The Broken Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy #2)

I thought I knew what to expect from the snippet I read at the end of Book 1, but wow this story just kept me on my toes. We follow only with another first person narrator, this time Oree Shoth, a blind painter from the south. It really really helps to have read the first book, and recently. BUT I could also see how watching even more mystery unfold along with Oree could be fun. And despite the tragedy and upheaval that Oree has faced before and keeps facing in this story, she is FUN. Most of what I highlighted were her wry observations and sarcastic one-liners. We have a mostly new cast of characters 10 years after the gods broke free of human Arameri domination. The one-time sun god leader, Itempas, has been in mortal form the whole time. He has become a fixture in Oree\’s life, despite mutual disdain. This story works as an adventure wrapped around a mystery -conspiracy. Yes, with a dash of romance that\’s well-designed and not distracting. I see is the star of the show, even more than Yeine was in Book 1. She is capable, strong, compassionate, and like I said before, funny. But she also makes mistakes, gets hurt and can hold a grudge. Her narration is a well-used device and frames the story wonderfully. Also, the subtle touches on hair and skin color are a welcome refresher the lily-fair fantasy of old. Gotta love author diversity! I feared up with the last page, it was just so poignant and hopeful. Jemisin just builds up characters and plots and delivers delightful twists. Ready for Book 3!

I liked book #1 a LOT LOT LOT and the remaining two books just enough to keep reading. The author makes the reader keep guessing for, in some cases, quite a long time before revealing who we\’re imagining (which god is this? which mortal is this?) which got a bit old for me. But, you know how it goes, I bought all 3 of the trilogy early on and I got invested in the characters. I felt like book 1 was super rewarding (and I read it twice) but I sorta miss the time I spent reading the 400 and 600 pages of books 2 and 3. They weren\’t bad, they just weren\’t anywhere near as compelling for me.

N.K. Jemisin produces amazing work, and this book is no exception. The worlds she creates are so richly detailed, and not at the expense of character development. Her prose has just the right level of metaphor while still feeling somehow conversational. Some of the characters here you\’ll recognize from book one of The Inheritance Trilogy, some you won\’t; but all are full of emotional complexity. The relationships between characters are so real, even when some of the characters are magical. Also, in typical N.K. Jemisin style, this book doesn\’t focus on sex but is very sex positive. The adult characters have moments that bubble with physical intimacy, and there are minor characters in a stable and healthy polyamorous relationship. I love this book and I think you will, too!

Ms. Jemisin is not a one hit wonder. I picked up The Broken Kingdoms with in a few hours of finishing the first book in the trilogy, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. In this book we follow a new protagonist, Oree, a blind street artist, in a new but familiar setting, the shadow of Sky. I guess in case some people haven\’t read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms I shouldn\’t get into any more detail than that. Lets just say, the setting is as natural and as thrilling as it was in the last book, though you get to see it from a new perspective because the protagonist is blind. It was very interesting reading a blind character. I don\’t recall reading blind characters very often. Jemisin did a very good job of portraying this. I thought that reading only about scents and smells and touch and impressions would be confusion and oblique, but I definitely learned while reading this that there are other ways of portraying environment. One thing that bothered me is that while The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms had more interesting and complex villains, the villains in this book were more of the ordinary fare. Kind of surprising considering Jemisin\’s love of the extraordinary. However, given the over arcing story lines going on in the trilogy, this plot doesn\’t take away from the complexity of the book. It may be that Jemisin thought that if this plot was more complex it would take away from the broader action going on. I didn\’t mention in my review of The Hundred Thousand Kingsoms that there\’s some interesting sex going on. I don\’t mean interesting as in, sex is happening and that is interesting, I mean as in challenging to some social mores, in more interesting ways than the usual ways. (i.e. homosexuality, BDSM, kinks) I probably should have mentioned this because it could be a turn off to some people, however, if you\’re comfortable with being made uncomfortable by a book, then it should be very interesting to you. I felt that the way that Jemisin approached the subjects of femininity, masculinity, dominance and power were very sensitive and well informed. Usually I skim through sex scenes, but in this trilogy the sexual encounters help to inform us about the nature of the characters and how their relationships are defined, or not defined. I thought it was interesting that in one part, the willingness of one character to submit to the dominance of another during a sexual act is an equalizing gesture that doesn\’t make her any less important or powerful in her relationship or the story. It was an idea that I\’d never been presented before in any for of media. That\’s just a small taste of some of the thoughtful surprises Jemisin has to give us in the interactions between her characters.

Jemisin is second to none in world-building: the setting of the Inheritance trilogy is amazingly well developed in every aspect. And it is a living world, developing and changing in response to events. We see that progression very clearly in the way things have moved on since the first book – the things that have changed, and the things that haven\’t. The gods and godlings have changed most. Their human aspects, their struggles with love and guilt are accentuated by their power and made vividly authentic. It makes it possible for human readers to identify with them and appreciate the terrible dilemma their inherent nature leads them into – not so different from us, perhaps? The flow of words is flawless, smoothly bringing the reader into the story and keeping them involved throughout, while the mystery elements – who is killing the godlings, and how? What is the source of Oree\’s strange power? Who is the man she rescues? – are effectively wielded hooks to catch and hold the attention. At the end, mystery\’s are solved and conflicts resolved in a bittersweet but effective way – but with plenty of scope left for the third novel of the series, which I am certainly looking forward to.

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