name on the cover, I don't know that I'd have known they had the same author—so that tells you something about the comparisons. (except in quality—this is definitely up to the standards Jacka has established)

WHAT'S AN INHERITANCE OF MAGIC ABOUT?
This is tricky. The Author's Note at the beginning of the book tells us that this book is an introduction to the series. We are introduced to the world, the characters, the magic, and so on. Yes, there is a plot—a handful, actually—but the main point is for us to get oriented.

Basically, we meet Stephen—he's roughly 20 and is fairly aimless. He doesn't have the money (or, really, ambition) to go to University. He bounces from temp job to temp job, hangs out at his local with his friends regularly, takes care of his cat, and works on his magic in his spare time. It's his real passion, but he doesn't do much with it.

Then one day, some distant relatives that he's never heard of come into his life (it'd be too complicated to list the reasons they give, and I think they're half-truths at best, anyway). Suddenly, Stephen is thrown into a dangerous, high-stakes world of money and power—and he's just a pawn to be used in the games of his "family" (and by family, I mean people that 23andMe would identify as relatives, but he's never been in contact with or aware of for his entire existence). He's a relatively unimportant pawn at that. He's sort of grateful for that as he realizes it—but he'd have been happier if they never bothered him in the first place. Happier and with significantly fewer bruises.

However, through their machinations, he's introduced to new levels of magic society and ways that the magic in this world works. Best of all he finds ways that he can be employed and use his magic—the best of both worlds. Sure, his friends don't get it (not that he tells many of them, because he prefers that they think he's sane), but he's bringing in enough money to live and he's getting stronger and more capable.

THE WORLD AND ITS MAGIC SYSTEM
So, where the Alex Verus series was about one man and his friends/allies trying to navigate (and survive) the politics and power of the magical society in England (largely), at this point the Stephen Oakwood series appears to be about one man making his way (and hopefully surviving) the money and power of a different sort magical society—and it's intersection with the non-magical world. We're not just talking Econ 101 kind of stuff here—Stephen's family appears to be some of the 1% of the 1% and there are huge multi-national corporations involved here with defense contracts to governments all over the world.

Basically, Alex had an easier place to navigate.

Most of the magic that's used in this world comes from sigils—physical objects created from various kinds of energy wells (earth magic, life magic, light magic, and so on) to do particular tasks (shine a light, augment strength, heal minor wounds, etc.). There are likely bigger and better things along those lines (hence defense contracts), but that should give you an idea. The overwhelming number of these sigils are pumped out by some sort of industrial companies and are only good for a limited amount of time.

Stephen was taught (by his father, and by himself) to make sigils on his own—his are individualized, artisanal kinds of things. Think of a sweater you get from some hobbyist off of Etsy vs. the kind of thing you can get for much less at Walmart or on Wish—quality that lasts vs. cheap and disposable. He also reverse engineers almost all of his sigils—he sees something in a catalog (no, really, this is how people get their sigils for personal use) or in use and tries to figure out how such a thing will work and then sets out to create one.

I don't know where Jacka is going to go with all of this, obviously. But I love this setup.

ALEX AND STEPHEN
It wasn't until I was just about done with the book that I finally figured out what Alex and Stephen had in common—which is odd, it was staring me in the face for most of the novel. But before that, I really wouldn't have said they had much in common at all.

Stephen is our entry point to this world, and he only knows a little bit about it so as he learns, so does the reader. Alex pretty much knew everything that was going on in his world, so he had to catch the reader up—or he could help Luna understand something (and make it easier for the reader to learn that way). Stephen has to learn almost everything by getting someone to teach him, or through trial and error—either way, the reader is along for the ride and learns with him.

Similarly, Stephen's really just starting to get the knack of his abilities where Alex was already a pro—sure he had more to learn (and his power increased), but Stephen's not even a rookie, really when things get going.

