Enter the world of the Seven Realms... For the first time, all four books of the critically acclaimed and New York Times bestselling Seven Realms series are available in one place. Packed with romance, action, intrigue, and adventure, The Demon King, The Exiled Queen, The Gray Wolf Throne, and The Crimson Crown are epic fantasy at its very best.
New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima comes from a long line of fortune-tellers, musicians and spinners of tales. She began writing romance novels in middle school, which were often confiscated by her teachers.
Her Shattered Realms quartet comprises Flamecaster ( 2016) Shadowcaster (2017) Stormcaster (2018) and Deathcaster (2019.)
Her newest series, Runestone Saga, marries Norse magic and mythology with swordplay (axeplay?) and romance. Children of Ragnarok was released 11.8.22, and the sequel and conclusion, Bane of Asgard, is set for release 10-22-24.It is available for preorder now.
Chima is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University and the University of Akron. Chima has been a workshop leader, panelist, and speaker at writing conferences, including the Northern Ohio SCBWI Conference, the Western Reserve Writers’ Conference, and the World Fantasy Convention. She frequently speaks to young writers and readers at schools and libraries nationwide.
Chima lives in North Carolina with her family, and is always working on her next novel.
OMG. If I could give this series 10 stars, I would! This is an amazing story and equally amazing audiobook. Plot: perfect. Characters: perfect. Romance: perfect. The only negative thing I can think of is that the first book does take a little while to get started. However, DO NOT GIVE UP ON IT. By the time I got to book four, The Crimson Crown, I was a zombie connected to my iPhone listening to Carol Monda’s every word. She has such a deep and gritty voice that she effortlessly switched back and forth to both female and male characters. LIKE WHOA GUYS. If you only ever read one audiobook series in your life, let it be this one.
I just finished reading this series for I think the fourth time. Add twice of listening to the audio. I also have recently re-read some of my other very favorite YA series.....Twilight, The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, Shiver, The Iron Fey. I am not a Young Adult, I am a grandmother. My granddaughters, my brother, my sons, have read some of these and also loved them.
After spending a few months going down memory lane with these favorites, I am choosing The Seven Realms as my all time favorite. And it was not easy to come to that decision. The characters in these books are like someone I know and love - great books and great authors do that.
I remember the first time I read this series and how I realized that each book was better than the one before. The romance between Han Alister and Princess Raisa was a slow developing one. At the end of the first book neither of them even knew who the other one was. I agree with my son who said to me that Raisa is the most admirable and compelling book heroine he has ever read. There is no way to describe how wonderful and believable Han is. He does impossible things (he is a wizard although in the early parts of the book he does not know it), but that is not what makes him such a memorable character. He has faced death so many time sit is just a part of him. He has stolen and he has killed. But he has a loyalty to those he loves which includes his best friend, Fire Dancer. Dancer is part of the clan which is much like our American Indians of old, but also belatedly as a teen finds out his is a wizard. I really can not begin to describe what this book series is about except it is not like any other. There is a touch of the Native American world going on in the midst of a Queendom and the wizards; there is even a school that reminded me of Harry Potter.
The greatest thing about this series is the love story. I did not tag it as romance but did mark light romance. No sex other than some thoughts and desires, but rather a LOVE STORY in caps. It's two very young people who never gave up believing in each other in the worst of circumstances and all along knowing they can never be together. I take that back...Han believed against all odds.
I won't rave any more, but I love it.
I read this author's Heir series and loved it too. Not as much as this one, but it is very good. I definitely have considered her a favorite author. I am going to have to go negative here, because I believe a fan who loves a series like I do have a right to do so. I am saddened and angry at this author and will never read another thing that she writes. When an author creates a story like this one and and a love like Han and Raisa have and then writes a spinoff starting out telling about a terrible murder of their daughter. Then abruptly kills my favorite character ever....not necessary. Write a new story, but don't do that. It was like if Rowlin wrote another book and killed Harry Potter in the second chapter or Stephanie Meyer wrote one and killed Edward. I hated it and my son thanked me for telling him and asked me to never mention it again. It took a little bit away from my fourth reading of this series but probably because it made me angry again. I fail to understand why any author would do this - or how she could do it to Han and Raisa. Brilliant writing in this series and I highly recommend it, but I would stop at the end of the Crimson Crown.
I’ll be honest – The Demon King didn’t grab me from the start. I thought the first chapters were inclined towards over-exposition and was concerned that this would be fantasy dumbed-down for the teen market. The alternating POVs struck me as a rather tired narrative device, the characters felt a bit generic-fantasy archetype (the streetwise ex-thief turned good, the rebellious princess, etc etc…), and the dreaded love triangle threatened.
