Book Review: The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

Title: The Warrior Heir (The Heir Chornicles #1)

Author: Cinda Williams Chima

Publisher:  Hyperion Paperbacks (April 1, 2007)

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 426

Synopsis from Goodreads:

An epic battle between good and evil…

Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity. Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high schoolers. Then one day Jack skips his medicine. Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. And it feels great – until he loses control of his own strength and nearly kills another player during soccer team tryouts

Soon, Jack learns the startling truth about himself: he is Weirlind, part of an underground society of magical people who live among us. At their helm sits the feuding houses of the Red Rose and the White Rose, whose power is determined by playing The Game – a magical tournament in which each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death. The winning house rules the Weir.

As if his bizarre heritage isn’t enough, Jack finds out that he’s not just another member of Weirlind – he’s one of the last of the warriors – at a time when both houses are scouting for a player.

 *Warning: Might contain some spoilers*

If I would ever have to pick a theme of a book that I could read on forever, that would be anything which can involve magic. Thank goodness I found a book that perfectly fit my cravings. Cravings which are namely, wizards, spells, fantastic powers, and adventures!

I’m so glad to have found a book that can fit my cravings in a novel. I think the very last time that I had such a great great time reading was when I got into the Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas. Now, stumbling into The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima felt like rain after months of drought. I am so in the mood for high fantasy books lately. I have to say that TWH exceeded my expectations as a reader.

As I dove into the story, my initial thought was that this story is going to be so slow. I was also thinking how typical it is to start a novel with a set of family being murdered (oops!). Then, the only survivor of that unfortunate event would seek revenge.

After prologue, we are introduced to Jackson Downey Swift’s world. When he was born, he had little chance of living due to his heart anomaly. His Aunt Linda, sought the help of Jessamine, a heart surgeon, to save his life. Ever since then, Jack pretty much had a normal life until the day that he forgot to take his medicine.

Well, that was the start that I have been looking for. From that, I was so intrigued what’s with Jack  previous heart surgery. So what if he forgot to take his medicine? Although I was really curious about the plot, I must admit that some parts of the book were predictable.

It took time for me to get used to the new terms in this particular magical world and how the system of this world works. Reading such stuff really gave me a fantastic time. I enjoyed everything. I really admired Jack’s friendship with Will and Fitch. They are indeed the most loyal friends. I didn’t really shipped Jack and Ellen together but whatever. There’s no other available girl for Jack. Just kidding 😉 Nick Snowbeard kind of reminded me of Dumbledore. Maybe because I was imagining him as an old aged man who’s got a long white beard and lots of wisdom.

Which characters do I ship then? That would would be Linda and Hastings. Gosh, I think they are really adorable. They got this like-hate thing going on. I mean they had a past. There must still be an old flame between them waiting to be rekindled. I’m really hoping they would end up. An enchantress and a warrior would really make a cool couple.

Overall, The Warrior Heir is such an epic way to start a series. I’ve read so many good things about the succeeding books in the series. I am looking forward to reading the next books. I know they will be like companion novels but I am really really curious as to what will happen next.