Stephen had a loving and supportive father growing up, a strong group of friends, and experience outside the area of magic users—something we never got a strong idea that Alex ever had. Alex had trauma and hardships behind him—Stephen doesn't. So their personalities, outlooks, etc. are very different from the outset.

It's not really that shocking that the protagonists of two different series wouldn't be that similar. And yet...we've all read a second or third series from an author with a protagonist that's just a variation of their initial breakout character. So it's good to see that Jacka's able to make that transition between his two series—it gives you hope for what he's going to do in the future.

Oh, what did I finally realize the two characters shared? They watch and learn. Alex does it because that's essentially what his abilities were—he could sift through the various futures and decide what to do based on that. Stephen just doesn't know enough about anything so he has to sit and observe—and from there he can decide how to act. But where others will try to think first and act second, Stephen and Alex watch first—and for a long time—before they think and then act. It's something not enough characters (especially in Urban Fantasy) seem to spend much time doing. So I'm glad to see it.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT AN INHERITANCE OF MAGIC?
I am just so excited about this series. I didn't know how Jacka could successfully follow up the Verus series. I trusted he would, because he's earned that over the last decade—but, I didn't expect that I'd respond so positively so soon.

We need to start with Stephen's spunky attitude—with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder due to his circumstances in life (that grows to a degree as he learns how much he and his father missed out on and starts to guess why)—is a real winner. He's got a gritty (in an Angela Duckworth sense, not Raymond Chandler or William Gibson sense) outlook, is generally optimistic—and can even be funny—all the attributes you want in an underdog.

Then there's the world-building that I tried to sketch out above—and did a not-wholly-inadequate job of. I want to know more about it—and figure increased familiarity is just going to make me more curious.

I have so many questions about the family members who've inserted themselves in Stephen's life related to their motivations, trustworthiness (I suspect at least one will turn out to be an ally, however temporary), goals, and abilities. I have those questions about Stephen's guides and allies—and think at least one of them is going to turn on him in a devastating way (thankfully, he doesn't trust most of them completely). There's also this priest who keeps assigning him theological work to study. Some good theology, too. I don't fully know where this is going—but I'm dying to find out.

Are we going to get a Big Bad—or several—for Stephen to face off against? Or is this simply going to be about a series of obstacles Stephen has to overcome until he can carve out an okay existence for himself? Is this about Stephen becoming one of those 1% and the corruption of his character that will necessitate?

I'm not giving this a full 5 stars mostly because of the introductory nature of the book—also because I want to be able to say that book 2 or 3 is an improvement over this (which I fully expect). But that says more about me and my fussy standards than it does about this book. I loved it, and am filled with nothing but anticipation for the sequel/rest of the series. It's entirely likely that as this series wraps up that we're going to talk about the Alex Verus series as Jacka with his training wheels on.

I'm now in danger of over-hyping. Also, I'm going to just start repeating laudatory ideas. Urban Fantasy readers need to get on this now.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

I've been a fan of Jacka's Alex Verus series from the beginning, so even though I was sad that series ended, I was looking forward to his new work.

I was disappointed. It happens. Sometimes an author will have ones series I adore (Seanan McGuire's Toby Daye) and another that I'm lukewarm, at best, about (InCryptid). That seems to be the case here.

This feels more like something Jacka wrote early on, dusted off, and shined up a bit. The writing is not as crisp, the characters are largely one-dimensional, the bad guys are predictable, and, worst of all for me, there was animal torture. I don't normally give spoilers, but I will in this case. The cat makes it, but he suffers a lot unnecessarily before he does.

It's not a horrible book, but it's not what I've come to expect from this author, and I won't be continuing the series.

I received an advance copy from Ace via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

2.75 out of 5 stars.

There's a new wizard in London! I mean...drucrafter. Wait, what?

"drucraft—The art and skill of working with essentia. Drucraft consists of three disciplines: sensing (perceiving essentia), channelling (manipulating one’s own personal essentia), and shaping (the creation of sigls)."

