Shelf Awareness--Heir

YA Review: Heir

Heir by Sabaa Tahir (Putnam Sons Books for Young Readers, 512p., ages 13-up, 9780593616949, October 1, 2024)

Heir is a complex, spellbinding YA saga of love and intrigue that is set in the familiar magical universe of the An Ember in the Ashes series, written by National Book Award winning-author Sabaa Tahir (All My Rage).

"Small-boned, light-skinned" Aiz bet-Dafra, 18, is a desperately poor, orphaned "gutter child" in the crowded city of Kegar. The vile highborn commander of the air squadrons, Tiral bet-Hiwa, is driven to conquest and uses the city's magic-driven Sails to bomb and pillage other lands for food. When Aiz attempts to kill Tiral--who has murdered many of her fellow orphans--she is thrown into prison. There, the blessed Mother Div, historical "Savior of Kegar," manifests as an apparition and aids Aiz's escape. Mother Div promises Aiz that she will help the girl gain strength and save "the poor and wretched of Kegar."

Thousands of miles away, dark-haired, gold-skinned prince Quil is the reluctant heir to the Martial throne. The 20-year-old has been trained to fight by the "greatest warrior in the Empire." Quil is troubled, though, by an epidemic of ugly murders that has left 14 children dead; he confronts Empress Helene but receives no answers. Before he can investigate further, the palace is destroyed in an unexpected Kegari attack. Quil escapes and is sent on a mission to bring back a mysterious weapon that will save the Empire.

Twenty-year-old, "blue-black hair and brown"-skinned Sirsha Westering comes from a line of powerful magic-wielders called the Jaduna. She is approached by a mysterious Martial and asked to find a dangerous murderer who targets young people. Sirsha's magic lies in tracking and binding the magic of others, but she's been banished by the Jaduna and forbidden to use her powers on pain of death. The price the client offers, though, is irresistible. When the royal palace is attacked, Sirsha's path, her mission--and quite possibly her heart--collide with Quil.

This first electrifying book in a duology occurs 20 years after the events of the final An Ember in the Ashes book. In Heir, Tahir's three narrators take turns driving the story, their compelling tales merging into one serendipitous, exhilarating whole. The narrators' goals are seemingly unrelated--Aiz's righteousness, Sirsha's sworn oath, and Quil's need to save his people--yet Tahir's magic lies in how she makes their goals mesh, propelling the novel forward to a violent, tangled cliffhanger of an ending. Heir is a triumphant return to a beloved world. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness Pro.