Brilliant! I love the main character Stephen and his approach to life and the world of drucraft. He is managing to survive hostile situations, discovering talents he didn’t know he had, making allies and continuing his search for answers as to his dad’s whereabouts. Benedict Jacka really knows how to craft appealing underdog characters and to have his readers cheering them on. I loved this second in the series and am already craving the next one. Many thanks to NetGalley for an arc of this book.

A spooky, bewitching and somewhat ethereal read from a new to me author. The writing style was so captivating and I felt like I couldn't put it down for even one moment.

I am really enjoying this series but will say that this felt a little more like a filler book than I hoped? Lots of set up. That said, I still had so much fun in this universe and love getting to see more with both how magic works (as society / politics stuff) and more of Stephen’s friends.

The first book in this series blew me away with the energy and way magic was set up in it, and so I’m still really enjoying the series as a whole and really looking forward to the rest. Was just hoping for a little more with this one that wasn’t moving along lots of side stories without feeling like a main arc had happened? I know given the ending maybe it should feel like it did, but Stephen sort of ends where he starts so that’s why this one wasn’t quite as good for me.

Getting to see more magic outside of the families and corporations is fun though and really looking forward to where all the set up with the Wing goes. And we get a lot more with Stephen’s family which is nice, I’m hoping there’s more to come in book three. And the friends - love Colin so much, but wanted more from the rest, particularly the main two that he interacts with outside Colin.

All in a good follow up but really hoping all that set up pays off in the next one! 3.5 stars

I had intended to read the first book before diving into this one, to remind myself of the world all over again. But when it came to it, with all the self control of a sugar-hyped toddler, I simply tucked into this one after glancing at the excellent opening sentence. And then read most of the night, finishing it in one greedy session.

Stephen continues to be a compelling and sympathetic protagonist. He reaches out to his mother, which doesn’t go all that well for either of them. He doesn’t get the support, or affection that he’s seeking from her. Or answers to his questions about the circumstances around her leaving without staying in touch. However, his half siblings turn up evidently wanting some sort of contact with him, particularly young Bridget. His father’s disappearance is increasingly bothering Stephen, who not only is missing the main person in his life after his mother left, but is coming to the conclusion that he probably needs Stephen’s help.

Meanwhile, Stephen is continuing to do his best to keep a roof over his head and food on the table – an ongoing challenge in these times of spiralling costs and increasing bills. I found it refreshing that an urban fantasy tale set in contemporary London addresses the continuing financial crisis so many people are facing.

The action scenes are gripping and I particularly enjoy the interesting magic system and the way it is parcelled up and utilised for the convenience of the wealthy. Stephen has to rely on his natural talent and work very hard to construct defence spells that others born into magical families can buy off the shelf. It would have been all too easy for Stephen to appear as a downtrodden victim in the middle of all this misfortune and I’m delighted that he doesn’t. All in all, this is a thumping good read that I couldn’t put down. It would have been a solid ten from me if it hadn’t been for the very abrupt ending, which I found joltingly unexpected – one of the disadvantages of reading ebooks over the printed version. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this one and look forward to getting hold of the next book. While I obtained an arc of An Instruction in Shadow from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10

3.5 STARS

I really enjoyed the first book in the series but this second one… not so much. Mind me, I am still interested in Stephen’s fate and I will read the next book, and, all things considered, I am still happy to have read this one. But I don’t know why. This book didn’t work for me, and still… I appreciated it. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, I know.

First thing first, the plot is not advancing so much here. I mean, things happen, it is not a boring book, but plot-wise we don’t get some advancements, and things do not progress a lot. We have a lot of action, and we have more info dumps that help give us a better understatement of how the magic works here, but… we don’t see a lot of progress.
Mind me, I am not bothered by the info-dumps because this book has some progression fantasy vibes, and this is enough for me. But the first book has more in common with progression fantasy than this second one, and I enjoyed that one way way better.
Here things are more action-centered, and in general, it can be a good thing, but here you can make a drinking game out of it: drink every time Stephen is in a fight. You will end up drunk pretty soon!
It’s just that he is constantly involved in some fights, for one reason or another, and all these fighting scenes make the book move along, and they keep the attention engaged, but they don’t do a single thing for the plot.

And then we have the characters. Stephen is okay, and I like him, and I love Hobbes. We don’t see him enough, but I still love him. And that’s it. All the secondary characters aren’t really so good. I don’t actively dislike the Priest and Briget, but this is not a ringing endorsement, to be honest. And all the other secondary characters were quite unpleasant. Sure, some more than others, but still… I didn’t like them, at all!

So, as you can see, I have a lot to complain about, and I don’t have a lot of good things to say about this book. Mind me, it is not boring, the magic system is interesting, and we have a strong social criticism in this story.
It is constantly in your face, and I am not the biggest fan of this, but here it works, especially because the author pays attention to all the small things that plague people who aren’t at the top of the hierarchy, and his attention to this details is something that I appreciate a lot. So, kudos for this!
But I am digressing. It is not that this is a bad book but… it is not so great, and it seems to suffer from the second book syndrome, because it is like it exists just to take some space, to keep things going, but it doesn’t really add anything new. I am still curious to know what Stephen will do next, and how things will progress, and I didn’t dislike this one, even if I don’t know why, because honestly, it has all the right marks to be disliked (by me, obviously, not by the world in general!). Anyway, even with a lot of things to complain about, I enjoyed the reading (at least up to a point), and I am curious to see what would happen next!

An Instruction in Shadow is the second book in Benedict Jacka’s Inheritance of Magic series and follows straight on from the conclusion of the previous book. This is an urban fantasy series set in London in which magic can only be wielded via the use of sigls – the domain of the super-rich except for those, like our protagonist, Stephen, able to make their own.