Don't you love a book with a handy glossary at the end??

An Inheritance of Magic is Benedict Jacka's start to a new series. If you read Alex Verus, you don't need a recommendation. If you haven't, keep in mind this is the start of what I hope to be a 10 novels series... so it starts a bit slow, as we follow our new favourite wizard, I mean drucrafter, on his journey from a complete newbie to just a regular newbie in the field of magic... I mean drucraft.
Is Stephen Oakwood going to be of the calibre of Alex Verus and Harry Dresden? I think so, and I'm delighted to have a new Jacka series to anticipate for the next decade or so!

I really enjoyed this book, which was surprising as there wasn’t a whole lot of action, but a lot of character development which usually bores me. But I so enjoyed this main character and his personal journey of self discovery, that the lack of action really didn’t bother me.

I really, really liked spending time in Stephen’s head. He is a young man who is really struggling with all of life’s challenges, and really he just wants to belong. He was very relatable and such a decent guy, but he is also a bit naive. He is also the definite underdog in this fight, and struggling to figure out all of the puzzle pieces. When we first meet at the start of the book, Stephen is just getting by, and really has no time for working on his Drucraft, aka magic. He spends the majority of the book learning more about his magic, and in this way, we learn all about it too. All of this self discovery makes him a well fleshed out character that you end up loving and rooting for.

Stephen does have a pretty good support system with his friends who come to his aid when he needs it, especially Collin. I really liked Collin, who didn’t believe in Drucraft, but was willing to go along with and support Stephen. There are some other characters who also help him along the way, that were fun to see him interact with. I especially liked Father Hawke who made him read up on theology, before answering some of his questions. The best character though who supported Stephen no matter what was his cat, Hobbes, who just kept his spirits up when they were low and defended him when needed.

The story ends up to be quite a simple one, but the magical system is complex which bogged down the story a bit. Stephen spends the majority of his time learning how to use his magic better, basically with little guidance, and avoiding being killed. The author also covers lots of societal issues like class, worker exploitation, the working poor and how the uber rich have all of the power. All of this is done smoothly and works into the story quite well. The pacing is pretty steady, but does at times get bogged down in the details of Drucraft. Even with all of the descriptions and details given about Drucraft, I still came away from the story without a full understanding on how it works. It is one of the most complex systems I have come across, but really fascinating too.

This is one of the more enjoyable urban fantasy that I have read in awhile. It is a solid start to what I hope will be long series. I really enjoyed reading about Stephen and his journey into Drucraft and self discovery, and look forward to seeing how it continues in the next book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for providing me with an early copy. Below you'll find my honest review.

I'm really struggling to review and rate this one, as there were so many pros but a few big cons as well, so bear with me.

First, the good things: I liked the main character. I could relate to his struggles and his feelings of isolation and inadequacy. I also liked some of the other characters, especially the cat and the priest. I also loved the uniqueness of the world-building and the magic system. I felt by the end that I had a good grasp on it. I also loved the first 10% and the last 15% of the book.

Unfortunately, there were quite a few big issues I had with the book. It was a lot of world building but not much character building. Most of the characters felt underdeveloped and lacking depth. I also felt like the explaining of the magic system was a little repetitive, and in addition, from the 10% mark to the 85% mark, very little actually happened. Go Well hunting, build/try a new sigl, comment about needing money, repeat.

You know how Patricia Briggs started her Alpha & Omega series with a novella that felt full and complete, but was edited well and still built the characters and the world appropriately? I feel like this story was all setup without much payoff.

All in all, I like the world and the magic system, and I'll definitely read the next one to see what happens next and if, now that the world is developed, we get more out of book two.

Three stars. Recommended to fans of urban fantasy who like unique magic systems and rooting for the underdog. Not recommended for readers who don't like slow burns and lots of world building/quasi-info dumping.

"The super-rich control everything - including magic - in this thrilling and brilliant, contemporary fantasy from the author of the Alex Verus novels.

