Wizard's Heir

Fanuilh #2

by Daniel Hood

When the magic artifacts of sleuthing sorcerer Liam Rhenford's late master are stolen and used to commit murder, Liam seeks the guidance of his dragon familiar, Fanuilh. Together they follow the trail of evidence to a mad ghost, a mythical grey griffin, and the revelation that some secrets are best left unexplained.

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Dragons, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction

298 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1995

Reviews

[Jen526 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid follow-up to the first book, continuing in the "cozy mystery" style that I liked about the first book, but adding more complexity to give the mystery more nooks and crannies to misdirect and add questions that don't have easy answers.

I enjoyed spending more time in this one little city, seeing the gradual growth in Liam's relationships with Fanuilh and the Aedile and others that is not a major focus, but slotted in between the mystery investigation action. Liam is a refreshing character. He's already well-traveled and with lots of experience, but by his own admission, he's something of a jack-of-all-trades/master-of-none, so watching him chaff at how everyone assumes him to be an expert in everything is a lot of fun.

[Coyora Dokusho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waaaaaay back in the day I read this because I didn't realize it was the second book in the series. I think I eventually read the first book too... hmmm... maybe I should read these again...

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than the first book in the series. When someone steals three items from Liam's home, without disturbing the magical wards, he can't figure out how it was done, or who could have done it, since there are no wizards in the area. So he sets off in search of the thief. On the same evening a newly dedicated temple was also breached, though nothing was stolen. Could the two events be linked? I particularly enjoyed the thieves' cant!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still haven't figured out why this series is named after the dragon when it barely makes any appearance. Luckily I like Liam and mystery stories. For the most part, it moves along at a good pace and is well written. It did get a bit repetitive mentioning the three items that were stolen over and over though.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than I'd remembered (I read the series when it first came out). Fun to see the relationship between Liam and Fanuilh developing, and the mystery was good, too.

[Yani G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these books!

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did it take a bit to read? Sure. Am I still probs going to read the next three? Yes.

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I enjoyed this book even more than the Warrior's Heir. This trilogy has a wonderful style. Each book is opening with a brief synopsis of the central character and lets the story line unfold to show, through action and beautifully written narrative, the relationships between each of the heirs.

The second book helps establish how the three heirs of the various magical guilds are interrelated, although I anticipate there is a relationship I will still get to understand in know in the 3rd of the series. As soon as I finished this book, I started on the third, "The Dragon's Heir" simply because I had to.

I completely admire Cinda williams Chima's ability to weave a coherent and sufficiently complex tale. The writing is clean and well-constructed. When I get to teach YA in librarianship, I have to figure out a way to include this series in the syllabus.

[Barbara ★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this adventure, Liam is searching for the person who entered his house and stole three magical items. Of course, it's never that simple. His new buddy, constable Aedile Coeccias is involved in many ongoing investigations which invariably will cross with Liam's search. Let's see we have a ghost running around, an aborted robbery at a temple, a bunch of sailors that skipped town without paying their bills and a guild of thieves living it up.

I like this series but it is wordy and hard to decipher as the people speak some kind of broken English that (most times) takes a second glance to figure out what is actually being said. And this particular installment has an over-abundance of typos which slows the reading down farther. Overall enjoyable and I will be reading the next one.

[Fatbaldguy60 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book.

[Dustins Scruggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because it is about magic

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

good sequel.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was waaaaaay quicker on the uptake for certain points of the plot, but didn't figure out most of it and once again enjoyed a fun read!

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liam is back and helping the beleaguered Aedile with a confounding mystery involving the city's religious sects, while trying to solve one of his own. Liam's house, formerly the wizard Tarquin's, has been burgled but, out of all the valuable magical artifacts that could have been taken, only three items are missing. What is more puzzling is that the house is still magically warded against intrusion. With no other wizards in the city, who could have gotten into the house? Meanwhile the Aedile, chief law keeper for the city, is tearing his hair out over a roving ghost, temples of different gods agitating each other, and an attempted theft at one of the temples--and of course he begs Liam, who has come to believe is some kind of bounty hunter in disguise, to assist him. There is more worldbuilding in this volume of the series than the last one and more fantasy elements. Fanuilh figures a bit more, venturing beyond the house to assist his master in various ways. I was stumped by this mystery, although I figured out the one in the last book. Again we are treated to glimpses of Liam's past, some of which have been a bit checkered. I enjoyed this book just as much as the first--enough to order the rest of the series when they weren't available at my local used bookstore. It makes me wish that Hood had written more than this series.