The release date for the English version of 'The Demon King' by
Cinda Williams Chima is Oct 2009. If you enjoy this novel, it is available for buy as a paperback from Barnes & Noble or Indigo, as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, or as an audiobook on Audible.
Fellsmarch, the mountain city, is going through a terrible time. Han Alister, a former criminal, will go to great lengths to support his family. The heavy silver cuffs he has worn since birth are the only valuable item he has that he is unable to sell. They are obviously magical since they keep growing as he does and he can never get rid of them.
One day, three teenage wizards who are threatening to burn down the holy mountain of Hanalea are confronted by Han and his clanmate, Dancer. Micah Bayar, the High Wizard's son, gives Han an amulet so Han can't use it against them. Han discovers quickly that the amulet has a dark past; a millennium ago, the magician Demon King had it, almost destroying the whole planet. When such a potent magical component is at risk, Han is aware that the Bayars will do whatever it takes to recover it.
The princess heir of the Fells, Raisa ana'Marianna, has her own struggles to overcome in the meantime. After three years of freedom in the mountains, where she rode, hunted, and worked the well-known clan markets, she has just returned to court. Raisa longs to be anything more than a sparkly cage decoration. She wants to be just like the famous warrior queen Hanalea, who slew the Demon King and preserved the planet. However, her mother has other ideas for her.
The collision of Hans and Raisa's lives ignites the simmering conflict between wizards and clans, causing the Seven Realms to quiver.