The Enchanter Heir

Ahhh, another book in the Heir Chronicles, after a few years away. How nice! This is a wonderful addition to the series and starts us right in the middle of some magical action, the Thorn Hill Massacre/Incident, where hundreds have died in mysterious magical circumstances. The new main characters are Jonah, an enchanter "savant" (kind of a hybrid and an outcast) who's a trained assassin, and Emma, also a savant but she's not really sure where her magical abilities lie--although she is a fantastic musician and a luthier (maker of guitars). She has had a rough life growing up without parents, is streetwise and loves to hang out in blues bars. He has a deadly ability that cost him his baby sister, racks him with guilt and forces him to show more stay aloof and mostly alone--until he is drawn despite himself to this amazing girl.

The two heroes' plotlines interweave nicely and there is a goodly amount of suspense, battles, dastardly wizardly acts and Guild politics. Music is a very strong thread woven throughout the story, as it is a deep part of both Emma's and Jonah's personalities, and that was a nice aspect of the book. There are wizard murders, Anaweir murders, and, oh yeah, there are Shades running around trying to claim new dead bodies to inhabit. Yes, Virginia, there are ZOMBIES in this book. And, coolest of all to me, it's largely set in CLEVELAND! In the Flats, where I had just recently visited for an event so I could totally picture the setting. Very. Cool. We also revisit Trinity, Ohio, and many of the major characters from the first three books play small but significant roles in this volume, which I found very cool. [Note to self: stop calling things cool! Find a thesaurus! Ack!] I love the humor, too, which is deftly doled out at just the right moments. All in all a wonderful book. But I really can't bear to have to wait a year or more for Book Five, sheesh! show less

I'm a big fan of this series and was really looking forward to reading this installment. It was a bit different from the first three books, not in a bad way, but it seemed more urban and gritty, which totally worked for it. The characters were harder and their foes were different, but that kept this book interesting. The characters were likeable and the pacing was good. The ending also set the next book up perfectly.

All in all, I enjoyed this book very much and look forward to reading the next one in the series.

5/5 stars.

WARNING: This is not a complete story! The ending is sort of like falling off a cliff with all the balls still up in the air. There is no cue about this to warn readers, no subtitle saying it's Book I or Part I or anything (and which title will continue the tale? Who knows?) A real cheat, as far as I'm concerned.

That said, the writing is crisp and moves the story right along. The two main characters are intriguing, as is the world the author has created. There is something of a flaw in that both characters are loners, so supporting characters are a bit cardboard, having little to do. There is almost no sense of either Emma or Jonah connecting well with anyone else (including each other, although the romantic tension is certainly show more there--a bit sticky, which made me roll my eyes now and then, but still intriguing given the supposedly insurmountable problem keeping them apart). It's pretty dark for teens, with a fair number of murders and some gore, but it's handled well enough. Too many characters float on and off stage without having any definitive part of the plot...my guess is they may be characters introduced in other books and presented here as some kind of continuity token, but that's only a guess as I haven't read other books by the author.

I will probably give this book to my granddaughter, but will definitely warn her about the non ending. I have nothing against sequels or series, but consider the Harry Potter books: each ends with the reader knowing there is more to come, but the major issues of the book are satisfyingly resolved before you turn the final page. The front of the book lists three other "Heir" titles but I feel pretty ambivalent about reading them, not because the writing isn't good or the invented world intriguing, but because I have little confidence the author will play fair in giving me a whole book to read. Are they all just chapters in a very long story? show less

I was turned off initially by the fact that this was the beginning of a new story, when I expected it to be book 4 of a 5-book story, but I think the story of the Thorn Hill survivors may actually be more interesting than that of the original trilogy. This book lacked all of the disorganized problems that made me dislike The Dragon Heir, and I don't even recall stumbling over wording the way I have in all three previous books in the series. Perhaps that has something to do with the author having written several more books between those and this one. The only real problem I had with it was that so many new ideas were introduced in this one that weren't even briefly hinted at in previous installments. I would have liked a little show more foreshadowing, especially to the existence of the Black Rose or the Anchorage, but I suppose she genuinely hadn't planned to write more than three books in the series when she started, so it's not necessarily her fault. show less

Well well, I just discovered that the book was very difficult to put down, and I really want to read more of Cinda Williams Chima. She has a gift for making things come alive. Even things that I have no concept of, like guitars, were vivid and interesting when described by Cinda. Also, this book is peppered with lyrics to songs the characters write, and these were very good. The Idea of magic gone mutant is extremely fantastic and the ideas of shades is fascinating.

Imagine my frustration when after reading the entirety of the book and then being given, essentially, the "TO BE CONTINUED...

This book was pretty enjoyable, but after the previous 2, it was a bit of a let down.

I really loved Jonah and how he behaved and handled things, even if they were a bit dramatic at times. Emma was firmly on the annoying side and she often did things that really annoyed me (like all of a sudden becoming a teensy bit obsessed with getting to touch and kiss Jonah despite him displaying clear "NO!" signals).

The story itself was a bit of drag. Nothing of note really happened (besides the opening scene, which was constantly referred to throughout this book, but not really explained or addressed). This whole book focused on introducing these two new characters (with minor appearances of characters from previous books) and this mysterious show more massacre that happened, but it felt like the author forgot to include any serious "happenings". show less

This one just didn't really grab me as much as the previous books in this series. It's been a while since I last read these books and this just didn't really catch me. In Brazil a mysterious massacre killed most of the adults, leaving some of the children alive but very damaged and with strange abilities, now they live in America and are trying to fit in, there's a ghost explosion and the adults are keeping some of the truths from them.

Emma loses her grandfather who brought her up and discovers her father, when she goes to him this brings her into contact with some of the survivors, including Jonah, who can kill all too easily. With the adults around them being distracted by other things can they find the truth before it kills show more them.

Interesting but it just didn't quite sing to me. show less