The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

Yeine is summoned to the majestic palace of Sky by her ailing grandfather, Lord Dekarta, as one of the potential heirs to the throne of the world's mightiest family, the Arameri. However, with an outcast mother, a barbarian father and her half-caste lineage frowned upon in the court, Yeine suspects this only to be a pretext for a much more sinister agenda.She is soon proven right: the Arameri plan to only use her as cannon-fodder in the succession ceremony, a sacrifice she is prepared to make if it will mean the survival or her simple, yet immensely brave people, the matriarchal Darre. As she starts a precarious relationship with unpredictable captive god Nahadoth, sentenced to serve the Arameri after losing a war against his brother, Itempas, and as she gradually learns her way around the Machiavellian politics of the palace, Yeine may, after all, turn out to have a couple of tricks up her sleeve as well as a fleeting chance to survive the dynastic struggle.Being Nora Jemisin's debut novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms does have some teething trouble, yet also shows more than just an inkling of her immense potential. The biggest strengths of the novel are its tightly-woven, involving plot and an immensely original theology and cosmology.The origin of the world and the depiction of its deities are a good enough reason to read the book alone. Gone is the clichéd Abrahamic dualism of good and evil, of God and Satan. The opposition here is between light and darkness: Itempas is the god of day and order, Nahadoth of night and chaos. Neither of them is immanently good or evil (both of them demonstrate to be quite capable of both throughout the novel actually), they are quite simply different. The third major deity, Enefa, is, in turn, a goddess of all transitional states between the two, i.e. dawn and twilight, creation and destruction, life, but also death. Also of note is that the first god to come to being was Nahadoth, i.e. night and chaos predate day and order (which is also very logical when you think of it).The world-building and writing are several notches down from the standards set by The Broken Earth, but are still extraordinarily good for a debut novel. The style is straightforward and unadorned, while the plot is a breathless roller coaster of twists and turns, with strong sexual undertones and cut-throat politics that can make House of Cards pale in comparison. The characters and, in particular, Yeine are extremely full-blooded and engaging, and the deities themselves are immensely interesting, even if not necessarily likeable. There are plenty of sexual allusions and scenes throughout the book, which are all rather explicit, but this ties in very well with the characters and the idiosyncratic theology. I am convinced the book would have suffered in their absence.Finally a word about the other two instalments: Even if The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is part of a trilogy, all three instalments are rather self-contained, have different main characters, lack immediate connection and common conclusion and can be read more or less on their own. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is the ‘gem’ in the trilogy, the sequels are readable, but hardly as involving or interesting.

If I had to describe N. K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms in one word it would be epic. Yeine is a character that I was immediately drawn to. She comes from a matriarchal society (which I really wanted to know more about) and is pulled into this game of musical heirs by her grandfather. Dekarta Arameri disowned his daughter the moment she chose to marry a Darre and Yeine is a constant reminder of this betrayal. Either Yeine or one of her cousins, Scimina and Relad, will inherit the throne and death surely awaits those who aren’t successful. Scimina is ferocious, she has no qualms about doing whatever it takes to be Dekarta’s successor and neither her brother nor her newly arrived cousin will stand in her way. We don’t learn much about Relad, but he isn’t above making deals under the table to insure his survival. Just as important as the human players in this story are the mercurial gods who once ruled the world with astounding power, but who have now been imprisoned by one of their own. Caged in human form by day and forced to obey the whims of the ruling Arameri family, the Enefadeh can be either friend or foe to Yeine, but they are also keeping close a secret that will shake the very foundation of Yeine’s world. Among these is the dangerous, yet intriguing Nahadoth, who Yeine cannot help but be drawn to. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms masterfully weaves issues of colonialism, racism, and political intrigue into a fantasy setting that excites the imagination with every page turned.

I just spent oodles of time reading this 400 + 400 + 600 page trilogy over the last week or so.I *really* loved book 1 (and had read it earlier). It is political (not in our world, but in theirs) which is an unusual element in the YA books I read and I liked what the author did with it.I didn't so much care for books 2 & 3 but I got really invested in the characters and besides, I'd already purchased all 3 and so I wanted to complete the set. Books 2 & 3 were OK, book 1 I really liked.The author has a way of not specifying exactly *who* is speaking for, sometimes, quite a long time. Which god is it? Which mortal is it? In book 1 I found that intriguing but it seemed to me less so in books 2 & 3.

