The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy #1)

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 clichd 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. Jemisins 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 arent successful. Scimina is ferocious, she has no qualms about doing whatever it takes to be Dekartas successor and neither her brother nor her newly arrived cousin will stand in her way. We dont learn much about Relad, but he isnt 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 Yeines 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.

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