The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

Reviewed by Kady D.
Grade 8

Everyone knows that tryouts are one of the worst things in the world. You keep thinking to yourself “Am I going to make the team?” Sixteen-year-old Jack faces this same dilemma. He goes to soccer tryouts at his high school and hopes to make the team. However, Jack gets the biggest surprise of his life. As he prepares to shoot the ball into the goal the school bully, Garett Lobeck, comes up by him. Garett Lobeck looks like a giant human wall. Suddenly, without realizing it, Jack suddenly fends off Lobeck’s attack and sends Lobeck into the net right after the ball. And, he wasn’t even touching him! All of this is possible because Jack is a Weirlind, a magical race of human beings with extraordinary powers. I guess Jack won’t have to worry about making the soccer team after all.

Jack is a Weir. There are hundreds of thousands of people around the world like this (in fact, one could be your neighbor). There are many types of Weirs, all of them having a significant population to represent them. However, Jack is special. He is a Warrior Weir, and his kind of people are dying out. Warrior Weirlind are very strong, agile and very difficult to beat in a fight. Jack is the last of a dying breed, and people are looking for him. The two Wizard Houses, the Red Rose and the White Rose, are looking for a Warrior Weirlind to add to their team. Every year, they hold a magical tournament to decide who will rule all the Weir of the world. Soon, Jack is on an adventure of a lifetime. With help from his aunt Linda, and a fellow Wizard Weirlind named Leander Hastings, he learns how to fight and protect himself from the Roses. Jack doesn’t know who to trust or what to think of his own life anymore. Will Jack escape the treachery of the Roses, or will he be sucked into the evil world of human battling?

The author’s style of this book is one I enjoyed very much. She didn’t stay on one topic too long, which I feel that many authors do. Instead, she kept the pace going and kept me guessing till the very last word of the last page. Also, the main plot of the book is one I have never seen before. I don’t think I’ve read a book where the character is running away and has absolutely no safe haven to go to. This keeps the pace extremely fast, and many scenes of the book are filled with action.

I would recommend The Warrior Heir to anyone who likes action, suspense, drama and a bit of sadness. The author’s style and basic plot of the book kept me reading this book without stopping. A lot of people might think this book is only for guys, but it is not! I can honestly say it is one of the greatest books I’ve read (Why else would I be reviewing it?).