N. K. Jemisin: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms read-along, #1

Book review, World of Books December 2, 2013 Comments: 9

I am so glad I got convinced into doing this read-along as well because the book has got me seriously hooked. 🙂

This week’s questions were brought by Susan from Dab of Darkness.

Beware, spoilers lurk below.

1) We’ve met our narrator, Yeine. What are your first impressions? Do you like the chosen form of story telling so far? 
Actually, yes I do. It’s obvious at some point in the future the fight for the throne has gotten bad and she kingdomis suffering for it and while doing that remembering how it started. I like the little interludes where she tries to find some clearness of mind. It makes you like her from the start – how hard she tries despite thinking she’ll die soon (or lose all her memory).

2) Yeine essentially has two families – the Darre (her father’s people) and the Arameri (her mother’s people). What do you think of her two halves? Do you think one will win out over the other within Yeine?

I’m thinking if one wins it might be Darre. But if she can harness the best of both worlds, that would be great. I mean she’s already doing it. And it seems to be going well so far.

3) We meet the Enefa, the enslaved gods. Which do you wish to know the backstory to the most? What do you think of their enslavement?

I’m still not sure how that came about, I wonder if it will get better explained later on. It’s certainly a very strange twist. I think I’ll go with Nahadoth because it seems there is some kind of love in that story. I mean, the jealousy is certainly there…

4) Nahadoth finally catches up to Yeine and his first words and actions are mysteries to her. Gibbering or meaning? 

Of course there is meaning to that. We just don’t know what it means because Yeine doesn’t know what it means. Hopefully we will.

5) We’ve met the competition for the unspoken throne – Lady Scimina and Lord Relad. How do you think they will complicate Yeine’s life?

In unpredictable ways. I hope Scimina doesn’t turn to Darre which seems to be what Relad thinks. Or if she does, Yeine stops her smartly. I can’t even begin to guess what’s on Relad’s mind which makes me wary of him. There might be some bad possibilities in that.

6) The Enefa obviously want something from Yeine. What do you think that is and how do you think Yeine will react to their wants? 

Well, if I were to guess, I’d say she might have something to do with freeing them. I don’t see any other reason why they would be so very interested otherwise.

Since  Yeine strikes me as  reasonable and fair, if what they plan to do is honest and doesn’t hurt innocent people, I think she’ll go with it.

See you next Monday!

In the meantime, go check what my fellow readers wrote:

Dab of Darkness

Books without any pictures

On Starships & Dragonwings

The Little Red Reviewer

Violin in a Void

Many a True Nerd

Nashville Book Worm

 

 

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9 thoughts on “N. K. Jemisin: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms read-along, #1”

  1. nrlymrtl December 3, 2013 at 18:46 Reply

    Ah, yes, Scimina. Yeine has already been warned that she will strike at what she cares about, and since the only one she has shown any affection for is Sieh, Scimina might choose instead to harm her home country of Darr. I don’t recall what she does (this is a reread for me), and I have to wonder if she will bloke Darr’s newfound trade or if Scimina will get one of her countries to invade Darr. I think Darr is pretty small, so its not like it would be a big undertaking to declare war and march in.

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    • Grace December 4, 2013 at 06:21 Reply

      Either case would hurt Yeine tremendously and could weaken her resolve in the competition. If she wants to win, she’s at least going to have to fake being as cold and uncaring as Scimina.

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    • Ines December 4, 2013 at 10:19 Reply

      Oh hell, I hope it’s not war for Darr! I mean, they had a hard time with no trading after giving shelter to Yeine’s mother, they don’t need war on top of that.

      I agree it would hurt Yeine because as was shown so far she is a nice person who is obviously capable of love.

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  2. Redhead December 4, 2013 at 16:43 Reply

    grrrr towards Scimina! she is a horrible person! and I heart Sieh so much, if she does anything to hurt him I will never forgive her. Nahadoth is getting more and more interesting, but how do you ask a god “so um, you said something weird to me while you were crazy. . . care to explain?” yeah, no!

    having read a little bit further towards next week’s questions, I’m starting to wonder more about why Yeine’s mother left Sky. I was thinking about how Scimina will hurt anything and everything that someone else cares about. . . so what do you do when nothing you care about is safe? You abdicate and get the heck outta there!

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    • Ines December 5, 2013 at 13:23 Reply

      For some reason, even though I understand they are enslaved, I keep thinking the gods might have the upper hand in these dealings. Or at least, I have a feeling the scales will tip against Arameri.
      Hmm, interesting thinking about Yeine’s mother. I guess there is much to that story we still don’t know.

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  4. Anya December 5, 2013 at 17:53 Reply

    ” fight for the throne has gotten bad” Oo, that’s a good insight. When I was reading the first chapters I figured that she was a bit crazy in the future, but didn’t think about what might have caused it! I hope she isn’t tortured too badly, ❤ Yeine!

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    • Ines December 6, 2013 at 10:39 Reply

      So do I but I’m a bit scared it might not be true. Losing your mind comes after some serious struggle I’m afraid…

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