THE WINTER HEIR: Fractured Kingdoms Book 2 by J.A. Nielsen – Epic Fantasy, Coming of Age, YA

The Winter Heir, the second book in J.A. Nielsen’s Fractured Kingdoms series, picks up where the first book, The Claiming, leaves off—with its protagonists struggling under the weight of a vital bargain.

Lady Dew Drop, Dewy to her friends—and her frenemies—is languishing in the court of the Winter Fae, a summer princess nearly frozen in both heart and spirit as she does her best to fulfill the pact she made with the Winter King. Meanwhile, the man who got her into this mess, the human mage and illegitimate princeling of Telridge—Spence Ferrous—tries to fulfill the deal for her.

But the story is much bigger than these two young lovers. The Winter King is dying without a legitimate heir. And it’s his own proud, arrogant fault. As much as both the humans and the Summer Fae would be willing to let him suffer the consequences of his own actions—he’s not the only one who will.

The resulting power vacuum will destabilize all three kingdoms AND the balance of the seasons between winter and summer. Will they or nil they, separately or together, the whole world needs them to find the heir that the Winter King once discarded.

It will be the making of both Dewy and Spence—and their breaking as well.

Where the first book in this series brought Dewy and Spence together, this second chapter in their coming-of-age adventure pulls them in opposite directions as they each need to come into their own without the other to lean on.

But in their separate treks to far-off lands among far-flung friends, allies, and those they believed were their enemies, the depth of the world building will turn the reader’s fantasy expectations in surprising directions.

The secondary characters who appeared to occupy stock fantasy roles in the first book turn out to be anything but mere archetypes.

Even more of a switch from traditional epic fantasy, while there are plenty of heroes in The Winter Heir—there are no true villains.

Instead, there are characters who have stepped out of that mold and into a complexity that shows they have heartbreaks and regrets, and have learned from their mistakes— even if it is almost too late.

Rather than a battle of good versus evil, the underlying theme of The Winter Heir is about maintaining a balance.

Winter needs Summer, Summer needs Winter, and the human community in the middle needs all of them to make peace instead of war—no matter what their neighbors might be trying to foment.

More seasoned YA fantasy readers will be reminded of Julie Kagawa’s now-classic, best-selling Iron Fey series, with its tale of plots, espionage and forbidden romance between rivals. The quest for balance among factions and seasons sees hints of the recent Up-and-Under series by Seanan McGuire writing as A. Deborah Baker, and even a touch of Narnia hidden in the harsh winter snow.

The saga continues beyond the end of this book, with a peaceful and happy ending yet out of reach. There’s more to come, and readers will be waiting for it eagerly!

Read the Dante Rossetti Award Winning YA Fantasy book that started it all here with The Claiming!

The Winter Heir will be released on September 4th. Pre-order yours today!