Audio Review: Heir by Sabaa Tahir

I received this book via the publisher Listening Library, G. P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Heir by Sabaa Tahir
Narrator: Vidish Athavale, Joe Pitts, Esme Lonsdale, Rachel Petladwala, Marco Young
Series: Heir Duology #1
Published by Listening Library, G. P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers on 2024-10-01
Age Range: 14+
Length: 503 pages
Length: 17 hours and 46 minutes
Listening Speed: 1.75x
Reviewing Advanced Listening Copy, eARC from the publisher Listening Library, G. P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Rating:

Prepare for a ruthless and romantic new fantasy from #1 New York Times bestselling and National Book Award winning author Sabaa Tahir that introduces a new generation of characters set in the same world as the unforgettable An Ember in the Ashes series.

An orphan.
An outcast.
A prince.
And a killer who will bring an empire to its knees.

Growing up in the Kegari slums, AIZ has seen her share of suffering. An old tragedy fuels her need for vengeance, but it is love of her people that propels her. Until one hotheaded mistake lands her in an inescapable prison, where the embers of her wrath ignite.

Banished from her people for an unforgivable crime, SIRSHA is a down-on-her-luck tracker who uses magic to trace her marks. Destitute, she agrees to hunt down a killer who has murdered children across the Martial Empire. All she has to do is carry out the job and get paid. But when a chance encounter leads to an unexpected attraction, Sirsha learns her mission might cost her far more than she’s willing to give up.

QUIL is the crown prince of the Empire and nephew of a venerated empress, but he’s loath to take the throne when his aunt steps down. As the son of a reviled emperor, he, better than anyone, understands that power corrupts. When a vicious new enemy threatens the survival of the Empire, Quil must ask himself if he can rise above his tragic lineage and be the heir his people need.

Beloved storyteller Sabaa Tahir interweaves the lives of three young people as they grapple with power, treachery, love, and the devastating consequences of unchecked greed, on a journey that may cost them their lives—and their hearts. Literally.

Amazing! Heir by Sabaa Tahir is the first in a YA fantasy duology that follows multiple perspectives as they hunt a ruthless killer. Aiz is angry, living her life in the Kegari slums, watching as the elite send their children to die in a war no one wants to fight and the rest starve. Quil is the crown prince of the Martial Empire, the nephew of the venerated empress, but the throne is the last thing he wants. He would rather be in the plains with his cousins. Sirsha has magic that she can use to track down anyone. When she’s asked to hunt the killer of a man’s son, she agrees, but it may cost more than she bargained for. These individual threads bind together to create an unputdownable story.

The story opens with Aiz. She is an interesting one to follow. She is an orphan raised by the Sisters who believe the Mother will return one day to take them home. After an encounter with their leader goes sour, Aiz and those she loves are placed under arrest and tortured. It is during their prison stay that Aiz begins to hear the Mother and channel her power. Now believing she is on a divine mission to save her people, Aiz sets out to cross the Martial Empire following the voice. Aiz is naive, brash, stubborn, and her devout belief could get herself or her found family killed. Yet her storyline is fascinating and drew me in quickly.

Quil and Sirsha kind of go hand in hand. Quil is the reluctant heir to the throne. He knows that power corrupts, and since his father was the emperor that was taken down in the war, he’s afraid his fate will be the same. It isn’t until he nearly loses everything that he realizes what it means to be a good leader and that he will make one. Sirsha isn’t supposed to use her power, she’s been forbidden and outcast by her family. Yet it is how she makes a living. Teaming up with Quil and his friends was a happy accident. They are hunting the same thing after all.

The plot is two fold. We follow Aiz’s story as she crosses the desert into the Martial Empire. Her need for revenge drives her, and as her story unfolds, you will see how it connects to Quil and Sirsha. Quil’s story begins with an attack that brings the capital to its knees. Who is behind the attack? What is brutally murdering innocents in the kingdom? Somehow they are connected, Quil is sure of it, but the real question is how.

I loved every word from start to finish. Seriously, I could not read it fast enough. Set in the same world as Tahir’s Ember Quartet, the story is full of references to the war that stabilized their country. Having never read it, I didn’t really put it together until the empress was introduced. That said, I did not struggle to understand what was going on and found myself completely engrossed in the story. If anything, this just made me want to go back and devour Ember 😂 If you are a fan of epic fantasy or enjoyed the origin series, I highly recommend it.

Audiobook Note: While I had an eARC of this book, I was also blessed with an ALC, and I could not have been happier. The narrators are fantastic. There are five, one for each point of view. I had no problem keeping track of who was who. The narrators breathed life and so much emotion into the story. If you are a listener, I’d go this route.

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