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Magical Inheritance
Book of Sins: The Complete Collection
The complete, reedited Magical Inheritance collection, by Anya Merchant. Daniel Worth is an aimless college student struggling with classic problems. He’s got no girlfriend, no passion for his lackluster education, and he lives at home with his mother. Unfortunately for him, he also has incredibly bad luck, stumbling into the dangerous aftermath of a duel between a wizard and a dark sorcerer. Somehow, he makes it through the fight, and even ends up with a book full of cursed spells and a magical familiar in the form of an attractive (though centuries out of fashion) young woman. Daniel isn’t the only one aware of the reemergence of the Book of Sins, and he quickly discovers that it’s one of the most coveted magical artifacts known to man. He’s got a target on his back, and only through undergoing the book’s convoluted spell trials can he unlock the magical abilities he needs to defend himself. WARNING: This book contains explicit sexual content, gratuitous violence, and multiple relationships (centered around the main character). Reader discretion is advised.
633 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 18, 2018
205 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Anya Merchant
203 books246 followersTo find all of my books, including the ones which have been removed for sale by Amazon, check out my website/subscribestar, https://www.anyamerchant.com.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 27, 2018
I genuinely have no idea why this has such good ratings. There's three points which completely destroyed the book for me and pissed me off.
1. The MC is a complete imbecile. Not just stupid but completely brainless. It's his one defining trait. It's amazing he doesn't forget to breath. He messes up time and time and time and time again because of a complete lack of forethought, stupid actions and even more stupid decisions.
2. Plot points remain completely unresolved by the end. Characters appear then disappear for huge parts of the book before reappering in completely different situations with no explanations whatsoever and no resolution.
3. The ending felt, horrendous. I guess it's supposed to be some esoteric happy ending with a hint at resolution. To me it ruined everything up till that point. It made me as angry as no ending did in a good long time. It renders the entire book, all character growth, all events, EVERYTHING moot. It might aswell not happened. It made me loathe the author for having slogged through Daniels idiocy just to be served a steaming pile of shit as reward.
1. The MC is a complete imbecile. Not just stupid but completely brainless. It's his one defining trait. It's amazing he doesn't forget to breath. He messes up time and time and time and time again because of a complete lack of forethought, stupid actions and even more stupid decisions.
2. Plot points remain completely unresolved by the end. Characters appear then disappear for huge parts of the book before reappering in completely different situations with no explanations whatsoever and no resolution.
3. The ending felt, horrendous. I guess it's supposed to be some esoteric happy ending with a hint at resolution. To me it ruined everything up till that point. It made me as angry as no ending did in a good long time. It renders the entire book, all character growth, all events, EVERYTHING moot. It might aswell not happened. It made me loathe the author for having slogged through Daniels idiocy just to be served a steaming pile of shit as reward.
September 12, 2018
Normally, this is my rating standard. 1 star, I put a book down. 2 stars, I wouldn't read again and won't pick up a sequel. 3 stars, I won't read again, but maybe the sequel would move forward. 4 stars, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to a friend. 5 stars, I'll reread it, recommend it. In this case, however, I gave it 2 stars although I still put the book down and won't finish it.
The reason for departing with my norm is that while I can't make myself finish it, the book isn't that bad, it could just be better. It has no single, unforgivable flaw, but just a collection of minor ones that detracted from my reading experience.
First of all I should note I picked it up because it was free on Kindle Unlimited, and as I was knew to the subscription, and was looking for pulp fiction-like sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero books, this was recommended. The description indicated that it had been revised and collected into one package, so that gave me the impression of a somewhat established author and story.
Upon reading it is clear that it is a series of collected novellas about Daniel and his newfound spellbook and the familiar that comes with it. Merchant's revision doesn't do much to smooth the continuity between the individual books. In fact, the first distraction that really made me pause in the reading was the fact that "The End" is at the end of the first book. Next page, chapter 26. The start of each book thereafter attempts to mix in some exposition and a little progress in the timeline, but again, it causes a pause for the reader to do some chronological calculation to try to place progress in the story. A minor distraction, but they've started building by now.
The action, both the fighting and the sex are OK, but also suffer from some distracting aspects. When Daniel fights, it isn't clear whether he's particularly winning or losing until he does, then it isn't clear why. He's injured but in the next sentence executes a rolling tackle into a bad guy. When he does lose, it isn't because his body and skills were insufficient. Some punches he shrugs off, others collapse him to move to the next plot point. So now we have a few more things that make you pause and either consider how he's going to win, or pause and wonder when this fight is going to be over.
The sex has good detail though vanilla. Women perform oral sex on the hero, he doesn't perform oral sex on them. That isn't even discussed. While there is a level of intensity in the scenes, they don't align very well with the emotional state of the two characters in relation to one another all the time. And in some cases it makes the female partner very two dimensional, and makes Daniel look like his problem solving flow is: Female? Check. Not related? Check. Somewhere between legal and grandmother age? Check. Opportunity to get laid? Check...oh wait, no? Uh earnest conversation (if ally) or violence (if enemy).
Merchant's character development may be the most frustrating part of reading the book. The only attempt to really develop a character is in Daniel's case, and his inner dialogue with himself has little nuance. The other characters in the book are tantalizingly close to becoming real. The descriptions of sass and physical mannerisms show what the characters might be thinking and why they would react the way they do, but it is unfortunately always framed as response to interacting with Daniel. Any 3rd person narrative that Daniel isn't in (which I'm pretty sure are only exposition on the villains) add no value except to show how bad the bad guy is, but not why.
