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bluejaybooks 's review for:
The Exiled Queen
by Cinda Williams Chima
Third Read Through
Second Read Through
I'm surprised to hear that the author was inspired to write this fictional world by Game of Thrones. It seems more reminiscent of The Wheel of Time to me, but then, I've only read the first Game of Thrones book, so maybe I'm wrong.
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Note: This review is for the Seven Realms series as a whole, but contains no spoilers.
This series took a little while for me to get into the first book, but after I finished The Demon King I was hooked and marathoned the rest of the books.
My favorite aspect of this series was probably the world building. Often in YA fantasy novels the world seems very underdeveloped, but that was not the case here. I enjoyed reading about all of the seven realms various cultures and the tensions between them though the name of this series is somewhat deceptive as it manly focuses on one of the seven kingdoms in this world known as the Fells.
This series often references historical events in the seven realms. I really like when fictional historical events help shape the present in fictional universes because it makes them feel more realistic. Though, as most of the events referenced happened a thousand years ago, it was somewhat unrealistic that so little had changed since then, but this is a common occurrence in fantasy novels so I’m willing to ignore this fact. The ways that the historical facts had been distorted with time made me think a lot about how our own history has been manipulated.
I liked that the romance in this series never overshadowed the fantasy elements. The romance gradual in development which is something I really appreciated, though I do somewhat wish Hans and Raisa had spent more time together in the early books.
Many of the characters were very well developed. Our male main character, Hans, was probably my favorite. I found his backstory as a reformed thief fascinating.
These books just seemed to get better and better as the series went on. Each book seemed to expand upon the scope of the world a little more, and the plot progressed nicely with several twists. It’s not often that I feel the urge to read all the books in a four book long series in a row, but this series continued to feel fresh and engaging throughout.
Spoiler
I've always thought that there was a timing inconsistency between this book and book 4. After reading this book twice, I can see that there does seem to be. Book 4 mentions Han and Raisa having spent a "few months" at Oden's Ford and spring term being in session, but in this book, they're nearly finished with exams for spring terms by the end of it, and I think Han might even mention he has taken all of his. I wonder if the author realized while writing book three that she needed to speed up the timeline to keep the characters in the YA age group? Either that, or I've misinterpreted how much time has passed and it's been almost a full year.Second Read Through
I'm surprised to hear that the author was inspired to write this fictional world by Game of Thrones. It seems more reminiscent of The Wheel of Time to me, but then, I've only read the first Game of Thrones book, so maybe I'm wrong.
___
Note: This review is for the Seven Realms series as a whole, but contains no spoilers.
This series took a little while for me to get into the first book, but after I finished The Demon King I was hooked and marathoned the rest of the books.
My favorite aspect of this series was probably the world building. Often in YA fantasy novels the world seems very underdeveloped, but that was not the case here. I enjoyed reading about all of the seven realms various cultures and the tensions between them though the name of this series is somewhat deceptive as it manly focuses on one of the seven kingdoms in this world known as the Fells.
This series often references historical events in the seven realms. I really like when fictional historical events help shape the present in fictional universes because it makes them feel more realistic. Though, as most of the events referenced happened a thousand years ago, it was somewhat unrealistic that so little had changed since then, but this is a common occurrence in fantasy novels so I’m willing to ignore this fact. The ways that the historical facts had been distorted with time made me think a lot about how our own history has been manipulated.
I liked that the romance in this series never overshadowed the fantasy elements. The romance gradual in development which is something I really appreciated, though I do somewhat wish Hans and Raisa had spent more time together in the early books.
Many of the characters were very well developed. Our male main character, Hans, was probably my favorite. I found his backstory as a reformed thief fascinating.
These books just seemed to get better and better as the series went on. Each book seemed to expand upon the scope of the world a little more, and the plot progressed nicely with several twists. It’s not often that I feel the urge to read all the books in a four book long series in a row, but this series continued to feel fresh and engaging throughout.