The Heir Chronicles by Cinda Williams Chima

The Heir Chronicles is a trilogy surrounding the world of the Weir (that's magical beings to you and me). These are people with Weirstones, allowing them to have capabilities beyond what is usually possible. There are five types of Weir: Wizards, Warriors, Enchanters, Sorcerers and Seers.

These three books focus on three young people each belonging to a group of Weir, and the events surrounding them.

Now these books are apparently for ages ten and up, which is why I could so accurately predict what was going to happen presumably. Although with the amount of death threats and actual death in these books I would probably not give them to a ten year old to read.

The themes surrounding this set of novels were simple: Relationships, Trust, Strength and Courage, Life Struggles and Overcoming Evil.
These are the kind of themes I very much enjoy, but sometimes find lacking as they are used over and over in books, especially of the fantasy genre.
But these books did not dissapoint me. The characters with these ideals were well rounded and I did feel something for the characters, although I would say not as much as I have for other characters.

There was one character in particular that I loved, and for those of you who have read this trilogy, or are yet to read it, this character is Jason. Definitely my favourite. I can't say much else otherwise I will definitely spoil the plot.
Which reminds me, the plot was good, if predictable quite a lot of the time, but younger readers would probably find it less so and therefore enjoy the suspense more. As it was, the only suspense I had was wondering what else would happen inbetween finding out major plot points.

Although at times I found myself wavering on boredom, over all I would say that this is a good set of books, to be enjoyed mostly by younger readers, but young adults would also enjoy it.
For that reason I give it three and a half stars out of five.

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- Apparently there are two more Heir Chronicles yet to come out, but this works as a trilogy. But I will be reading the next two books :).

Wikipedia Page (WARNING: PLOT SPOILERS)
Fantastic Fiction Review
Need more opinions? Here's Good Reads on The Warrior Heir.

The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld

The Interpretation of Murder tells the story of Sigmund Freud (the famous Psychoanalyst) and his first and only trip to America. Freud said that he had experienced a traumatic event there, and his opinion of America was not the same afterwards. It is this trauma that Rubenfeld plays out. And what a dramatic one it is.

If you're interesting in an American version of a Sherlock Holmes style Murder Mystery featuring Freud and his theories then this is the book for you.

But if you're not interested in Psychology I suggest you don't read it. Even I, a student partially studying psychology and fascinated by Freud and his odd ideas, found some theoretical conversations a little hard to chew.

Book Cover.

This book covers a little bit of everything: from Relationships and Love to New York history, and then to medicine and therapies, and then to Shakespeare's Hamlet? But most of all covering the murder mystery themes of crime and detection.

I found this book to be a little slow at the beginning, and a little too fast with the whole explanation of what had happened at the end, but that is usually how murder mysteries pan out anyway. The part where usually Sherlock Holmes would remind us of small things that his clever mind had picked up. Except the protagonist is more likeable than Mr Holmes.

The story, however, was told wonderfully. I'd say it was very, very clever. Of course having read this book before, I was not surprised at the twists and turns it was making, but originally remember being slightly shocked and very much enjoyed fitting all of the pieces together in my head.

So, owing to the fact that I enjoyed it, but that I expect quite a lot of people may not, I'm giving this book 3 and a half stars.

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The wikipedia page for The Interpretation of Murder can be found HERE.