The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, 2) by Holly Black
Read sample
Customer reviews

The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, 2)

by

Holly Black

(Author)

4.5

-

37,126 ratings


The enchanting and bloodthirsty sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince.

You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

Kindle

$0.00

Available instantly

Audiobook

$0.00

with membership trial

Hardcover

$12.80

Paperback

$6.99

Audio CD from $16.41
Buy Now

Ships from

Amazon.com

Payment

Secure transaction

ISBN-10

0316310328

ISBN-13

978-0316310321

Print length

368 pages

Language

English

Publisher

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication date

January 07, 2019

Dimensions

5.5 x 1.35 x 8.3 inches

Item weight

11.2 ounces



Popular Highlights in this book

  • “Kiss me again,” he says, drunk and foolish. “Kiss me until I am sick of it.”

    Highlighted by 6,863 Kindle readers

  • Kill him, a part of me says, a part I remember from the night I took him captive. Kill him before he makes you love him.

    Highlighted by 3,983 Kindle readers

  • The disturbing thing about Cardan is how well he plays the fool to disguise his own cleverness.

    Highlighted by 3,724 Kindle readers

  • “If you’re the sickness, I suppose you can’t also be the cure.”

    Highlighted by 2,544 Kindle readers


Product details

ASIN :

B07B8CFPSN

File size :

20677 KB

Text-to-speech :

Enabled

Screen reader :

Supported

Enhanced typesetting :

Enabled

X-Ray :

Enabled

Word wise :

Not Enabled


Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Wicked King:

"A stunning and compelling sequel." ― SLJ, Starred Review

The Wicked King has satisfying twists and turns, sizzling passions, brutal violence, spies and revels of all sorts--no one brings the intricate courtly politics of Faerie to life quite as well, or with as much intelligence, as Holly Black. ―Shelf Awareness, starred review

"A heady blend of courtly double-crossing, Faerie lore, and toxic attraction swirls together in the sequel to THE CRUEL PRINCE...Black's writing is both contemporary and classic; her world is, at this point, intensely well-realized, so that some plot twists seem almost inevitable." ―Kirkus, Starred Review

"A rare second volume that surpasses the first, with, happily, more intrigue and passion still to come."―Booklist, Starred Review

"[A] dangerous journey filled with mystery, betrayal, intrigue, and romance....Larger-than-life action in a kingdom packed with self-centered, evil, and manipulating characters also doles out real life issues."―VOYA, Starred Review

"The plot itself twists, turns, and dovetails perfectly with the assured character development; in this way, Black proves herself a master storyteller writing in the tradition of Megan Whalen Turner."―Horn Book

"An epic saga of palace intrigue and deception."―Entertainment Weekly

"Holly Black is a mistress of well-paced fantasy..."―Austin-American Statesman

"The Wicked King is so fast-paced and intense, you won't be able to put it down."―The Missourian

Praise for The Cruel Prince:

"Lush, dangerous, a dark jewel of a book. Black's world is intoxicating, imbued with a relentless sense of peril that kept me riveted through every chapter of Jude's journey. And Jude! She is a heroine to love--brave but pragmatic, utterly human. This delicious story will seduce you and leave you desperate for just one more page."―Leigh Bardugo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom

"I require book two immediately. Holly is the Faerie Queen."―Victoria Aveyard, #1 bestselling author of The Red Queen series

"[S]pellbinding.... Breathtaking set pieces, fully developed supporting characters, and a beguiling, tough-as-nails heroine enhance an intricate, intelligent plot that crescendos to a jaw-dropping third-act twist."―Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Another fantastic, deeply engaging, and all-consuming work from Black that belongs on all YA shelves."―School Library Journal, starred review

"Jude, who struggles with a world she both loves and hates and would rather be powerful and safe than good, is a compelling narrator. Whatever a reader is looking for--heart-in-throat action, deadly romance, double-crossing, moral complexity--this is one heck of a ride."―Booklist, starred review

"This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life. Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in."―Kirkus Reviews

Read more


Sample

PROLOGUE

Jude lifted the heavy practice sword, moving into the first stance—readiness.

