An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka: review

3/5 stars on Goodreads

An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka

An Inheritance of Magic starts a new series of the same name by Jacka. It’s set in present-day London where the world of magic called drucraft is semi-hidden from ordinary humans—though I don’t see how it’s stayed hidden, considering its importance to institutions like NASA and the military.

Stephen Oakwood is in his early twenties and without a direction in life. He’s had a series of odd jobs to stay afloat after his father disappeared a couple of years earlier, and affinity to magic. But without money, he hasn’t been able to do anything he truly wants, like trying to locate his father (his mother has left when he was a baby) or improve his skills in magic.

Out of the blue, a young woman shows up and tells him he’s connected to one of the important families in the magic world he knows absolutely nothing about. She needs him as leverage in an in-house inheritance battle, but when it turns out he might be more powerful in magic than her, things turn violent. It’s the jolt he’s needed to find his focus. Abandoning everything else, he focuses on his drucraft to be able to defend himself in case her violent thugs return—which they do.

This was a mixed read. I almost abandoned it at the beginning when it took its time to get to the point. It picked up pace and became interesting, if a bit action movie cliched, when a loved one’s (cat in this case) horrific fate pushed the protagonist to action. In a true action movie fashion, Stephen decides he needs physical strength and armaments in order to take down his enemies, even though he is told that he might focus on outsmarting them instead. What follows is the classical training montage. Only, it takes the rest of the book.

There really is no proper plot, just Stephen learning drucraft. At no point is he moving the story forward to direction he needs to go (the half-hearted attempts to locate his father don’t count); he’s only reacting to events. The plot about succession battle in the House Ashworth happens behind the scenes, and the entire book is preparation to something that never comes. Stephen is given a chance to best a few thugs, followed by a slap on a wrist by the grownups, and sent to home to sulk. And that’s the end.

Nevertheless, I persisted to the end. I liked Stephen, even if he was a bit of a sulky baby in his dealings with other people, especially women. His love for his cat made up for a lot. But I disagreed with his notion about what he needed. I never root for the strongest character but the smartest, and he’s never the smart one. The magic system was interesting with its limitations, and the narrative pulled me in easily. I might read the next book too, just to see if that one actually goes anywhere.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.