The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance, Bk 1)
Author:
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Paperback
Helpful Score: 3
THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS is N.K. Jemisin's debut novel. It was released by Orbit, and is the first novel in The Inheritance Trilogy. The next two books are forthcoming.
The story follows Yeine, a young woman who has spent her life growing up with her father's people,the Darre. Her mother, Kinneth, was not of the Darre. Rather, she had been heires to the Arameri, a powerful family who rules the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. When she met Yeine's father, Kinneth had abdicated her place to marry him and go live with the Darre.
As the book opens, Yeine's mother has recently been murdered, and her grandfather has summoned her to the capital city of Sky. When she arrives, Yeine's grandfather names her co-heir with two of her cousins. This creates an immediate power struggle in which armies are marshalled against her homeland and Yeine's life is in danger.
As she learns to navigate the difficult channels of everyday life in Sky, Yeine finds an interesting set of allies. The gods of her world have been forced to live amongst the Amerami, serving as slaves to the mortals they created. One in particular, Nahadoth, is considered to be incredibly dangerous. Over time she begins relying on his support and companionship more and more as she tries to juggle Sky's dense politics and find out who killed her mother.
THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS is a really enjoyable book. Jemisin does a great job in creating Yeine and making her an interesting character. I also really liked the stylistic conceit used to spin out the story. It's a first person epistle that tells the story chronologically with breaks for commentary. The commentary sections have an interesting structure to them, which made me think that Yeine was an unreliable narrator. In the end, though, it was more reminiscent to what Christopher Priest did in his excellent novel THE PRESTIGE. And it worked rather well.
While I enjoyed the novel for what it was, THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS was a different novel than what I thought it was when I began reading. I got it on the strength of advertisements that I had heard on several podcasts. The way it was presented, it seemed to be heavily driven by the political struggles. And while that was a catalyst for much of what happened, the book focused much more on Yeine's relationship with Nahadoth. This wasn't bad, though. Yeine's character strength coupled with Jemisin's excellent prose kept me interested enough to continue with the book.
As mentioned earlier, this is the first novel in a trilogy. However it reads very much as a standalone novel. The story of Yeine resolves quite nicely. I don't know what role she'll play in the rest of the books, but I suspect she'll appear in the others.
I'd recommend THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS to those interested in romantic stories in a political setting, or first person stories. Also, this would be a good book to read if one has enjoyed the Rai-Kirah series by Carol Berg.
The story follows Yeine, a young woman who has spent her life growing up with her father's people,the Darre. Her mother, Kinneth, was not of the Darre. Rather, she had been heires to the Arameri, a powerful family who rules the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. When she met Yeine's father, Kinneth had abdicated her place to marry him and go live with the Darre.
As the book opens, Yeine's mother has recently been murdered, and her grandfather has summoned her to the capital city of Sky. When she arrives, Yeine's grandfather names her co-heir with two of her cousins. This creates an immediate power struggle in which armies are marshalled against her homeland and Yeine's life is in danger.
As she learns to navigate the difficult channels of everyday life in Sky, Yeine finds an interesting set of allies. The gods of her world have been forced to live amongst the Amerami, serving as slaves to the mortals they created. One in particular, Nahadoth, is considered to be incredibly dangerous. Over time she begins relying on his support and companionship more and more as she tries to juggle Sky's dense politics and find out who killed her mother.
THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS is a really enjoyable book. Jemisin does a great job in creating Yeine and making her an interesting character. I also really liked the stylistic conceit used to spin out the story. It's a first person epistle that tells the story chronologically with breaks for commentary. The commentary sections have an interesting structure to them, which made me think that Yeine was an unreliable narrator. In the end, though, it was more reminiscent to what Christopher Priest did in his excellent novel THE PRESTIGE. And it worked rather well.
While I enjoyed the novel for what it was, THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS was a different novel than what I thought it was when I began reading. I got it on the strength of advertisements that I had heard on several podcasts. The way it was presented, it seemed to be heavily driven by the political struggles. And while that was a catalyst for much of what happened, the book focused much more on Yeine's relationship with Nahadoth. This wasn't bad, though. Yeine's character strength coupled with Jemisin's excellent prose kept me interested enough to continue with the book.
As mentioned earlier, this is the first novel in a trilogy. However it reads very much as a standalone novel. The story of Yeine resolves quite nicely. I don't know what role she'll play in the rest of the books, but I suspect she'll appear in the others.
I'd recommend THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS to those interested in romantic stories in a political setting, or first person stories. Also, this would be a good book to read if one has enjoyed the Rai-Kirah series by Carol Berg.
Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