Get used to the weight, Madoc had told her. You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring. The first lesson is to make yourself that strong.

It will hurt. Pain makes you strong.

She planted her feet in the grass. Wind ruffled her hair as she moved through the stances. One: the sword before her, canted to one side, protecting her body. Two: the pommel high, as though the blade were a horn coming from her head. Three: down to her hip, then in a deceptively casual droop in front of her. Then four: up again, to her shoulder. Each position could move easily into a strike or a defense. Fighting was chess, anticipating the move of one’s opponent and countering it before one got hit.

But it was chess played with the whole body. Chess that left her bruised and tired and frustrated with the whole world and with herself, too.

Or maybe it was more like riding a bike. When she’d been learning to do that, back in the real world, she’d fallen lots of times. Her knees had been scabby enough that Mom thought she might have scars. But Jude had taken off her training wheels herself and disdained riding carefully on the sidewalk, as Taryn did. Jude wanted to ride in the street, fast, like Vivi, and if she got gravel embedded in her skin for it, well, then she’d let Dad pick it out with tweezers at night.

Sometimes Jude longed for her bike, but there were none in Faerie. Instead, she had giant toads and thin greenish ponies and wild-eyed horses slim as shadows.

And she had weapons.

And her parents’ murderer, now her foster father. The High King’s general, Madoc, who wanted to teach her how to ride too fast and how to fight to the death. No matter how hard she swung at him, it just made him laugh. He liked her anger. Fire, he called it.

She liked it when she was angry, too. Angry was better than scared. Better than remembering she was a mortal among monsters. No one was offering her the option of training wheels anymore.

On the other side of the field, Madoc was guiding Taryn through a series of stances. Taryn was learning the sword, too, although she had different problems than Jude. Her stances were more perfect, but she hated sparring. She paired the obvious defenses with the obvious attacks, so it was easy to lure her into a series of moves and then score a hit by breaking the pattern. Each time it happened, Taryn got mad, as though Jude were flubbing the steps of a dance rather than winning.

“Come here,” Madoc called to Jude across the silvery expanse of grass.

She walked to him, sword slung over her shoulders. The sun was just setting, but faeries are twilight creatures, and their day was not even half done. The sky was streaked with copper and gold. She inhaled a deep breath of pine needles. For a moment, she felt as though she were just a kid learning a new sport.

“Come spar,” he said when Jude got closer. “Both of you girls against this old redcap.” Taryn leaned against her sword, the tip of it sinking into the ground. She wasn’t supposed to hold it that way—it wasn’t good for the blade—but Madoc didn’t reprimand her.

“Power,” he said. “Power is the ability to get what you want. Power is the ability to be the one making the decisions. And how do we get power?”

Jude stepped beside her twin. It was obvious that Madoc expected a response, but also that he expected the wrong one. “We learn how to fight well?” she said to say something.

When Madoc smiled at her, she could see the points of his bottom cuspids, longer than the rest of his teeth. He tousled her hair, and she felt the sharp edges of his clawlike nails against her scalp, too light to hurt, but a reminder of what he was nonetheless. “We get power by taking it.”

He pointed toward a low hill with a thorn tree growing on it. “Let’s make a game of the next lesson. That’s my hill. Go ahead and take it.”

Taryn dutifully trooped toward it, Jude behind her. Madoc kept pace, his smile all teeth.

“Now what?” Taryn asked, without any particular excitement.

Madoc looked into the distance, as though he was contemplating and discarding various rules. “Now hold it against attack.”

“Wait, what?” Jude asked. “From you?”

“Is this a strategy game or a sparring practice?” Taryn asked, frowning.

Madoc brought one finger under her chin, raising her head until she was looking into his golden cat eyes. “What is sparring but a game of strategy, played at speed?” he told her with a great seriousness. “Talk with your sister. When the sun reaches the trunk of that tree, I will come for my hill. Knock me down but once and you both win.”

Then he departed for a copse of trees some ways away. Taryn sat down on the grass.

“I don’t want to do this,” she said.

“It’s just a game,” Jude reminded her nervously.

Taryn gave her a long look—the one that they gave each other when one of them was pretending things were normal. “Okay, so what do you think we should do?”

