Jemisin, N.K.: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (2010)
Written by: N.K. Jemisin
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 427 (Trade Paperback)
Series: Book One of Three
The premise: ganked from BN.com: Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history.
With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate - and gods and mortals - are bound inseparably together.
My Rating
Worth the Cash: Make no mistake, I really enjoyed this book. I was hooked from the very first page and flew through the story. One thing about it, the reader is definitely immersed in the world Jemisin has created, and one of the things that really makes this novel shines is its creation myth as well as its treatment of enslaved gods. Sure, this debut isn't without its problems, but I think that, depending on the reader, the problems are what you make of them. What bothers one reader won't bother another. Sure, that's true for EVERY book, but for one like this, where reactions are so extremely love or hate? It's important to remember. I was quite taken with the whole package myself, though I will say it's not a book that lingers very long after reading, especially if you're reading book after book after book after book in your TBR pile. Still, it was a hard book to put down, and I happily picked up the sequel, The Broken Kingdoms (which I can now read since I've finally finished writing this review. Woot!).
Review style: An epic failure on my part, but I took no notes for this one (you'd think I would, with it being a book club selection and all). At any rate, as far as reviews go, people seem to have quite extreme reactions to it. They love it or they hate it, and there's very little middle ground. I want to talk about that, as well as two-dimensional villains and why authors shouldn't be quite so quick to reveal their intentions, what matriarchal warrior societies have to say about feminism, the role mothers play in this fantasy world, and some discussion about the world-building. Because it's a book club selection, I'm NOT going to shy away from spoilers, so if you want to remain spoiler-free for this book, then do NOT click the link below, which leads to the full review with spoilers. Everyone else, feel free. :) As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.
REVIEW: N.K. Jemisin's THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS
Happy Reading!
ALSO!!!
Book club selections @ calico_reaction. Hop on over! We'd love to have you!
December: Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
January: The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold