An Instruction in Shadow

By: Benedict Jacka

Narrated by: Will Watt

The ultra-rich control magic—the same way they control everything else—but Stephen Oakwood may just beat them at their own game in this exhilarating contemporary fantasy from the author of the Alex Verus novels.

Stephen Oakwood 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.


* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF that contains the glossary from the book.

Critic reviews

“The new magic system introduced in this series, which began with An Inheritance of Magic, continues to fascinate, and the stories will remind readers of classic urban fantasies (such as the “Dresden Files” series from Jim Butcher), as Stephen’s world gets more dangerous and he powers through each setback by learning bigger and better magic and paying a higher price each and every time.”—Library Journal

"[A] dense, pulse-pounding fantasy adventure."—Publishers Weekly

"A fantastic follow-up to the previous book. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite new series, especially in the urban fantasy genre. If you want to explore a new magic system in a world filled with political intrigue, then you should check out this series."—Game Vortex

Praise for An Inheritance of Magic
"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. . . . Benedict Jacka is one of my must-reads."—#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris

"A captivating, compelling story."—SFX Magazine

"Jacka has drawn a potent new world of magic controlled by a privileged few, and Stephen Oakwood is the sigl-wielding rebel we didn’t know we needed."—New York Times bestselling author Chloe Neill

"A world of magic usually known only to the rich and powerful is put to the test in the page-turning urban fantasy that launches an intriguing new series. . . . There's lots of promise to this eat-the-rich world. Readers will be eager to see where things go next."—Publishers Weekly

Short, Simple, and Personal

This book picks up directly after the first one, and is a pretty seamless continuation of the story. We get more on the mysterious organization, glimpses into the politics of the Ashfords, and a few hard lessons in the "shadow" politics going on behind the scenes in the world of Drucraft.

As with the first one, most of the focus is on Stephen trying to survive - get money, learn sigls, and in the background of it all, find his father. Once again, the character work is quite good, as is the magic. Stakes are believable and intense, even while being so small scale. Some things start to become clearer, but as the title suggest, the arc in this book is more of an introduction that anything. Much is set up, more is hinted at, and Stephen comes a little more into his own, but it will be quite a while before we even see hints of the conclusion to this story.

Overall, I highly recommend.

Characters continue to be intriguing

Yes, I liked it and cannot wait to read the next book. Mr Jacka, more please (and fast).

good but over too fast

I like your story the characters are great it just ended too soon. hope the next one is longer. hate waiting for the next story but it's the price you pay for reading a great series.
keep writing and I'll keep reading them

Excellent second addition to this series

I absolutely love the realistic, down to earth nature of Stephen (MC). This poor kid has been chewed to bits by the powerful people in his life, but he hasn’t given up. Watching his skills grow has been amazing and I look forward to seeing him discover the truth about his potential and his decision about what to finally do with his Power.

Hair pulling

This probably deserves an overall of 3/5 but I was entertained. The plot goes functionally nowhere over the nearly 10 hours. Makes some interesting points about the frustration of modern life and the possible causes of it. The MC makes mind numbing decisions, and is constantly changing tactics. I guess it’s realistic for a 21 year old, but it’s just annoying most of the time. He doesn’t call on resources well, the sigles he designs are mostly useless throughout the book. I think what frustrated me the most was feeling like I was reading Alex Verus again, but without the individual plots of the books. Stuff happens in this story, but very little develops. I’ll probably give the series one more go, but finished this one feeling very unsatisfied.