The Demon King - Cinda Williams Chima

Title: The Demon King
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 508
Date read: September, 2009

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.

Meanwhile, Raisa ana'Helena, 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.

One of the best fantasy books I've read in a long time. Not just because of the plot, but it had good, tight writing, an intriguing atmosphere and strong characters. The Demon King is the first book in a trilogy, and it's very obviously not supposed to stand on its own as nothing is really resolved in this book, but it's so well written that I for once will excuse its cliff-hanger'ness.

The book is told in part by ex-thief Han and in part by princess Raisa. Though I must admit to being a lot more interested in Raisa's plotline, I felt that this split 'voice' worked really well - especially as the two main characters were of approximately the same age but of different sex and station in life, giving interesting perspectives on the various situations.

I definitely want to get my hands on the two other books in this series.