As a child I absolutely loved reading fantasy novels, but for some reason I've strayed away from the genre. When I saw that the book club Booksplosion was hosting a read-along for the first book in the Heir Chronicles series by Cinda Williams Chima, I decided to pick up The Warrior Heir and join in on the fun.The Warrior Heir is a young adult fantasy novel that follows our main character Jack. The book opens with a mysterious prologue that gives us a glimpse into a magical world, but then jumps forward to Jack's high school life. He's lived as a normal teenager, but one day he forgets to take his medicine and weird things start happening. It turns out Jack is a member of a magical world, and readers follow him as he adapts to his new status.
There were several aspects of The Warrior Heir that I really enjoyed, but unfortunately the story was very slow going for me, and I felt like the world-building took a long time to develop. For much of the book, I was quite confused and wished I had more of a setting for the story. Similarly, I found the story hard to believe. Yes, it is a fantasy novel, but as the story begins Jack is still a normal kid at a normal high school. He and his friends do some crazy things no questions asked, and that annoyed me. However, I did like Jack's relationships with his friends and his Aunt Linda, and I thought the book ended well.
That said, I don't think I will continue on in this series. The Heir Chronicles is a companion series, which means that each book follows a different main character. I would love to hear more about Jack and how his life develops after The Warrior Heir, but I'm not interested in other characters in this world.
I rated The Warrior Heir a solid three stars on Goodreads. While the story was innovative and ended well, the book was just too slow in its world building for me to rate it any higher. If you really love fantasy, especially those with magic, I think you would enjoy this book. On the other hand, if you are looking to break into the fantasy genre, I don't think this is a great series for you. You can purchase The Warrior Heir on Amazon HERE. As always, please let me know your thoughts on this book in the comments!
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