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Jemisin, N.K. - The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
(Book 1 of the Inheritance trilogy)
Disclosure: I know and like the author and got the ARC from her. Book coming out in Feb. 2010.
In the world of the hundred thousand kingdoms, there were once three gods. But things changed, and now one rules while the Arameri, a mortal family, enslaves four other gods. Yeine's mother was the heir to the Arameri before she married Yeine's father, who was seen as a barbarian from Darr. Now, Yeine has been called back to the palace Sky, and she's immediately thrust into family politics.
I love so much about this book. First, I have a huge love of court politics and intrigue, and this book is chock full of secrets and secret histories and people never quite saying what they mean and nothing looking like what it is. Yeine is by nature straightforward and blunt, but she must adapt to Sky, which differentiated this book from others with protagonists who aren't good at intrigue. Too often I feel those other books minimize the dangers of a slip up and focus instead on what a breath of fresh air the protagonist is, or they have the protagonist know nothing of intrigue and yet come out on top anyway. Yeine, on the other hand, makes deadly mistakes, and everything has a cost.
I also love the world of the book, from the palace of Sky, balanced above the city of Sky on a thread-like column, to the legends of the three gods to the little we see of Darr's matriarchal culture. I love the bound gods and the way Jemisin makes them all frightening and awe-inspiring and yet vulnerable and hurt at the same time. I read a review somewhere and of course promptly forgot who wrote it, but the person talked about the interesting complications of slavery and power with the gods, who are enslaved and yet have enormous amounts of power, and with the Arameri family, some of whom are servants and yet still have the power to command enslaved gods.
It's a fantasy book that feels new and different, and considering that I've mostly stopped reading non-YA fantasy because I've been so bored with it, that in and of itself made me so happy. And in addition to all that, the prose is lovely. I adore the narrative voice, which occasionally rambles and talks to itself and corrects itself.
Overall, highly recommended. As I've said, I haven't been reading fantasy that isn't YA for a long time because I've felt it had very little left to offer me. I'm glad I was wrong, and this book has me craving a) more from the world and b) more wonderfully satisfying world-building and characterization in general.
Disclosure: I know and like the author and got the ARC from her. Book coming out in Feb. 2010.
In the world of the hundred thousand kingdoms, there were once three gods. But things changed, and now one rules while the Arameri, a mortal family, enslaves four other gods. Yeine's mother was the heir to the Arameri before she married Yeine's father, who was seen as a barbarian from Darr. Now, Yeine has been called back to the palace Sky, and she's immediately thrust into family politics.
I love so much about this book. First, I have a huge love of court politics and intrigue, and this book is chock full of secrets and secret histories and people never quite saying what they mean and nothing looking like what it is. Yeine is by nature straightforward and blunt, but she must adapt to Sky, which differentiated this book from others with protagonists who aren't good at intrigue. Too often I feel those other books minimize the dangers of a slip up and focus instead on what a breath of fresh air the protagonist is, or they have the protagonist know nothing of intrigue and yet come out on top anyway. Yeine, on the other hand, makes deadly mistakes, and everything has a cost.
I also love the world of the book, from the palace of Sky, balanced above the city of Sky on a thread-like column, to the legends of the three gods to the little we see of Darr's matriarchal culture. I love the bound gods and the way Jemisin makes them all frightening and awe-inspiring and yet vulnerable and hurt at the same time. I read a review somewhere and of course promptly forgot who wrote it, but the person talked about the interesting complications of slavery and power with the gods, who are enslaved and yet have enormous amounts of power, and with the Arameri family, some of whom are servants and yet still have the power to command enslaved gods.
It's a fantasy book that feels new and different, and considering that I've mostly stopped reading non-YA fantasy because I've been so bored with it, that in and of itself made me so happy. And in addition to all that, the prose is lovely. I adore the narrative voice, which occasionally rambles and talks to itself and corrects itself.
Overall, highly recommended. As I've said, I haven't been reading fantasy that isn't YA for a long time because I've felt it had very little left to offer me. I'm glad I was wrong, and this book has me craving a) more from the world and b) more wonderfully satisfying world-building and characterization in general.
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I have been interested in this book since I first heard of it, but I have no idea if it falls under my hard-and-fast "no more unfinished fantasy epics" rule.
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(Anonymous) 2009-10-19 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
(sorry for the anonymous comment.)
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I think you will like it.
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I seriously wanted your honest opinion; I respect your reviews a lot. I'm soooo unbelievably glad you liked it.
::rolls up sleeves:: Now back to trying to make Book 3 even better!
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(Anonymous) 2009-10-20 05:11 pm (UTC)(link)AK
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Good luck with book 3!
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