If I were to nitpick, I might have preferred this book to progress the plot a little more in its own right. The author ends on such a cliffhanger that the book ends up feeling like an extended set up for the next in the series. But that’s a minor quibble. Stephen’s character and magical skills do develop throughout the book and we do get to see more of many of the side characters introduced during An Inheritance of Magic.

I enjoyed this book and am looking forward immensely to the next instalment.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, Orbit, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second installment of the Inheritance of Magic series and it absolutely lives up to the promise of the first book. Stephen Oakwood has continued to develop his skills in drucaft and also seems to have a knack for making enemies. His meeting with his mother does not go well however he does at least forge a connection with her and through that the rest of his rich and entitled family, the Ashfords. His estranged family on the whole continue to keep him at arms length, however he does have tentative friendship with Calhoun (the scion and heir) and his fiancé.
Hobbes, the enhanced cat is still a focal point in Stephen's life and accompanies him on his search for unclaimed wells, the location of which he can sell on. However the competition to find new wells is cut throat, not just to secure the finders fee but there are folk out there who want to drain the well of its energy for their own purposes.
After some ill advised loose talk by someone in his friendship group about magic, Stephen is suspended from his job. This leads to an obvious crisis of funds and so he turns to some off the books work which places him in danger, but also allows new alliances to be forged.
I appreciate that Stephen is not just hand fed learning, magical developments or money, and that he has to work for what he achieves. The fact that he is learning with no expectations of what might be impossible, leads to him creating sigils that have not been seen and to use what skills he has in an inventive, creative way.
This is my series to watch and I can't wait for the next book to land. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this ARC - all views are my own.

A good book, but again ending is mid sentence almost and a huge cliffhanger. I would have looked forward to the third book and for sure I would have read it, even if it ended in two more pages. I expected it will be same in middle of it ending like the first book, but I really hoped not.

Other then that it's a good book, same pacing and style as the first one, and the plot continues where we left it. I did enjoy the first book more, this one had a lot less about the world, though we do learn a few new things.

I look forward to the next book and I am very curious about developments at the end of the book.

An Instruction in Shadow is the second in this new series and after the events of the first book Stephen is just trying to keep his head above water and his job locating wells but then his douchey friend Gabriel opens his his gob and Stephen gets suspended. So to keep himself from sliding into debt he takes a job that’s not strictly kosher but not totally bad either, a boys got to eat. All the while shady Byron is still trying to seduce him over to the dark side and get Stephen into his secret organisation that he wont fully explain but will tell Stephen about his lost daddy if he joins. Also his estranged mother wants a chat so he’s a bit stressed, the poor lad. I really enjoyed this, I love the juxtaposition of the practicalities of trying to just live and pay rent and have normals friends to go down the pub with and all the mad magic, secret society, family dynasty chaos. I loved that Stephen had to reassure his flatmates that men with guns weren’t going to turn up again in the near future and then Stephen getting beat up by a psychotic cult member only to be saved by his bionic car. Fabulous.

Satisfying urban fantasy series. I really enjoy Benedict Jacka’s storing telling. I am always happy to spend time with his characters, his plots are engaging, and there is enough humour lighten things and keep me happy. The whole is totally believable fiction. I say this because book two in the series doesn’t move the big story on much at all. But that’s okay for me. We learn a little more about Stephen, the main character, and more about his parents and the extended family. A little more about the magic system being used. A little more about The Houses. There are little hints that things are going to continue to build up as the series continues. Next book please. Now would be nice. Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Benedict Jacka seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. This is a really good next installation and I'm liking the direction it's going in.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC, all opinions are my own.

I loved Stephen’s slow progress to gaining more power and being able to fight back against his enemies and being able to see more of the chessboard in this world now. In book 1, he was unable to gain an advantage because this was world was an unknown to him, in book 2, we see him becoming more confident and stronger- he learns to be more secure and he thinks more out of the box, finding solutions no one would expect of an individual that only recently gained more power.

I liked reading this book, I do wish there were more scenes with the Ashford family, Ivy, the priest, and the winged. They are the more interesting aspect to this story, Stephen’s interactions with these characters is always interesting. More of the Ashford family, for more political dialogue, with the priest as a mentor figure, Ivy as a potential partner, and learning more about the winged- for Stephen to deeply understand the world more.

Again, I thought book one was a perfect length, due to it being an introduction to the characters, world, and magic system- however I would have liked this book to be longer and with more action outside London.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, this was an easy read, it was continually entertaining, I would have liked more depth, but I can see the series potential to becoming exceptional, there’s all the ingredients, it just needs a special twist. I loved the cliffhanger, and I am excited to read the third book. We finally are able to move forward and take action for an issue that has been taking over Stephen’s life. This could definitely make the series a five star contender!.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I very much enjoyed the first instalment and the next chapter in Stephen's story did not disappoint. It is very much more of the things I liked in the first book, a rare combination of a fast paced read combined with a detailed magic system and worldbuilding. I look forward to the next book!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

This was an excellent continuation of the first book that threaded the needle nicely between continuing the world building required for a rich story environment and providing consequential action and character growth.

Stephen is beginning to operate more comfortably within the new world he finds himself while still being underpowered and vulnerable to many of the foes he faces. His continued growth and the expansion of his skills, arsenal, and knowledge form important parts of this book, and his creative problem solving leads to several satisfying mini-resolutions.

Several peripheral characters from the first book are given more page-time, and this helps with the world-building as explanations are well crafted and never come across as exposition dumps.

It is an enjoyable follow-up to book one that grows both character and world. The only issue I had with it is that I now have to wait until 2025 for the resolution to THAT ending