Wow! Just, wow! I have to confess that I really enjoyed this series. It was a combo of good world-building, great characters, a pretty cool plot and, dare I add it, a fair amount of romance.
The first of the four books starts with sixteen-year-old Han 'Cuffs' Alister, former leader of a street gang, taking a magical amulet away from the high wizard's son, Micah Bayar, to stop him from causing more trouble. The problem is that this is no ordinary amulet, it belonged to the Demon King, a man who almost destroyed the world a thousand years ago, and the high wizard will go to any lengths to get it back.
Raisa is the princess-heir, who does not want to rule the queendom in the way her mother is - leaving it up to others, particularly the high wizard, to make decisions and being oblivious to what is going on in the rest of the realm. She wants to make a difference and be like the great queen Hanalea, the warrior queen who defeated the Demon King a thousand years ago.
I really enjoyed the different characters in this. Raisa is headstrong and a player - which you can't really blame her for, as she is going to have to end up marrying for politics and not for love - so why not share around the kisses? She was also a very different princess to the norm, and was not afraid to get her hands dirty. I love strong female characters, so Raisa, combined with the idea of a queendom as opposed to the usual kingdom (a father never REALLY knows who his children are) really appealed to me. Han, who I absolutely loved, was a character that had a flaw. He was far too nice for me to really buy that he was a gang leader who had ordered deaths and did other nasty things. But then, did I mention he was nice? So I will forgive that. I really enjoyed watching his character grow and change. Micah Bayar was an awesome character. Picture Draco, but a Draco who is even more torn. Ahhh... this is soooo hard to talk about without giving any spoilers!
There were elements to the plot that were unpredictable. I am not going to go into plot here, though, as trying to discuss four books in one, without giving spoilers, is near impossible. (If someone out there has figured out how to do that, please let me know your secret!)
There have been complaints that the first book, particularly, is slow. Personally, I didn't have a problem with that at all. I have a job that consumes almost all my life, and the last thing I can afford is to have a book that I cannot put down because OMG!!! THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END AND... AND... just one more chapter. Reading 'The Demon King' was more like a pleasant escape from everything that gives me stress, without adding to it. It was magnificent. I could get into bed, read a bit, relax completely, and enter a marvellous world. Granted, that worked out great for the first 1,6 books, and then the pace picked up and I was glad to have a long weekend to sacrifice instead of sleep.
The covers are gorgeous, although the US covers once again outdo the UK covers. I wish I could have got all in hard cover, but alas, as I have been waiting for a month for the third book (I borrowed a copy - SERIOUSLY! I COULD NOT LEAVE IT THERE!) I am destined to take what I can get, and be thankful that I have books - even if they don't match.
Other stuff:
Genre: YA Fantasy
Link to the first book on Goodreads: here
A quote from the author, as on Goodreads, dated 24 April 2014: "There's a good chance there will be more in the Seven Realms."
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!
