The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

Jack Swift is a student in the small Ohio town of Trinity, but he's a survivor of heart surgery that was performed back when he was still a child. His only reminders of the surgery are a scar on his chest, yearly visits from a woman named Dr. Longbranch, a famous London Heart Surgeon, and the medicine he has to take every morning.

One day, though, Jack slips up and forgets his morning medicine, and things start going screwy. During the tryouts for Soccer, Jack somehow blasts School Bully Lobeck into the net, all without touching him. He's not hurt, but Jack can't figure out what he did, exactly. And instead of being tired out from practice and school, he feels strangely... energized.

Soon after that, things begin to change for Jack. He finds romance with Ellen, a fellow student, but her father is a transient worker and will be moving away after the end of the summer. Lobeck is pushing to take Jack down, and is causing problems for him. And the new assistant Principal seems to have taken an interest in Jack.

The truth, Jack discovers, is that he is the descendant of a group of magical creatures called Weirlinds. They are much like normal humans, but are born with a stone in their chests that separates them into one of five types: Warriors, Wizards, Enchanters, Seers and Sorcerors. Jack was born a wizard, but lacked a stone, and was dying. Jessamine Longbranch saved him by implanting a stone into his chest, but the stone was that of a warrior, not a Wizard.

The Warriors are greatly in demand in the Weir world, because the Wizards, who are first among equals, have used them to fight their wars through a kind of gladitorial combat. But because combats are to the death, the Warriors are also the smallest grouping in the Weir. And the Weir in England are still fighting the Wars of the Roses, and have come to America to kidnap the Weirlings, or Warriors, to train them to fight their battles.

The Weir in America went their to escape the constant fighting in England and America, and tried to hide by disappearing into the regular population. But their attempt to hide means that most of the American Weir have no idea who they are or what their powers are. Because Jack is a warrior, he will soon be forced to fight on the side of the White Rose, of whom Jessamine Longbranch is one. Her implantation of the Warrior stone into Jack was an attempt to create a Warrior for her side, since there are so few Warriors left that Jack is the only one known.

But there are Weir who find what the Wizards are doing to the Warriors is just criminal, and who want to make Weir society a true balance of powers, not just having the Wizards be superior over all the others. This group, led by the man who Jack knows as Assistant Principal Hastings, wants Jack to fight on his side, to end the gladitorial combats and preserve the Warriors. But as Jack decides who to fight for, and misses Ellen, who he finally confessed his feelings to, he discovers that Ellen understood him better than he thought- for she's a warrior, too, and will be fighting for the other side!

I found this book interesting, and the story, of a young man unaware of the power he will someday wield, had the usual tropes of the young man with a destiny, the boy who can change the world, and a coming into power. But it deliberately messes with the formula by having all this happen during the modern day, even if the trappings of Weir society are firmly rooted in the middle ages.

The story starts slowly, but then accelerates as it goes on. Jack, who knew so little at the beginning of the story, must learn, and quickly, if he is to have any hope of survival when it comes to the battle. He is not only the only warrior known, but he is also heir to a sword that his also an artifact (among the Weir) known as Shadowslayer. But while his own aunt, a sorceress, prefers that he not fight at all, Jack knows that will only prolong the inevitable- his death at the hands of another warrior.

This book provided a look at another world, a society living in the shadows of our own. It has definite resemblances to Harry Potter, and also to the Percy Jackson series, but manages to stand on its own, separate from the others. However, while it's good, it's rather staid compared to the Percy Jackson series or Harry Potter. And while it's not as good as the first Harry Potter books at drawing you into that world, it's much better than the unedited mess that was "The Deathly Hallows". Recommended, but it may seem a bit boring compared to other fantasy books by other authors.