The Exiled Queen (Seven Realms)

An easy read. Likable characters and continuing storyline. Entertaining and engaging. Ready to start the next book in the series.

Raisa is the princess everyone wishes could be queen, but not only is her mother still queen, but her line is being threatened by the wizards who are controlling her mother. In order to preserve the sanctity of the throne, Raisa does what she must do... she flees her own queendom and escapes into a world of anonymity where no one knows she is royalty and life isn't easy. The Seven Realms saga continues in Cinda Williams Chima's The Exiled Queen.Amon and his soldiers accompany Raisa, now going by the name Rebecca Morley to protect her identity, to Oden's Ford, the home of the schools for soldiers, the clergy, and wizards. While each have their own separate schools and tend to stick to themselves, they do come across one another occasionally. Raisa is concerned she will cross paths with Micah Bayer, the wizard she was almost forced to illegally marry (queens aren't allowed to marry wizards for fear of consolidating too much power). Despite her concerns, she immerses herself in her studies and sets her mind to what she came here for- to be the first queen who actually understands the people she leads.Han, after discovering his magic which was once controlled and is now set free, has headed down to Oden's Ford as well with his childhood friend. Both are newfound wizards still struggling with the idea that they are the very magical folks they grew up despising. But, they know it is more dangerous to let their magic run rampant, so their education must be a priority. When Han arrives, he finds himself plagued with an arrogant young wizard named Micah Bayer who is intent upon making his life miserable. Then he is approached by a mysterious stranger who wants to use Han as a weapon against the Bayers and their threat to the throne. Han is confused by who to believe, but when he comes across Rebecca Morley, he is drawn to the woman he once kidnapped. Together, they realize they can help one another, but neither truly knows the identity or intentions of the other. They have a common enemy, but neither is aware of the true extent of what they face.This was an amazing follow up to the first book. First, I have to say Chima is a magnificent world-builder. She has created a fictional land we can imagine perfectly. The characters are strong but flawed, the perfect mixture of people you can cheer for but can relate to as real people. I particularly love the strong female characters in this series. In addition to a queendom, you also have female soldiers and warriors who live and fight alongside men. It is explained so naturally that you find yourself wishing this situation wasn't fiction. but Raisa still remains my favorite character. She is strong, she is a leader, and she has a conscience. In a world where we can barely stomach most of the politicians we have to choose from, and we settle for "the lesser of the evils", I wish people would take a look at the type of leader Raisa hopes to be- one who has lived, learned, and fought alongside the very people she plans to rule, because how could someone be a ruler if they don't understand the true nature of the lives of the people in their realms.I love this series for any middle reader through adult who likes fantasy or even one who likes realistic fiction, because even though it is fantasy, the world and characters are relatable enough to appeal to a wide variety of readers. I also encourage anyone to contact Ms. Chima if you are interested in talking about the books. I connected with her and she is the nicest woman! I am very happy to have found this brilliant fantasy and can't wait to see where the story takes us.

Into fantasy? Love a bit of romance? It’s a good one I wouldn’t say it’s super hot and steamy though could use a bit more oomph!

A fiery, thrilling, possessive read - THE EXILED QUEEN was an awesome followup to THE DEMON KING. I really loved reading this book and couldn't put it down. I thought that Han, Cat and Fire Dancer's journey was going to be my favorite part, but when all of the characters collided and an intricate siege for power took place (that, also, must have taken a ton of time to plot out), my heart was racing with them. Every paragraph the stakes rose, there was more to lose, and the Gray Wolves and wizards struggled harder to survive, much less to come out on top. THE EXILED QUEEN gets a well-deserved 5 stars, in my book. If you haven't read The Seven Realms series yet, you should. I read the first book (The Demon King) within a few short days and it didn't take me long to finish the Exiled Queen. Cinda Williams Chima knows how to grab a reader and pull them into her books. The first two of the series has done that. On to the Third. Don't miss out by not reading these, it will be your lose if you do not read. Well worth the time, Outstanding. Can't say enough about these books.

I was really excited to get into the magic part of this series. I've seen some comparisons to Harry Potter, but other than they go to a school to learn how to harness magic, it reads nothing like J.K. Rowling's books. Nor is the school anything like Hogwarts.It took a while to get to Oden's Ford (wizarding/military school) but the book was fast-paced and chock full of awesomeness. Chima is an incredibly talented writer and creates a world that I can't wait to escape to.The only thing that disappointed me was that there were too many gaps in the schooling. I wanted to see more of the classroom, whether it was with Han learning to use his amulet or Raisa learning to be a soldier.I was so excited to see what would happen next that I burned through the book. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who loves a good ya fantasy. I can't wait to start the next book!!

