Jemisin, N.K. - The Broken Kingdoms

[oyceter]

(Book 2 of the Inheritance trilogy. Write up of book 1)

Disclaimer: I know and like the author and got a copy of the book from her with the agreement that I'd write it up (favorably or unfavorably)

Oree Shoth, a blind artist with a street stand in the city of Shadow, finds a god in a trash heap one day. Unsurprisingly, this wreaks quite a bit of havoc on her life.

Thankfully, this is one of the trilogies in which you can read each book on its own; book 2 will spoil book 1 but it doesn't depend on book 1 for understanding. This is both good and bad, as I read this directly after a reread of book 1. Warning ahead of time! There is going to be a lot of comparison with the first book, part because of the direct reread and part because I loved book 1 so much.

Oree isn't fully aware of everything that has happened in book 1, so new readers get clued in with her, but people who have read book 1 may be a bit frustrated by her realizing what we already know. Also, because book 2 stands alone, Jemisin doesn't do the massive infodump in the first chapter that many epic fantasy series do.

Also, while book 1 was about court intrigue and the powerful Arameri family that rules the hundred thousand worlds, book 2 is far more commonplace. We get a better sense of Shadow the city as opposed to staying in the palace of Sky most of the time, and although it's fun to see different neighborhoods and how the rules of the Arameri affect the citizens of the world, it doesn't quite hit the same buttons for me as book 1. And the narrative of the book doesn't feel nearly as tight as book 1.

I am not sure if it was a great choice to stay with the digressive first-person narrative, particularly when book 1 has such a neat twist in the middle when you realize exactly why the narrative is so digressive, what's actually taking place, and who Yeine is talking to. Here, the reveal at the end as to who Oree is talking to isn't nearly as interesting or as big of a twist.

I think book 2 is also more difficult than book 1 because Itempas is much less sympathetic than Nahadoth or Sieh, and as I mentioned before, it's much less focused than book 1. There's the demons and the godlings and the New Lights and etc., and although it all fits back together in the end, there were definitely times when I got lost or distracted from the main narrative. There's also a bit of a pacing issue, where the big plot is resolved, but then there are a few chapters of follow-up, and putting the Itempas/Oree romance in the back felt a bit odd. Even though the relationship between the two has been developing through the entire book, the shift to romance followed right up with Yeine and Nahadoth's visit followed right up by Itempas leaving followed right up by the pregnancy reveal felt like it should have had more room throughout the book, rather than just being shoved in the end.

I don't know... there are pieces that connect it with the main narrative, such as the reveal of why Itempas killed Enefa and his demon son with the pregnancy and Oree the demon, but it felt much messier and much more sprawling.

Also also, I was not as invested in the Oree/Itempas relationship partially because Itempas isn't particularly sympathetic (although I do actually like him in a weird sort of disliking him way), but largely for me because it echoes a lot of fairly traditional romance archetypes, with the woman teaching the man how to love, the man being stoic and powerful and controlling, etc.

So... YMMV? I know I complain a lot above, but the book itself is well written and engaging. It's just that it doesn't hit a lot of the same things book 1 did for me. I'd be really curious to hear from people who have only read book 2 to see how it worked for you.

ETA: Also, I would be curious to see what people thought about the handling of Oree's blindness. I was a bit disappointed that she got the superpower to compensate trope, although I did like the little bits Jemisin put in here and there with Oree snarking at people. (Ex. "Oh! Did you know it was me because you have super senses?" "Uh, no. It is because I have common sense and you smell funny.")

Links:
- sanguinity's review (brings up good points re: multiracialness in the books)
- coffeeandink's not a review
- troisroyaumes' review

Comments

[starlady]

Yeah, I think I agree with a lot of this. It was a gutsy choice to go for a completely different narrator and setting, and I admire Jemisin for that, but…I like court intrigue. And there is a very fractured feel to the narrative (which given the title of the book could be intentional, which would be meta in a cool way but is not quite obvious enough to not be frustrating when reading), what with lots of different things going on at once, and coming off the first book I was more interested in the characters from the last book who played only supporting roles in this one. And I sort of was annoyed at the romance tropes in Oree's relationships with Itempas and the godling (disclaimer: I don't care much for romance novels).

I mean, I devoured it in about two sittings, but I didn't like it as much as the first one. I'm looking forward to the third book, though!

ETA: I didn't think the superpower to compensate trope was actually as disappointing as the "I can see magic!" stuff pre-superpower, which sort of…yeah, I don't know, is sort of suspiciously convenient for the narrative.

[oyceter]

I actually did like that she went for a different narrator and setting, since I usually a) don't reread before starting the next book in a series and b) have a memory like a sieve. But it is unfortunate for me that book 1 hit so many of my squee buttons and book 2 doesn't... I suspect if I'd just read book 2 by itself, I would have liked it much better because I wouldn't have compared it so much, but ah well.

I also think Jemisin does a more interesting version of the human woman with some powers/supernatural lover thing that most urban fantasy/paranormal romances are doing, and I really like that her gods and godlings are seriously scary, but I'm predisposed to not like the human woman/more powerful male lover thing just because of all the books like that in the urban fantasy/paranormal romance sphere.

