Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

57 reviews

brittni_in_ink's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A fantasy novel with political intrigue, revenge plots, and captive gods, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is a fantastic read. The story follows Yeine, a young woman who is brought to the royal city of Sky after her family was disowned by her royal grandfather. She suspects that her mother's death was not natural and sets out to find out who killed her. The gods who are held hostage in the city offer to help her do more than that - but for a price. 

A slow-burn political intrigue unravels, revealing the truth of Yeine's purpose in Sky and the reason for the gods' imprisonment. The writing is incredible, Yeine's POV offers just the right balance of insight and action, and the relationships that develop leading up to the climax of the book are engaging. And like many of Jemisin's books, there's social commentary on harmful structures of power that are present in our own society.

Definitely one of my favourite reads of the year! I can't wait to continue with the series.
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sinoclock's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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corriejn's review against another edition

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4.5

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carolined314's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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ashleighmo's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

A little disappointed with the ending. It also describes a much bigger world, but the setting for the story is very small. Perhaps the remaining books in the series will explore that further. Wanted to love it, but it fell a bit flat for me.
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ramskick's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Last year I read N.K. Jemisin’s ‘Broken Earth’ trilogy and was incredibly impressed.  They are some of my favorite fantasy books of all time and a big reason why was Jemisin’s unique style and creative choices.  Naturally after reading them I wanted to check out more of Jemisin’s work.  Her ‘Inheritance’ trilogy was a natural place to go, and thus I decided to read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the first book in that series. 
 
I do not think that this book is as good as any of the entries into the ‘Broken Earth’ trilogy.  This is her debut novel and you can tell.  It feels like Jemisin isn’t quite as confident in herself and her writing feels a bit less refined than it does later.  With that said, this is still an excellent fantasy book that shows off some of the talent and potential that would be fully realized in her second trilogy.  
 
What stands out in particular is just how creative Jemisin is.  Her settings are always really unique and set up some truly fascinating scenarios.  Here, we go to a city called Sky that is above everything (a sharp contrast to the ‘Broken Earth’ trilogy, which takes place exclusively on the ground).  Sky serves as the capital of the world and is led by a family that has control over 100,000 gods.  This is an interesting idea that is backed up by some really strong world-building that allows the concept to truly make sense.  While I do think that the plot of this book is a bit more convoluted than Jemisin’s future work, everything makes enough sense that I don’t get lost in trying to follow the narrative. 
 
Of course, a good world can only take you so far.  For a fantasy book to be truly great, the characters that live in said world need to be interesting as well, and Jemisin delivers on this front as well.  Our protagonist Yeine is a really fun character to follow as she gets used to Sky and the politics that take place within it.  Making her somewhat of an outsider is a solid choice as it allows the reader to learn as she does.  Her supporting characters are also very captivating, none more so than the god Nahadoth, who is a true surprise in terms of just how complex and interesting he is.  The interactions between him and Yeine are the best parts of the book.  There really aren’t any weak characters here.  Even the small ones make a good impression in their limited time on the page.  
 
The world and characters combine to make a truly great book that shows how strong of a writer Jemisin was from the jump.  This book is exciting.  It’s funny.  It’s intriguing.  It’s sexy.  It’s captivating.  And above all, it’s never boring.  I am very excited to read its follow-up The Broken Kingdoms. 
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seadeepy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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mossgoblins's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Although N.K. Jemison’s Broken Earth trilogy is one of my all time favorite series, I didn’t resonate strongly with this book. It is one of her first books, so perhaps it is simply that she has grown so much as an author since, but I found the characters less complex in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the plot confusing, and the setting merely satisfactory. I can’t recommend this book as more than just a mildly entertaining read, but I do highly recommend Jemison’s later works- in particular: The Fifth Season. 
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kingsteph's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.25

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laguerrelewis's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Is anyone surprised? This book has all the hallmarks of why we love Jemisin: a rich, exciting, creative world, compelling characters, and a narrative voice unlike any other I’ve read period, much less in this genre. I have the whole trilogy, and I’m excited to see where the story builds from here. It’s great to see where Jemisin began to carve out her place in the line of great novelists, and she popped out almost fully polished and ready to go.
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