The Enchanter Heir

The fourth installment of the series, I went into it a little rusty, having not read the others for years. Chima's storytelling is a little different, but mostly in a good way. Her turns of phrases are not usually typical, and it's refreshing. While some of her prose can be clunky or awkward, or her descriptors slightly bizarre, it generally has the effect of realistic beauty, flesh and blood happenings, which to me, sets it apart from the vast majority of supernatural urban fiction. She's not trying to convince you of anything. She's just telling you how it is. Plus, the world she built, or rather, layered in between our world, is close enough to touch, to imagine that we could be living among it. My only sadness was the addition, most of the way through the book, of the line "You're not like other girls." by our male protagonist. Please, please no. It's clichéd and horribly placed - this is a magical world. No girl you know is like other girls. After spending so much time creating these great, easily identifiable characters (including women!) who are nothing at all alike, why cheapen your work that way?

There were a few loose ends that didn't get tied, but the book ended on such an abrupt cliff hanger that's to be expected. I'm glad I waited to read this book until after the sequel was out.

The Thorn Hill Massacre was ten years ago. Thousands of Weir, living in a thriving community, killed by poison. Few survived and they were all children. But they did not survive unscathed. Most suffer magical health issues and disabilities. Many were also left with unique magical gifts that set them apart from the mainline guilds. Most people think it was the Wizard's guild's doing.

Now wizards are being killed. The Anchorage, a new community setup to treat and house the survivors of the Thorn Hill Massacre is being framed for it. The Wizards guild is looking for someone to blame.

In The Enchanter Heir, we're introduced to Thorn Hill survivors, Jonah Kinlock and Emma Greenwood. Jonah is an enchanter and assassin, gifted with fantastic speed and a talent with a sword. But Jonah has another gift, his touch kills. Though Emma Greenwood, a recently orphaned musician from Memphis, left Thorn Hill before the massacre. She finds herself somehow in the middle of it all even though she knows nothing about what happened.

As with all the books in The Heir Chronicles series, I got entangled in the story from the prologue and it would NOT let go. Even when I finished reading the last page, it's like okay where's the next book? The writing is excellent. Right from their introduction I found myself truly invested in the characters.

The only reasons I didn't give it five stars was the cliff-hanger ending. OMG I so hate that! Okay maybe it's a love-hate thing but still!

I really enjoyed reading this book! Great characters. I found Jonah's mix of talents so interesting and so sad. Emma was perhaps more typical, but still satisfying. The plot is strong, but a bit confusing at the very beginning. The middle is fantastic--couldn't put it down. The ending is awful--loose ends left dangling and a weird scene that doesn't seem to fit at all. I am expecting, however, for this to all be taken care of in the next book. Had I read the book before the next was out, I would be pretty angry. I have a feeling that the Enchanter and Sorcerer Heir are really just one book with two price tags. This would be a five star review were it not for the end.

Each volume in the whole Heir Chronicles series gives an overview of a magic realm and how they interact with each other and among themselves. Each book is developing and defining the animosity between groups and building toward a final climax which will happen in the final Heir Chronicle Book. You want to read each book in the series in book order and savor the story line and character development.

"The Enchanter Heir" by Cinda Williams Chima is an action-packed science-fiction fantasy that begins after the Thorn Hill poisoning and failure of Weirstones that not only result in survivors having unique abilities, but also their fading. In this story seventeen Jonah Kinlock the most lethal of the Nightshade assassins not only takes on the Shades who've become more organized and deadly but has become more suspicious of Gabriel Mandrake's motives for refusing to meet with Lilith Greaves, and is determined to find Tyler Boykin who has information about the massacre. It's a race against time for Jonah who wants to save his dying brother Kenzie and negotiate peace with the Shades.

Fleeing Memphis after the death of her grandfather Emma Claire Greenwood never expects to meet and fall for a boy whose touch brings death or that her father will pay a devastating price for the information he hides about Thorn Hill. Together Emma and Jonah will search for the truth behind secrets and lies that threaten not only their trust, but their very lives.

