I’ve enjoyed Analeigh Sbrana’s books a lot before. Last summer, I read her duology Lore of the Wilds and Lore of the Tides when the latter published. In this new romantasy, readers get a taste of magical academia with some actual diversity. It includes fae, ghosts, demons, gods, and humans all in conflict. Our main character gets her choice of which prophecy she will fulfill: whether she will become a savior or a catalyst.

Heir of Prophecy publishes today, August 25th. It is now available everywhere books are sold, including on Bookshop.org where you can preorder now.

Summary:

Audra was dreaming of escaping home and finding adventure, but this isn’t what she had in mind. She was thinking more along the lines of leaving her family’s inn to board a ship at the local harbor. Instead, she’s been kidnapped by a fanatical cult of fae. She isn’t the only human they’ve abducted, either. These fae say that they are seeking the Heir of Prophecy who can end the winter that has lasted Audra’s whole life.

This Heir could be any one of the dozens to hundreds they’ve captured. All of them are the right age. The best way to determine who is the Heir and who will serve the realm in other ways is by testing their magical proficiency. Imprisoned in an academy, they will need to study and practice rigorously to have any hope of surviving their trials… Or the demons the fae are at war with.

My Thoughts:

I did not want to put this one down. First of all, it’s nice to see some actual diversity in a magical academia setting. We have characters from lots of different backgrounds, and none of them feel tokenized. While there is discrimination in the book, it is never racially based. It was great to see small details normalized, like caring for various hair types. On that note, there was a truly lovely found family aspect to the book.

Something I’ve consistently liked about Sbrana’s novels so far are the very realistic progressions in relationships, even when the surrounding circumstances are fantastical. Audra has no reason to trust the male lead when she first meets him, and so she doesn’t. Yet something begins to grow anyway, and each step along the way makes sense when it happens. This is not a super spicy book, but there is on-page sexual content. Much like with Lore of the Wilds, the narration has a voice that leans toward the Young Adult genre, but the amount of explicit sex and violence definitely makes this one better suited for adults. It would fit best in a New Adult section.

Sbrana has also proven consistently good at writing grief. There is a lot of it here. A great amount arises during the events of the novel, but there is a good deal of it preexisting at the start. The author knows how to use it to shape not only her characters’ backstories, but their behaviors, and even the readers’ perception of them. In some examples it is a motivation, and for others it’s a hindrance. For many, it’s an unceasing background noise they try to ignore. It was fascinating watching it unfold.

Of course, I can’t talk about this book without mentioning its complex magic system. It had several interlocking pieces with several sources of magic used in very specific ways. There are a lot of rules about how it can be used in which realms and when. It matters whether the practitioner is fae or a demon or a god. There’s a lot of terminology for all of it, which means a there’s a lot of memorization involved. At times it feels like right studying alongside the characters as they learn about their new realm.

This book has a very full and satisfying ARC to it, but it is not the end of the story. I’m not sure where it’s going next, but I’m excited to find out when the time comes. For now, I’d recommend getting your hands on Heir of Prophecy and experience the start of Audra’s story.

Content Warnings: Grief, Graphic Depictions of Violence & Injuries, Police Brutality, Death of Parent, Alcohol, Graphic Sexual Content, Blood, Fire & Burn Injuries, Vomit, Kidnapping, Human Trafficking, Mentions of Sex Work, Xenophobia, Classism, Discrimination

After I Finished Heir of Prophecy

After Heir of Prophecy, I dove right into another ARC with an upcoming publication date. This is one I was so very excited to see appear in my inbox. It’s a debut novel, but I’ve been following the author for a long time. She’s worked in publishing and editing for many years, and gives phenomenal writing advice on her social media. I love watching her videos, and I subscribe to her Patreon because I always feel like I learn new valuable tidbits every time I see a post from her. When I found out she had written a book publishing soon, I knew I wanted to read it. That was doubly true because it’s a pirate novel.

My next review will be for A Broken Heart of Blackened Stone by Gina Denny.