The Warrior Heir (Heir Chronicles #1)
by Cinda Williams Chima

The Warrior Heir is the first book in the Heir Chronicles – a trilogy with a new take on the magical hero. Not that a young hero who is raised outside of the magical world and then thrown into the thick of the battle between good and evil is in any way a new thing. But in The Warrior Heir heroes are determined by the “magical stone” they carry in their chests. In this way the story differentiates itself from the many other YA fantasy novels and series out there right now.

The story starts out in small town USA where Jack (our hero) has grown up his whole life. Jack’s life has been fairly uneventful aside from the fact that he had to have surgery as a baby and as a result is required to take a daily dose of medication. Then one day he forgets to take his medicine for the first time and things begin to change. As a new world opens up to Jack and his friends, they embark on an adventure to learn more about Jack’s family ancestry, but they uncover a lot more than they bargained for on their journey. When danger continues to find Jack at every turn, he must flee to England in order to participate in battle that could mean his freedom or a life of entrapment.

The Warrior Heir is a fast paced story, full of intrigue and adventure. The characters are likeable, but unfortunately aren’t very layered. There is some interesting back-story on a few of the characters, but we really don’t learn a lot about many of them. And while the first half of the story was full of surprises, the ending was fairly predictable. I was hoping to be wrong in my guesses of what was to come, but sadly I was pretty accurate. That still won’t stop me from continuing on with the series, as I enjoyed the story and am eager to see where it goes in the next installment The Wizard Heir.

Overall, The Warrior Heir was a fun read, and looks to be an interesting beginning to what could be a good trilogy.

*The Warrior Heir is book #4 for the 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge