An Instruction in Shadow by Benedict Jacka

I would like to thank Orbit for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Orbit

Published – Out Now

Price – £22 hardback £12.99 Kindle eBook

Stephen has emerged victorious against the schemes of his aristocratic family. Now he finally has the opportunity to do what he's been wanting to do for a long time: track down his father.

But doing so won't be easy. Stephen's not so isolated any more, but the contacts he's making in the magical world-everyone from the corporation he works for to the mother he's just beginning to reconnect with-all have agendas of their own. And now a new group is emerging from the shadows, calling themselves the Winged. Their leader, the mysterious Byron, promises that he can show Stephen how to find his father...but he wants something in return.

Following that trail will throw Stephen into greater danger than he's ever faced before. To survive, he'll need to use all of his tricks and sigls, and pick up some new ones. Only then will he be able to prevail against his enemies...and find out who's really pulling the strings.

Warning this is the sequel to the great An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka there will be some mild spoilers for that book

Fantasy is often said to be about people discovering the wider world, but I sometimes think it can make it look easy. Plucked from our lives how many of us would find battling evil and taking on the mighty powers of various Empires and other forces that easy to master? I am quite interested in the idea of stories that say the world is not easy and the challenges we face are going to be hard. I was very pleased to see this approach being Benedict Jacka’s In heritance of Magic contemporary fantasy series and the new entry An Inheritance of Shadow really delivers a thrilling adventure combined with some sharp observations on how hard life in the 21st century can be.

Stephen Oakland is about to turn 21 in London but his life has already shifted enormously in the last few years. His mother left when he was very small, his father vanished three years ago for reasons he was not allowed to share. Stephen is now aware he is related to the powerful and rich Ashford family that nearly all members of which scheme against for the role of heir to the Industrial throne. Many of which have tried to use Stephen as a pawn. At the same time Stephennis finding himself in the magical science/business of Drucraft being able to find invisible Wells of Essentia a material that can create valuable sgls – items that can change matter, life force, light and much more. He’s now on a retainer to find these before rival locators for a retaining fee but this is not a normal business and violence is not unknown. Now Stephen finds the Ashfords want him involved again, his mother has some secrets to reveal and a mysterious sgtranger thinks he can help Stephen find his father.

Jacka’s An Inheritance of Mahic has the rare honour of a story with a complex technical magic system that I loved. That is because the wider world we meet and the themes of living in our intensely tough capitalist minded world really rang true and I’m very pleased to say that while we get a great story of adventure, action and intrigue the themes also continue to be developed. If the first novel was how we try to find ourselves a carter in a world full of privilege then this story is about how we keep a job and try to fight back against corporate greed but with much increased chances of death.

Again Stephen is a key part of the book. I love this smart working class character who while knows he could suck up to his wealthy family and just play their games decides that’s not for him. The engagements are therefore much more complex - some of them we like, others we don’t know if we should trust and that keeps us on our toes. Stephen’s mother is a fascinating figure that explains the gilded cage the Ashfords all live in. While intrigue in fantasy families is not new I really liked how Jacka presses home it’s not new for rich and powerful families to horde power that I think we will find rings very true for what we see in 2025.

A big part of the story is also Stephen fining out how precarious job is. A simple sharing of a secret with a friend suddenly finds him frozen out of his locator role and this plunges Stephen into getting quickly cash short and needing to find out more like the shadowy underbelly of drucraft. A world of secret jobs, gangs and extreme danger. It’s a fascinating way to talk about how corporate culture has a scheming underside, is very ruthless to its employees and offers very little security. While few of us have to face guns and magic I think the messages of being in your 20s having to watch your bank account every day and not know if you’re working the next week will again chime with the reader and further makes this world feel real. But don’t worry it’s a lot more fantastical still! Stephen’s desire to be noble runs up with him finding a ruthless edge to get what he wants and this makes him a really interesting character who on occasion surprises himself extremely likeable but human.

The other big plotline is a mysterious man named Byron who knows apparently where Stephen’s dad is. This starts to add a more mysterious element to the story and much more danger. This feels like a bigger series arc but there are some interesting revelations about Byron’s group that suggest there is much more going on in the magical world than we suspect. My one issue with intrigue plots is that often they lead to people just staying will tell you more later and that happens here a lot but helpfully to interrupt things we usually get some magical action!

Threaded throughout are some key setpieces and Jacka is rather brilliant at making these come alive in Stephen’s narration. We get one on one fights, fights with amateur gangs and even professional squads. All filled with tension and flowing danger but enhanced by both sides having magical abilities. There is also one standout piece when suddenly Stephen meets a much more skilled opponent. A lazy fantasy tale would just have him win but this story actually underlines how much more Stephen has to learn and really makes this world feel much more deadly than we expected. It’s a glorious piece of writing and caught me unawares when it suddenly started.

An Instruction in Shadow really cements this as an interesting fantasy series not afraid to tackle subjects such as capitalism and the gig economy but wrapping it with a fascinating magical world full of action and intrigue. I really could not stop devouring this and already look forward to the next instalment. Very highly recommended!