I know. Thank goodness for that three-hour journey because I continued reading.
And somehow I got sucked in. The characters grew up and became three-dimensional – I liked them, I rooted for them, and I wanted them to win through even though it felt impossible at times. The stakes for Raisa, Han, Dancer, Amon, Cat, and well, so many others, became higher over the course of the series and I was totally invested in the outcome. The romance (of course there was romance) was of the sort that came ever so slowly to the boil and was oh-so-satisfying. I surfaced from the world of the Seven Realms a while later, having gulped down the entire quartet in around three days. It’s the sort of series where midway through the final book, I almost didn’t want to finish it because that would have meant the story was over.
So if you’re in the mood for fantasy with a healthy mix of court intrigue, magic, and romance, you could do worse than to check out this series.
I’m absolutely addicted. I couldn’t stop reading. I loved how the twists happen and though sometimes I did get a little mad at how different characters were falling in love, pushing through those moments was definitely worth the embarrassment. One of the best serious I’ve ever read. I could not be happier my mom got me the first one. This is the perfect mix of love, crime, magic, and war.
It has been a long time that I could not book a book down. I read the whole series in just a couple days... I read at least 36 hours with few breaks straight. There is power in love and these books show you that and give hope to find our own.
*disclaimer* I struggle with expressing my views through scholarly writing, so please don't judge this critique too harshly. I feel like there were some very intriguing ideas presented in this series such as high magic versus green magic versus gray wolf "magic" (I put this last form of magic in parentheses because it was not nearly as active of a supernatural gift as the other two forms of magic were). The tension between the Wizards (wielders of high magic) and the Clan folk (wielders of green magic) was interesting. Despite the slow beginning in the first book (see Eric Allen's review on "The Demon King") I still feel like the two main characters, Han and Raisa, had a decent arch by the end of the series. My beef with this series is the same as my beef with the Heir Chronicles and that is that most of the plot twists and "surprises" were extremely predictable. As a voyeur, I had trouble believing that the characters themselves could not see the danger that was just a few steps in front of them. I like to experience the surprises at the same time as the characters. Chima did better at this toward the end of the series, but I think she could still use some more practice. She has some really good ideas and if she collaborated with the right people she could produce some brilliant work (I think that's true for most authors though).
I loved every second of this series. It is so refreshing to read a book and enjoy it! I found myself not wanting to put any of these books down! However now, like all of my favorite books I am at a loss as to what I should read next. I know that there is a good chance the next book I pick up will be a disappointment. Why can't all books be this well written???? Oh well perhaps the writer will write more later... Hey author ... Dragons next time think dragons!! On to the next...
The books were decent overall. It started slow at first, then progressively felt rushed as time went on. The plot tied together across the series and the POV was well done. However, I have a BIG gripe about one particular quirk in the writing: There was too much repetition and overused phrases, which made most of the characters' habits identical and took me out of the story. I should go back and count how many times "as if" was used, or tally how many times people flinched. Confused? S-start stammering, look from person to person, ask multiple rapid fire questions. (Who?—How did—when did they…) Overwhelmed? Press the heel of your hand against your eyes. Angry? Lips tighten. Surprised? Blink. There was entirely too much throat clearing, palm raising, eye flicking going on. No reaction differed even across races, regions, and political stances. It’s annoying and unrealistic to reduce emotion to a single movement. No attempt was made to change it up a little, so it was even more noticeable when reading the series back to back. It was not an edge-of-your-seat kind of series (until the end), BUT, the world building was rich and that almost makes up for it in itself. I just found the monotony of descriptive choices to be lazy. No one speaks or acts like that 100% of the time. Overall, I would still recommend the series. It's just hard not to think what could have been done differently to make it spectacular.
Just finished reading this entire series, and now time to review 😘
I actually enjoyed this YA series, and forgot how wonderful these YA authors are at world building. Which I have been seriously lacking in more adult like books. It was a refreshing read after so many bad books, that include terrible characters, zero plot, predictable, and ummm what world are we in again?
So yes, even though this was more driven by plot and action rather than romance it was still very much enjoyable.
Of course I wished I had some anguish and tears while reading this series but it is YA. At times I wanted the author to really push the characters instead of the baby steps they were given.
But overall the execution from this series was good.
