Uber-evil
villain vs. dynamic first person character study. Epic title vs. small setting focused on
character interaction. Heavily operatic
backstory vs. scenes with poignant emotion.
Hints at post-colonialism and cultural dis/integration vs. a me-me-me-and-only-me
narrative. Predictable plot vs.
unconventional setup of dramatis personae.
These are just some of the juxtapositions swimming in my brain after finishing
N.K. Jemisin’s 2010 The Hundred Thousand
Kingdoms. Pile on top of that a
secondary world with numerous kingdoms (100,000 apparently); nobles and
highborn vying for power; a country girl in the big city; secret passages through
a skyborn city; arcane forms of magic that appear and disappear; trysts with
gods; a murder investigation; secret love letters; a numinous pendant; the
powers of dark and light... and you’ve
got the clear makings of a grand fantasy.
The substance beneath, however, is less clear.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is the story of Yeine, a
nobleman’s daughter from a minor kingdom who comes to the world’s capital, Sky,
to find her mother’s murderer.
Immediately getting audience with her grandfather, the king Dekarta, she
gets a major surprise: not only is she in line to inherit the throne, but will
be in a three-way contest with cousins she’s never met for it. Succession acquired by force, one-third of
her competition, the pale, conniving Scimina, “introduces” herself that
night. An apparition of a bodyguard set
on Yeine like a hound on a fox, a wild chase through the magical walls of Sky
leads Yeine to a tower-top room full of gods, one of which, the boy Sieh, seems
much more than his appearance would indicate.
The apparition catching up, Yeine learns it is Nahadoh, the Lord of
Night. Into his shadow her life is
swallowed, her fate as future empress, following.
A
first-person narrative focusing on character interaction and fulfillment of a
backstory eons in the making, Jemisin’s original title, “The Sky God’s Lover”,
suits the text better than the epic The
Hundred Thousand Kingdoms which publishers pushed her into. At the fringes appear the egalitarian
concerns of the sprawling world and hints of discussion on colonialism/racism,
but the entirety of the story occurs in Sky and all the scenes involve Yeine
and her relationship with the gods and nobles.
At times narcissistic and others fully sympathetic, in full view are Yeine’s
self-doubts, thoughts, confidences, confusions, feelings, and everything else
that crosses her mind and heart. The
climax drawing all of these aspects together in the context of her family and
the gods, it makes for intense, powerful reading that indicate Jemisin has some
talent as a storyteller.
The genre
having a strong history of gods of dark and light, from Roger Zelazny’s Jack of Shadows to Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms joins the
group. Like Erikson, Jemisin adds a
semi-Greek feel to the pantheon of Sky and its myth cum history of Light, Dark, and Dusk-Dawn. The twist, however, is that they are subject
to humanity, rather than vice-versa.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of the novel, the gods exist under the
thumb of humans, making for interesting playthings—something that plays out
best in the exciting climax.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms Jemisin’s first novel,
and fantasy at that, she shows an out-of-the-gate approach to plotting. Rather than locating her two main plot motivators
naturally and appropriately, she loads them one on top of the other at the
outset, to the detriment of one. Yeine’s
quest to find her mother’s assassin is an effective way of opening the novel. It provides a reason for her to travel so far
from Dara to Sky, something to do in the opening section of the story, as well
as an excuse for Jemisin to worldbuild as Yeine hunts for clues. But onto this Jemisin loads a three-way
fight-to-the-death for the throne. If
the fight were to play out in dramatic terms, i.e. assassins lurking in the
shadows with sporadic attempts on Yeine’s life, then all would be well. But as it stands, there never really is a
fight for the throne. Yeine’s life is
never in danger, rendering the drama of the competition, moot. That the reader must discover its inanity one
unmet expectation at a time hurts the narrative. “Why
haven’t there been any attempts on Yeine’s life?” and “I thought Scimina would have tried to kill her by now to secure her
place, no?” are questions I kept asking myself as Yeine moved through the
paces of the murder investigation and learned about life in Sky. In short, the competition for the throne
would have been better introduced later in the novel. On top of fitting
naturally within the plot, it would also have tightened the pegs of drama
significantly at a midpoint, helping push the plot through to its potent
conclusion. As it stands, the mid-stages
of the novel feel slack, something missing due to the plot overload at the
beginning.
