A Judgement of Powers by Benedict Jacka – Review

Published: November 4, 2025

Publisher: Ace

Series: Inheritance of Magic #3

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 343 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4 Stars

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

Synopsis:
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.

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A Judgement of Powers is the third installment in the Inheritance of Magic series, which follows Stephen Oakwood, a young man trying to carve out a place for himself in the magical world. Stephen finds himself caught between powers – a quasi-religious magical cult called the Winged and his own family in House Ashford. He’s trying his best to avoid truly committing to either group while maintaining his independence and a small living of his choosing. 

This series is much like Jacka’s Alex Verus series in that it takes its good ol’ sweet time in ramping up to anything significant. Much of the first two books was introducing us to the world, characters, and the magic while powering up Stephen so he can do something truly interesting. In A Judgement of Powers I felt like the beginning of the real plot was starting to take shape. Stephen’s conflict with the Winged, his strained relationship with his entire family, his friendships with Colin and Ivy all begin to really get to a point where something might actually happen. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I have the patience to stick with a series that could end up being quite lengthy. 

These are very fun books, but there is a degree of repetition and a feeling that the plot is being dragged out a bit unnecessarily. I just don’t know if I care enough about Stephen’s continued effort to make sigils to read four or five more books of this. Stephen is also a contrary little shit who continually turns down steady, paying opportunities so he won’t have to worry about rent and cat food. For someone so worried about being financially stable he sure turns down some nice nepotistic opportunities for no real reason other than they were offered by the Ashfords. 

Overall, I’m undecided on whether to continue with the series at the moment. I did have fun reading A Judgement of Powers, but I recognize the plot is going nowhere fast and with so many other series I feel more invested in, plus all the new ones coming out I may have to cut this from the TBR. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t recommend this, because I do think that it has a solid niche and if you liked Alex Verus you may very well also enjoy the Inheritance of Magic series.