Wizard Heir

Chima, Cinda Williams. Wizard Heir. Book 2 of the Heir Chronicles series. 2008. 458p. ISBN 9781423104872. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Joseph McCauley has always crackled with power. He can subtly alter people’s perceptions. He is irresistible to women and men alike. Everyone want to help Seph. Except that he is racking up a high number of accidents. When a night club warehouse burns down in Toronto, Seph gets sent to the Havens, a school for boys in trouble.

But Seph is not like the others there. He knows he is a wizard. He is untrained, and his guardian died many years ago, leaving him orphaned. He doesn’t know his birth parents, nor does he know how to control this magic that courses in him. At the Havens, Seph quickly realizes that he is different from the other boys there, but that he shares a trait in common with the alumni. All are wizards. The Headmaster, Gregory Leicester, tells Seph he will train him in the ways of the wizard world, but in exchange Seph has to merge his powers with him.

Not wanting to participate in Leicester’s nefarious purposes, Seph is stuck at school. He meets Jason, who also refused to join with the rest of the alumni. Jason teaches him a few tricks to harness his power and to resist the mental invasions of Leicester, but without breaking out of the Havens, Seph cannot hope to survive. With a wizard war looming, Seph needs to choose sides, but what choices does he really have?

Taking place a year after Jack and Ellen upended the magical world order, the story of Seph eventually rejoins that of the Warrior Heir. Fans of the first book will not be disappointed with this second book of the Heir Chronicles.