In the Seven Realms, wizards have been bound in service to the Queen since the Breaking, a time when the magic of one wizard, Alger Waterlow, almost destroyed the world. The clan and their magic was able to help repair some of the damage done, but at a cost. The wizards and the Queen would be submissive to the Clan, limiting the power of the magic. Almost a thousand years after Alger’s time, stories depict him as the evil wizard The Demon King and the balance of power set by the Clans is now in jeopardy. The High Wizard Lord Bayar has convinced the Queen that a marriage between his son and her daughter is necessary, but marriage between a wizard and queen is forbidden in the rules set by the Clan in the Naeming. Han Alister thinks maybe his mother was right; maybe he is cursed. He has left the ragtag group of street kids he used to run with, in order to try to support his mam and sister through honest work. But trouble seems to find Han even when he’s not looking for it. Often called Cuffs because of the silver cuffs on his wrist that have been there all his life, Han struggles to survive in the city of Fellsmarch, where guards for the Queen are can be bought and life is anything but easy. Destiny has much more in store for Hans than he even realizes. What will become of the Queen’s daughter Raisa, next in line for the throne, when her sheltered world collides with Han’s desperate one? Although I LOVED this book, telling someone about The Demon King is a challenge, because the story is a complicated one with many twists. Han’s difficult life of survival contrasts with the opulence and protection of Raisa’s. As their lives intersect, their encounter changes them both. Part of what will make Raisa a good queen is her determination to know the truth about her people and to do something to change their circumstances. The Demon King is the first in The Seven Realms Series by the author Cinda Williams Chima.