The Demon King

The Demon King was a quick easy read and a great start to the Seven Realms series. A perfect example of YA fantasy filled with political intrigue, interesting characters, and, of course, magic. I have high hopes for the rest of the series. The Demon King pulls you in right away and makes it hard for you to put it down. Twists, turns, secrets, and legends make for a fast-paced book and keeps you wondering what will happen next. ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoyed the beginning of the series. There were a lot of characters and I formation presented about 2 of the Realms of the 7. It reminded me a little bit of "Anastasia" and oh a wizard was power hungry and evil. the queendom made me smile instead of a kingdom. Loved it! There is a bit of action, crazy wizards, royalty, clan men whom I'd liken to a native American tribe. The princess is going to be a good strong leader and compassionate. I'm interested in how her journey plays out in the series as well as Hans. I'm ready to dive into the next book.

A fantasy world is new, interesting, and magical. There are places you can never go to, evils that you never want to encounter, and wonders you can only dream of. A good fantasy can transport us to an entirely new realm. In Cinda Williams Chima's Seven Realms series, she starts the journey for us with The Demon King to a land we can't help but get sucked into.Raisa is the princess heir of the Queendom, the next in line for the throne. In a land where queens and wizards are bound to one another but forbidden to marry to avoid the power corruption that happened with the Demon King, Raisa knows the seriousness of her post. At the same time, she can't help but feel suffocated by the yoke of her destiny. Han is a reformed thief who gave up easy money and his gang in order to protect and care for his mother and sister. Now he scrounges for work wherever he can, but it is harder to make money the honest way. Both live in the same realm, but they couldn't live more different lives if they tries.Raisa is plagued with suitors and princess from other realms vying for her hand in marriage, but she is content flirting and kissing with no thoughts of the future. When she learns of the corruption on the streets at the hands of the queen's guards in the name of the Queendom, she has to see for herself. In disguise, she becomes the brief hostage of Han who is wanted for multiple gang murders he did not commit. Meanwhile, the wizards continue to test their boundaries and the High Wizard has clearly corrupted the Queen, Raisa's mother. While Han doesn't hurt Raisa, he releases her quickly and inspires her to see the true nature of the streets of her queendom. Her discoveries not only lead her to the corruption lying beneath, but also the danger she herself seems to be in. Raisa and Han might live completely different lives, but they are fighting against the same evils in order to protect the one thing that truly matters: the realm and the line of queens that protect its people.I really love fantasy, but sometimes it takes me a while to get into the new world which is so foreign and unknown. Once I do, though, I can't pry myself from the story. The Seven Realms have an amazing backdrop in a magical but almost medieval land full of wizards, amulets, ancient feuds, and destinies. Not only is the world building by Chima pretty amazing, we finally find ourselves with an awesome, strong, willful princess and, by golly, a matriarchy! I love the Queendom! And Raisa is the strong woman you want her to be. I loved how she dresses in disguise and goes to investigate the rumors that their guards are horrible and corrupt by herself. She doesn't send someone to do it for her, she goes on her own! And when her childhood friend, a new guard, protests, she tells him if he doesn't escort her, then she is going with or without him! When Han lets her go and she learns of his former gang members being held prisoner for crimes they didn't commit, she marches right into the guardhouse as a vagrant child and takes hold of the guardhouse from the inside with the evil guards as her prisoners! Even better is when she takes all the jewelry her suitors lavish on her and donates it to the Speaker (priest) to feed and clothe the starving people of the realm! I loved this princess and can't wait to see her assume more of her role as a queen. At the end of the story, we are left with the Queendom uncertain, but if this book says anything about Raisa, she is going to prevail (and kick some serious butt in the process!).I think this is a magnificent series for any person, adult, young adult, or middle reader, who likes fantasy, but it would also appeal to people who don't often read fantasy novels. I think it is similar to the world building in the Graceling series, where it feels like medieval Europe, but has a wonderful fanciful, magical element as well. Enough "normalcy" exists to appeal to both the hard-core fantasy readers and those who like realistic fiction as well. There is no real violence or sexual content to speak of, so this book is great for any kid who can handle the reading level (probably 5-6 grade strong reader and up). The beauty of the story is the strong female role and the matriarch. In world full of patriarchy and a country that has never had a female president, I love the idea of a world for our students to read about that has strong women at the helm! (Too bad it is in the "fantasy" section!). I can't wait to carry on with this story and hope you will check it out too. It is a magnificent start to what looks to be a fantastic series!