This is the second N.K. Jemisin book I've read, and I am becoming such a fan of her work. There's something almost dreamlike about her stories, and the world-building is always phenomenal. Much like in "The Fifth Season," the narrative jumps around a bit, and might take some getting used to - but, as the story unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear why we've been given the extra bits, and the importance behind them. (I could say more, but, well, spoilers.) If the style seems strange, all I can say is to, no really, trust the process.I love how this book takes a familiar trope (heroine is brought into an unfamiliar court and coerced into being a contender in a competition for a throne she doesn't necessarily want) and twists it into something new. There are multiple layers to this story, which are fun to pick apart. The captured gods make for interesting characters, and I loved reading about Yeine's growing relationships with them. Definitely another amazing series - I've already started the sequel!

Having enjoyed the Broken Earth series some time ago I decided to return to N.K.Jemisin.  The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was her breakthrough novel so I entered with some interest in seeing how the author had developed over time.Rich, believable, and very different characters are her strength and from my first foray into the Inheritance trilogy, it appears that this was a trait she has had from the beginning. I adore the internal dialogue, the sensation of individual engagement with the universe and the relationships the  characters have with it and with each other. Her personalities are, for want of a better word, real, in a genre that often produces two dimensional placeholders designed specifically as plot fodder.Her scene painting is refreshing, making it very easy to be drawn into her world and thus allowing the reader to generate a rich reading experience.The weakness in the story is that it is derivative, or rather it is a new spin on a lot of old ideas; many times I was reminded of elements in other tales. Of itself this doesn't distract from the journey but it is something of which I am becoming increasingly intolerant: if an author can spend all that time and energy creating such a story (and as an author myself, I know the effort it takes - my world encyclopedia is now a quarter the length of my first novel), then please build something unique.  If fantasy is our realm then we should take advantage of all that it offers in terms of creativity and worldcraft.I had no qualms about continuing with the trilogy (indeed I am onto the final book as I type this - behind on my blogging as assessment season takes hold).Fleecy Moss, author of the Folio 55 SciFi fantasy series (writing as Nia Sinjorina), End of a Girl, Undon , and 4659 now available on Amazon.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms follows Yeine, a nineteen-year-old who, at the novel's beginning, is invited to visit her family seat by her grandfather Dekarta Arameri. The family seat is the city of Sky which is the heart of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and includes a beautiful and impressive floating palace. The reason for Yeine's invitation is soon revealed and is a surprise to all in attendance. Dekarta names Yeine as his heir which I imagine would have been an excellent revelation if two of her cousins weren't already assigned as heirs. To explain his thinking, Dekarta states the below, which sets up the story nicely as Yeine moves to Sky with her relatives, with its political disharmony, and with its Gods that walk the palace corridors.“It is very simple. I have named three heirs. One of you will actually manage to succeed me. The other two will doubtless kill each other or be killed by the victor. As for which lives, and which die—” He shrugged. “That is for you to decide.”The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is presented in the first-person perspective and follows events over a couple of weeks after Yeine arrives in Sky. As a new addition, she has to figure out how things work in Sky, try to make friends and allies, whilst also trying to uncover how and why her mother was murdered which happened prior to her arrival. In addition, she has started having frequent strange dreams and visions.My favourite aspect of this story was the Gods and the way they mingle with and converse with the inhabitants of Sky. There are four of these Gods and they are essentially prisoners of a great God War. They could be considered slaves or weapons and have to abide by the demands and requests of the ruling family. Yeine included. The way these Gods are presented is similar to the Gods in Malazan Book of the Fallen. I adore it in stories when the Gods have human qualities and characteristics all whilst being much more powerful, intimidating, mysterious and even mischievous. It's interesting here that the Gods, although still formidable beings, are restrained by mortals. My favourite scenes involved Nahadoth (the Nightlord) and his son Seih. The lore and history surrounding the Gods was a joy to read. This is presented to readers through Yeine discussing what she learnt in history books or from the mouths of the Gods themselves in conversations with her.“We can never be gods, after all--but we can become something less than human with frightening ease.”The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is an enchanting and majestic fantasy read. The novel is written in an eloquent manner and is engaging in the way that it focuses on Yeine's relationships with her family, the people of Sky, and the Gods. Her cousins make fine characters although I didn't see as much of her drunken cousin Relad as I'd have hoped, but I do have a soft spot for drunks in fiction. With a title as grandiose as The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, it was surprising that the majority of the events take place in Sky alone and we are witness to little that happens elsewhere. As Sky is the centre and controlling nation of these Kingdoms though, the title does make sense yet I do hope that in the following books of the series we do visit other cities and sections of Jemisin's crafted world. Overall, I had an extremely positive experience with this book, my first time reading Jemisin. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was an addictive tale that I devoured within four days and I am definitely planning to continue this series and to check out more of the author's back catalogue.“In a child's eyes, a mother is a goddess. She can be glorious or terrible, benevolent or filled with wrath, but she commands love either way. I am convinced that this is the greatest power in the universe.”