Jude looked up into the branches of the thorn tree. “What if one of us threw rocks while the other did the sparring?”

“Okay,” Taryn said, pushing herself up and beginning to gather stones into the folds of her skirts. “You don’t think he’ll get mad, do you?”

Jude shook her head, but she understood Taryn’s question. What if he killed them by accident?

You’ve got to choose which hill to die on, Mom used to tell Dad. It had been one of those weird sayings adults expected her to understand, even though they made no sense—like “one in the hand is worth two in the bush” or “every stick has two ends” or the totally mysterious “a cat may look at a king.” Now, standing on an actual hill with a sword in her hand, she understood it a lot better.

“Get into position,” Jude said, and Taryn wasted no time in climbing the thorn tree. Jude checked the sunmark, wondering what sort of tricks Madoc might use. The longer he waited, the darker it would get, and while he could see in the dark, Jude and Taryn could not.

But, in the end, he didn’t use any tricks. He came out of the woods and in their direction, howling as though he were leading an army of a hundred. Jude’s knees went weak with terror.

This is just a game, she reminded herself frantically. The closer he got, though, the less her body believed her. Every animal instinct strained to run.

Their strategy seemed silly now in the face of his hugeness and their smallness, in the face of her fear. She thought of her mother bleeding on the ground, recalled the smell of her insides as they leaked out. The memory felt like thunder in her head. She was going to die.

Run, her whole body urged. RUN!

No, her mother had run. Jude planted her feet.

She made herself move into the first position, even though her legs felt wobbly. He had the advantage, even coming up that hill, because he had momentum on his side. The stones raining down on him from Taryn barely checked his pace.

Jude spun out of the way, not even bothering to try to block the first blow. Putting the tree between them, she dodged his second and third. When the fourth one came, it knocked her to the grass.

She closed her eyes against the killing strike.

“You can take a thing when no one’s looking. But defending it, even with all the advantage on your side, is no easy task,” Madoc told her with a laugh. She looked up to find him offering her a hand. “Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold on to.”

Relief broke over her. It was just a game, after all. Just another lesson.

“That wasn’t fair,” Taryn complained.

Jude didn’t say anything. Nothing was fair in Faerie. She had learned to stop expecting it to be.

Madoc hauled Jude to her feet and threw a heavy arm over her shoulders. He drew her and her twin in for an embrace. He smelled like smoke and dried blood, and Jude let herself sag against him. It was good to be hugged. Even by a monster.

Read more


About the authors

Holly Black

Holly Black

Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of speculative and fantasy novels, short stories, and comics. She has been a finalist for an Eisner and a Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. She has sold over 26 million books worldwide, her work has been translated into over 30 languages and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library.

Read more


Reviews

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

37,126 global ratings

Katrina

Katrina

5

Yaaaaaaaasssssss

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2019

Verified Purchase

I've been waiting for this book since I finished the first one waaaaay back when that one first came out. I stayed up all night reading, and oh, it was delicious. I have bags under my eyes and I don't even care; it was well worth the few hours of sleep I missed out on.

SEMI SPOILERS*********

I knew where this book was going from the first few pages. Knowing the end-game didn't make the journey getting there any less exciting, though, and for that I'm grateful. Sometimes (a lot of the time) knowing the end of something makes it totally boring and not worth finishing, but there are so many twists and betrayals and schemes going on between all the players of Elfhame that we hardly know where to look half the time, let alone look at the stuff not being explicitly shoved in our faces. So, that being said, here's the gist.