The threads of this imaginative and intoxicating plot not only follow events that lead Jonah and Emma into danger, but also the investigation into the murder of Tyler Boykin and several wizards. Angry and unnerved by the death of his sister Rowan DeVries, already in a power struggle to control the Black Rose organization has begun blaming Madison Moss and the Interguild Council for the threat against the tenuous peace brokered at Trinity. In this plot as tension and suspense mounts the violence builds, resulting in a death toll that seems to never stop.

With the political instability of the guilds there is also extreme contempt and enforced isolation for the "labrats" at Anchorage, the institution that houses the gifted children who survived the poisoning at Thorn Hill. With emotional dexterity Cinda Williams Chima portrays the dying plight of the children through the pain and suffering of Kenzie and Mose as they face death. Only Jonah's wry sense of humor and the love of music prevalent in the savant band dilutes the terror, violence and death that stalks not only the children at Anchorage but also the wizards being being attacked by Shades.

Sixteen year old Emma Greenwood haunted by guilt over her wild ways when her grandfather was still alive tends to be a loner who's street smart, honest and hates lies. Jonah Kinlock, the seventeen year assassin is an enchanter with gifts of empathy, speed and strength. An erratic student with a short temper, Jonah cannot show or receive affection because of his toxic touch. Among the "Fault Tolerant" band members is Rudy Severino a tech-smart geek; Natalie Diaz a no-nonsense, tough healer -warrior, and Jonah's overly protective and blunt friend Alison Shaw. All these characters and more add power and passion to a tale that's dramatic and gripping as events progress and the danger mounts.

I liked " The Enchanter Heir" and can't wait to read the next book in the series

I really wasn't sure how Cinda Williams Chima would be able to continue her Heir Chronicles series. Really, the last book kind of tied everything up nicely, so there really wasn't much left to talk about. So, as I somewhat suspected, the fourth book in the series, Enchanter Heir, offers something of a side story about different characters in the same world. This is great because it cane help bring in new readers -sure, it helps to have the background from the previous novels, but it's not essential to understand what's going on. Also, Chima's skills have really strengthened since the Heir Chronicles and it was great to see that come alive here.

Enchanter Heir follows the intertwining tales of Jonah and Emma. Jonah is a student (and assassin) trained at a school known as The Anchorage, which was set up to help people with special abilities, and those affected by the Thorn Hill Massacre, of which Jonah -and Emma -are survivors. After Emma's grandfather turns up dead, she's sent running into the arms of her estranged father in an attempt to find out what happened and why there's a note left claiming that she's in danger.

Enchanter Heir started out slow, but built up a lot of steam as it moved forward, until I was finally sent crashing toward an exciting conclusion that left me wanting to read more. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters of Jonah and Emma, especially the edgy-ness that came out with Emma. The plot was unique and fresh for this series, and all around interesting. Probably the only problem I had with this book is that some things reminded me far too much of X-men. (Special schools with a wealthy benefactor for children with special abilities? Yep, sounds like X-men to me.)

A great start to the second half of this (somewhat rebooted) series. Can't wait to read more.

Okay a few people already mentioned it, but this entire book is a character/plot development start with a cliffhanger finish. There is no overwhelming obvious struggle ending that the previous 3 books had. I would say that this book is the set up to the fifth and final book. Also the third book came out before i graduated high school but seemed less teenager targeted. This one seems to be purely teenager focused, with an age focus of around 15 or so, if not a bit younger. It randomly injects music and band practice into a book revolving around a murderous wizard council, the slaughter of the gifted by shades that can also posses dead human bodies, which is kind of distracting when you're trying to find out the ending to a book series that you started reading as a teen that you're finishing as an adult.

Overall it's a good story, the build up is done wonderfully but it seems like everytime the main characters overcome something, it wasn't as important as Jack fighting Ellen, Seph and Jason fighting the alumni and the professor who's name escapes me, or the battle for Trinity. When the previous book ends with a fight for an entire town involving hundreds of people, and this one ends with a dance party, it's kind of a major let down.

It's worth reading, if only to see how to wonderfully write three quarters of a good book. If you like the previous three in the series, I'd say wait till the 5th book comes out before buying this so you don't have a feeling of incompleteness.

