An Inheritance of Magic

By: Benedict Jacka

Narrated by: Will Watt

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF containing the Glossary from the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio

©2023 Benedict Jacka (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"One of the most satisfying contemporary fantasies I have read in a long time; cozy and human, with some good fight scenes to boot. . . . an enchanting journey into a world where sorcery may be for sale, but agency is beyond price."—Wall Street Journal

"Benedict Jacka gives us a flawed protagonist but ensures we are always on his side. Stephen Oakwood has many strikes against him: absent father and mother, financial woes, dead-end jobs. But he perseveres in the face of danger and death, and he loves his cat. It's more than enough. Benedict Jacka is one of my must-reads."—#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris

"This first entry in Jacka’s (Risen) new urban fantasy series combines a coming-of-age and coming-into-power story with a fresh new take on magic. Stephen is a character at a crossroads, and watching him figure out which way to turn and how to amass enough power to make it happen will power the series. . . . Readers looking for a new take on urban fantasy, those who enjoy coming-of-age or training stories, and anyone who likes watching the rich fall will be delighted."—Library Journal

what a start !

what can I say but Benedict jacket can write. this is a great start to a great new series and I can't wait for all of them to come

Couldn't Stop Listening!

I'm so excited for the next book. The narrator is top notch. I swear I heard some Alex Verris in there though. :-) The setting feels new, and the magic is just different enough to seem unique. So good.

I”m hooked

Full of ingenuity and interesting characters. Love the sidekick Hobbs Can’t wait for the next novel.

Really enjoyed the story and world…looking forward to more!

Very much enjoyed this intro to the world! The story was a little slow in places, but that is to be expected. Definitely saw a bit of Alex Verus in here, even though the world is completely different. Ingenuity really makes a difference!! :)

Give me book 2 please!

Amazing new series, honestly couldn’t put this one down. I can’t wait for the series to continue!

Well written

Well written. Excited to listen to the next in the series. Lots of twist and turns that keep you engaged. Thanks you

Looking forward to the new series!

Interesting characters and magic system. Looking forward to the next book. Annoying villains. Annoying allies. And a cat!

Loved it!

I’ve been waiting for this to come out and wasn’t disappointed. Can’t wait for the next book.

Great start to new series, content warning

The main character (Stephen) is engaging and his situation in life is interesting. There's a lot of world building as one would expect in the first of a series, all of it interesting. I like that it includes issues that workers in low paid jobs face in a realistic way. The magic system is something Stephen is still learning about and we get to learn with him. It's not similar to systems in other books, very original.

One of the best characters in this book is Stephen's cat but he also has good friends and good neighbors (he rents a room) and he's social enough to meet new people and establish relationship in a way that doesn't feel contrived.

The narrator, Will Watt, does a great job though I ran into one of the issues that sometimes comes up with audiobooks while listening. All through the book I thought I heard the narrator pronouncing sigil wrong or perhaps using a UK pronunciation I was unfamiliar with but I was the one who was wrong! I read the author's AMA and someone asked about this. It turns out that the word in the book is sigl, not sigil, and the narrator is pronouncing it correctly! Read the AMA for a full explanation of the meaning of the two words.

SPOILERISH CONTENT WARNING below


Those who are very sensitive to animals being hurt might want to proceed with caution. Stephen's cat Hobbes is one of the best characters in the book so you develop an attachment to him quickly. But the cat is very seriously injured and, even worse, this is done deliberately causing the animal great pain. I found this so upsetting I stopped listening. I would not have returned to the book if I hadn't read anything else by this author. But because I had read the author's previous series I decided I could trust that this was not gratuitous, would prove to be necessary to the plot, and resolved in a way that was ... not sure how to say this ... emotionally acceptable? true to the story but not make you want to never buy another book in the series? Anyway, I did finish the book and my trust was rewarded.

The Narrator did a fantastic job!

I came here from the Alex Versus series, so I knew that it'd be a tough act to follow, but I thoroughly enjoyed this.

I thought that it started a bit slow, but once it got going it was a smooth ride, with some surprising emotional turns.

Besides this, the Narrator was VERY GOOD!

I hope they continue to give him the rest of the series to narrarate!

My only complaint is that now I have to wait till October to listen to the second book 😞