The Wicked King picks up almost exactly where The Cruel Prince let off, right in the middle of it all, exactly where Jude had been angling to be. She's now the power behind the throne, the true ruler of Elfhame, which Cardan takes every opportunity to point out. She spends a lot of the book fighting to keep a step ahead of everyone else, because as Madoc warned her when she was little, attaining power and holding on to it are two different things. I find the relationship between Jude and nearly every character in the book intriguing, but perhaps her relationship with Madoc most intriguing of all. This is the guy who murdered her parents (book 1) and spirited her away to faerie and raised her as his daughter (to the best of his ability, which, let's face it, wasn't great), who tried to use her as a pawn and ended up being played. Now he's watching all her angles and looking for a way to wrest the power she stole from him back. There are few things more interesting than a mentor and pupil going head to head over a live game of chess to see who comes out the winner. At least to me, it's one of my favorite plot points. When Jude is not grappling with all the problems that arise (a tentative war, being kidnapped, betrayal, betrayal, betrayal, finding a way to keep her hold on all the power she's accumulated) she's semi-struggling with her feelings for Cardan. Mostly she's struggling to figure out how to prevent her growing feelings for him from causing her to lose her power over him. She's on a precarious ledge, this girl, and she's juggling too many pieces. And Cardan. I love this boy-king. I'd read an entire series dedicated to him, if we were so allowed that joy. I won't get into all the plot points involving him because they really are entertaining and enjoyable to witness for yourself, but let's just say he really starts coming into his own. As much fun as he is verbally sparing with Jude and as tortured as he is fighting his attraction to her and as a twisted as he is thanks to his brother and his upbringing, he is at his most intriguing and formidable when he starts acting like the royal he actually is. Even being earnest and honest and trying so hard to be good in a world that doesn't value good, he really is a power to be reckoned with when he puts his mind to it, and it is sexy as hell. Who doesn't love power plays, right? Vivi still sucks; what she did to Heather was cruel, perhaps even more so because she didn't intend it that way. Taryn still sucks; I have no idea why Jude doesn't just ignore her or banish her. Oak is still adorable. Locke deserves to be banished to the Undersea and Nicasia's bed for eternity. Nicasia needs to get over Cardan and realize that he's just not that into her.

SPOILER*********

At the end of the book, Jude is banished from Elfhame. Then she spends time sitting on her sister's couch mopping about how she got played. BUT SHE LITERALLY HAS THE ANSWER SHE NEEDS IN HER FREAKING HAND. Cardan spent the entirety of this book dropping not so subtle remarks about Jude being the true ruler of Elfhame, telling her he trusted her, trying to get her to trust him, and basically having her back, and she's freaking pouting in the mortal world that her now-husband kicked her to the curb. Except did he really? He said until the crown pardons her she was exiled to the mortal world. Well, hello girl, you were the one running faerie from the get-go and you just got crowned Queen by marrying the object of your desire. He gave her the tool she needed to lift her banishment five pages before he banished her. She could have pronounced her time served right there on the beach in front of Orlagh and gone about her business running things with no unnecessary maybe-drama. He even "smiles at her oddly" and doesn't deny that she is in fact Queen of Faerie. If I were Cardan I would be very disappointed in my new bride for being so damn dense in that moment. This is the one thing that irritated me about this book, and I'm glad it happened in the last few pages, and super mad it happened in the last few pages lol. Jude is supposed to be so smart and clever she out maneuvered some of the biggest players in Elfhame to gain the position as Queen of Shadows and then she just accepts the fact that she's banished? Why?

SPOILER END**

Overall, I loved this book. It's going to be heartache waiting for the next one.

Read more

94 people found this helpful

Christina Marsh

Christina Marsh

5

“Sweet Jude, you’re my dearest punishment”

Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024

Verified Purchase

“I want to tell you so many lies.”

This book is so much fun. I heard the praise Holly Black received for this series but honestly it made me very skeptical, especially as this is branded a YA series. Despite that, I fell in love with The Cruel Prince and the same happened with The Wicked King. And while I adore the relationship between Jude and Cardan, the strongest part of the this book is the world Holly created. The bulk of this book is court intrigue, scheming and manipulation, and a slow burn combined with relentless angst.

“Kiss me again,” he says, drunk and foolish. “Kiss me until I am sick of it.”

I am going to start with Jude and Cardan. Together, they have undeniable chemistry but Jude is the stand out star in this series. She has easily become one of my all time favorite heroines. She is still scheming relentlessly to keep the power she stole while also quickly realizing keeping power is much more challenging than gaining power in the first place. Cardan, he is just as delightful as he was in The Cruel Prince. He is hilarious, angsty, and full of moments that left me surprised and intrigued. He plays the aloof King so so damn well and then comes from seemingly nowhere with a surprise turn of events where it's clear he is more clever and trickery than he appears.