I got the audiobook from my library's website. It was a daunting 10 hours long. But, two trips up to Idaho and a couple commutes to work did the trick.The world building in this novel was phenomenal. I haven't read The Warrior Heir or its series yet, but if this is what all of Cinda Williams Chima's books are like, then I'm hopping on board. This was a complex environment with court intrigue, wars, political feuds, gangs, and a bit of native spirit.Han was a fantastic protagonist in all his reformed bad boy charm. I don't like bad boys, but if they have reformed, I can get on board. Han had a rough life and it seems that no matter how hard he tried to stay out of trouble, it keeps finding him. I loved how incidents at the beginning of the story that were almost skipped over at the beginning became very important to the story.Now, about Raisa. I loved her, hated her, and then loved her again. I could not understand her fascination for Micah. What a little snake (Micah, not Raisa). But, she has a good heart, which tells me that I may like her a little better in the sequel. She was spoiled and extremely naive, which is why I hated her. However, as time went on, she definitely grew. I suppose it is unfair to hold Raisa accountable for her actions at the beginning of the book since she really was sheltered by no fault of her own. She has conviction, and while many of her actions were selfish, she does acknowledge that later in the book and even makes penance!My favorite characters in the book were Aman Burn, Corporal Burn, Willow, and of course Averil Demoneye. Some may find the sheer number of characters overwhelming, but maybe because I was listening to the audio version, the different voices made it a little easier to tell them apart.Here is my one complaint about the book. Many of the major climactic events in the story had several pages/minutes of dialogue leading up to them. After about 2-3 minutes of dialogue I knew exactly what was going to happen. This wasn't a bad thing in itself, but it was a little lengthy. At one point I yelled at the audiobook, "Oh just get on with it already!" It, of course, did not respond. The book could have been a little more succinct and just gotten to the point a little faster.The ending of this novel was PERFECT! I do not like cliffhangers. Catching Fire may be the only book I've ever actually thrown, and it was for this reason. The Demon King wrapped up beautifully. Many of the main conflicts in the story were resolved, but there is definitely more to the story. I am kind of reminded of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. At the end of that book, you knew there was more to the story. Voldemort was not defeated. It was only the first leg of a journey. This is how a good series should be.I can't wait to read The Exiled Queen when it is released in September. Until then, I have many more Cinda Williams Chima books to keep me company.

I had the soft cover when I was younger. I bought it when the series first came out and I re-read it so much it fell apart. My family members have also fallen in love with the characters. I love the world building and the plot building. The first book takes a bit to get going. There’s a lot of back and forth. But it picks up from there. You won’t regret starting this series

The media could not be loaded.  Ainda não li o livro, pelo que a avaliação somente irá refletir o serviço de compra e entrega.O paperback tem uma enorme qualidade! Fiquei bastante surpreendida, a capa, as folhas, a impressão… qualidade simplesmente fantástica! A encomenda chegou super rápido também e não veio danificado! Bastante satisfeita

Please, note that my review is exactly what I have on Goodreads. But talking about the quality of the book, it came in perfect shape. I always use Amazon for this kind of books, since I love to read in the original language!_______GOODREADS REVIEW:The Demong King is an entertaining reading and the beginning of a book series that promises to be more than just a fantasy story.We have two different POVs, one is the princess Raisa, heir to the Queendom, and the other is Han Alister, a guy of many faces whose past might become his new identity.I must admit this first book is a slow burn, but I think that it was a good decision since the world building is taking us in the events of the present, but also, it explains what happened in the past with Hanalea, the Demon King and the Breaking.It explains bonds, oaths, the people living in different countries and their ambition; also magic around them, some spelled objects and of course, the true identities of our main characters –how they will fulfill their destiny.It took me a little while to understand this world, since I had just finished Tower of Dawn (a book I did not enjoyed for the most part), but I’m glad I picked this up. At the end of the book I cared so much for the characters that I wanted them to be out of the trouble they were in.I liked the interaction between Raisa and Amon and even though they cannot be together as a couple, I find that they’re important to each other and that’s beautiful either way.And oh my God, the sweet moments between Mari and Han are so damn beautiful! I wish she had another ending, or at least, that he would mourn her like she deserved.Last but not least, this is the first book in the fantasy genre I read about a Queendom. So I was surprised by that treat!But, honestly, I hope things get a little bit more exciting, since I think Raisa and Han are gonna meet again.

Für junges Publikum, aber für jedes Alter trotzdem sehr fesselnd. Charaktere so ausgestaltet, dass man sich identifiziert. Absolut zu empfehlen.

The book starts really slowly for me - lots of preparation and world building. Then suddenly it takes off and I can’t put it down.