The wealthy seem to exist in a different, glittering world from the rest of us. Almost as if by...magic.

Stephen Oakwood 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."

All you need to start out in life is a minimum wage job and a cat.

Thank you, NetGalley and Ace, for my free digital copy for review.

The Inheritance of Magic is a contemporary novel that intricately weaves together magical systems with the protagonist's journey of self-discovery. The main character, Stephen Oakwood, faces significant challenges as an underdog throughout the story. Despite the odds stacked against him, Stephen embarks on a path of personal growth, marked by valuable lessons and missteps. While the narrative's pacing feels drawn out in certain sections, the plot twist aligns with Stephen's development and quest to uncover his origins. The pursuit of his missing father keeps the reader engaged, wondering whether he will ultimately join forces with Byron. The novel concludes with a tantalizing cliffhanger, leaving readers yearning for more.

https://youtu.be/M8xGy7kcNak

New Benedict Jacka series! From the author of Alex Verus comes a new urban fantasy!

#urbanfantasy #alexverus #inheritanceofmagic #benedictjacka

An Inheritance of Magic is a solid fantasy with an entirely engaging Everyman of a character who comes with an equally engaging cat. I could have done with a bit more clarity on the world the story is set in, and at times things seemed to come a little easily to the main character, but this was a generally enjoyable and interesting story, enough so that I’ll pick up the necessary sequel.

Stephen Oakwood is twenty years old and adrift in the world of London. His mother left his family before he can really much remember her, and his father disappeared nearly three years ago. Before his father vanished, Stephen promised him he would continue working on his “Drucraft”, a form of magic involving tapping magical Wells and crafting sigls. He hasn’t gotten much better by the beginning of the book, an unfortunate reality when his past (mostly a mystery to him) catches up to him in the form of a competition he didn’t know existed involving people he’s never met or heard of who have decided to make him a pawn in their highly vicious and possible lethal game, leaving a very confused Stephen trying to fend off abduction, attempted murder, animal violence, and more, all while frantically trying to scale up his magical knowledge and ability so he can defend himself.

The strength of the novel I’d say is Stephen high degree of relatability combined with his equally high degree of vulnerability. You can’t help but feel for him and root for him, this poor guy barely eking out a life small paycheck to small paycheck who keeps getting thrown into the deep end of the pool when he barely knows how to tread water and has no idea why he’s getting tossed in there by people who he assumed were decent people because he himself is. He’s a well-constructed, fleshed out character with a winning voice. Other characters aren’t as fully developed, but I’ll give Jacka the benefit of the doubt that this is less a writing flaw than a result of the way the story is constructed, thanks to how we’re in Stephen’s POV and not only does he only have brief moments with most of these characters, they’re all so secretive and move in a world so out of his own realm of his experience that at this point at least it wouldn’t make sense to get a full picture of them. Two of the characters may edge a bit close to cliché, with one of them pulling a “someday I’ll show you; I’ll show you all” moment (actual phrasing: “Someday I’ll be stronger than any of you! … You should have helped me when you had the chance!”), but at this point Jacka is mostly on the right side of the line.

The plot is pretty straightforward and mostly follows two tracks. One is a race against time as Stephen tries to level up, and so we see him tracking down Wells, practicing his craft and sigl making, trying to learn from more knowledgeable people, etc. If it were an 80’s movie we’d probably get a training montage. The other track involves the machinations of those trying to kill and/or use Stephen, and these proved most of the turns in the plot. The story is mostly well paced, though it can slow down at times while we get the exposition regarding Drucraft. The other, relatively minor but niggling issue I had with the magic system is I never had a firm sense of just how it works in this world. At times it seems like nobody knows about it (his friends for instance mock him for believing such stuff) and at other times it appears everyone knows (or should know) about it. I never felt fully on firm ground with its context.

