The Jasad Heir

Summary

• takes place in a continent with 4 kingdoms: Nizahl, Lukub, Omal, Orban
  • Jasad was the fifth but was destroyed before the story of the book
• follows the story of a woman named Sylvia. 10 years prior her kingdom, Jasad, was destroyed by Nizahl. She has very strong magic powers so since she was a kid she wears cuffs that she cannot take off and that controls her powers. She lives in a village called Mahair in Omal. No one knows her true identity.
• Sylvia is the only survivor of the destruction. She is the heir to the Jasad kingdom.
  • Nizahl destroyed it because Jasad was the only kingdom that still had magic powers
• she is selected to be Nizahl’s champion for a yearly competition. Each kingdom chooses one champion. Only one champion can survive.
• Arin, the heir of Nizahl trains Sylvia.
  • Arin is super sensitive to magic. With just a touch he can feel if someone has magic.
• the Alcalah, the major competition commemorating some event in the past, is made up of 3 major competitions
  • the first was in the forest where they had to get to the other side
  • the second was also in the forest where they had to kill some magical monsters
  • the third was in Nizahl where the last 2 champions, Sylvia and Orban’s champion, had to drink some potion that intoxicated them and they had to fight off large animals, gladiator style. This didn’t happen though…
• there are two groups of Jasadi survivors, the Mufsids and Urabi.
  • it’s revealed during the course of the story that the Mufsids actually helped destroy Jasad. I.e. they were working with Nizahl and Supreme Rawain (Arin’s dad)
• Soraya, one of the Mufsid leaders, reveals to Sylvia that her grandparents, the leaders of Jasad right before the destruction, were “magic miners.”
  • they would kill their own subjects to harvest magic. They did this because they saw that the magic in Jasad was weakening over time.
• Mufsids and Urabi do not like each other and they are both trying to hunt down Sylvia. The Mufsids want to take down the royal family and thus want to kill Sylvia but the Urabi do not want to do that
• at the last competition during the Alcalah, the Jasadis attack. Arin is prepared.
  • the Jasadis poisoned the potion Diya and Sylvia drank
  • Sylvia and Soraya interact during the chaos. Sylvia sees some of her memories and sees that her grandparents were indeed magic miners
• Sylvia obviously hates Arin because it was his father who destroyed Jasad, but as the book progresses Sylvia starts to like Arin in a romantic way
• Sylvia is crowned victorious. The other champion, Diya, is not dead but the potion has left her in a coma
• during the victor’s ball, Sylvia’s best friends Marek and Sefa are being arrested. Sylvia begs Supreme Rawain to take her instead
  • Sylvia decides to reveal herself to everyone there. She is the Jasad Heir!!
  • she unleashes her magic. Her cuffs come off. The entire building is collapsing. The Urabi take her away amidst the chaos
• Arin vows to hunt down Sylvia.
• STORY ENDS

Reflections

This was an enjoyable book. Much better than The Stardust Thief.

The characters were fleshed out quite well. The story was engaging. The magical elements were not too strong unlike Stardust Thief. I’ll likely buy the second book when it comes out.