The Wizard Heir (Heir Chronicles #2)
by Cinda Williams Chima

I was a little taken aback when I first started reading The Wizard Heir because I was expecting a continuation of Jack’s story from the first book in the series. But instead we’re introduced to Seph – an orphan with Wizard powers who’s in desperate need of training. After yet another incident involving his uncontrolled power and the Anaweir (the non-magical), Seph finds himself in a boarding school that turns out to be much more than it originally appeared. At first Seph is thrilled to discover that there are Wizards at his new school, but he soon realizes that not all Wizards are good people. What follows is an action packed adventure, filled with suspense and surprises.

It took me a bit to really get into this second installment of the Heir trilogy, but once Seph crosses paths with characters from the first novel, I found myself completely absorbed. In addition to Seph, we also get to meet Madison Moss – another new character who quickly became a favourite of mine. Along with meeting the new characters, we also get to learn more about the characters from the previous novel, which made me like them even more and finally feel a connection with them.  Plus,  some surprising twists really add to the story this time around.

My one complaint with The Wizard Heir is that there are some errors in it… nothing grand but there’s a scene where Seph gets a drink and then later puts down his bowl (rather than his glass), and another where he checks the time noting that it’s almost noon, then he checks again a few minutes later noting that it is now noon. Then a few pages later he checks it again and it’s almost noon again even though some time has passed. These small errors don’t hurt the story, but they always cause me to stop and flip pages to ensure that I’m not missing something and that takes me out of the narrative. But that one small complaint aside, The Wizard Heir is an exciting and enjoyable read, and I liked it even more than the first book in the series.

*The Wizard Heir is my second book for the TwentyTen Reading Challenge.