2 Book Review: Odriel’s Heirs and Burning Shadows by Hayley Reese Chow

Iseult

Odriel’s Heirs

A fun young adult fantasy adventure that delights with its supporting cast of magical animals.

Three heirs, gifted with powers by Odriel, which combined are powerful enough to defeat the mighty necromancer, Nifras. The time heir; a powerful healer. The shadow heir; able to become invisible. And the dragon heir; who wields the fire that can destroy the Lost.

Seventeen year old Kaia is the first born of Tam, and therefore shares his powers as the dragon heir, but if she’d only been born seven minutes later, her fraternal twin, Bram, would have taken her place and her responsibility. A fact she considers, and is reminded often of by Bram.

When Nifras returns to attack once again, Kaia, her ragehound Gus, the shadow heir, and a collection of imaginative, magical creatures, must make a stand to save their world from the darkness.

Kaia is a compelling character, and the dynamic with her twin, Bram, is interesting. The complimentary powers of the different heirs is well thought out and described. The world where they live is a joy to discover, populated with diverse people and magic.

While I liked Kaia and enjoyed seeing her grow over the course of the book, what really made the story for me was the range of supporting characters, including the animals. From the ragehound, Gus, who keeps Kaia’s fire from burning out of control, to the Dalteek, deer like animals they rode, to the shape changers that lived in the forest, and Mackie, who could speak to the animals, not to forget the magi! It was the secondary characters that filled out the world and added the layers of depth that I love in a second world fantasy.

The book excels in the scenes with less characters, such as when Kaia is on her own or with a few others. Unfortunately, I found the battle scenes somewhat lacking in details for my satisfaction. I realize that it is aimed at a young adult audience, so I understand the lack of blood and gore, but I found Nifras much more threatening when Kaia was traveling in the woods than when she was facing him on the battlefield.

I recommend this book to fantasy lovers, especially those who like the works of authors such as Garth Nix.

Burning Shadows

This sequel novella to Odriel’s Heirs follows Dragon Heir, Kaia, her ragehound Gus, and Shadow Heir, Klaus, as they track down and destroy the remaining undead Lost.

A call for help from an outpost on the country’s border introduces the Heirs to a new enemy. Kaia offers help without hesitation, but is she ready for the cost of going up against such a formidable foe?

I loved Odriel’s Heirs and was so happy to be back in the world. While I liked Kaia and Klaus in the first book, it was magic, animals and secondary characters that captured my imagination. However, Burning Shadows puts Kaia and Klaus front and center, and now I absolutely love them.

Direfent, the border outpost manned by desperate soldiers under desperate conditions, provided an atmospheric setting for the story. I loved the grittiness and the high stakes of the guardians, tirelessly working to protect their people from the ruthless Rastgol.

The Rastgol were a worthy enemy, and I liked how they tied in both Odriel’s Heirs and Idriel’s Children to the narrative.

Madoc, the man in charge of the guardians, is a great character. I loved his attitude and his banter with Kaia and Klaus.

The heart of the book belongs to the Heirs, and I loved how the author depicted their relationship. They show so much respect and genuine caring towards one another that even I, a romance avoider, cheer for them as a couple.