The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

It took a couple chapters to warm up the her writing style, but once I did wow. I just flew through the book. It was an interesting in-depth story with excellently developed plot twists. The world building was great. It was a very unique setting that drew me in. I can't wait to get a hold of the next 2 in the trilogy.

Picked this one up after a friend mentioned he might read it, and after having read a few reviews. I like the metaphysics that Jemisin has built–it's an odd mix of classic mythologies and the newest “weird” worlds of fantasy. I like the straightforward storytelling, and even like that Jemisin isn't afraid to flaunt the “show-don't-tell” conventions that sometimes bog stories down. I'm not much for fantasy books that are mostly about kingdom politics, but this book thrusts us into the hot seat in place of the protagonist, so even the political intrigue was interesting.

There are myriad relationships in the book that are fascinatingly complex, but there are also a few that are disturbing to me in ways that I am not certain Jemisin was intending–since this books deals with mortals interacting with gods, themes of what makes us human are explored, but also there's no getting away from the fact that the protagonist is at one point in love with what amounts to a scary, abusive boyfriend who also happens to be a god.

(UPDATE: It's likely Jemisin was intending for the reader to feel some discomfort: “Most of you have read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, which was my first attempt to examine rape culture in my long fiction.” http://nkjemisin.com/2012/05/sexual-violence-in-the-shadowed-sun/ )

Despite all of the positives, I wanted more from the writing–this felt like an amazing first novel, which is a pretty good thing for a first novel to feel like. I suspect that subsequent books will have a bit more polish, more cohesive plotting. I'll read the next one to find out...

Jemisin has this trick of writing books that harness the tropes of speculative fiction, such that if you try to describe one of her books it sounds like a generic fantasy novel. However, within that she manages to not just invert or subvert the cliches, but actually build something entirely new, while maintaining enough of an homage to classic fantasy that it feels thrilling the way your first introduction to SF/F was. What can I say about the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms to really capture that? The setting of Sky was refreshing, the Arameri truly cruel & the characters nuanced.

Full Review

Excellent book with a few minor flaws. Full review: http://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/n-k-jemisin-the-hundred-thousand-kingdoms/

There is a wonderful dreamlike quality to Jemisin's prose which really comes through in this tale of mad gods and the corruption of power. Here we are introduced to an empire in the height of its power - a world of peace and prosperity maintained through the emperor's enslavement of the gods. The mythology created here is one of the greatest strengths. The gods are both relatable and ineffable at the same time. The main character is a minor offshoot from the ruling family, summoned to court and named one of the potential heirs. We follow her trying to navigate the politics both of the ruling class and the enslaved gods.

Jemisin has a remarkable ability to build innovative worlds which create new and interesting motivations for the characters. The cultural references are very different from the standard European medieval ones as well - Jemisin's own heritage helps to inform the world she builds. This is innovative, creative fantasy, dreamlike in its execution with a beautiful prose and fascinating world and mythology

Entertaining book with nice world building. Reminded me a little of the Kushiel series. Great main character, great secondary characters. Halfway through the book I realized that this was the first time in a very, very long time where the main character had yet to annoy me with some questionable decision making.

I knew picking this one up was a good idea. Here I've been, coming down from the end of season three of Game of Thrones, craving a genre that I normally don't give a shit about, but not really up for George R.R. Martin's style. In comes Jemisin to the rescue, once again.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not exactly a rip-roaring heavily plotted adventure, but it's not slow either. It takes exactly the time and direction it needs. It's about a woman that's been set up for failure, for inevitable death. Whether its death in competition, in sacrifice, in ecstasy or by her own hand. Once Yeine enters Sky and is named one of three heirs to the throne, thrust into a competition in which she is totally out-gunned there is no way out of for her. What happens in the time she is given to despair, to cope, to plan, is a strange love story between gods in which the seeds are sewn to build a new world.

The conflict is a strange one. Yeine seems like the only sane person in a world of psychopaths, in a culture that breeds sadism and malevolence. The Arameri are so incredibly privileged, and so apparently bored of their privilege, that many of them get their rocks off by torturing and mutilating the less fortunate. You know, for funzies. Scimina, Yeine's cousin and fellow heir, is the worst example. She doesn't have a lot of depth, and aside from her extreme competitiveness and arrogance, she doesn't have much of a personality. I found her malignant nature rather boring after a while, and I think Yeine mirrored that. How frustrating it must be for someone like her, to be forced into this situation, being told by everyone she meets that she's not Arameri enough to get by, when there is absolutely no reason outside of survival than she'd want to be.

