Review: The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima

Title: The Exiled Queen (Seven Realms #2)
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Release date: September 24th 2010

Rating: 5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of The Demon King - here

Haunted by the loss of his mother and sister, Han Alister journeys south to begin his schooling at Mystwerk House in Oden’s Ford. But leaving the Fells doesn’t mean that danger isn't far behind. Han is hunted every step of the way by the Bayars, a powerful wizarding family set on reclaiming the amulet Han stole from them. And Mystwerk House has dangers of its own. There, Han meets Crow, a mysterious wizard who agrees to tutor Han in the darker parts of sorcery—but the bargain they make is one Han may regret.

Meanwhile, Princess Raisa ana’Marianna runs from a forced marriage in the Fells, accompanied by her friend Amon and his triple of cadets. Now, the safest place for Raisa is Wein House, the military academy at Oden's Ford. If Raisa can pass as a regular student, Wein House will offer both sanctuary and the education Raisa needs to succeed as the next Gray Wolf queen.

Everything changes when Han and Raisa’s paths cross, in this epic tale of uncertain friendships, cut-throat politics, and the irresistible power of attraction. 

The Exiled Queen begins shortly after the end of The Demon King, Han Alister and his best friend Dancer head to Oden's Ford, to begin their training as wizards in the Mystwerk House and there they will learn to use and control their magic, so that in the future Han can fulfill the deal he made with the clans. But once there he encounters with the Bayar twins, Micah and Fiona, being Micah the one that he should be more careful to be around because Micah will do everything to recover the amulet that Han took from him. That´s why he accepts the help of a mysterious tutor, an enemy of the Bayars that offers to teach him defense and offensives spells.

For their part, Raisa and Amon along with their group of cadets also they travel to Oden's Ford but they stay at Wien House, which is the school that trains military cadets and where Raisa is introduced as Rebecca Morley, because she´s hiding from the people that want to marry her against her will. Once there she begins to study to become a better leader of her people.

And it´s at Oden's Ford  where Han and Raisa (under the name Rebecca Morley) meet again and they strike up a friendship that could turn into something more.

I really liked Han´s and Raisa´s interactions, but it took a while for them to meet even though they are in the same school (different house). I also liked to see that Han is not blinded by revenge and is determined to do everything in his power to learn to control his magic, but he still does not trust many in regard to his amulet. Meanwhile Raisa becomes stronger, but finds several obstacles in her path.

The Exiled Queen is a high fantasy novel told from the point of view of Han and Raisa, it´s longer than the previous book, as this has 586 pages, so it isn´t a light read, but it´s very entertaining and it has magic, betrayal, romance, friendship and likeable main characters. I loved it!