Dragon Heir

Chima, Cinda Williams. Dragon Heir. Book 3 of the Heir Chronicles series. 2009. 348p. ISBN  978-1-42313713-9. Available as an eBook from Overdrive.

At the end of Wizard Heir, D’Orsay fled his conspiratorial meeting at Second Sisters with a Covenant that once again binded the underguilds to the wizards’ dominion, following the wizards’ loss of control at the Tournament in Warrior Heir. The Roses have laid siege to D’Orsay’s ancestral home, hoping to get their hands on that Covenant. The Weir inhabitants of Trinity are weary of this battle between the three sides and have declared themselves a Sanctuary for all Weirs.

Jason Haley, wishing to get involved, smuggles himself in D’Orsay’s land and discovers a long-forgotten cave and a hoard of powerful magical items, including the Dragonheart, a strange stone filled with magical energy. When elicitor Madison Moss touches the Dragonheart, it suddenly reacts to her and wizards suddenly lose access to it. As wizards marshall outside the Weirwall erected around Trinity and protected by the wizard Seph, and the warriors Jack, Ellen, and their ghost armies, betrayal and tragedy are about to befall the unlikely band of rebels. Are Jason and Madison willing to finally commit to the cause of magic?

A satisfying if bitter-sweet end to the Heir Chronicles, all of the main characters gather one more time in a fast-moving plot in which many of them will die. Fans of the fantasy / modern world hybrid will find their fill in this brilliant conclusion.