A Review of the Enchanter Heir

The Enchanter Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was really excited about reading this, as I'd thought there wouldn't be anymore books in the Heir Chronicles. But..by the end I was so frustrated with this book! It wasn't that it was terribly written or anything like that. In fact, I thought it was well written, with a good pace, and I liked one of the main characters, Jonah. I wasn't such a fan of Emma--her characterization just seemed sloppy. With the other books in this series, the main characters are typically male with the occasional female viewpoint thrown in, so I don't know if that had something to do with it. I just felt like Emma at the beginning of the book was totally different from Emma at the end. She does go through a lot of stuff, but still. She goes from wild-spirit roamer to someone just looking for a home to desperately cling to.

Maybe we'll see more of the roaming spirit when the next book comes out, which brings me back to my main point of frustration. HORRIBLE ENDING! Cliffhangers are for chapter endings, not book endings!! This is seriously the worst cliffhanger ending I've ever read, and that's including the endings between the Lord of the Rings books. I felt like I was in the middle of the climax, and the author just forgot to put the last two or three chapters in. Makes me so mad! This book also reminded me of something else I've come to dislike about the series. The author always brings back some previous characters into the current books, and I've never really liked that. Mainly because I grew to love those characters, and then when they reappear they seem very flat. It's as if the author can only focus on rounding out a few characters at a time.

I suppose I should actually talk about the plot, now that I've mentioned the beginning and the end already. It was really interesting, throwing in a grittier angle to all the magic. I love the inclusion of magical mutants, though I wouldn't mind more questions answered about them before the book finished. The reader will also have to pay careful attention to pick up on some of the new lingo. Some main things to know: savant/labrat=someone poisoned at Thorn hill, mainline guild=non-poisoned members of the magical guilds, shades=spirit-type things of savants that appear after they die, and appear to want to take over human bodies. Also, savants seem to be able to attain new abilities outside of their normal base powers (sorcerer, enchanter, etc.), though they might complement what was already there. There are a couple different theories on what happened at Thorn Hill, depending on if you're asking wizards or savants. Also, savants appear to have weirstones that are slightly different from those who belong to mainline guilds.

It was generally a good book, I just really, really hope the next book continues to focus on Jonah instead of moving on to a new character.

This digital copy of The Enchanter Heir was given to me by NetGalley & Disney-Hyperion in exchange for an honest review.

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