Audiobook17 hours
The Crimson Crown
Written by Cinda Williams Chima
Narrated by Carol Monda
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
A thousand years ago, two young lovers were betrayed—Alger Waterlow to his death, and Hanalea, Queen of the Fells, to a life without love.
Now, once again, the queendom of the Fells seems likely to shatter apart. For young queen Raisa ana’Marianna, maintaining peace even within her own castle walls is nearly impossible. Tension between wizards and clan has reached a fevered pitch. With surrounding kingdoms seeking to prey on the Fells’ inner turmoil, Raisa’s best hope is to unite her people against a common enemy. But that enemy might be the person with whom she’s falling in love.
Through a complicated web of lies and unholy alliances, former streetlord Han Alister has become a member of the Wizard Council of the Fells. Navigating the cutthroat world of blueblood politics has never been more dangerous, and Han seems to inspire hostility among clan and wizards alike. His only ally is the queen, and despite the perils involved, Han finds it impossible to ignore his feelings for Raisa. Before long, Han uncovers a secret believed to be lost to history, a revelation powerful enough to unite the people of the Fells. But will the secret die with him before he can save his queendom?
A simple, devastating truth concealed by a thousand-year-old lie comes to light at last in this stunning conclusion to the Seven Realms series.
Now, once again, the queendom of the Fells seems likely to shatter apart. For young queen Raisa ana’Marianna, maintaining peace even within her own castle walls is nearly impossible. Tension between wizards and clan has reached a fevered pitch. With surrounding kingdoms seeking to prey on the Fells’ inner turmoil, Raisa’s best hope is to unite her people against a common enemy. But that enemy might be the person with whom she’s falling in love.
Through a complicated web of lies and unholy alliances, former streetlord Han Alister has become a member of the Wizard Council of the Fells. Navigating the cutthroat world of blueblood politics has never been more dangerous, and Han seems to inspire hostility among clan and wizards alike. His only ally is the queen, and despite the perils involved, Han finds it impossible to ignore his feelings for Raisa. Before long, Han uncovers a secret believed to be lost to history, a revelation powerful enough to unite the people of the Fells. But will the secret die with him before he can save his queendom?
A simple, devastating truth concealed by a thousand-year-old lie comes to light at last in this stunning conclusion to the Seven Realms series.
Author
Cinda Williams Chima
Cinda Williams Chima is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes fantasy for teens of all ages. In addition to the Runestone Saga, her critically acclaimed work includes the Heir Chronicles and the Seven Realms series. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina, and she is always working on her next novel. Find out more at cindachima.com.
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Titles in the series (4)
The Demon King Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Exiled Queen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gray Wolf Throne Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Crimson Crown Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
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Reviews for The Crimson Crown
Rating: 4.705882352941177 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
51 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The fourth and final book in the Seven Realms series. The betrayal of two young lovers; Alger Waterlow and Hanalea, Queen of the Fells, still impacts on the Queendom of the Fells new monarch; Raisa "ana'"Marianna. Her rule is plagued by the tensions between wizards and Clan and she is unsure who to trust. Former streetlord Han Alister is now part of the Wizard Council of the Fells and carried a secret dating from a thousand years ago. Can he use this to unite the people of the Queendom against their enemy before it is too late and will Raisa follow her heart, rather than her sense of duty?A great finish to the series.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Omg!! Best conclusion ever! Totally recommend it, just bare that the beginning is a tad slow but it's super Good
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Crimson Crown
Cinda Williams Chima
YA Fantasy
Scribd Audio
Even though the 'Crimson Crown' doesn't have a lot to do with the story, it's a good title.
The fourth and final book in the Seven Realms series and it picks up after the third, with most of the minor characters, the leaders of the different peoples, (clans, wizards, and the such), all trying to bend Raisa, now their queen, to their wills, waving her thoughts away as childish and naive, claiming that their 'peoples' will fix it if she would just allow it, even though that way of thinking had splintered the Queendom between each of them, opening the door to invasion.
But there are those within her circle who are out to rule in her place.
The characters are alive in the entire series, growing with each book as does the world they live in, all with vivid descriptions, 'life-like' interactions, thoughts, and feelings, though some of those were a little heavy on the drama.
While there were slow parts of the story, they were much needed from the fast pacing of the action parts.
A well thought-out story that showed that the author loved her characters and their world.
