After her mother's mysterious death, a young woman is summoned to the floating city of Sky in order to claim a royal inheritance she never knew existed in the first book in this award-winning fantasy trilogy from the NYT bestselling author of The Fifth Season.
Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history.
With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate -- and gods and mortals -- are bound inseparably together.
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"I really enjoyed this book. This is definitely alternate world science fiction. What I unexpectedly liked was that the some characters are racially ambiguous and their features can change very easily. This makes the storyline a lot more interesting since alot of sci-fi mostly has white characters."
— Jessica (4 out of 5 stars)
Many books are good, some are great, but few are truly important. Add to this last category The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin's debut novel... This is the must-read fantasy of the year.
— BooklistIn THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS, N.K. Jemisin has created a smart, passionate heroine and an extraordinary world. Marvelous work from a marvelous storyteller!
— Carol Berg, author of Breath and BoneTHE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS is the provocative and exciting debut novel by a writer whose work I hope to be reading for a long time to come." —Kate Elliott, author of Shadow Gate
In the first book of Jemisin's richly detailed Inheritance trilogy, an outcast heroine must find a way to hold her own amid the treachery of her grandfather's court. I've got a special place in my heart for political intrigue, so this book was a delight through and through!
— Cassandra Clare" Some decent ideas, some interesting characters, some pockets of creative writing - but overall very underdeveloped. The world that was created had large gaps and the characters frequently were forced to jump to conclusions because there wasn't enough detail or explanation to really show why they acted as they did. It feels like a very good outline that needs a couple hundred more pages to really tell the story that was hinted at. The personal story telling style of the narration was different, but like the rest of the book, underdeveloped. "
— Meatmen, 2/7/2014" Love! Can't wait to read 2 and 3 in the series. "
— Cat, 2/2/2014" If you could give 3 1/2 stars I would have. Great premise, but somehow felt empty. Something's not fleshed out enough descriptively - those little details that make fiction feel real. But thank god sf has a new writer who is not a knock off like most "
— Anne, 1/31/2014" Bir Destan... "
— Akın, 1/16/2014" Yeine Darr is summoned from a backwater northern country to the majestic city of Sky. There her grandfather, who rules the world, informs her that she is to be his heir. There is only one catch -- she is the third named heir. The three of them must compete for the throne and only one can survive. There are gods and godlings, magic, treachery, and deep plots. On the negative side, I couldn't really engage with the characters; they didn't seem realistic. For example, Yeine is much too composed and skilled for a teenager -- too mature. That said, I like Jemisin's writing style and I expect that I will read more of her work. "
— Clyde, 12/13/2013" I found the lore quite interesting. And I liked Yeine and Sieh. But I didn't like the dark Tim Burton-ish weirdness of the whole thing. It's not for everyone. Still wondering if I'll read the next two. "
— Elfear, 11/27/2013" Great read for those who like the god vs. mortal world! I need to get the next books in the series. Love the female strength in this book. "
— Lisa, 8/17/2013" Very good ,enjoyed this book the last third was hard to put down. "
— Smrathburn, 2/2/2013" If this book doesn't make you want to roll up a cleric in a D&D campaign, you probably only play rangers. Fun stuff and a neat take on a fantasy mythos. "
— Jesse, 11/15/2012" A lush, roller coaster ride where gods walk as men (and not by their choice), magic is woven into every sentence and family are the people you can never trust. "
— Michelle, 9/4/2012" This book is really all about set up for the rest of the series. Some of it was a bit predictable and followed standard fantasy formula - barbarian comes back to the capital to claim the throne. there were some interesting ideas though and I enjoyed the book "
— Debbie, 8/13/2012" I really enjoyed this book. The start was a little slow and the narrative chopped and changed at the beginning, but as the book progressed it really drew me in. The plot was interesting, engrossing and unique. This is certainly not the kind of book where you can guess the ending. "
— Yasmin, 3/22/2012" LOVED IT! I had read "The Killing Moon", the opener of Jemisin's second series (liked it a lot) and decided to backtrack and read this series. Very original. Likeable characters. Great story. Beautiful descriptions. Just lovely. "
— Allison, 3/8/2012" So glad I had the time to read this! Hugely original, beautifully written. Will go on to the next books in the series now. "
— Betsy, 2/21/2012" This book was so boring that I could not finish it. The author tries very hard to develop the characters, but I still didn't feel attached to them, and then she forgets that something is actually supposed to happen in a novel. "
— Josh, 12/25/2011" Excellent first in a trilogy filled with rich and interesting characters populating a world with a fascinating mythology and history. "
— John, 5/18/2011" This was an absolutely incredible book. I finished it, and I really just want to start it over and read it again, and figure out what I missed. <br/> <br/>Just... wow. <br/> <br/>Read it. "
— Neeuqdrazil, 5/16/2011" A serviceable story about court politics and gods. A good one time read, with interesting characters. Not quite good enough to pursue more of this series though. "
— Michael, 5/15/2011" interesting story about a girl finding herself just before becoming more. "
— Craig, 5/13/2011N. K. Jemisin is an American author who has won three consecutive Hugo Awards for Best Novel. Her work has also won the Nebula, Locus, and Goodreads Choice awards. She is a reviewer for the New York Times Book Review, and she has been an instructor for the Clarion and Clarion West writing workshops.