The Demon King

By Cinda Williams Chima

A Review by Eric Allen

Before I begin, I must say that I was not able to finish this book. I only got four chapters in before I couldn't take it anymore. This book fails on every level possible and imaginable. Let me count the ways. No Hook. No plot. No tension. No conflict. No compelling characters or events. No protagonist. No antagonist. No emotion. No color. No life. No story. No desire to read ANY further. No refunds? ...DAMMIT!!! My dislike for the book More...

I have the hardest time reviewing fantasy books. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe because so much is constantly going on, it leaves me a bit stumped as to how to summarize everything in an eloquent fashion.

Fans of traditional fantasy, whether it be adult or YA, will most likely appreciate this series. The Demon King read very much like a slightly scaled down version of a good adult epic fantasy - not much was held back for the sake of a younger audience.

From the good to the evil characters, I fou More...

Three words; fa, reaking, awesome!

Now I remember why I love fantasy so much! Especially a kick-butt high fantasy like this one.

Chima has masterfully created an intriguing world, with a cast full of memorable characters.

The chapters somewhat alternate between Han and Raisa. Divulging the depth of each character and the world around them, presented in their own P.O.V. I love when authors do this. I like that connection you get when the story is presented in this format. I am emotionally invested i More...

I absolutely loved this book!

What I love about this kind of fantasy books is the world-building.
In this book there's a map printed on the inside of the cover, and just looking at it, and reading all the different names of places and kings and queens at the beginning of the book made me a bit skeptical. Now, after I've finished it I feel like I've been to a whole other fantastical world. Now I know all of the places, and I just love the world of the seven realms!

There are two strong main-charac More...

THE DEMON KING was a perfect maelstrom of practically everything I love in a book. Court intrigue, captivating characters, intricate plotting, enticing romances, and brilliant world building coalesce to deliver the best high fantasy story EVER.

The characters in Chima's story are extremely well developed; each had their own unique personality that distinguished him or her as an individual entity, subsequently allowing me to easily love or hate them. In the case of Han Alister- LOVE. Han is a ref More...

This book was intoxicatingly amazing. I was stunned by Chima's writing in this because I'd read her Heir series and liked it well enough, but this was just BREATHTAKING! Her plot was absorbing and unique, her characters were equally so, and the romance was just...whew. It made my spine tingle and my face flush. It was all too wonderful and I simply cannot wait for the next book in the series.

I'm sure I will have some actual coherent thoughts on this, at some point.

But for now, let me just say that my basic reaction to this was: "Oh, so this is what all the fuss was about."

Final rating: ★★★★★/★★★★★

I have felt irresistible need to review this even after i finished with all of the books from Seven Realms a month ago. So final rating for whole series would be 5 pure stars from me. Prepare yourself to be blown away by this book/series!


It was exciting, amazing and intriguing all the way! The plot of the The Demon King and the whole series itself was just amazing. I had some thoughts about who was supposed to be who, and only half time was i right. Other times blew me More...

I struggled so much when I started with this one. I even considered abandoning this entirely. But with the ratings and reviews of goodreads people, I painstakingly flipped every page to finish this. And boy was I surprised when I found out that I'm almost done with the book. HAHA! YES! IT'S THAT GOOD! I didn't realize that I was starting to enjoy myself until I was halfway through it. I was so engrossed with the story especially with the brilliant world the author created. However, it would have More...

I've read the first 132 pages and also the last 78 - because I kind of was interested in what happend to Princess Raisa and Hanson 'Hunts Alone' Alister (a mellow cliffy, if you'd like to know. This is meant to be part of a trilogy).

I decided that I did not have to read the big chunk in the middle, because the story - though well-done - turned quickly out to be also well-known: An enjoyable, but average young adult fantasy with bad, bad wizards, stupid, easily misled queens, clever and not so cl More...

Can I give a book six stars?? I LOVED this! First book in a new series, set in a country where the Clans (artisan and warrior tribes who live in harmony with nature, a lot like Native Americans) and the Valefolk (valley/city dwellers) have lived in an uneasy truce with wizards, derisively called "jinxflingers," who use clan artifacts to conduct magic. There's a great spunky princess who chafes at palace life and her prospects for an arranged political marriage, a street lord ragamuffin thief who More...

in the beginning. this is a partnership book... im completely hooked. i love this author.

100% recomendable,hacía mucho tiempo que no disfrutaba tanto un libro. Es una historia con muchos lugares comunes contada con una pericia y un oficio impecables, que te mantiene expectante y embelesado hasta la última hoja. Por supuesto que posee cosas obvias, muy predecibles y molesta un poco el motivo clásico de la-princesa-que-odia-ser-princesa y-quiere-ser-libre-salvaje-y-decidir-su-destino-y-de-paso-ser-una-magnifica-gobernante (Raisa te detesto ¬¬). En todo caso,a pesar de lo anterior,"El More...

The Demon King is, admittedly, a book that might lose your attention in the first two hundred pages. No one wants to be bored for that long. Generally, I give a book a hundred pages to catch my attention, and if nothing is striking me then I put it down. Thankfully, The Demon King was one of those books that I thought had enough interesting elements and characters that it might get better, and on the advice of a friend I ended up diving back in to the book a month or so later. I finished the las More...

Cinda Chima is already ok in my book because of the Heir series. It truly is a great original story. So this series I figured might be nice and I’ve bought them all as they've come out. Only now did I start it. 4 years after the first book comes out.
I was really looking forward to the start of The Seven Realms novels. I am stoked I wasn't let down!
Starting the book was a little “eehhh” with so many characters with multiple names right off the bat and not exciting first couple chapters. The ter More...

