Book #116 - The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms #4)

The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms #4), Cinda Williams Chima
high fantasy
608 pages
Started 10/23/12
Finished 10/25/12
5 STARS

Amazing. Beautiful. Exciting. I just don't have the right words to describe how incredible The Crimson Crown was. It was the perfect ending to an epic series.

Raisa is queen and Han is trying to find out who is killing wizards in Ragmarket, who is trying to kill Raisa, how he can manage to marry the girl that he loves. He has a full plate. And, as war bears down on the Fells, neither Han nor Raisa can tell exactly who is a friend and who is not. Like I said - full plate.

After four books, I can tell you that I feel so much for all of the characters in this series, be they major or minor, evil or good. I wanted, with every fiber of my being, for the good guys to carpe diem and be happy for once. And, I despised the bad guys so much that I couldn't wait for them to bite it in the end. Raisa spends much of the book feeling helpless and frustrated, and I found myself so wound up in the book that I was sharing her emotions. Seriously - isn't that the hallmark of a great book?

I think one of my most favorite things about this book is that Chima didn't try to do too much. It seems that, much of the time, authors try to tie up every single loose end at the end of a series, and as a result, all the major plot points are hurried and less than they could've been. Chima's too smart for that, and thank goodness for that. Oh don't worry - all the main questions that had been dogging us for awhile now were answered. But, despite a very perfect ending, you're left feeling that there's still more story to tell. There's still problems and looming tensions. Not everything was tied up in a neat little bow. At the start of the book, there was so much going on - I'm so glad that Chima picked her battles (excuse the pun).

If you have not read The Seven Realms yet, seriously - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? I hate having to reduce myself to yelling at you, but honestly, you won't find a better high fantasy series out there anywhere.