Published: October 15, 2024
Publisher: Ace
Series: Inheritance of Magic #2
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:
The ultra-rich control magic—the same way they control everything else—but Stephen Oakwood may just beat them at their own game in this exhilarating contemporary fantasy from the author of the Alex Verus novels.
Stephen Oakwood has emerged victorious against the schemes of his aristocratic family. Now he finally has the opportunity to do what he’s been wanting to do for a long time: track down his father.
But doing so won’t be easy. Stephen’s not so isolated any more, but the contacts he’s making in the magical world—everyone from the corporation he works for to the mother he’s just beginning to reconnect with—all have agendas of their own. And now a new group is emerging from the shadows, calling themselves the Winged. Their leader, the mysterious Byron, promises that he can show Stephen how to find his father…but he wants something in return.
Following that trail will throw Stephen into greater danger than he’s ever faced before. To survive, he’ll need to use all of his tricks and sigls, and pick up some new ones. Only then will he be able to prevail against his enemies…and find out who’s really pulling the strings.
I’ve really gone down the Benedict Jacka rabbit hole since reading An Inheritance of Magic last year and now I feel like I have a stronger opinion of this author and his two series now. This series definitely skews much younger in terms of characters and perhaps even intended audience, but it’s just as fun and compulsively readable as Alex Verus. Also, I dig the magic system and the sense of ‘leveling up’.
This picks up immediately following the events at the end of An Inheritance of Magic. Stephen Oakwood has finally met his estranged mother and finds himself dealing with more rich extended family drama, a possible cult, and the continued struggle to pay his bills. His primary focus remains finding out what happened to his father when he disappeared several years prior and everything he does ultimately comes back to this, whether it be the need for money, information, or connections. The money (and his lack thereof) is a constant presence in the story and I would say is the secondary driver behind many of Stephen’s choices.
As I mentioned before, I really like the magic system in this story and it fits well into a corporate, urban fantasy setting where the rich get richer and the poor struggle to stay afloat. The wells of magic are just another commodity to be traded because so few practitioners can make use of them the way Stephen does. The whole business of securing wells, defending them, and the questionably legal raiding plays a huge role in the story progression. Sigls are something to be crafted and then sold in a specialty catalog. And the magic must remain a secret so those with all the power can maintain the status quo.
Overall, I enjoyed this second installment and I’m very curious to see where the story goes next. I am a little frustrated with the cliffhanger endings – always an interesting reveal and then WHAM, the story is over and I have to wait a year until the next one. That’s one thing I really appreciate about the Alex Verus books – no massive cliffhangers, but rather a nice episode of the week vibe (at least in the ones I’ve read so far). Benedict Jacka tells a fun, entertaining story and I would recommend this for readers looking to branch out into adult fantasy from the YA genre!
Powder & Page 
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