With all that I got through 75% of the e-book (I think into book 4 of the collection), and then just decided I didn't care enough about Daniel to watch him anymore, and not enough about the other characters to put up with having to watch Daniel. For the last 25% or so, I was even skimming just to find something interesting...a fight scene, a love scene, or a conversation that seemed to progress the story. But it just wasn't worth it for me.
If you are a fast reader, seldom pause to consider where the story is at, or are not willing to consider alternatives in your head (which is where headcanon comes from), then the things that combined to turn me off the book may not bother you. I think Merchant is a fairly skilled writer, but not a good enough writer to make me want to read one of her romance/erotic novels. But if another urban/modern fantasy were to pop up, I might consider it.
The reason for departing with my norm is that while I can't make myself finish it, the book isn't that bad, it could just be better. It has no single, unforgivable flaw, but just a collection of minor ones that detracted from my reading experience.
First of all I should note I picked it up because it was free on Kindle Unlimited, and as I was knew to the subscription, and was looking for pulp fiction-like sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero books, this was recommended. The description indicated that it had been revised and collected into one package, so that gave me the impression of a somewhat established author and story.
Upon reading it is clear that it is a series of collected novellas about Daniel and his newfound spellbook and the familiar that comes with it. Merchant's revision doesn't do much to smooth the continuity between the individual books. In fact, the first distraction that really made me pause in the reading was the fact that "The End" is at the end of the first book. Next page, chapter 26. The start of each book thereafter attempts to mix in some exposition and a little progress in the timeline, but again, it causes a pause for the reader to do some chronological calculation to try to place progress in the story. A minor distraction, but they've started building by now.
The action, both the fighting and the sex are OK, but also suffer from some distracting aspects. When Daniel fights, it isn't clear whether he's particularly winning or losing until he does, then it isn't clear why. He's injured but in the next sentence executes a rolling tackle into a bad guy. When he does lose, it isn't because his body and skills were insufficient. Some punches he shrugs off, others collapse him to move to the next plot point. So now we have a few more things that make you pause and either consider how he's going to win, or pause and wonder when this fight is going to be over.
The sex has good detail though vanilla. Women perform oral sex on the hero, he doesn't perform oral sex on them. That isn't even discussed. While there is a level of intensity in the scenes, they don't align very well with the emotional state of the two characters in relation to one another all the time. And in some cases it makes the female partner very two dimensional, and makes Daniel look like his problem solving flow is: Female? Check. Not related? Check. Somewhere between legal and grandmother age? Check. Opportunity to get laid? Check...oh wait, no? Uh earnest conversation (if ally) or violence (if enemy).
Merchant's character development may be the most frustrating part of reading the book. The only attempt to really develop a character is in Daniel's case, and his inner dialogue with himself has little nuance. The other characters in the book are tantalizingly close to becoming real. The descriptions of sass and physical mannerisms show what the characters might be thinking and why they would react the way they do, but it is unfortunately always framed as response to interacting with Daniel. Any 3rd person narrative that Daniel isn't in (which I'm pretty sure are only exposition on the villains) add no value except to show how bad the bad guy is, but not why.
With all that I got through 75% of the e-book (I think into book 4 of the collection), and then just decided I didn't care enough about Daniel to watch him anymore, and not enough about the other characters to put up with having to watch Daniel. For the last 25% or so, I was even skimming just to find something interesting...a fight scene, a love scene, or a conversation that seemed to progress the story. But it just wasn't worth it for me.
If you are a fast reader, seldom pause to consider where the story is at, or are not willing to consider alternatives in your head (which is where headcanon comes from), then the things that combined to turn me off the book may not bother you. I think Merchant is a fairly skilled writer, but not a good enough writer to make me want to read one of her romance/erotic novels. But if another urban/modern fantasy were to pop up, I might consider it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2018
Different!
Thank you Anya for such a different kind of book. It was very entertaining but did leave some things hanging. Such as what happened to Daniels sister, mother and a few others. It would be nice to find another story similar.
Thank you Anya for such a different kind of book. It was very entertaining but did leave some things hanging. Such as what happened to Daniels sister, mother and a few others. It would be nice to find another story similar.
May 8, 2019
Pretty good
Lots of sex, magic, mischief and moral quandaries. The MC is very relatable as some times he's likeable and other times you just want to punch him. Would definitely read a sequel to this
Lots of sex, magic, mischief and moral quandaries. The MC is very relatable as some times he's likeable and other times you just want to punch him. Would definitely read a sequel to this
July 16, 2020
Not one of her best
60 pages in, I had to stop. Boring plot, characters I would cheerfully kill myself they were so silly. When you don't give a damn about the story, you walk away.
60 pages in, I had to stop. Boring plot, characters I would cheerfully kill myself they were so silly. When you don't give a damn about the story, you walk away.
March 2, 2022
This a very different tale of a young man finding out about magic and girls at the same time. the MC is entertaing and the girls all very fanciable. As this is the complete series I dont know if there will be a sequel but it needs one if not the ending is a little poor. that said still an extremly enjoyable romp.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 19, 2020
DNF - Sadly I just couldn't engage with this book, though I might give it a go again in the future...
November 25, 2020
Excellent flow to the story, sucks you in from the beginning and makes you not want to put it down
Read
June 15, 2021awesome. great as always from anya merchant
August 8, 2021
Great book
It's a nice change to find an enjoyable one of series. I recommend this book to anyone that likes magic in the modern era type of stories.
It's a nice change to find an enjoyable one of series. I recommend this book to anyone that likes magic in the modern era type of stories.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews