The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
by N.K. Jemisin
Yeine is unexpectedly named heiress to the king after her disowned mother’s untimely death. At the palace, she is caught in the middle of a power struggle with the two other potential heirs along with the many gods imprisoned there.
Books about gods generally don’t peak my interest. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy them, I just don’t feel drawn to them to even pick them up and give them a try. Recently, however, I have been trying to read things I would normally pass up based on some inkling that I might not love them even though I’m drawn to them. Ridiculous, I know. I’m working on it, lest I get caught in one sub-genre again and read myself into a rut or pass up so many books I never pick one up and actually read it. I happened upon this book while wandering aimlessly around the library. And I’m so glad I did. I had looked at it before and passed on it, but I went back to it and enjoyed it a lot.
The world has the familiarity of the creation of the world, of humans, the balance of light and dark and everything in between. But the story takes place after that balance is disrupted. Yeine finds herself in a position of great responsibility and little control. The family she never knew places her in the center of a power struggle, the gods hope she can help them return to their full powers, all while she searches for answers to her mother’s death. The world and the characters were so fully developed and the plot was substantial with every characters’ individual motives, but all of them were connected. So glad I picked this one up finally. I’m already in the middle of the second book, and I intend to pick up the third as soon as I’m finished.
<3D
LessthanThreeD 