Ok so I'm guilty. I judged a book by its cover. I was perusing my local library, bored out of my mind and I picked this book up.
"The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms?" I thought. "This might be cool." I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. I started reading this book yesterday at around 2:00 PM..... I finished it this morning. All 410 pages of it plus an interview and a preview of the next book in the series. And now I'm salivating in anticipation for its release in the fall
(Sidenote- How awesome is it that e won't have to wait for a a year or more for the next book? Unlike SOME authors I know! *Side-eye* at Christopher Paolini and J.K. Rowling, Ms. Jemisin doesn't want us to DIE of anticipation!) But I digress. To the Book Review!
100K (As the book is so affectionately called by its author on her website) is a first person account of A beautiful heroine Yeine(YAY-neh) Darr from the Barbaric North. Her past heritage catches up to her In an unexpected way when her Grandfather(whom No one ever argues with) Summons her to the Faraway city of Sky with an important announcement. He wants her, who he has never met or spoken to or even acknowledged before, to succeed him to the Throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.
This much you can learn from the cover and the teaser first page. After that is where I was pleasantly surprised that even this bold statement had far far far underestimated the scope of this beautiful story.
Engaging is the way that I describe all of my favorite writers. They have a way of engaging all 5 of your senses and even the 6th sense for those who have it, in order to totally immerse you into the world that they have created. This is what this literary Master N.K. Jemisin has so expertly done with 100K. She draws us into the politically charged world of the Amn who are the ruling class of all the world. While drawing on all of the older experiences with cut throat nobility of our own history (See- Entire History of Courtesans in France and Great Britain) she adds entirely new elements that give this world a life of its own.
We find out soon that Yeine is a pawn in someones deadly game and she is desperate to find out how to leave the playing field alive. She meets dangerous Family members and her own personal antagonista is her own Cousin, Scimina, whose own brand of delicate and delicious cruelty is nothing short of masterful, in the way she is painted as the classic evil yet understandably so.
Yeine finds out so much and discovers it all so fast that it is hard to believe that the entire account merely spans about 2 weeks in her life, which is another thing I love about the book, it gives you such an awesome sense of real-time.
I could ramble on and on about this book suffice it to say these last few things::::::
\/ Characters\/ Stunning Character development is displayed through out the entire work, my favorite examples of which are the Gods Nahadoth and Seigh. You would expect a God to have a complex character right? They do.
\/Palace Politics\/ I've been fascinated with Palace politics every since I first read "The 48 Laws of Power" and Jemisin seems to have read it too the way the power plays are made as well as reminiscent of Sun Tzu's "The art of War"
\/ Writing\/ I cannot express enough the overall capability of the Writer! She makes everything so...Complete! All around well rounded.
Jemisin is a genius and if anyone is deserving of the continuing legacy of Octavia Butler, I say its her.
Check out her Website. She blogs regularly. http://nkjemisin.com/
...TheGift
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