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Benedict Jacka Books in Order

Browse Benedict Jacka books in order, with Alex Verus and Inheritance of Magic reading guides, short summaries, series background, and where-to-start tips.

Last updated: July 2, 2026

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19 books

The Beginning

by Benedict Jacka

2005

Ignis and Allandra flee their cruel drug-lord father and stumble into Rokkaku, a secret ninja school hidden in a Welsh forest valley. Training is hard, but their old life is still hunting for them.

The Battle

by Benedict Jacka

2007

Two years into life at Rokkaku, Allandra and Ignis are sent on a mission that brings them back into range of their father. When their brother Michael reappears, they have to decide whether family means rescue, reunion, or betrayal.

Cursed

by Benedict Jacka

2012

A woman fleeing a construct assassin crashes into Alex's shop, leading him toward a forbidden ritual that drains life from magical creatures. As Council mages and dark mages circle, Alex has to work out who is using whom.

Fated

by Benedict Jacka

2012

Alex Verus can see possible futures, a useful gift in London's hidden magical world. When rival factions want him to open an ancient relic, his quiet life and his would-be apprentice are dragged into a deadly race.

Taken

by Benedict Jacka

2012

Alex takes a security job at a high-level magical tournament, just as apprentices begin disappearing across London. With Luna tied to the case, he has to expose whoever is hunting young mages before they reach him first.

Chosen

by Benedict Jacka

2013

Rumors say Alex's old master may be back, and a young adept wants revenge for the damage Alex helped cause years ago. To protect his friends, Alex has to confront the darkest part of his own past.

Hidden

by Benedict Jacka

2014

Anne has pulled away from Alex, then lands in serious trouble while refusing his help. As secrets close in and talk of Richard Drakh spreads through London, Alex has to decide how far he'll go to save her.

Veiled

by Benedict Jacka

2015

Needing allies against his returning former master, Alex agrees to work with the Keepers and enforce magical law. A routine mission leaves him holding something everyone wants, and suddenly both the Council and its enemies are on his trail.

Burned

by Benedict Jacka

2016

A Council kill order gives Alex only days to save himself and the friends marked with him. To keep Luna, Anne, and Vari alive, he has to cut ties, find allies, and risk becoming the kind of man he hates.

Bound

by Benedict Jacka

2017

Forced back under Richard Drakh's control, Alex has to serve the master he escaped as a teenager. Every task pulls him deeper into dark politics, and every choice threatens the few loyalties he still has left.

Marked

by Benedict Jacka

2018

Alex is tracking dangerous magical items released by Dark mages when the Light Council demands his help in brokering a deal. The job draws him deeper into high-level power games, where every compromise carries a cost.

Fallen

by Benedict Jacka

2019

Alex has power, friends, and a seat on the Light Council, but one investigation could strip it all away. With Richard pressing from one side and the Council from the other, he may have to become darker to protect the people he loves.

Forged

by Benedict Jacka

2020

Now hunted by the Council, Alex races to stop Anne, whose bond with a dangerous power is pushing her toward catastrophe. To survive, he has to outmaneuver death squads, confront Levistus, and fight on several fronts at once.

Favours

by Benedict Jacka

2021

Told from Sonder's point of view, this novella follows a seemingly simple burglary investigation after his return to London. Working with Caldera, he discovers a case that tests both his nerve and his loyalties.

Risen

by Benedict Jacka

2021

Alex's final battle begins when Anne falls fully under the control of the deadly power inside her. A fragile truce between Alex, the Council, and Richard Drakh may be the only way to stop disaster, if betrayal does not come first.

Gardens

by Benedict Jacka

2022

Four months after Risen, an adept thief named Daniel joins a job to steal a ring from a cabin in the Romanian woods. The payoff looks easy until the crew turns on itself and something in the forest wakes up.

An Inheritance of Magic

by Benedict Jacka

2023

Stephen Oakwood lives on the edge of a hidden magical world where wealth controls power. After House Ashford notices him, his dead-end life turns dangerous, and he has to build real strength fast.

An Instruction in Shadow

by Benedict Jacka

2024

With one family crisis behind him, Stephen finally has a lead on his missing father. Following it means dealing with secretive allies, the shadowy Winged, and bargains that could pull him deeper into a dangerous world.

A Judgement of Powers

by Benedict Jacka

2025

A year later, Stephen has new leverage and new enemies. Pressured by the Winged and working as Calhoun Ashford's bodyguard through a string of assassination attempts, he has to uncover the truth about his gift before others decide his future.

Where should I start?

If you want his signature London urban fantasy: FatedCursedTakenChosen
If you want the newer magic system and class tension: An Inheritance of MagicAn Instruction in ShadowA Judgement of Powers
If you want the younger-reader martial arts adventure: The BeginningThe Battle

Author bio

Benedict Jacka was born in London in 1980 and grew up there. He has said that he started writing at eighteen, while sitting in the library at the City of London School, meant to be doing schoolwork and instead jotting down story notes in the back of an exercise book.

That moment stuck. He kept writing through his years at Cambridge University, where he studied philosophy, and by the time he graduated he had not only finished more manuscripts but also found an agent, Sophie Hicks.

It did not happen quickly.

Jacka's first three completed novels were children's fantasies, and none of them were published. The book that finally got him into print was To Be a Ninja, later reissued as Ninja: The Beginning, a younger-reader adventure influenced in part by the time he spent practicing ninjutsu while he was at Cambridge. A sequel, The Battle, followed, and those early books already show some of the things that would later define his work: clean action, practical problem-solving, and characters who survive by thinking fast.

Before writing became his full-time career, he worked a run of very different jobs. He spent time in the Civil Service, taught English in England and Romania, did six months of full-time teaching in China, worked as a bouncer in North London, and later went back to college for legal training as he worked toward becoming a solicitor. It is an unusual list, and it helps explain why even his fantasy novels tend to feel tied to ordinary working life.

Then came Alex Verus.

With Fated, Jacka introduced a London diviner who runs a magic shop and survives mostly by seeing possible futures a little sooner than everyone else. Readers who click with the series often like the tactical magic, the quick pace, and Alex himself, a decent man with a bad history and no clean options. Books such as Taken, Burned, and the finale Risen widen that setup into a much larger struggle over loyalty, power, and what it costs to protect the people you care about.

Jacka's newer series, beginning with An Inheritance of Magic and continuing with An Instruction in Shadow, stays in contemporary fantasy but shifts the focus. Its lead, Stephen Oakwood, is younger, poorer, and shut out of a magical system controlled by rich families and corporations. The appeal is a little different too: training, class pressure, family secrets, and the slow work of building power when the game is rigged.

Across both major series, Jacka keeps coming back to hidden Londons, rule-based magic, uneasy bargains, and protagonists who have to decide what they are willing to become. He has said that London is the place he always comes back to, and that feels true on the page. He still writes regularly about his work, and a 2023 update to his site introduced readers to Hector, his Bengal cross writing companion, which is a small but very Jacka-like detail.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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