This is a great series! It is supposed to be teen fiction, but I'm an adult and I enjoyed it! Reminds me of authors like Anne McCaffrey and David Eddings. A nice story with good characters.

I didn’t like The Exiled Queen quite as much as the first book, but I believe it’s more of the YA aspect than anything else. Before I started this series, I read The Licanius Trilogy which is definitely epic adult fantasy in my mind. It has been quite the change to go from that to this. Regardless, The Exiled Queen is still an easy fast-paced read. It’s certainly still a great example of YA fantasy. The writing is good and the characters are interesting enough to keep you going. This book is more academia than anything and I love the idea of Oden’s Ford school. I’ll be continuing the series and hopefully able to look at it from a different perspective and stop comparing it to epic adult fantasy. ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

In the second part of the Seven Realms series, we follow princess Raisa, Corporal Amon Byrne and Co. to Oden’s forth, since she was running away from an arranged married the High Wizard and Queen Marianna had planned between her and Micah Bayar.Simultaneously, we have Han Alister and Dancer who are travelling basically to the same place to learn about charmcast and how to control and manipulate their wizard powers.There is a lot going on in the Queendom and the Seven Realms have bigger issues than looking for a missing princess, although this eventually leads to political problems that Raisa will have to solve by coming back home.In the meantime, all the book is about Raisa working her way to train as a soldier, since only a few know she’s the princess. She takes an alias and studies the best way she can with weapons and history of her Queendom.On the other hand, Han is learning how to use his amulet and how to control his powers not only in the real world, but in Aedion, which is a place where your conscience can take form and it helps you travel anywhere without leaving your body. He will meet with a new and mysterious character named Crow, and he will learn about magic in a way that school can’t teach.Magic in this world is a thing I find really interesting, and even though the characters are teenagers, I don’t find them particularly annoying. On the contraire. Both Raisa and Han have a nice character development and even when they meet, they’re a combo that I haven’t seen much in fantasy books.Still, I must admit that it kind of broke my heart to know that Amon was left on the side. I can see that he really cares and loves Raisa, but he cannot be physically with her. I think I felt more heartbroken than her about it, because he’s an honest guy that wants to do his best not only for his Princess, but for his best friend too.As you may know by now, this book is told by different POVs, which is something that I enjoyed because Han and Raisa meet past the second half of the book, like I predicted.Despite the fact that it didn’t have much action scenes as I was expecting, the author really knows what she’s doing, because she makes us care about the characters, and the world building is something I really appreciate. In order for me to care about a fantasy story, I have to know these details like costumes, traditions, languages and the way people see each other. It feels real when we read about the Seven Realms.But as the first one, this book has a slow pace. Yet, I promise you it’s worth it. I think that this book is not meant to be devoured, but to be savored.Now if that wasn’t enough to convince you to read these series, I must say that princess Raisa is one of the few female characters that’s growing on me. The more I know her, the more I root for her, because she’s always seen as this little, petite girl that knows nothing about her Queendom, when it’s actually the opposite.She’s the kind of person that gets belittled all the time, but she proves everybody wrong by studying hard, by working like everybody else, and even though she’s dramatic as a teenager can be, she learns from her mistakes. Raisa truly cares about her Queendom, her mother, but most importantly, about her people.Han is also another character that grew into me, and he has changed a lot since we first met him. I feel like he’s just a nice guy that doesn’t want to get into trouble, but since he is an ancestor of the Demon King, his destiny is somehow sealed by that. He has lost everything he cares for, so I’m thrilling to know what he will do next in order to feel safe again.Last but not least, I totally recommend this book and I hope you give these series a chance.

This is of course a great novel! And another note, the delivery time was exceptional!!!

Li os três primeiros livros dessa série Sete Reinos em português mas não consegui esperar a tradução da conclusão e li em inglês. Aos poucos estou comprando os hardcovers e por isso recomendo muito os originais em inglês para reler e colecionar. A qualidade das edições é incomparável. Essa é a minha série de fantasia preferida de todos os tempos. Recomendo DEMAIS.

The second book in a series can be a bit less thrilling than the first but the exiled queen held my attention to the end. I will definitely be continuing with the rest of the series

I really liked this book (not as much as the first one though). The plot is more simple than in the first book, but equally as enjoyable, with a lot of mystery and some twists.