Blood Heir
Aurelia Ryder #1
By Ilona Andrews
ISBN13: 9781641971584
Author’s website: ilona-andrews.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar
Summary
Atlanta was always a dangerous city. Now, as waves of magic and technology compete for supremacy, it’s a place caught in a slow apocalypse, where monsters spawn among the crumbling skyscrapers and supernatural factions struggle for power and survival.
Eight years ago, Julie Lennart left Atlanta to find out who she was. Now she’s back with a new face, a new magic, and a new name—Aurelia Ryder—drawn by the urgent need to protect the family she left behind. An ancient power is stalking her adopted mother, Kate Daniels, an enemy unlike any other, and a string of horrifying murders is its opening gambit.
If Aurelia’s true identity is discovered, those closest to her will die. So her plan is simple: get in, solve the murders, prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled, and get out without being recognized. She expected danger, but she never anticipated that the only man she’d ever loved could threaten everything.
One small misstep could lead to disaster. But for Aurelia, facing disaster is easy; it’s relationships that are hard.
Review
The author team Ilona Andrews returns to the world of Kate Daniels series with Blood Heir. The book takes place eight years after the events of Magic Triumphs, and it starts with the return of Julie Lennart to Atlanta with a new face and a new name. Now, known as the Princess of New In-Shinar Aurelia Ryder, she returns in secrecy to solve the murder of a Priest, whose death points at the work of a shapeshifter, but she knows that it’s connected to something more sinister and ancient.
I really liked Blood Heir, I’m a fan of the Kate Daniels series and I loved reading stories in that world. It was great to see Julie in the spotlight and learn about her mission and reasons for hiding her identity from those that knew her. Julie will do everything in her power to find the creature that murdered the Priest and will fight whoever tries to beat her to it.
Eight years have passed since the last time we saw Julie ride away with her Grandmother Erra, the Rose of Tigris. They returned Erra and Roland’s mother back to Mesopotamia and woke up the entourage of followers that went to sleep with her a millennia ago. Together they moved to the east of the United States and somewhat conquered California to make it better in this new age of magic, New In-Shinar was born, with Erra as the ruler and Aurelia as the heir.
Years later, after a phone call and new prophecy in the middle of the night from her friend Sienna, Julie travels to Texas to stop the growing power of the resurrected god Moloch, who will murder Kate in the future and conquer this side of the world. To stop him, she has wounded the avatar of the god and taken a bit of his power. With this magic metamorphosis it changes the appearance of Julie and her magic making a true blood kin of Kate and Erra.
Aurelia has had the time and tutors that Kate didn’t have, and has become the jewel that Roland hoped she could with the proper training. She has learned sorcery and the secrets of her blood making her a different character to what Kate was, making the narrative more interesting in this strange world that keeps spewing monsters.
It was interesting going back to the storytelling of finding who is the mystery killer and solving the murder. Following clues, tracking down people and killing them, and finding out the origin of the creature who killed the Priest.
In the past, we had seen the relationship between Julie and Derek, the will they/won’t they get together and after Julie left, Derek also left Atlanta. Now with the murder of the Priest who helped Derek in his childhood, he returns to find out who killed the man. But like Julie, Derek returns with a new name and powers that he didn’t have before.
While Aurelia is trying to hide her identity, there are still people who recognize her. It was great to see old characters from the previous series make appearances and learn about what has happened to Julie in the last years. At the same time, it was great to meet new characters that I hope we can keep meeting in the future, my favorite was Namtur the assassin of New In-Shinar, I was very interested in his powers.
In the end, the new enemy for this series is another old power, the God Moloch who has been reborn in an avatar. He has his citadel in Texas where his followers sacrifice children to fire. Compared to Roland who had other ideas, Moloch is truly evil and needs to be stopped before he kills Kate.If you are a fan of Ilona Andrews and their series Kate Daniels, then I recommend Blood Heir. Time and magic have change Aurelia Ryder, she has tried to let go of her past, but to save the future of the woman who saved her and has been her mother, she will need to go back to Atlanta and solve a murder.
