The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy, #1)

by N. K. Jemisin

After her mother's mysterious death, a young woman is summoned to the floating city of Sky in order to claim a royal inheritance she never knew existed in the first book in this award-winning fantasy trilogy from the NYT bestselling author of The Fifth Season.

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.

• Publish Date: 1 December 2020 (first published 4 February 2010)
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Subterranean Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 312
• Language: English
• Special: Exclusive Design Numbered Signed

Reviews

[lisacee]

I couldn't remember if I had completed this book with my last attempt. I had, but the story was so complex that I really benefited from another read. There are so many characters and complicated family histories, that this time I was better able to follow along and understand what was going on.

I'm going to keep the momentum going and jump right into next book!

[wyvernfriend]

Deeply interesting read, I enjoyed it, and I could see where it's not to everyone's taste. When Yeine is called from her homeland to the vicious court of her mother's family, she's declared a potential heir, but the politics are complicated and might just kill her. As she gets more involved she discovers more about the history of why there are so many gods in her family space and how things work, but she doesn't really approve of much of what is going on and the temptation to meddle is strong.

Interesting and powerful it made me slow down to savour it.

[Heather]

Yeine is raised in Darr, a matriarchal society.  Her paternal grandmother is from the ruling family and her mother was formerly the heir to the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.  She was raised to be a warrior and has been named the leader of the country.

But when her mother mysteriously dies, she is ordered to come to Sky, the capital Kingdoms and compete to be the heir to her grandfather.  Yeine's mother was her grandfather's only child and her abdication to marry a lowly Darr man set up a power struggle that Yeine is now a victim of.

Yeine isn't prepared for the brutal politics of Sky.  Thousands of years ago there were three gods in the land.  A war between them killed one, elevated another, and enslaved the third and their offspring.  Now the rulers of Sky can command the captured gods to do their will and their will is usually monstrous.  Yeine knows that she is a pawn in the game between her cousins for control of the kingdom.  She doesn't want to play their game but doesn't want to see either of them win leadership.  She doesn't know that she is a pawn in a long plan of the gods to win their freedom also.



N.K. Jemisin is an author that I've been planning on reading for a long time.  I told myself that I was absolutely going to read one of her books during #Diversiverse this year.  I'm glad I held myself to that.

What I Liked

The world building was wonderful in this book.  You slowly learn the limits that have been put on the captured gods and how the people use them for their own entertainment.

Yeine is an outsider.  She was raised by a mother that she remembers as kind but who everyone in the capital remembers as being wonderfully cruel.  She is trying to understand her mother's life objectively and not through the eyes of a child.  She also wants to help her small country but every move she makes to help is countered by her cousins who are more used to playing political games.  She was trained as a warrior and it shows in her interactions with people.  She comes from a matriarchal society and is used to being powerful. The implications of that society come through in passages like this where she realizes the depth of Darr's vulnerability to attack when she hears that the men are being armed.

What Could Have Been Better

For all the incredible elements this isn't a book that is going to stay in my mind for a long time.  I can already feel details slipping and I just finished it yesterday.  It is an interesting read but isn't deep enough to be a favorite.

I will be reading more of her books though.

 This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story