4 Stars - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5(Note: The Crimson Crown is the fourth book in the Seven Realms series. This review may contain SPOILERS for earlier books in the series.)Raisa is now Queen of the Fells, and Han is her bodyguard and her appointee to the Wizard Council -- but neither of them are out of danger. The question of Raisa's marriage is fraught with tension, as both the Clans and the Wizards put forth candidates . . . and there are some who feel that they could do without Raisa at all. Meanwhile, Han's position gives him no protection from the other wizards, particularly the powerful Bayars, who would like nothing better than to have Han permanently removed from the picture. As war continues to rage in the kingdoms to the south, it appears that the Fells may fall to internal conflict rather than to invasion, though with the ambitious and ruthless Gerard Montaigne on the Ardenine throne, the southern kingdoms still pose a definite threat.This book was a gripping conclusion to the series -- I read it quickly, finding it extremely difficult to put down. The characters and worldbuilding are strong, and the plot and pacing keep the reader engaged, to say the least. My only small complaint is that Chima occasionally used the particularly modern convention of breaking up an emphatically delivered sentence with periods. After. Every. Word. -- and, while I can accept that usage in a modern setting, I found it completely out of place in high fantasy. Other than that minor syntactical quibble, I really enjoyed this book, and will, I'm sure, reread the series in the future. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys high fantasy. Of course, if you are unfamiliar with the series, start with The Demon King -- this book definitely needs the context provided in earlier volumes.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Its done. its done???
ohhhh, best book so far this year.
I'm feeling the afterglow of this book. Considering if I should reread from book one again right away... Or wait... So good!!! This series ranks close to the top in my best series ever list.
The series is perfect for fans of series like Song of Ice and Fire (with the understanding that it is a YA series). It is a series full political drama, messy misunderstandings, robust characters you love and others you love to hate. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A book need not be perfect to be touching. Or enjoyable. As with the other series Ms. Chima has written, I'm sad to see this one come to a close.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Although this series concluded much as I thought it would, I enjoyed reading the finale. Williams created a host of characters who I will remember for a long, long time.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In this final book in the Seven Realms series, Raisa is now queen and fighting to keep her fractious country united. Han, former streetlord turned wizard, has his sights set high: he wants nothing less than to marry Raisa, and he may take drastic action to make that happen.I have very much enjoyed the time I spent with Raisa and Han in this series, and discovering the history of the Seven Realms and Raisa's queendom. It's very hard to separate this book out and talk about it separate from the series, but I can say that I like seeing the ways in which Chima develops some of her secondary characters so that you are not always sure if they were more good than bad, or if they would do the right thing in the end. It's a typical teen fantasy in some ways (good versus evil, the young taking on the elders and teaching them a better way, a kick butt heroine and a romance), but because I absolutely loved Raisa and, I admit, especially Han, I would consider revisiting the series someday, and I found this a fitting end to the story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Not spoilers so much as a general overview of the series as a whole.
Another ending series, the whole of which was altogether enjoyable. The Crimson Crown is the culmination of a lot of groundwork in the first three novels of the series. Raisa is now about to be crowned queen, both of the nobles and the clans. Neither side is sure of the other, as the nobles don’t trust the clans and the clans don’t trust magic, even the few of their own who have studied it and are accomplished wizards. All three sides compete to present a possible husband for Raisa, who only loves one man, who only loves her—Han Alister, a man taken in by her father, head of an important clan, who sends Han to learn to be a wizard. He doesn’t want Raisa to marry Han, he wants her to marry someone else he has chosen to take over the clan after him, Windwalker. And the wizards want her to marry Micah Bayer, another Wizard—the Bayers have been ruling over the Wizards for a very long time, and there are some that would be more than happy to see them overturned. The Wizards and the clan refuse to trust each other until they have no choice and are betrayed from within by their own commander, and then enemies to the East. Their leader also wants to, you guessed it, marry Raisa. She’s gotten to be awfully popular. She knows with fair certainty that the men, other than Han, want to marry her to use her as a pawn, and at times she’s not too certain of Han, either. When you end up under siege in your own castle, I’d be pretty suspicious of everyone as well. This is an excellent conclusion, where good pretty much triumphs and evil pretty much loses, but not without losses and a good deal of grey remaining. The air is so thick with lies at times it’s almost palpable, and while we’re reminded that Raisa is still queen with responsibilities to think of what’s best for everyone, she’s heartbroken at the same time, and it takes a lot of prodding from her friends to get her out of her sorrow and into a place where she can make decisions again. Raisa learns how truly difficult it is to keep peace, which is all she wants, when there are so many opposed to her who are ready to battle each other at a moment’s notice, even her own family. The writing is strong, characters are well developed (I actually did feel sorry for Micah Bayer in parts—I do think he wanted to break away from his father, he just didn’t have the strength), but changeable as they need to be in order to try to accomplish what they need to do, whether it be supporting Raisa or the enemy. Or an enemy that isn’t known to be an enemy who’s supporting Raisa—The Crimson Crown felt much more complicated than the ones before it in the series. It had to fill in a lot of gaps from the past, break long held beliefs on the clan’s part, and still end up with Raisa prevailing. Well, hopefully. One relationship that is definitely intriguing is the one between Han and Crow, which progresses significantly. Altogether, I feel satisfied with the conclusion, not left hanging anywhere, and will have to read them all back to back at some point so I get everything instead of having read them over the course of four years.