The Warrior Heir [Hardcover]

Cinda Williams Chima (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

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 the head of this magical society sit 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 magical 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.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9–An apparently ordinary 16-year-old boy turns out to have magical powers that make him a target of a covert society of wizards, enchanters, and warriors called the Weir. Jack's small-town world in Ohio begins to unravel when he starts to unleash unintentional bursts of wizardry. When he recovers a powerful sword from an ancestor's grave, he begins to realize how different he really is. A battle with a wizard and some magic-laced conflicts at his high school keep the pages turning while the truth about Jack's destiny slowly emerges. The scene switches to Great Britain, where he learns that he must participate in a duel to the death against a mysterious opponent. Many details about the Weir are initially hidden from readers, as well as from Jack, so the gradual revelations about the society are involving and often surprising. Jack makes a fairly convincing hero. He is disbelieving at first and reluctant throughout, but ultimately finds a way to utilize his new powers without sacrificing his honor or basic decency. An appealing mixture of supporting characters includes relatives with various magical abilities, a couple of nonmagical but loyal friends, and an engaging assortment of villains. Occasional plot developments are unconvincing, as when Jack's protective aunt, an enchanter, takes him straight into the clutches of a wizard who clearly wants the young warrior in her power. For the most part, though, the teen's unavoidable involvement in the intricate world of the Weir is suspenseful and entertaining.–Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-11. Sixteen-year-old Jack forgets to take his medicine one morning, and by afternoon is filled with such strength he sends his rival, Garrett Lobeck, sailing into the net at soccer tryouts--without even touching him. Jack soon discovers he is no ordinary teen and his medicine is not what he thought it was. Since the secret insertion of a warrior stone in his chest at infancy, Jack has been dosed with a suppressant designed to hold his powers as a Warrior Heir in check until his wizard sponsor can retrieve him and prepare him to fight in a death tournament for supremacy. With the aid of an aunt, old and new friends, and a magical sword, Jack fights to retain his identity and choose his own path. The magical elements of the story aren't adequately set up, and some necessary details seem hastily inserted, while others are left hanging. Together with loose, occasionally redundant plotting, this is a book for avid, forgiving fantasy readers--particularly those for whom an intriguing premise is enough to keep them involved. Holly Koelling
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; First Edition edition (April 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786839163
• ISBN-13: 978-0786839162
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #892,627 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima began writing romance novels in middle school, which were often confiscated by her teachers. Her Heir Chronicles young adult contemporary fantasy series includes The Warrior Heir (2006), The Wizard Heir (2007), and The Dragon Heir (2008), all from Hyperion, with two more books forthcoming.
Chima's YA high fantasy Seven Realms series launched with The Demon King (2009), followed by The Exiled Queen (September, 2010) with The Gray Wolf Throne scheduled for fall, 2011.
Chima's books have received starred reviews in Kirkus and VOYA, among others. They have been named Booksense and Indie Next picks, an International Reading Association Young Adult Choice, to the Kirkus Best YA list, and the VOYA Editors' Choice, Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, and Perfect Tens lists.
Chima was a recipient of the 2008 Lit Award for Fiction from the Cleveland Lit and was named a Cleveland Magazine Interesting Person 2009. She lives in Ohio with her family, and is always working on her next novel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a great mix of relationships, historical references, action and suspense, June 21, 2006

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Warrior Heir (Hardcover)

Jackson Swift (Jack) has always had a normal life in the small college town of Trinity, Ohio. The only difference between the 16-year-old and his fellow classmates has been the star-shaped scar on his chest and the medicine he is required to take daily. Strange events begin to take place, however, after Jack forgets to take his medicine one day. When a rival named Garrett Lobeck tries to start a fight with Jack during soccer tryouts, Jack defends himself --- sending Lobeck flying across the soccer field.

Then his strange but cool Aunt Linda pays an unexpected visit to Jack and his mother, Becka. Aunt Linda decides to take her nephew/godson on a road trip to look up some of their family's genealogy. Jack invites his loyal friends Will and Fitch to join the expedition. What is supposed to be a tedious fact-finding mission turns into a dangerous game of cat and mouse, when the three guys discover that Linda is being stalked by a man looking to steal a family heirloom. Jack suspects that there is more to his aunt's story, but decides to help her locate the sought-after heirloom. The three friends get more than they bargain for during a night of digging around an old cemetery when they are attacked shortly after Jack uncovers a medieval sword that contains remarkable powers.

The road trip changes everything for Jack, and the truth about his heritage is slowly revealed. His Aunt Linda is an Enchanter and Jack is Weirlind, a member of an underground society of magical people that has been ruled by the feuding wizarding houses of the Red Rose and the White Rose for centuries. The feuding houses determine who rules the Weir and its magical artifacts by playing the Game, a deadly tournament in which each house sponsors a Warrior to fight for their supremacy. Unfortunately for Jack, he is unique even by Weir standards and is a prime target as each of the houses scout for a new player by any means necessary. Fortunately for Jack he has some help on his side, which includes his old friend, the knowledgeable caretaker Nicodemus Snowbeard, and the mysterious new assistant principal Mr. Hastings, who teaches Jack the ways of the Weir and how to use the powerful sword called Shadowslayer as defense against known and unforeseen enemies.

Soon Jack is off to England, where he is thrown into a high-stakes chase from Dr. Jessamine Longbranch --- a wicked person who helped saved his life years before ---- and the Roses. Perhaps the most daunting challenge of all for Jack will be remembering who he really is underneath it all.

THE WARRIOR HEIR is a thrilling fantasy set in the 21st century that seems to be different from some of the other wizard stories out there. While I did wish that the novel contained further information about the Weir and that some of the mentioned characters of Jefferson Street were included in the storyline a bit more, I did find the book to have a great mix of relationships, historical references, action (at times gory) and suspense. I would suggest having an extra copy on hand because you might find it disappearing temporarily from your bookshelf once your family and friends see it.

And good news for fans of the book: There is rumored to be a sequel to THE WARRIOR HEIR tentatively titled THE WIZARD HEIR.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle ([e-mail])

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Tale of a Warrior, August 26, 2006

By 

Tamela Mccann "taminator40" (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Warrior Heir (Hardcover)

Jack, a former heart patient, is simply living his rather normal teenage life until the one day he forgets to take his medicine. Suddenly he discovers he has a strength he didn't know he possessed, but worse than that, others who have been searching for him now know where he lives and they are coming for him. It turns out that Jack is a warrior, though born a wizard, and many wizards are now looking for him so that he can take part in a gladiator style fight for supremacy in the wizarding world. His aunt Linda tries to protect him but eventually it becomes apparent that Jack must fight, or spend his life running and hoping not to be killed.

This is a good story, with plenty of exciting moments and lots of interesting characters who are either intent on helping Jack or destroying him. However, there are a few problems that keep the story from being truly riveting. The different classes of sorcerers, enchanters, wizards, and warriors are never fully explained, and the rather optimistic ending just seemed a little too pat. Overall this is a good fantasy, but with a bit of editing and the addition of some explanations, this could have been a great one. Still, it should enthrall its target audience, and can be recommended for fans of the genre.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars don't think Potter..., March 24, 2006

By 

S. C. Powell (Puget Sound, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Warrior Heir (Hardcover)

A fun little book, I was lucky to read an advance copy, and it's a good story. Wizards are a big part of this, but stop thinking about that Potter boy and enjoy the world created here. I'd give this three and a half stars. It took a bit of time to work through the five classes of the Wier. and they are not well represented, two are only mentioned in passing it seems.

But, YES, I would like to read more about Jack and the aftermath of this book.