Cinda Williams Chima writes excellent fantasy stories for younger readers. I didn't think this one was up to her usual standard. It didn't seem very focused
About ten years before the Dragon Heir the massacre of Thorn Hill took place. An entire commune of sorcerers was massacred. the survivors and their weirstones have mutated, which means they possess powers that are hard to control. Jonah is one of those survivors. Since the massacre his touch kills, so his career development as an assassin would seem an obvious one. In fact that is all he seems to do throughout the book. Kill people and play his guitar.
He connects with Emma on a musical level and because they share a similar history. The musical aspect seems to be linked to something other than just a talent for music.
Overall it doesn't match the previous books in the series and I found this book very disjointed and wishy-washy. The Thorn Hill plot could have been expanded upon a lot more. The mystery of who set the massacre in motion and why or looking into the new mutations instead of following around one character predominantly.
It is possible that this is what I would call an interim book, which is giving the reader enough info to lead onto the next one, which would explain the info dump and vague plot.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.

Take a deep breath before you start this book because once you start reading you're going to be so busy keeping up with the action you won't have time later. Ms. Chima delivers a story that draws you in within the first two pages. She is wonderful in building believable characters with dialogue true to teens.

Loved Jonah at his introduction at age seven as he fights to survive the Thorn Hill Massacre. A horrendous event that keeps on giving to all of the survivors but not in a good way. Further captivates me as he grows into a teen that is aged beyond his years. At seventeen wrestles with growing shame and bitterness over unique magical gifts or as he thinks of them, curses, he is compelled to use in his roll as a member of Nightshade. It's so well written you feel his anguish, his confusion over what is morally right or wrong. Niggling distrust begins to eat at him with Gabriel, who is the leader and founder of Nightshade and the school Anchorage, an institution that houses the surviving children of the massacre. Believes because of his deadly abilities he has to push everyone away to save them. Only his brother Kenzie, another damaged survivor, is allowed any type of closeness.

Kenzie is another favorite of mine with his sarcastic humor and stubbornness to give in to physical limitations. Tells it like it is good, bad or ugly. There is a song in the story written by Kenzie that had me chuckling the next day every time I thought of it. Think everyone will fall in love with fifteen year old Kenzie.

Emma's character is another person that you might expect to see walking the streets she is so well written. Jonah thinks of her as being "hardwired wild". Love that description! A lost soul easy to empathize with considering all the hard knocks she's weathered her whole life. She's pulled into the mysteries surrounding the massacre as well as into the life of Jonah.

A wonderful fast paced YA story that is difficult to put down once started. Would recommend to anyone over the age of 12, adults included. Can't wait for the next book in the series. Will definitely be reading the first three books in the series.

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 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?

The overall writing was dissapointing, compared to the first three books. The plot, or should I say plots, are vague and sometimes confusing...if you can find a true plot line at all. It's like the author took all of the characters and ideas that didn't make the cut of her first three books and tried to cram them altogther in this book, whether it made sense or not. I kept reading it, hoping it would get better; instead, it ended with the mother of all annoying cliff hangers. Not one single question or plot or...anything was answered or resolved! The author is forcing its readers to shell out more money for another book in hopes of getting the answers! Since this book was so bad, I have no desire to attempt the next one. This book left me wanting my money back.

Cinda Williams Chima's imagination, master storytelling and deftness with language continue to astound this reader. Her characters are so real you expect them to show up in line behind you at the post office.

My probation officer ordered me to read this book, and boy, am I glad he did! It certainly got me through some of the rougher patches of my detox! I especially liked the part where the malevolent two-headed giant having the appearance of a Joe Biden cunningly managed to gain control of the world’s supply of Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 Fl Oz, and taunted everyone by sneeringly drinking it in front of them, until being confronted by what’s-his-name, one of the other guys in the book, who with compassion and just a hint of the use of deadly force managed to convince the giant to enter therapy. Brilliant! I am eagerly awaiting Mr. Jackson’s next volume in this series!

This book made absolutely no sense. What occurred in previous books made no impact on the world this book takes place in despite the fact the author claims it did. How did Madison come to rule over the weir? How do they know she is alive? Why does anyone care what is happening in this book. Don't get me wrong I love this author. But this is by far is the worst book she has ever written. She should have stopped writing these books at The Dragon Heir. Read her Demon king books if you want to read something truly good she has written recently.

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 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?