A positive point, though, is the underlying focus on class throughout the novel. As mentioned, Stephen is living on the financial edge. His opponents, meanwhile, are three levels of uber-rich —literally in terms of money, but also in terms of magical power as well as political power. Stephen therefore spends a good amount of time commenting on the haves and have-nots dichotomy, as when he notes how a company involved in Well claiming exploits its workers who find the wells, or when he points out that while his first paycheck from them “wasn’t much . . . if you’ve never had to live with the pressure that comes with running out of money, it’s hard to explain just how big a relief it is to feel as though you’re pulling away from it.” He also does a nice job of explaining how if you’re poor, small setbacks have a snowball effect that affects the lower-class so much more than the middle and upper class. The economic theme adds a nice bit of substance to the novel.

In the end, the few issues I had with An Inheritance of Magic were relatively minor, noticeable but not ruinous or even overly distracting, though I’m hoping some of them are less noticeable in the sequel. Which, by the way, is a requirement; this book ends on a cliffhanger, albeit one most readers will see coming. A solid opening to a new series. 3.5 stars

An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka was amazing. I thought it was so interesting and very well written.

This was my first experience with the author Benedict Jacka, even though I had heard great praise about his previous works. This starts off with a hook that immediately pulled me and feel attached to the main character of Stephen Oakwood. I found him to be a very relatable character to me as the reader without him being overly explaining who he is as a person. The mystery of his parents is very well done and kept me interested in knowing more about the past as well as what he may do in order to discover what steps he would take. The magic was very visual and I really enjoyed the idea of utilizing it in a way that made it different and yet easy to comprehend.

The strength of the novel was definitely the main character of Stephen, as well as his cat. He is just trying to go about his life while deciding who he truly is. The cat seemed to have her own personality and it made a fun animal "companion" to Stephen. I think that there could be a lot more to be discovered in this area. The mundane world seems very normal, and yet the introduction of the magic felt natural, and yet mysterious at the same time. I did feel for the mention of the "wells" being rare and hard to find, they seemed plentiful and always exactly what the character seemed to need. I know that it was a characteristic that is expounded upon, but it did distract me from the narrative at times. Overall, this is a minor thing and the story is not harmed by it at all. I did feel that the disparity of the rich versus the poor wasn't really existent other than the fact that all of the other users seemed to have money besides Stephen. We see a brief glimpse of others, but it fades quickly into the background.

This is definitely an interesting start to what seems to be a promising series. I know that I look forward to discovering more about the hidden families and how they are dealing with the outside threats of what Mr. Oakwood is doing. It definitely made an impact and made me eager for the next installment. I recommend this book to those who are fans of urban fantasy, especially with a hidden world inside of ours, in a very interesting and satisfying way. I know that Stephen captured my attention. This could be a hidden "well" of a beginning, though it may take some patience for it fully fill up to it's promises. A definite slow burn that will keep a reader engaged and thinking for long after putting the book down.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review. As always, happy reading and Stay Great!!

Disclaimer: I did receive an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Alex Verus series is one of my UF favorites so I was eager to see what the author had in store for his new series. An interesting system of magic is introduced and explained and the main character, Stephen Oakwood, is somewhat similar to Verus in that he is alone and definitely underpowered when it comes to being able to use magic. I would have given the book 5 stars but for the ending, or lack thereof in my opinion, which felt more like the end of a chapter. I am eager to see where the next book takes Stephen.

8.5 / 10 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2023/10/03/an-inheritance-of-magic-by-benedict-jacka-review/

Much like the beginning of the Alex Verus series, An Inheritance of Magic starts us out with a minor—but potential—player, thrown in the deep-end of a world he does his best to avoid. Unlike the beginning of the previous series, this one is a bit more developed, polished, and refined. The concept, for one, is more interesting than what the author had before. Not that a world in secret like Verus’ was bad necessarily, it’s just not unique. From Harry Potter to Harry Dresden to Alex Mack and everywhere in-between, everyone has their own secret-world to hide in. Not so here. Drucraft may be a shadowy world, not talked about to mere mortals, but that’s because it’s hidden behind a massive paywall—accessible only by the extremely wealthy, those steeped in inheritance and tradition.