These books are obviously loved as you can see by its ratings but it was missing some and giving some I didn’t want. Raisa and Han were rarely together and their love story was way too quick. Suddenly they were in love and I don’t know how because they were barely in each others company. I don’t care for all the political stuff and could be too descriptive on things that didn’t matter to me. I would rather had better descriptions of the characters. I know Raisa is dark with green eyes and small... other than that I have no idea what her other features are like. But I can tell you exactly where everyone is sitting in the room. I like the storyline but just didn’t do it for me all together.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
There's so much I love about this series. The story. The world. The characters. I love that the 2 main characters grow and develop complementing eachother. Both are integral to the plot in their own way. The female lead being a leader of a country deserves that. She's not perfect, she has flaws as all good characters must, but she is a force. The male lead was equally complex on his own arc and the growth and ending was perfect. (Trying to avoid spoilers here) The support characters too had rich side stories that moved the plot in relevant ways. They didn't just fill space.
god I could just go on and on and on .... take a street urchin turned gang lord with blue blood running through his veins add a splash of powerful world ending magic and a princess ... PHEW THIS SERIES
I just love how one minute Han is a blue blood prince then the next second hes got his 'street face' and is ready to slit your throat.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Author Cinda Williams Chima has crafted a series that I believe is just as compelling and well written as George RR Martin's "Game of Thrones" series. I read this entire book in a 24 hour period and happily stayed up reading into the wee hours of the night. I recommend Cinda's Seven Realms series to all fantasy fiction fans from ages 16 to 86. I rate this as 5 OUT OF 5 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and would give it more if I could.
Amazing world of magic and world building, it reminds me of Harry Potter even though I haven't read the books as yet only the movies. Only difference a lot more politics and you stand to lose if don't make the right decision. These decisions could means the survival of your kingdom/queendom or destruction.
just finished a series reread because they're on my bookshelves and I wanted to confirm whether they deserve to take up the space-- Do they ever! I'm confident I'll be returning to this series again and again. Almost but not quite on par with the Queen's Thief series in terms if how much I enjoy them.
Amazing series, I fell in love with this writer and I'm reading all her books now. The story, the characters, perfect. Lost sleep over it, could not put it down! It's hard to fall in love with stories anymore. Bravo! 🥰
an easy read that i equate to your favorite tv show that doesn't make you think too hard. There is nothing complex about the book which made it all the more fun to read on the beach
I really liked the ending of this series. Great world and character building. Awesome main characters. Raisa and Hans relationship was really fun and worrisome to read. Plan to read the next series soon
The story is well written.The first book didn't quite sweep me away because almost the whole book was spent in establishing the characters and centering them in this world of the seven realms. There is some movement of plot but not as significantly as the set up leads you to believe. You can definitely tell from the beginning where the characters are going to end up by the end of the series. But in the end this first book just feels like a large introductory part of the final plot. The world is magical. Our main characters live in the Queendom of fells where people are segregated into valefolk(those living in the valley), clans (uplanders, on hillsides/mountains) and Wizards. The clans have magic more connected to the earth and the wizards have high magic. The rules of this world are made so that clans can control the power that wizards can have. Wizards can't use their magic without amulets and only clans make them. But since a magical disaster caused by a powerful wizard a thousand years ago clans have stopped giving wizards longlasting amulets. Wizards are also forbidden from marrying with the rulers of the nation to limit the amount of power they can have. As a result wizards and clans-people hate each other. While the Vale-folk are like normal white people that dislike clan people just because they look different and live in the mountains. I love the layers given to the characters. Han/Cuff Alister is the street kid who seems to have a lot of potential to become a major powerful character. But for the most part in this book he's just a former streetlord trying to live safer for the sake of family. He envies those with the privilege of those whose careers are clear and obtainable because of the families or communities they are born to. He desperately wants to have an ultimate career in life, a calling to any particular trade. But the things he learnt for survival as a ganglord in the streets don't give him any advantage in the types of jobs that are possible for him to do. He is blessed in that in addition to his poor mother and sister in the city, he is being fostered by a healer in one of the clans, so he has close friends there too. Ultimately the family you are born to determines the trade you enter for life. Then we are introduced to Raise the princess heir, next in line to be queen. She is almost the perfect princess. She is half clan and has learnt to live without being pampered. She has moderate fighting skills and is well educated in everything but the lives of the poor in the Vale. during this story she starts questioning her faith in the political system. She starts seeing corruption and inequalities. Of course like a lot of stories set in hierarchical worlds like this the characters never really question the entirety of the system of hierarchy but only the individual people that are the wrong doers. So yes we are also introduced to our set of malicious but powerful people in the Bayar family. Lord Bayar seems to be highest wizard who seems to have more control then he ought to have. His son Micah is romantically involved with Raisa but on the side is like more like Lucius Malfoy to those with lower social status. MIcah's twin Fiona seems to be a more emotionally controlled girl but possibly more evil then her twin. I have to say that the book does a good job in adding elements to these siblings that makes them more human. I don't think I would put them in the group of villians that are just aliens to just and we have no way to relate to them. They are more like normal people with a little more stinginess, harshness and ruthlessness to them.