Rating: 5/5
This is Book 1 of the Seven Realms Series
sequels: The Exiled Queen, The Gray Wolf Throne (to be released, Sep. 20, 2011)
Synopsis:
Times are hard in the mountain city of Fellsmarch. Reformed thief Han Alister will do almost anything to eke out a living for himself, his mother, and his sister Mari. Ironically, the only thing of value he has is something he can’t sell. For as long as Han can remember, he’s worn thick silver cuffs engraved with runes. They’re clearly magicked—as he grows, they grow, and he’s never been able to get them off. While out hunting one day, Han and his Clan friend, Dancer catch three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. After a confrontation, Han takes an amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to ensure the boy won't use it against them. Han soon learns that the amulet has an evil history—it once belonged to the Demon King, the wizard who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago. With a magical piece that powerful at stake, Han knows that the Bayars will stop at nothing to get it back.
Meanwhile, Raisa ana’Marianna, Princess Heir of the Fells, has her own battles to fight. She’s just returned to court after three years of relative freedom with her father’s family at Demonai camp – riding, hunting, and working the famous Clan markets. Although Raisa will become eligible for marriage after her sixteenth name-day, she isn't looking forward to trading in her common sense and new skills for etiquette tutors and stuffy parties.
Raisa wants to be more than an ornament in a glittering cage. She aspires to be like Hanalea—the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But it seems like her mother has other plans for her--plans that include a suitor who goes against everything the Queendom stands for.
Review:
I hesitated with the rating for one moment. Since I really got stuck somewhere at the first quarter of the book. Yet again, I wasn't sure if the problem was myself (my reading appetite) , or the book itself. After the hard settling and first-few-pages-story-drama, it started picking-up and got me hooked as the way I liked it.
So let's just say I excluded the fact that I got stuck somewhere at the first few chapters, just to be fair. This could be one of those hard-to-find amazing books that I've been seeking for a long time. I'd describe this as a genius piece of literature that I would surely recommend YA readers.
I fell in love with the setting as soon as I read it. It's a good way to escape the current world towards a beautiful medieval place. I've read quite a little bit of the magic that I was wanting to see. Though I really appreciate that this book gave you all the history and centuries-old secrets before releasing its full-blown magical features.
Characters and everything else are beautifully written, running in their circles and merging together at one moment. It's not like the characters were made and becomes stagnant at one side at the very end, which is what I really liked. This story comes back and forth with the conflicts of the wealthy palace and the poor life on the streets. It was likely trying to capture a complete image of a kingdom, not just some story of a princess or a hard life of a laborer. The transitions and descriptions are crystal clear.
No doubt I'm expecting the next book to blow hard in a way that I will hit my head on a solid wall.
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