I picked up this book randomly one night when I went to the bookstore and was in need of something new to read.

I am so glad I did. Cinda Williams Chima is a breath of fresh amongst all this paranormal and fantasy teen romance going on. Sometimes its extremely hard to go into a bookstore and pick up a young adult novel that is more fantasy than romance, which is the kind of books I personally like to read. I'm talking about Tamora Pierce kind of books. I like some smut now and then but I'd rathe More...

Where did I get this book?: I got it from the local library;)

How did I find out about this book?: TheNightBookmobile was reading it, and I thought the premise looked interesting, so I decided to give it a shot.

Quote: “A vocation is not something you slap on, like a coat of paint, and change whenever you want. A vocation is built into you. You have no choice. If you try to do something else, you fail.”

Positives: There was so much I really loved about this book. I think Chima did a good job of wor More...

I honestly believe this is not such a bad book, I liked the world at least and the plot to some point, the characters were not likeable then again they were teenagers to the bone..but I didn't enjoy the book at all, I think the reason was the point of view..I felt like the book was taking sides and I personally loathe racism and discrimination which was kind of all over the book..you don't believe me? lets try to see this from a wizard POV..I'm a wizard, my ancestors came to this land over a tho More...

Courtesy of Smash Attack Reads

This series was recommended to me by two of my book club friends, Vania and Sarah. They were talking about it one night, and I loved what I was hearing. They told me it was epic YA fantasy, on the scale of books like Graceling and Fire. I really, really love epic YA fantasy and want to read more of it, so I immediately purchased the book.

I loved theopeningof the book! The author slammed home the danger of magic in this world immediately. The setting was superb, th More...

Han Alister, once the famous streetlord of the Raggers better known as Cuffs, is trying to go straight for his sister Mari and his mother. He is out of the gang life, but leaving trouble behind isn't as easy as leaving the gang and changing professions. While hunting with his friend Dancer out on Hanalea he encounters three young wizards with a powerful amulet. Afraid that the wizards might try to use the amulet against him and Dancer, Han demands that they give him the amulet before they leave

More...

Reviewed by Joan Stradling for TeensReadToo.com

Han Alister is a reformed thief trying to earn an honest living for his family. When he and his clan friend, Dancer, catch three young wizards setting the sacred mountain aflame, Han ends up taking an amulet from one of them. Han learns the amulet once belonged to the evil Demon King who almost destroyed the world, and the wizard Han stole the amulet from will stop at nothing to get it back.

Han isn't the only one with problems; the princess, Raisa, More...

November 2012: I just realized that I first read this three years ago this month. I think I enjoyed it just as much this time around. I liked the characters and story and thought it was well written. I admit, it took me a while to get into it this time. There are a lot of names, places and lore to remember and I've never been great with names. I liked Han and Raisa and feel like both characters have a lot of potential for growth. I'm glad I have all the books on hand and can get started on book More...

Tore through this book over the weekend and I have to say I was very impressed. Went right out to buy the sequel. The characters are very well developed and I felt like I connected to/cared for what they were going through. Would say it has the right mix of adventure, mystery, fantasy and had a sort of 'epic' feel. Also is a good YA book but also had a lot of adult themes so any age group will enjoy. For anyone that liked the YA books: Graceling, Poison Study, Crown Duel, The False Princess, Fin More...

This book completely sucked me in. It is great when an author can make you love characters that don't appear totally lovable. It is definitely one of those books that keeps a pit in your stomach because any number of horrible things can happen at any moment. I can't wait to start the next in the series.

**UPDATE** I began the fourth an final in the series when a friend convinced me to start at the beginning. I'm so glad I did! This is really one of those amazing books that becomes real.

**Audio - More...

Another Cinda Chima book, yes :-) I was browsing in a book store in the small holiday town (as is my wont) and well... I got it. I also discovered that the sequels to Warrior Heir are published and I am going to have to track them down now, but as this volume is set in a fantasy world and not ‘reality’ like the other books, I jumped at this book.
And the fantasy world is very very interesting. It ticks off a few of the usual fantasy tropes – troubled city and a young thief turned good. Plotting More...

The Demon King was the first book in a long time that I have read that really stood out. The characters in the book were described very well and their emotions were very well explained. Because of this I the reader could relate to their emotions that were present to them. This was one of the many things throughout the book that really caught me continuing to read the book.

The book is set up into chapters throughout and each part focuses on a different character. I personally liked this because i More...

Before I continue, I want to say one thing: I tried to like this book. I really did. Fantasy is my favorite genre and this book seemed to be right up my alley, so I gave it a chance. However, within the first few chapters, it started to feel like more of a task than something I actually enjoyed. But I continued reading, with the hope that it might get better. Needless to say, that didn't happen.
This book was TERRIBLE. The plot was absolutely ridiculous and moving in too many directions at once, More...

When you think about most fantasy books, the main character is a knight or a knight in training but in this book there two main characters. Han is a peasant who uses to be part of a gang to help support himself and his mother and his small sister. But know he look for a job. Raisa what to as good as the Queen but she doesn't know what is going on outside the castle walls. Once she sees Amon for the first time since they were 13. Han and Raisa will meat but only one of them will know they meet.
I More...

The Demon King is the first of a series which follows the story of Han Allister who is a thief and makes his living from stealing. The story follows Han’s travels and encounters with others as he tries to survive day by day. Han is cursed with two cuffs which hold amulets in them that he can never take off because they grow as he grows. Han Allister soon becomes the target to all of the clansmen from a tribe who once held a 1000 year truce with Han’s clan after Han steals Micah’s gem which belon More...