While Jude is timeless, Taryn keeps solidifying her spot as worst sister in the history of ever. She is exceptionally pathetic and I don't know why Jude wastes her time. I understand it's her twin but she has done nothing to earn the loyalty Jude extends to her. Taryn betrayed her twin sister in the worst way to "capture" Locke and now she must reap what she sowed. I am actually here for Taryn's downfall. Jude is too good for Taryn.

“Once upon a time, there was a human girl stolen away by faeries, and because of that, she swore to destroy them.”

I was captivated throughout the entire novel by the world Holly created, the relationships she has developed (especially between Madoc and Jude...I could discuss this dynamic for days) and the unraveling plot that consistently kept me on the edge of my seat. Honestly, I usually stay away from YA series because, candidly, I have outgrown them. This series continues to keep me entranced and on my toes with the next twist.

“He looks up at me with his night-colored eyes, beautiful and terrible all at once. “For a moment,” he says, “I wondered if it wasn’t you shooting bolts at me.”

I make a face at him. “And what made you decide it wasn’t?”

He grins up at me. “They missed.”

Read more

4 people found this helpful

Tanner Carney

Tanner Carney

5

Okay okayyyy

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2024

Verified Purchase

Okay so let's be real. I truly wasn't all that into book 1. I enjoyed the world and all that but idk. I just wasn't excited to read it. Regardless I started the second. At first I had similar feelings. Yes it was a nice storyline but maybe just wasn't for me 🤷‍♀️. About a quarter of the way in though, that changed. Idk how idk why, lol, but I found myself not wanting to put it down. I finally started to connect with the characters and truly care about what happened next! Let's hope book 3 is even better!

Read more

Alice Reader

Alice Reader

5

BUY THIS BOOK

Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2024

Verified Purchase

No doubt. This series starts up just as you'd want. Espionage, fight scenes and everything you got in the first book ten fold. If you love fantasy, enemies to lovers or fae (in a world that highlights the darkside to magic) read this series. Jude is a amazing strong female character who shows what it is like to grow beyond what the world wants you too and too in turn change the world. There is a reason Jude and Cardan after all these years are still recognizable characters after all these years to anyone who has read this series. I read this book on kindle years ago, as the series first was first released. I enjoyed the series so much throughout the years that I finally went ahead and purchased a hard copy of this book. This is a beautiful series (that matches in color, size and design for those whom it matters) that highlights how stubborness can treat a person well, how magic has as much dark as light and how the what you want is allowed to grow along with you.

Read more

Bailie

Bailie

5

The political games continue!

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2024

Verified Purchase

The Wicked King by Holly Black My Book Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (not my favorite book, a few flaw, but I enjoyed it!)

SPOILER FREE REVIEW: "The Wicked King," the second book in Holly Black’s Folk of the Air trilogy, continues the captivating tale of Jude Duarte in the treacherous world of Elfhame. Following the events of "The Cruel Prince," Jude finds herself navigating the dangerous politics of the faerie court. The book’s pacing is brisk, with a plot filled with political intrigue, betrayals, and unexpected twists that keep readers on edge. The fast pace sometimes sacrifices deeper exploration of secondary characters and subplots. Despite these minor issues, "The Wicked King" is a great second installment!

COVER/JACKET - I’m a big stickler for keeping design elements consistent over a series. The continuity over this trilogy is pretty good! The text treatment and weight of the cover font stays consistent across all three books. Arguably most important, the spine spacing and font/size stay consistent as well! Love how the crown placement stays in the same position across all three books while changing as the story progresses. I’m not a huge fan of The Wicked King being a significantly different spine color and font color (but I’ve seen worse continuity, so not a deal breaker!). The Queen of Nothing cover falls a bit flat for me. The snake, crown, and petals (I think?) cause a bit of a disjointed continuity. I think The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King do a better job at staying focused on one theme. Overall, pretty covers!

PRODUCT/SHIPPING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Arrived on time in great condition.

Read more

More reviews