HEIR

HEIR by Sabaa Tahir

Heir is the complicated, dark read by Sabaa Tahir. It is one that I pushed myself to read, made it 75% of the way through and skim-read to the end. I reached a point I was so bogged down in it, I couldn't go further.

Heir follows the journey of three characters coming from different places that become intertwined together: Aiz, Shirsha, and Quil. SPOILER ALERT part of what took me a minute to figure out was that part of book is in the past and part in the present, but it's not written as such. It's written initially as all taking place at the same time.

Aiz has known tragedy all of her life. Born in the slums of the Kegari, she has grown up hearing the stories of Mother Div from the local clerics that have helped to raise her. Mother Div was a hero that has turned to a person of worship for the Kegari people. There is a series of stories that are told about her with the last being unknown since it is understood that she is imprisoned somewhere against her will waiting to be freed. Mother Div is able to speak to and direct Aiz, calling her to come and free her, so she can return to the Kegari people and free them from their oppression.

Quil is the crowned prince of the Empire. When some of his people, including those closest to him, begin dying from their hearts being taken out by a strange enemy that no one can visibly see, he is determined to find out and put an end to what is going on.

Shirsha has been thrown out from her people and commanded not to use her magical powers for tracking in which she is very gifted. When she is hired by someone unknown to her to track down the killer of the people of the Empire, she knows it is going to take everything she has to follow the trail of this unearthly assassin.

SPOILER ALERT The creature that is hunting people is doing so for their hearts. The creature turns out to be working for Mother Div who was imprisoned by a "vengeful" woman who used magic to make it necessary that when she is eventually freed, she must consume (eat) hearts to continue. This puts Aiz in a terrible spot, knowing that her people need Mother Div's help to free them, but at the expense of oftentimes other innocent people including a young boy that Aiz has befriended. From here we are in a downhill slide of twists and turns that dumps us at the doorstep trying to decide if Mother Div is good or evil. There is a second book coming out, but it won't be in my TBR pile.

HEADS UP- There is a sprinkling of language. No f- bombs. It is known that sex occurs between some of the characters. No details given. There are passing mentions of same sex relationships. No details given. The most difficult part of this book is the dark magic and heaviness that occurs from it. There is very little relief from it. Sorcerers, warlocks, etc. are part of the story.