However, I never wished for more back story for Scimina or her brother, the drunk and mostly useless Relad. The story isn't about them. The Arameri are the slave masters, and if the weapons they've wielded for generations are backfiring on them, that's their own damn fault. The story keeps its attention tightly on Yeine, her people in the country of Darr where she was raised, and the enslaved gods who become her friends, and in one case her lover.

It's a gentle art dealing with characters who exist in infinities. A god of mischief who is older than time but in essence a child, the Nightlord who changes his face to suit his lovers but to consummate his love would mean certain death for most mortals. And then there's the goddess who is both alive and dead. Even the human characters possess complexities in their emotions that most writers wouldn't be able to juggle – the ability to love and hate at the same time, feel pity and jealousy, compassion and vengeful rage. So when the climax comes, the transformation that Yeine undergoes makes sense. Strenuous for her as a character perhaps, but effortless for the reader.

This didn't have the same high tension and plotting of the Dreamblood series that introduced me to Jemisin. What it did have was honest characters and emotional vulnerability. Also, there are moments that are crazy sexy (I mean what else are you going to do when everyone around you wants you dead, mope around or have amazing universe-bending god-sex?). And now I have a whole other series to get wrapped up in.

The problem with high expectations for an author I love is sometimes I am just a bit more critical.

Good writing, the author nailed empathic link the the first person narrative can bring. I almost finished the book, but it was just too much for me. Way too blend, nothing interesting ever happens, cartoonish villain. I hoped the story would eventually pick up, it didn't.

Also, very lackluster in a lot of aspects. The protagonist, Yeine, was simple, the world the author tried to build wasn't very elaborated, the supporting characters were just there.

There were no remarking features about Yeine. She is a not very good looking girl, who once was the leader of her people. She is a warrior from a “barbaric” society, thrown in the midst of a political aristocratic war, which she has no way to win. So she just accepts her imminent death, meanwhile investigating her mother's murder.

She makes an alliance with the gods of that world, who are enslaved by the humans who rule the whole hundred thousand kingdoms. About 3 of which are mentioned.

This reviews somewhat reflects my thoughts

Read 8:13 / 11:47 70%

I didn't realize that this was N.K.Jemisin's debut novel until later on during my reading, so I guess it was too much of me to expect a brilliant book like The Fifth Season. This book was enjoyable enough, especially the world building and some good characters.

This book is the story of Yiene Darr, the outcast granddaughter of the ruler of the hundred thousand kingdoms who has been summoned to the capital city of Sky as named one of the three heirs. We understand early on that this is going to turn into a tale of political intrigue, scheming and plotting. What surprised me is that I got more than I bargained for. In bits and pieces, we get to know the story of the God's war, the winners and losers and the enslaving of the Night Lord and his godling children who now serve the ruling Arameri family. How their lives get interconnected with Yiene and her quest for truth and freedom forms the remainder of the book.

Yiene is equal parts fierce, timid, impulsive and cautious whereas the Night Lord comes across as a clichéd brooding bad turned good hero of a romantic novel. The childlike godling Sieh is probably the most fascinating and fun in the book. This book is clearly established as the first of a trilogy and it looks like the intention was for extensive mythical world building, which is done quite well rather than well developed characterizations. The series shows promise and I hope the sequel is much more satisfying.

This was a pretty cool book. It ended up being much more original and definitely more engaging than the back cover description led me to believe. Jemisin is a talented writer, only rarely did exposition feel a bit heavy, and some of the more complicated concepts were partially left to the imagination (which I appreciated, even if it was a bit hard to grasp).

Good writing, good characters, and a solidly original concept made this novel consistently engaging and fun to read. I'll be reading the next two as soon as I can.

I loved the world building and was interested in the many characters in story and look forward to learning more about the mythology and the stories of the other gods in this world.
I didn't LOVE it, I like my fantasy stories to have more action and intense moments, but since I am so used to reading fantasies based on European folklore/mythology this was a refreshing change of pace. I hope in the next two books in the trilogy we see more of the one hundred thousand kingdoms.

I really enjoyed both the story and the reading.

I feel... guilty for liking this book so much.

On the surface, I really shouldn't like this book. It is a Chosen One story, and really I'm bored to tears of those. It also involves a romance between a millenia old god and a 20 year old woman. I mean... am I allowed to like that given how much I've made fun of vampires? I'm not sure that I am.