A lot of books say that they're hard to put down. I don't always believe that claim, but it was certainly true in this case: I read most of it in one day. Well, to be pedantic, I did finish after midnight, and I took breaks for meals, but much of the time I was completely absorbed in this story.The basics are fairly standard: young women from a barbaric kingdom is unexpectedly summoned to the capital of the Empire where she finds herself one of the potential heirs to supreme power and must quickly find her way through the complex and vicious palace politics if she is to survive.But this scenario is played out in an original and vividly realised world where captive gods are the weapons by which the ruling family control the world. Yet the power games played by the mortals are just a veneer over the much deeper and darker machinations of those gods, involved in a struggle that goes back to the beginning of creation.Jemisin's writing holds this all together brilliantly well, with a perfectly paced flow of words. She demonstrates clearly that there are no rules in writing, only guidelines, and if you're good enough and know what you're doing you can ignore them. Thus the the narrative includes unexpected and apparently random inserts of a different POV, occasional info dumps and sudden backtracks that in many books would totally ruin the flow and confuse the reader. Literary disasters, but Jemisin makes these just another part of the plot, another element of mystery, and far from being put off by them I found they added new depths to the writing.So 'The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms' is a remarkably skilful piece of literary workmanship - and a wonderful story. I certainly want to read more from this writer.

Having been blown away by the Fifth Season and its sequels, I decided to try this earlier fantasy novel from its author. Sadly, I ended up quite disappointed.Despite some interesting ideas, this felt like a much more standard fantasy plot and the structure was far more straightforward. The main character was likable but a bit bland, and the villains were pretty one-dimensional. There were some really dark aspects, with references to paedophilia, cannibalism, and seriously grim torture, alongside a general backdrop of cruelty, oppression, and a touch of racism. I guess all that’s true in Jemisin’s better known work, but it felt more jarring here, perhaps because it didn’t particularly serve to illustrate any particular point.The best aspect were the gods who had been trapped in human bodies, which was dealt with in an interesting and thoughtful way. Romance and sex played a big part in the story, with the focus on the main character and the god of night, who’s a bit of a devil figure. There’s basically nothing I love more than a good villain romance, and I loved the idea of finding one in a proper adult fantasy (as opposed to YA fantasy or adult fantasy romance). While there were some good moments, the romance didn’t quite capture my heart or my imagination. Reading this book, I could see flashes of the imagination and writing style that came to the fore in future works, but this didn’t quite work for me. I’ll definitely by picking up Jemisin’s future works, but I probably won’t be bothering with the sequel to this.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is a superstate in a fantasy world, where the ruling family have done a deal with a god to keep themselves in power, enslaving other deities in order to subjugate the rest of the known world. Until of course the prodigal granddaughter appears, and things become more complicated than a simple succession.This is the first of N K Jemsin’s books that I’ve read, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The classic outsider alignment works well to gradually introduce the reader to the world, and to explore and understand the other characters.I’m not sure I really got it though. I struggled to find the characters particularly compelling before the initial set up, and it felt a bit like I was following a character with little or no agency. It was hard to like any of the secondary characters, and I didn’t particularly engage with the more fantastic elements of the deities.Although this is the first book in a trilogy, I don’t find myself inspired to continue reading.