This seems (speaking as someone who is NOT super rich and likely never will be) actually somewhat believable. Now, I’m not saying that the super-rich in our world DO have access to magic, but if they DID, I’m DEFINITELY saying that they wouldn’t want to share it with poor old sods like the rest of us. Access to this club is exclusive, and if just anyone could get in, it wouldn’t be very exclusive, now would it?

I thoroughly enjoyed An Inheritance of Magic, though I did notice one or two bits that might discourage new readers, unfamiliar with Jacka’s previous work. First—while this does have some action in the first few chapters and gets rolling on the right foot, it quickly slows up the pace. We’re flung from the fire to the… warm-and-stuffy-place-but-one-outside-of-actual-combat. Here we spend a good deal of the story, as Stephen learns and prepares and readies himself for the final showdown. It’s not boring, per say, it’s just… a little slow. Now, I didn’t mind. Not at all. Particularly in debut or new-series fantasy I expect a step back to learn and explain the concepts, tools, and trade, before we level up and go in guns blazing with everything we’ve learnt. But for new readers: beware! There IS a learning curve, and the pacing that you find in the first few chapters might no continue for the entire book. If you’re a fan of the classic Dresden or Thompson urban fantasies, this likely won’t surprise you, but with every different author comes a new approach, and with every new approach, a different style. If you’re a returning fan of Jacka, this should be a great new series to sink your teeth into, but if you’re new to him (or new to urban fantasy), it might take a minute. But that’s okay, because this one is worth the wait!

This book was a very good start to a new series. I enjoyed the unique magic system, but I did feel at times the magic was very convoluted. I would become bored when a character would explain how things worked after awhile. One more complaint I have is I felt that the MC had long and repetitive internal dialogue that made me lose interest and I would have to set the book down and come back to it later. Other than those two things, I thought the plot was great and I liked the MC’s drive to become stronger in his drucraft.

What if your access to magic was based on opportunities and training? What if magic could be bought and sold and so only the wealthiest people had access and could control the supply? Magic in this world is known as Drucraft and is stored in Sigls which is something that is worn, such as a bracelet or ring or is held. I have not read the author's previous series, but I enjoyed learning to navigate the world through the story progression. The ending of the story is such that there is no doubt that a sequel is coming. I am looking forward to reading it.

Warning! This HAS to be the start to a new series because it doesn't resolve. It ends on a teaser (rather than a cliffhanger).

This was a ride from start to finish. I had so much fun and while it wasn't written as a comedy, I could not stop chuckling as I watched the protagonist learn and try to new things.

This was a really fun urban fantasy with a thought out magical system. There's the ordinary world and the magical world living side by side. Lots of players with various parts to play. Great tension and fabulous story movement.

I'm just sad that I won't get the next installment for who knows how long. This isn't labeled as a series but it really sets us up for a really good one!

While our hero gets lots of help from people, he's also very alone and lonely. He's been abandoned by so many. He has a set of close friends but we don't get a lot of time with them. The most frequent character that we get to see is his cat, who is very present.

Loved it and was so glad to have been given the ARC. Both ebook and audiobook should be coming October 2023!

I admit that when an author I enjoy finishes a series and starts a new one, like this author, I’m always worried about liking the new one and so put off reading it. I really shouldn’t have in this case. I started this and was immediately drawn in. In fact, I couldn’t put it down. Stephan is such a determined character, willing to do anything to protect his cat who is his whole world, and this cat is something else! Add in a whole new and very interesting magic system, and we are set to enjoy a probably better series than this author’s last one. This ended on a _very_ interesting cliffhanger, and I am on tender hooks to find out how this continues in the next one. Absolutely brilliant series opener: well-written, engaging, and remarkable. Highly recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.