The Kingdom of Gods

It is a difficult thing writing about gods. Being able to capture, portray and do justice something or someone that sees, thinks and feels in infinities can be an overwhelming task. Which is most likely why the first two books of The Inheritance Trilogy were from the point of view of woman who would become a god, and a woman who would fall in love with a god, respectively. These perspectives were sufficient in giving you the scope of what its like to live among celestial beings, enough to inspire a sense of awe as well as a sense of character to the gods' unique personalities. But it stopped just shy of looking through the eyes of one.The Kingdom of Gods takes an opposite approach to this mold created by the first book by telling the story from the point of view of a god who is becoming mortal. Sieh, the Trickster, god of childhood and mischief, firstborn and favorite of the godlings finds himself turning into a real boy (and then man) after making a pact with two young children, Dekarta and Shahar. While, as a god, Sieh can take on many forms it is against his nature to grow up. But grow up he does, and not just because his new mortal flesh is forcing him to, but because the world around him needs him to. Aside from Nahadoth, Sieh was undoubtedly a favorite in [b:The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms 6437061 The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy, #1) N.K. Jemisin https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1303143211s/6437061.jpg 6626657], so getting to hear his story was a great treat, but the core problem still stands - telling a god's story is difficult, even when that god is not a god anymore. Sieh's brain is childlike, kind of, but it is huge. He doesn't feel or see things the way an ordinary person does. Nonetheless, Jemisin is a very clever story teller. She lets the primary conflict (an unknown god, named Kahl, is manipulating mortal politics and assassinating members of the ruling Arameri family for unknown ends) fade into the background while Sieh tries to figure out his new life and the love he feels for his two sworn mortal friends - as well as trying to get his godhood back - until just the right moment. And as you might have guessed, she uses that moment to rip your heart out.I've been learning a little bit about building magical systems in your stories, and the difference between hard and soft magical worlds. The Inheritance Trilogy is definitely soft, you have very little idea of what magic users - whether gods or mortals - are capable of, but that somehow doesn't seem to hold down the story much. It is, however, a tad overwhelming. Likewise, she gives this universe that already has two books behind it so much breadth in the final installment - introducing a bunch of new godlings and an organization they work under, international politics and culture, and whole new ways for magic to fuck with your mind. It's a lot, but it's also really fun. I mean, heartbreaking, emotionally intense, but still very fun.This book is about evolution, with a little bit of revolution. The Arameri, the villains of the first book, evolve into something much more human the same way Sieh does, allowing him to fall in love with one (or two, depending on which team you're on, I guess), and as such change the fabric of the universe. With the amount of content that is in this book, its a miracle at all that Deka and Shahar get to assert themselves as character, but nonetheless I fell for Deka like a sack of bricks. His thing is that he is smart, sexy and really super magical, and you know what, I'm down with that. No matter what, the feeling that Jemisin wants to invoke is always there - the ruthless complexity of the Arameri, the love and hate of Nahadoth, Itempas and Yiene, and of course Sieh's sense of mischief. It's almost...fanservicey. It's hard to explain why. Jemisin gives you the goods, is what I'm trying to say, even when the story is going in all different directions.There are a handful of authors that I trust with my soul - Jemisin is one of them. I know I'm in good hands as soon as I open up to the first page. This book is complicated and meandering, which is why I'm not giving it the full five stars, but it is still excellent and a more than sufficient final chapter to this trilogy. It gets the important things right - the emotional honestly, the dramatic portraits of gods at their most impenetrable, and of course a little sexiness to sweeten the deal. That's literally what I go to Jemisin for, and she definitely delivered.

The Kingdom of Gods is a messy novel. It juggles so many different plot points and characters at once, some handled worse than others. It's a disjointed book and the weakest of the trilogy. And yet, for whatever reason, I found myself fully invested for (most of) the duration of the story. There were plenty of things I didn't like (unnecessary characters that only complicated things and added nothing, some general weird character inconsistency), but the beautiful prose and fascinating world kept me interested.

If I had to rate this trilogy by how much I liked each book, it would go like this:
1. The Broken Kingdoms
2. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
3. The Kingdom of Gods
However, this does not mean that this is a bad book. Far from it. It was beautifully written, had incredible character depth and development and a great ending. It's just that the plot was kind of all over the place at times. You didn't know which thread to follow or whether there even was a thread, other than Sieh's journey.
I liked this book a lot and will read anything N.K. Jemisin writes in the future.
For a full review, go to SFF Book Review