An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka – Review

Published: October 10, 2023

Publisher: Ace

Series: Stephen Oakwood #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 336 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
Wealth, education, resources—some people seem to exist in a glittering world on a different plane from the rest of us. Almost as if by…magic.

Stephen Oakwood knows there’s a magical world hidden from view. Before his father disappeared, he taught Stephen how to create and use sigls to channel power. But unlocking the full potential of drucraft takes money, power, and training. All Stephen has is a minimum-wage job and a cat.

When a chance meeting leads to Stephen’s skill being recognized by a member of House Ashford, everything changes. For centuries, the vast corporations and aristocratic Houses of the magical world have grown impossibly rich and powerful by hoarding their knowledge, and for a brief moment it seems as though all of that is about to be offered to Stephen.

But this isn’t that kind of story.

House Ashford have no more interest in sharing their privileges with Stephen than they do with anyone else. What they are interested in is increasing their own power, and now Stephen’s been thrust into a world he doesn’t understand. To survive he’ll have to take his talent and build it up into something greater—for only then can he beat them at their own game.

---

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 Ashford. 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!