I apologize for this post being so late. While on vacation, my time slipped away from me.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is a novel with a very interesting and ingenious premise. It takes some familiar concepts like gods, slavery and empires, and completely turns them on their heads.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is a story about Yeine Darr, the young ruler of a backwater country who is summoned to the capital of the worldwide empire, Sky. However, things take a turn for the interesting when Yeine’s grandfather, the ruler of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, names her as his third heir. From their Yeine is caught between different warring factions and the deadly intentions of her fellow heirs.
Now, as I said above, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was a very original book. It had an interesting premise with gods warring with each other until the point where one family tree is imprisoned to the other. This made for an interesting read if nothing else and it did in fact keep me reading because I wanted to find out more about this interesting war.
World building also comes along with this and it was actually very well done. The world was constructed in an in depth way that was easy to understand and never became too heavy. It was enjoyable to see the mythology and the physical world itself unfold before me as I read. The cultures were very rich and unique and I liked how N. K. Jemisin was able to paint the world through Yeine’s interesting cultural perspective. So, overall it was a job well done in that category.
However, this is where my review takes a turn for the brutally honest. This was not one of my favorite books by any stretch. I could not really connect with the character and besides her cultural perspective I did not find her intriguing. She seemed to always be a damsel in distress that needed to be rescued from every situation. It would constantly bring up how much of a strong-willed woman she was yet it was never made apparent to me through her actions. Also, despite the first person point of view I never felt that I connected with Yeine. She always seemed so emotionally distant. This emotional distance in general was one of the things that killed The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms for me. Events that should have carried a lot of emotional weight were glossed over or not given enough time to come to fruition. Instead they’d simply be summed up in ways like, “she cried.” For me, that was not enough to form a connection.
Something else that bugged me, and this is more of a personal preference, was the choppy writing style. There were many asides that interrupted the flow of the main storyline that I felt were not needed and not wanted. There were also many small inserts or odd transitions that did not work for me at all. Scenes would also break off suddenly after something like three or four lines. This was jarring and could easily wrench one out of the story which is not what I think the intended effect was supposed to be.
The pacing, though uneven, did begin to even out towards the end and began a fast, but consistent clip. This did redeem the book a bit, along with the fact that the ending was rather enjoyable to read. While the ending was enjoyable and had more action than most of the book, it also cut off rather abruptly which struck me as odd for a book that is supposed to stand on its own. So, the ending only barely outweighed the good with the bad in the end…for me.
If you are interested in an interesting new world and are open to a more abrupt writing style than The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms could be the start of a wonderful series for you.
Check out N. K. Jemisin at her website here.
Content:
-Language: Almost nonexistent except for one point where it became very harsh.
-Violence: Nothing truly graphic.
-Sexuality: Mentioned and shown in an intimate and more detailed way.
-I recommend this story for ages 16 and up.
My rating:
7/10
(Almost 7.5)
-Dylan