Review: A Judgement of Powers

A Judgement of Powers by Benedict Jacka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book 3 in the Inheritance of Magic series and looks like there are a few more to come.

Stephen Oakwood is just an ordinary young man living in Plaistow, London. He just happens to be one of the people who can use magic (Drucraft). His mother left when he was small, his father disappeared when he was a teenager. Since then he's been surviving on low-paying monotonous jobs, scraping enough to pay his rent and feed his cat.

Then he discovered his mother is the daughter of Charles Ashford, head of House Ashford. Charles can bequeath the House to whoever he chooses as his heir and there is fierce (deadly) competition between his grandchildren for that privilege. Apparently Stephen could be in the running, if Charles didn't seem to hate him.

Anyway, Stephen is perfecting his Drucraft, trying to get together a team of raiders to drain C+/B class magic wells without being caught, whilst also acting as quasi-bodyguard for the Ashford heir, his cousin Calhoun.

Meanwhile a group calling themselves the Winged are alternatively trying to recruit or kill Stephen.

It seems like Stephen might have three choices: join House Ashford; join the Winged; or go it alone ...

I am enjoying this series but I also feel it has very similar vibes to Benedict's Alex Verus series, where Alex started out as a nobody and gradually became inveigled into politics and warring factions, forced to pick a side (surprise he chose his own). But hey, this is clearly a middle book and they progress the arc while not resolving much.

I received an ARC from the publisher.

View all my reviews