The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

The Demon King (Seven Realms Universe, #1) (The Seven Realms, #1)

by Cinda Williams Chima

Times are hard in the mountain city of Fellsmarch. Reformed thief Han Alister will do almost anything to eke out a living for his family. The only thing of value he has is something he can't sell—the thick silver cuffs he's worn since birth. They're clearly magicked—as he grows, they grow, and he's never been able to get them off.

One day, Han and his clan friend, Dancer, confront three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. Han takes an amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to keep him from using it against them....

Read more

Reviewed by Leigha on

3 of 5 stars

Share
Two people from two very different backgrounds unite to stop a common threat in this action-packed series.

As part of the Beat The Blacklist Challenge over at NovelKnight, I decided to read a series languishing on my TBR pile. I choose the Seven Realms series as it's complete and available at my local library. I’ll be writing an overview of the series rather than a review of each book, but I will attempt to be as spoiler free as possible.

I just don't know what to say about these books. It was good, but not great. It was fun, but not enthralling. It was action-packed, but not thrilling. It had so many elements I usually enjoy in a fantasy romance, and yet it never truly captured my attention.

I can't really pinpoint my disappointment. The characters are well-developed, particularly Raisa. She had the best character growth, although Han's character moments were not bad either. The world-building, plot, and secondary characters are all unique and interesting. The pacing at times felt too rushed or too slow, particularly in the first novel. However, I can usually overlook pacing issues if the characters and setting pull me into the story.

Perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for a fantasy romance when I read the novels. So while I didn't really connect to the series, I don't think it's necessarily the series fault. I lay the blame completely on me.

tl;dr While I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I anticipated, others interested in action-packed narrative with well-developed characters should enjoy it.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 20 January, 2018: Finished reading
  • 20 January, 2018: Reviewed