Review: The Demon King

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

Summary (from Goodreads.com): Han Alister will do almost anything to eke out a living for himself, his mother, and his sister Mari.  Ironically, the only thing of value he has is something he can’t sell.  For as long as Han can remember, he’s worn thick silver cuffs engraved with runes.  They’re clearly magicked-as he grows, they grow, and he’s never been able to get them off.

While out hunting one day, Han and his Clan friend, Dancer catch three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea.   After a confrontation, Han takes an amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to ensure the boy won’t use it against them.  Han soon learns that the amulet has an evil history-it once belonged to the Demon King, the wizard who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago.  With a magical piece that powerful at stake, Han knows that the Bayars will stop at nothing to get it back.

Meanwhile, Raisa ana’Marianna, Princess Heir of the Fells, has her own battles to fight.  She’s just returned to court after three years of relative freedom with her father’s family at Demonai camp – riding, hunting, and working the famous Clan markets.  Although Raisa will become eligible for marriage after her sixteenth name-day, she isn’t looking forward to trading in her common sense and new skills for etiquette tutors and stuffy parties.

Raisa wants to be more than an ornament in a glittering cage. She aspires to be like Hanalea-the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But it seems like her mother has other plans for her–plans that include a suitor who goes against everything the Queendom stands for.

The Seven Realms will tremble when the lives of Han and Raisa collide in this stunning new page-turner from bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima.

My Thoughts: As a fantasy lover, this book makes me happy. (Although, a unicorn or two would make me even happier! LOL) Fantasy is my favorite genre, even though sometimes it’s a bit slower than the YA, chick lit, and other things I read at times. It’s slower because there’s more description, more magic woven into the tale. There has to be. Think of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Think of other epic fantasy tales. They don’t rush into things. They start with the layout of the land, get you familiar with the region and the characters involved. There often is a bit of a history lesson in there, too. This book fits that mold.

A gigantic tome (over 500 pages), I felt the start to The Demon King was a bit slow. It wasn’t hard to read, it just wasn’t action-packed. And, you know what, that’s OK. As I mentioned above, that’s what fantasy does. You need to understand the context, the history, the politics, etc. before you can fully grasp the magnitude of the story. I get that. Admittedly, sometimes it can be hard for me to switch gears from lighter fare to books like this, but it’s almost always worth it! (I say almost simply because sweeping generalizations are never wise!) I think if I stuck to fantasy tomes like this I don’t think it’d be a difficult switch at all.

The Demon King actually reminds me a LOT of the Riyria Revelations series by Michael J. Sullivan. Han reminds me of Hadrian. Raisa reminds me of Arista. Amon reminds me of Hilfred. Lord Bayar reminds me of Ezrahaddon (to a lesser degree, in that I’d more readily trust Ezra over him; while there is uncertainty regarding Ezra’s motivations, there’s no doubt Bayar is evil incarnate). The similarities don’t stop there. Revised history, a conspiracy against royalty, mistrust of wizards, and many more plot points. It’s almost eerily similar. But, that’s OK. Sullivan’s series is one of my favorites, so that bodes well for Seven Realms! There also was a very slight resemblance to the Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke – very slight. Just a few things here and there that made me think of it.

The plot is sweeping and loaded with goodies. There are some things that were somewhat predictable, but there were some nice surprises thrown in, too. The truth about Han’s cuffs, for one. Didn’t see that coming at all. (But that, too, reminded me of Riyria.) There are others, but I’m trying not to spoil it!

While this book didn’t knock me off my feet, didn’t wow me, it was still quite good. I was rushing through it for my deadline, so I think that affected my enjoyment of it. I would have preferred to be able to take my time with it. As such, I do intend to read it again sometime. For now, though, I’ll look forward to reading the next book in the series, The Exiled Queen.

If you like fantasy – LOTR, Riyria (start with The Crown Conspiracy if you haven’t read it) – then this book, no this series, is for you! I don’t know the number of books planned, but I can tell you just from reading the first book that this will be an epic tale to remember!

My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Source: Received through Around The World Tours for review.

Read It: Get your own copy HERE. (This is an Amazon link, and purchase through this link will result in my receiving a small commission. Your support is appreciated!)

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FTC Disclosure: All items reviewed were either obtained by me for my own enjoyment or sent (from the author, publisher, publicist, via tour sites, etc.) in exchange for an honest review. I receive no monetary compensation for my posts. All opinions expressed are my own.

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