The Wizard Heir

The Heir Trilogy by Cinda Williams Chima

The Wizard Heir Summary

Sixteen-year-old Seph McCauley has spent the past three years getting kicked out of one exclusive private school after another.

And it's not his attitude that's the problem: it's the trail of magical accidents-lately, disasters-that follow in his wake.

Seph is a wizard, orphaned and untrained, and his powers are escalating out of control.

After causing a tragic fire at an after-hours party, Seph is sent to the Havens, a secluded boys' school on the coast of Maine.

Gregory Leicester, the headmaster, promises to train Seph in magic and initiate him into his mysterious order of wizards.

But Seph's enthusiasm dampens when he learns that training comes at a steep cost, and that Leicester plans to use his students' powers to serve his own wicked agenda.

Our Rating for The Wizard Heir

Read a free book excerpt on Cinda Williams Chima's website

The Wizard Heir Book Review

Booklist - Hutley, Krista

Sixteen-year-old orphan Seph McCauley is a wizard, one of the Weir, an underground magical society first introduced in companion novel The Warrior Heir (2006). But Seph has had no wizard training, and magical mishaps occur wherever he goes.

When one such accident causes a death, Seph is sent to the Havens, an exclusive boys' school in rural Maine, where he finds the Alumni—a student group of wizards led by Headmaster Leicester.

Seph is excited to explore his gifts, but when Leicester attempts to initiate him with a terrifying blood ritual, the teen realizes that this training comes at the price of his soul. In his combined independence, bravado, and vulnerability, Seph is an appealing character, making the psychological torture Leicester inflicts upon him all the more horrifying.

Unfortunately, the pace lags once Seph escapes Leicester and the Havens, at which point new and returning characters appear, and the chaotic politics of the Weir come to the forefront. Persistent readers will find that the momentum picks up again, though, and most will emerge satisfied by this absorbing, suspenseful follow-up.

Copyright © American Library Association.