[yhlee]

I actually liked this, overall, rather better than book 1 (I expect to be a minority in this), but this may be because I can't stand Sieh (I'm...toning this down) and I find Nahadoth kind of dull, and Itempas was a jerk but at least he was an interesting jerk, I dunno. Romance tropes probably sailed right over my head, though.

[oyceter]

I did think Itempas was a very interesting jerk! I also like the contrast of his physical form being a black man, because having a black man as the embodiment of order and justice and rules runs very opposite to trope. Although I also did see why Jemisin was a bit hesitant about making the main villain of the trilogy black. I think I was more leery about having a continent full of black people (Maro) sunk into the sea, although it was offset much more by a) the main ruling god of the universe for 2000 years choosing a black man as a physical form and b) lots of poc in lots of other places in the book.

Uh, that was a bit of a digression. But yeah, I am really interesting to see different people's reactions because the two books felt very different to me, and it's hardly the author's fault that she hits almost all my squee buttons in book 1 and made book 2 very different.

[coalescent]

Yes, I'm with you. I thought The Broken Kingdoms much the more interesting novel of the two in just about every way. The only thread I wasn't wild about was the romance, but even that I preferred to book one's relationship.

[starlady]

I liked Itempas, or at least sympathized with him unwillingly. I think Oree not knowing who he was helped him seem sympathetic--he is sympathetic, in a weird way.

[ithiliana]

I agree! I felt that this book really dragged me much more into Oree's world, and I thought that it came together much more um fluidly or something? flowed better (for me), and I was really intrigued with how the narrative handled Itempas and the relationships between godlings, gods. I liked Nahadoth and Sieh in the first book, and was impressed as hell when I found out that I was sympathizing with Itempas! WOW! That was artistry, I thought. Now, when does #3 come out?????????????

[djkittycat]

I agree with you. I liked this book a lot better. I actually felt it flowed much better than book one, and I felt that Oree was more down to earth (despite supernatural elements).

[badgerbag]

I liked them both a lot. I did think the writing and the flow were better/tighter than Book 1. The shift in perspective was impressive, especially as it didn't feel like the same voice with a different name narrating. I can't wait to read the third book!

[inkstone]

I pretty much agree with all of this. I thought Broken Kingdoms was more... even? And I liked the commonplace nature of it but it's not something I'll ever get excited about.

I was very underwhelmed by the ending which felt like it was tacked on.

[oyceter]

Yeah, I did very much like getting to see how the events of book 1 influenced the city below, and I especially love the idea of neighborhoods in the roots of the trees and people building up it. And the pacing is good until the end bit, but my thing for flashbacks and backstory and vengeful women coupled with intrigue makes me kind of irrational about book 1.

[yasaman]

I like Broken Kingdoms more, mostly due to Oree, who I just liked more as a narrator and character than Yeine. And I didn't mind Oree/Itempas, because god/human relationships are one of my narrative kinks, though it does have those unfortunate romance novel tropes. I agree with you about the end though, it was all rather rushed.

[oyceter]

*nods* Yeah, I realized while reading this book that I had a very hard time pinning down Yeine's personality because Hundred Thousand Kingdoms takes place in such a compressed period of time and under very extreme circumstances.

I actually felt the ending was a weird combination of too drawn out and too rushed, as in the romance (and subsequent end of the romance) was too rushed for me, but the entire last bit felt very drawn out, especially after the main plot is over.

[ithiliana]

My response to the blindness and superpower trope (keeping in mind that I do not live with a disabililty and thus have to work very hard to see through my privilege in this respect) was that I thought it was handled better than in most cases because the superpower was fairly limited in scope, involved real pain, and the reality of her life as a blind woman was made very materially, physically real to me (some of this could be the fact that my greatest fear is losing my eyesight, so I was sort of reading in a hyper mode, feeling much more connected if that makes sense).

[oyceter]

*nods* I think overall my opinion is that I thought Jemisin did fairly well handling the compensatory superpower by taking it away from Oree and by still noting that she needed her walking stick and the bits with her snarking at people, although I do wish there kind of hadn't been the superpower to start out with.

[glass_icarus]

I agree with you on the romance tropes- admittedly, the ending bothered me more than anything else- but I think I liked it better than the first book, overall? As inkstone said, it felt more even to me. Mostly I really appreciated the glimpses of the city and its people, and I thought the world filtered through Oree's perspective/personality was more interesting- it's a much broader scope than Yeine's, and I liked that a lot. I was also impressed with the reimagining of Itempas and Yeine and Nahadoth and T'vril.

I did think the seeing magic bit was rather too convenient, and I'm pretty sure there were a few color references that made no sense given Oree's blindness? It was treated differently in different contexts, but... I dunno. :\ I would have enjoyed the adventures of a completely blind visual artist dealing with magic!

[djkittycat]

This!

[oyceter]

*nods* Haha, book 1 hits so many of my story kinks so hard that I really wanted to see what other people thought of book 2 because I think my Id Vortex is muddling things.

Hrm. Although along with the romance tropes, I think I was also frustrated by how both Oree and Yeine ultimately end up comforting their respective godly lovers. OTOH I liked the balance between Oree and Madding a lot, and how it was all about him being scared about her vulnerability but she ended up involuntarily contributing to his demise.