The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

     I really love the young adult fantasy genre.  I credit the Harry Potter series with renewing my interest in reading!  I have passed by the books in the Heir Chronicles numerous times in the bookstore and I finally picked up the first book, The Warrior Heir.  I love books that delve into magic and sorcery, and this book is magical from beginning to end!

Summary from Goodreads:
     "Before he knew about the Roses, sixteen-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. Jack's performance on the soccer field has alerted the entire magical community to the fact that he's in Trinity. And until one of the houses is declared Jack's official sponsor, there are no limits to what they'll do to get Jack to fight for them. . . . "

My Thoughts:
 If you enjoy ya fantasy, then I can almost guarantee you will love this book!  I found myself sucked into the story from the very beginning and I remained that way until the last page!  The story moved at a really quick pace and the storyline was very easy to follow.  There were many colorful characters in the story, however, only a few of them where properly introduced to the reader.  Hopefully, in the remaining two novels in this trilogy we will get the meet the others!  The characters that we did get to know (Jack, Linda, Ellen, Will, Fitch, Hastings, Ned and Becca) were extremely likeable.  The main character, Jack, seems like a normal teenage kid, facing normal teenage problems, until his life is turned upside down and he learns his true heritage and destiny.  This revelation takes Jack and the others on fantastic journey of magic, mystery, danger and suspense that will leave the reader flipping pages through the night to find out what happens.  I love how this story mixes legend with reality and history with modern times.  It was a really fun read!  The ending was a little too easy for me, but it was satisfying nonetheless!  I am receiving the remaining books in this series for Christmas, so look for reviews on the remaining stories soon!