The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
First edition cover
|
|
| Author | N. K. Jemisin |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Cliff Nielsen for US version |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Inheritance Trilogy |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Orbit |
|
Publication date
|
25 February 2010 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback & Hardcover) Audio CD |
| Pages | 398 pp |
| ISBN | |
| Followed by | The Broken Kingdoms |
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is a 2010 fantasy novel by N. K. Jemisin, the first book of the The Inheritance Trilogy. Jemisin's debut novel, it was published by Orbit Books in 2010. It won the 2011 Locus Award for Best First Novel and was nominated for the World Fantasy, Hugo, and Nebula awards, among others. Its sequel, The Broken Kingdoms, was also released in 2010.
Yeine Darr, mourning the murder of her mother, is summoned to the magnificent floating city of Sky by her grandfather Dekarta, the ruler of the world and head of the Arameri family. As Yeine is also Arameri (though estranged due to the circumstances of her birth), he names her his heir but has already assigned that role to both his niece and his nephew, resulting in a thorny three-way power struggle. Yeine must quickly master the intricacies of the cruel Arameri society to have any hope of winning. She is also drawn into the intrigues of the gods, four of whom dwell in Sky as the Arameri's powerful, enslaved weapons. With only a few days until the ceremony of the Arameri succession, Yeine struggles to solve her mother's murder while surviving the machinations of her relatives and the gods.
Yeine Darr was born to Kinneth Arameri, who was heir to the Arameri throne but abdicated twenty years before the start of the story to marry Yeine's father, a Darre man. Kinneth was disowned by Dekarta, and Darr blacklisted by the Arameri (throwing the country into a crippling economic crisis) as a result.
The day she arrives, she meets T'vril, the palace steward, who is also an Arameri (although lower-ranked); the entire palace staff down to the floor cleaning servants is Arameri. This is because only Arameri are permitted to pass a night in Sky, for reasons that T'vril does not immediately explain. T'vril attempts to get Yeine to Viraine—the palace scrivener—to be "marked" as an Arameri before nightfall. However, Scimina, one of the other potential heirs, finds them first. Because Yeine lacks the mark, she unleashes Nahadoth, one of the Arameri's captive gods, on Yeine.
Yeine flees and is assisted by Sieh, another of the captive gods. Before they can escape, Nahadoth catches up and attacks Sieh, whereupon Yeine stabs Nahadoth to apparent death with her knife. Nahadoth kisses her before he falls, saying he has been waiting for her, much to Yeine's confusion. Being a god, Nahadoth returns to life shortly afterward. Yeine then meets the other gods—and quickly realizes that they, like the Arameri, have frightening plans for her.
...
Wikipedia