So I started classes again today, and this semester is looking to be just as busy as the last one. Which will mean less fun reading for me. But, on the plus side, I am taking a children’s literature class, which means I won’t be completely missing out on reading! I know it’s dorky to be excited that I’ll get to read kid’s books for a class, but I am. It’ll be fun! And more interesting than some of the things I’ve read for classes for sure. I’ll have to blog about those books too 🙂
Anyway, before I came back to school, I finished The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima. An exciting read! This is the third book in the Seven Realms Series, and I’m not exactly sure how many books are going to actually be in the series. Possibly 7, but who knows? The number of books in a series changes all the time. All I know is there definitely is going to be another one. Sure things got resolved in this one, but there is so much more that needs to be fixed. Plus Chima said that she was working on the next book on her website.
You’re probably wondering what this series is exactly about. The Demon King (the first book in the series) started out following two different characters, Raisa and Han. Raisa is the princess heir of the Fells kingdom. But things are getting complicated. Ever since the Breaking, a war that happened way in the past and forced wizards from having any kind of royal power, wizards haven’t been able to hold the throne. But it seems like the Bayars, a well known wizard family, are trying to change that. And Raisa may be in danger. Han is a thieving street lord, steeling things to support his mother and sister. He spends his summers with the clan folk, hunting and such. However, there’s something odd about him. Ever since he was a baby, he’s had these metal cuffs on his wrists. His mother said it was to save his life as a baby. But recently, it seems like there might be a different reason. But what?
Basically, a whole lot of events unfold between then and the second book that bring Han and Raisa together. And then even more crazy and complicated things come between then and the second book, bringing basically the entire nation into a war. It’s an exciting plot that always leaves the reader guessing. But surprisingly isn’t that difficult to follow. I found that I always knew what was going on, even though things started to become more and more complicated. I think that it helps that it’s told from both Raisa’s and Han’s point of view. That way you get all the angles for the story.
What I like about Chima’s work (because I absolutely adore her Heir Trilogy. If you haven’t read it, you should. Start with The Warrior Heir. It’s fantastic) is that she creates these awesome worlds that almost seem like they could exist. Maybe not so much with the Seven Realms books, because it’s a completely different world. But with her Heir books, it almost seems like they could be real, because she weaves the world of the Roses into our own. But that’s for another time. The Seven Realms novels are definitely worth giving a look at. I’m positive that you won’t be disappointed.
What am I reading next? Since I won’t be able to read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green because it’s being sent to my house in Holland, I’m reading The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. It should be just as good.