I can't deny it though. I devoured this book and am eager for more. Jemisin takes tropes like those stated above and plays them with a unique edge and serious craft that make this Story with a capital S. For starters, Yeine is certainly a Chosen One (and that's clear from her first encounter with Nahadoth), but she is very different from the typical archetype being a dark-skinned barbarian woman trained to think of men as fragile creatures in need of protection (If you've read Digger, Yeine is a Hyena and I love that). Yeine walks through the tropes (I have come to avenge my mother's death!) and grows out of them (Actually... maybe I have no idea who my mother is and should take a bit of stock in the situation before I start pointing fingers). Yeine is a woman struggling for control of her situation and making the choices allowed to her, learning that there are more choices than at first appear. Her dialogue with her Enefa soul serves to elevate the story to a more cerebral, philosophical level. Yeine is young without being stupid, and she spends the story learning.

I also enjoyed the theology behind this story. Maybe it's due to having just finished The Curse of Chalion, but I really enjoy when the magic of a fantasy story is directly linked to a god. The gods here are a far more overt presence than in Chalion, but they are interesting adaptations of familiar concepts. The love triangle between Itempas, Nahadoth, and Enefa pulls from so many mythologies to become a thing all its own.

Nahadoth is a problem for me. Basically he's an impossibly gorgeous, tragically-flawed fixer-upper with a heart of gold. These people do not actually exist. That said, I kinda wouldn't have him any other way. The romantic scenes in the book are well-done, sexy, and not so numerous as to push the book into the Paranormal Romance genre. Nahadoth is an awesome, divine, and extremely fictional love-interest. That's how I'm going to justify loving his scenes. Sue me, I'm only human.

The ending is maybe a bit too perfect for my tastes, and again I have a little trouble with Yeine's messiah status, but I'll forgive it because the writing is so driven and solid.

Loved the book. Will definitely finish out the trilogy. Highly recommended to fans of Ellen Kushnr and anyone who likes well-written fantasy with a modern (and sexy) edge.

This is for the audiobook.

I randomly picked this up in my library app when I had some surprise free time and enjoyed it quite a bit.

At first I was worried it would have too many characters to be enjoyable (for me) in an audiobook, but the main cast is small and the reader did a great job with the different voices.

The story is not too complex and has a few twists that aren't completely obvious.

Very good for listening to while cleaning or exercising.

Whoa, this was a bit of a surprise for me! I really loved this book! It has everything I like to see in an entertaining book: a high fantasy fictional world, an intriguing plot, a “strong” female protagonist (quoted because she's not your typical “outwit, outplay outlast, survivor” type of character...more on this later), and (of course) romance–or really I should say, the development of character relationships, not just strictly romance. For me, this story has it all and much more...although, I have to admit: it's not perfect. It took a few chapters for me to appreciate the writing style of this novel because the narrator kind of jumps in and out of the storytelling. She quite frequently interrupts her own story, which breaks up the narration and messes with the overall pacing of the book. It felt a bit forced at first (maybe even gimmicky and annoying), but once I started seeing the bigger picture and filling in the missing gaps, then these moments of interruption become very intriguing to me. One of the reasons I absolutely loved this book was because of the protagonist, Yeine. However, to put this into perspective, I should explain myself: Female characters are (unfortunately) not the norm, and so when a story introduces female roles, I can't help but look for myself in that character–Does she represent me? Most female roles fall short of my expectations. I am usually able to understand the character's choices and admire their mentality and courage... but there are very few out there whose personality I feel really connected to–that I feel represent who I am. Yeine is one of those characters. She resonates with me (and not just because of her brown skin). She is like an intensified version of myself. She has this kind of subtle strength that we don't get to see portrayed in stories very much (probably because this kind of character can tends to be a bit boring, but Jemisin does a great job at keeping Yeine interesting and dynamic). The strength she possess is not in her ability to fight others (although she is a warrior), nor is it in the political scene (she knows that Scimina is a better strategist than her). Instead, it is in her ability to realize this f*ed up situation she's in and accept it. That acceptance allows her to continue making choices for herself–despite her flaws, despite limitations placed on her, despite everyone's expectations–she does what needs to be done, but with her abilities, with her own voice...It's a bit difficult for me to really articulate my point, but suffice to say that Yeine is one of the most well-written female characters in my opinion.Anyways, I'm pretty excited to read the next in the series [b:The Broken Kingdoms 7904453 The Broken Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy, #2) N.K. Jemisin https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1282522268s/7904453.jpg 11165787]. Although, I'm a bit sad that Yeine is not the lead character anymore. The overall series focuses on the story of the gods, so this sequel looks really promising. Hopefully, we get to see more Nahadoth because he is kinda hot (I didn't mention this earlier in my review, but Jemisin does a great job depicting the gods in this story–they are very believable and quite frightening to be honest).

