Heir Of Fire, By Sarah J. Mass

Heir of Fire by Sarah J Mass should be considered a classic because it expresses the artistic quality of truth, has the universal message of no one is born into what they are, and the book is an accurate representation of the era in which it was written, the time period of 9/11. The book begins with Alein being taken from a labor camp to the king to become his Champion, someone to kill for him, little does the king know that his Champion is the queen of a long lost country and one of his greatest threats; little does he know she posses a great amount of power. As the story continues Alein starts to notice that the king’s men are changing, they are becoming crueler, less human. Later on Alein learns that the black rings all of the king's men
wore were a gateway for Valg demons to enter inside the human being and take control of their body, feeding off of all their hosts fears and sadness, letting the host see what horrors they were committing, but having no control over their body. The king is not done yet though, he continues on to gather a host of Ironteeh witches with a leader by the name of Manon Blackbeak to fight in his upcoming battle. Often classics from all genres and points of time express some artistic quality, Heir of Fire is no exception.
The book expresses the importance of truth through the main character, Alein. Alein is caught holding onto secrets from her friends,Dorian the prince of Aldrin and Chaol the Captain of the princes royal guard. Alein attempts to hide the heritage of her being Queen of Tressen, the biggest enemy of Aldren as well as the fact that she is a fae and in extension posses magical powers. However, when Alein and her friends fall into grave danger she is forced to demonstrate her powers and reveal herself. Like many would be, her friends were angered because of Alein's secretiveness. Alein is not able to make amends with either friend before one is enslaved by a Valg and the other looking at her with murdurus eyes. As Alein is going through this journey, she learns that truth is vital when working with friends. Because this scene revolves around the artistic quality of truth, it is important to understand why truth is considered an art. Some say truth is not an art, but truth can be very artistic. Both can be used to reveal deep emotion and as it takes practice to do any of the arts well, it also takes practice to master the ability to tell the truth. Not only do many classics posses some artistic quality, but classics have a universal message. In Sarah’s book Heir of Fire she teaches that one isn’t born into what they become, they don’t have to follow in someone’s
footsteps, people can change. In this wonderful book Manon is convinced that she will always be a cruel killer with no feelings whatsoever like her grandmother and every other witch she knows. Gradually, Manon starts to allow herself to feel compassion towards those she is the leader of as well as those she has killed. This change demonstrates to the rest of her clan that they too can become more compassionate, for they do not have to be the mean killers they were brought up to be. Like Manon, many people believe that they have to be just like their parents and can’t yield from what is handed to them. Some are born poor and think they will have to stay that way their whole lives. Some are born rich and think that it will stay that way if they don’t work and yet others a believe they will always be a cold hearted and mean person because that’s what their parents are like. However, Sarah teaches everyone that no one is a certain way, they are molded into what they are, so if one doesn’t like who they are, they only have to realize it and take responsibility to remold themselves. Although some may believe Heir of Fire should be considered a classic, not everyone has the same opinions and may say otherwise.
One common argument against any modern novel, especially one as action-packed and relatable as this one, is it is too new to be considered a classic. However, every novel was new at one point, the only thing special about it is the book was able to stand the test of time, for it is a representation of an important time period. Everyone remembers the tragic events of 9/11, the apparent normal plane flying by like every other day. Then all went wrong and the plane was taken over and crashed into the World Trade Centre, demonstrating to the world that not all is what it seems. This wretched day is represented in Heir of Fire by the king of Aldean revealing some surprising information. The king explained to Alein that while he killed thousands of people it wasn't him, it was the Valg Prince inside of him and the towers he built to block the magic was to protect Alein. It is important to understand that up until this point, Alein and her comrades believed all of the king's actions were to gain power, not to mention they believed he was the leading power working against them, but in reality he was one of their greatest allies. As with 9/11, the king was not acting as everyone saw him; nothing was as it seemed. The commercial airline was all as it should have been both as viewed from the inside and out. However, like how the king was viewed
from outside opposed to the way the king viewed himself from the inside, the pedestrians viewed the plane as a normal occurrence opposed to the passengers who saw the plane as a wretched thing.Throughout the course of Heir of Fire Sarah J Mass depicts a classic’s books elements from expressing the artistic quality of truth to containing a universal message of no one is born the way they are and the book will be able to stand the test of time for it was written concerning the infamous event of 9/11.