Book bloggers were the ones who put The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit Books, 2010) on my radar, so reading it for the A More Diverse Universe Blog Tour seemed like the perfect reason to move it to the top of the TBR list.
First in a trilogy, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms lays the foundation for an overarching story but also has a satisfying completeness in itself. It took me a little while to get hooked, but about halfway through, I realized why so many readers liked this book so much.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, as you might guess from the title, mentions multiple countries in the course of the story, all under the rule of the Arameri family of Amn, in the palace of Sky, in the city of Sky. The story is set many years after the Gods’ War, when one of three powerful gods vanquished the other two and the world changed for the humans living under the sway of the pale-skinned Arameri, who wield the power of the one remaining god, the Skyfather, also known as Bright Itempas.
Yeine, the main character and narrator of the story, is a nineteen-year-old warrior chieftain from the forested country of Darr, the child of a Darren father and an Amn mother, who was the exiled daughter of the ruling Arameri family. Yeine describes herself near the beginning of the book as “short and flat and brown as forestwood, and my hair is a curled mess.” When she is thrust into the thick of palace intrigue and succession squabbling right at the start of the book, no one is more surprised than she is.
It doesn’t take Yeine long to get her bearings. It took me a lot longer, what with all the skillful world-building going on and the backstory of world mythology that was common knowledge to Yeine but had to be told to the reader. (I’ve never been good at geography. Or mythology, for that matter. All those gods and who does what…) Themes of race, gender, slavery, wealth, power, and religion thread through the book, but are never allowed to take over. The strong plot and the ultimate bad boy love interest move the story along quickly, once the story gets going and as Yeine starts to understand more.
I haven’t read a lot of straightforward fantasy to compare The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms to, so I’m not the best reviewer of this book, but The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms won the 2011 Locus Award for Best First Novel, so judges who are very familiar with the genre have recognized its merit. Readers looking for a fantasy with a strong female main character and detailed world-building should definitely give it a try.
Read the first chapter of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms here.
View the complete schedule for A More Diverse Universe Blog Tour hosted by Aarti at BookLust.
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36 Responses to A More Diverse Universe: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
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I’m currently reading The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and am loving it.
Thanks for visiting! Are you reading THTK for the blog tour or just for the fun of it?
For the blog tour…my review will be on Thursday.
I’ll be there!
I’ve never heard of this one before (I’m not a big reader of this genre) but this one sounds really interesting. Thanks for the review!
I read this for book club and it was not the book for me. I’m sure it was well written but that genre is not for me.
Was your book club exploring different genres or did someone who loved the book make everyone else read it?
I have never gotten into the huge fantasy series(es?), but this sounds intriguing!
It was! I realized while writing the review that I tend to like main characters who are bookish, verging on nerdy perhaps. Since Yeine is a woman of action, not research, that may be why I didn’t feel a connection to her right away.
Fantasy is one of my favourite genres, while young adult is a subgenre I’m still exploring tentatively. This does sound like a good adventure that I’d enjoy, so I’ll add it to my tbr. Thanks for a great review!
This one won’t get shelved in the YA section of the library. See the ultimate bad boy love interest.
Hahaha, point taken
Seems my library doesn’t even have it, for shame! Will have to buy it then (AND suggest it to them of course!)
Yes, this is certainly an adult book.
LOL, but… but, there are people on GoodReads who have shelved is at YA xD
Probably because the main character is 19. It definitely has YA appeal, but they’re going to have to look for it on the S/F and Fantasy shelves in our library, anyway!
True, so true. There’s nothing between children’s and adult is there? I forget, because I just run straight to the English section o___o
This book sounds awesome. I’m glad this event brought it to my attention.
Thanks for stopping by!
Love the cover, I would definitely pick it up in the store. The story sounds great, especially the mythology. I’ve read books with it in before of course, but a confusing one sounds pretty interesting.
Yes, it’s a great cover!
This one sounds wonderful! Thanks for bringing it to our attention. (And yes, I’d pick it up based on the cover, too!)
I wish I could remember which blogger or bloggers brought it to my attention, but it was so long ago, and I don’t keep good notes.
Sounds fabulous! Thank you for sharing it with us!
I’ve read nothing but amazing things about this book. It’s already on my tbr list. I just need to make time for it. Great review.
I read the 3rd book in the series and it was fantastic – didn’t feel like I had to read the first 2 to follow along with the story.
I’m not much for this genre but I liked your post. It’s great that you liked a book recommended to you by book bloggers.
http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
Fabulous! I’m tbring it.
[...] + The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin, over at Bay State Reader’s Advisory [...]
I love books with lots of world building, like Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, so I’ll definitely be giving this one a try
[...] 6] Chinoiseries @ Always Cooking Up Something – Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro 7] Laurie @ Bay State Reader’s Advisory – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin 8] Alysia @ My Little Pocketbooks – Kindred, by Octavia Butler 9] Melwyk @ The Indextrious [...]
Great review! You managed to do a much better job than I at giving an overview of the plot – I was at a loss as to what to include or not. heh. Glad to see that you eventually got into this one and enjoyed it! Will you read the sequel? There is so much on my tbr pile I should read first but… I want to…!
I don’t know if I’ll read the sequel or not, yet, but it’s a definite possibility!
I admit that I didn’t love this book when I read it. I too was confused by the world being built, and I didn’t really love Yeine. I also hated the ending. But I hear so many people love Jemisin, so I think I should give her newer series a try.
Thanks for participating in this event!
I didn’t mind the ending, but didn’t really love Yeine personally either. I thought she was a good character though. Thanks for organizing the event!
I kinda liked the fact that she wasn’t always easy to relate to; given the situation that she was in, she was bound to make some decisions which would be, um, problematic, so it added to her credibility for me.
I listened to it, rather than read (and apparently I’m not a very good listener, as I had to listen to the first hour twice), so I had a bit of trouble getting my head around the world-building but, simultaneously, I’d rather that than have it be too simplistic. I think before I read on in the series, that I should re-read (re-listen) to this one: you’ve inspired me to take another look!
I looked for this on audio earlier and didn’t find it in the library system, so I just went with the print book. I haven’t gone on to the second one yet. Maybe I’ll look for that one on audio.