Very good ,enjoyed this book the last third was hard to put down.

Love this! So easy to read and an unfamiliar world. Trying to resist the urge to dive straight into The Broken Kingdom

Last year I read N.K. Jemisin's ‘Broken Earth' trilogy and was incredibly impressed.  They are some of my favorite fantasy books of all time and a big reason why was Jemisin's unique style and creative choices.  Naturally after reading them I wanted to check out more of Jemisin's work.  Her ‘Inheritance' trilogy was a natural place to go, and thus I decided to read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the first book in that series.    I do not think that this book is as good as any of the entries into the ‘Broken Earth' trilogy.  This is her debut novel and you can tell.  It feels like Jemisin isn't quite as confident in herself and her writing feels a bit less refined than it does later.  With that said, this is still an excellent fantasy book that shows off some of the talent and potential that would be fully realized in her second trilogy.     What stands out in particular is just how creative Jemisin is.  Her settings are always really unique and set up some truly fascinating scenarios.  Here, we go to a city called Sky that is above everything (a sharp contrast to the ‘Broken Earth' trilogy, which takes place exclusively on the ground).  Sky serves as the capital of the world and is led by a family that has control over 100,000 gods.  This is an interesting idea that is backed up by some really strong world-building that allows the concept to truly make sense.  While I do think that the plot of this book is a bit more convoluted than Jemisin's future work, everything makes enough sense that I don't get lost in trying to follow the narrative.    Of course, a good world can only take you so far.  For a fantasy book to be truly great, the characters that live in said world need to be interesting as well, and Jemisin delivers on this front as well.  Our protagonist Yeine is a really fun character to follow as she gets used to Sky and the politics that take place within it.  Making her somewhat of an outsider is a solid choice as it allows the reader to learn as she does.  Her supporting characters are also very captivating, none more so than the god Nahadoth, who is a true surprise in terms of just how complex and interesting he is.  The interactions between him and Yeine are the best parts of the book.  There really aren't any weak characters here.  Even the small ones make a good impression in their limited time on the page.     The world and characters combine to make a truly great book that shows how strong of a writer Jemisin was from the jump.  This book is exciting.  It's funny.  It's intriguing.  It's sexy.  It's captivating.  And above all, it's never boring.  I am very excited to read its follow-up The Broken Kingdoms. 

Jemisin is a 5 star author in my book. The Broken Earth Trilogy is one of the most daring, thought-provoking and well-written series I've come across. So I may have had high expectations for The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.

So why only 2 stars?
The worldbuilding is...like a photo slightly out of focus. Not quite clear enough to feel at home in it. That's my only way to explain it.

But most importantly, I was greatly disappointed in the characterisation of Yeine. You are introduced to her, a chieftain of a clan of outcast barbarians, a strong warrior, and she is driven by her need to avenge her mother's death. But the Yeine we follow throughout the story is a young woman who lusts so hard for this dark and dangerous God of night it overrides the warrior in her. It felt mostly like she was just a pawn, and the story developed around her, not through her actions.

I don't know... Not my cup of tea. Sadly. I almost didn't finish it, and I can't recommend it unless you're extremely curious about Jemisin's debut novel.

1. 5 stars

dnf @ 80%

I put off writing this review, because I was pretty sure if I'd done it right away, it'd have been filled with all kinds of hyperbole. With a few days' worth of distance, I can honestly say most of it would've been deserved. I'm going to keep this short and vague, because that's the only way I think I can keep myself from gushing and rehashing this book in detail.

The story, while solid, feels like something I've read more than once (tho' I honestly can't say where, it just feels that way). A lot of the characters aren't that novel, maybe even a bit stock-ish. But not all of them. There are four or five characters for whom the term “multi-faceted” doesn't seem adequate, so that more than makes up for it.

But what truly, truly makes this book great is the way the story's told–both the structure and the voice. As much as I wanted to find out what happened to Yeine and the rest, I didn't want to walk away from the Jesmin's voice and style.

Great debut novel. Sooooo looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.

Yeine Darr is summoned from a backwater northern country to the majestic city of Sky. There her grandfather, who rules the world, informs her that she is to be his heir. There is only one catch – she is the third named heir. The three of them must compete for the throne and only one can survive. There are gods and godlings, magic, treachery, and deep plots. On the negative side, I couldn't really engage with the characters; they didn't seem realistic. For example, Yeine is much too composed and skilled for a teenager – too mature. That said, I like Jemisin's writing style and I expect that I will read more of her work.