In the
end, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is
fantasy with an epic title but fantasy which remains very personal. The story of a young woman discovering
herself in a murder mystery/fight for succession, the chaos of nobility, gods,
and love surround young Yeine, keeping her life emotionally and socially
dynamic. Jemisin imbuing the gods and magic with enough originality and imagery
to make them unique, the story at least sticks its nose out from the pressing
genre crowd. Whether or not the
egalitarian interests are buffeted by a little self-absorption, however,
remains for future volumes in the trilogy to be told.
Ick, you saw my review, didn’t you. I hate that review. When I read this book, I was VERY new to SFdom at the time and I knew nothing about what this book intended to accomplish, and I knew nothing about the author, and I knew nothing about any conversations going on about this book and author. All I knew is that this book sounded right up my alley, dark and slightly gritty, so I had high, high hopes for it. Had I known that the original title was "The Sky God's Lover," my hopes would not have been so high.
ReplyDeleteBecause I am surrounded by grown women who put their reading list on repeat with the basest of commercial YA romantic fiction, this book felt like it was just SF's repackaging what was popular at the time. I don't remember much about it now, but it was another "I'm special because of my circumstance and people are jealous but it's cool because I'm strong and hey who's that hot guy?" type of book. It was the same style and story that I was running from. If I read it today, I would have recognized why it is special to some SF readers, and (hopefully) better articulated my dissatisfaction with the book. But, as a reader looking for something different, I was very disappointed.
And I have since read a few grown up first-person SF novels that have swayed my opinion about that style, although I still think it is overused, because it’s easy, because that’s how we talk every. single. day. (Look at me going on about myself for three entire paragraphs. Easy.) Robert Silverberg’s A Time of Changes is a brilliant use of the I, I, I, me, me, me.
Actually, I hadn't seen your review - but I just went and read it. :) I can see why you may look back with a little regret, but it raises points that I fully agree with; there's just not as much depth to the novel as there could have been...
DeleteYour comment, along with your review today of Bujold's Mirror Dance, reminded me of something interesting about what constitutes "YA fiction". I was recently propositioned by a writer to review their new novel. It had gotten a nod from Adam Roberts, so I said 'yes.' I then proceeded to read a sappy, trite little "novel/collection" (noveliction) about a handful of young people in a post-ap world, coming together to try to escape to the stars. The book I read was YA. All the protags were teenagers, their love stories involved intense staring and butterflies in the stomach, and most importantly, there were no emotions or thoughts that hinted at complexity or understanding. It was clear to me the story had been graded to the YA level. After posting the review I got an email from the author saying "Thanks for the review, but I'm trying to get my head around the YA thing..."
I won't go into my theory about YA being a secret publishing ploy to attract mainstream adult readers, but suffice to say YA fiction these days is down to whether the publisher puts the YA stamp on the cover or not. Given the setup we describe in our reviews, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms very easily could have been stamped - just as A LOT of epic fantasy these days could also (too many examples to list). But because the author drops the occasional f-bomb and describes a "tumescent penis" or two, they get labelled "adult". Bujold describes a rape or two, and suddenly she's adult, despite the fact that... I'd better stop now.
Anyway, yes, A Time of Changes, like a lot of Silverberg's work, is a very personal narrative that doesn't dip into narcissism the way Jemisin's novel does. It is an adult novel. Have you read Dying Inside? That's a novel we can discuss as being narcissistic or not - in an adult fashion.
My other theory is that YA is publishers' dumping grounds for authors who tried to write adult stories but due to their inability to imbue their stories with sufficient content relatable at the adult level are herded into YA instead...
DeleteThose are both good theories about the YA field, and I know exactly which book you're reviewed that's not YA but really kinda was. Bujold's books are exactly what a young person might enjoy, although I was way too cool for spaceship books at that age. And I think you made the same observation about Vernor Vinge on my site, and the Vinge book I just read could certainly go down on a juvenile reading list. That said, I hope actual youth and teen readers have better choices.
ReplyDeleteI have not yet read Dying Inside, but I am looking forward to it.
And her later works?
ReplyDeleteThe Broken Earth trilogy are even translated to swedish (!), I have noticed.
Hello Mats. I have not read The Broken Earth trilogy. I have certainly noticed its popularity, as well as its awards (multiple Hugos). But it's precisely those things, combined with the relatively cheap YA/romance vibe of the book reviewed above that prevent me from buying and reading it. I also have a deep fear that its a highly politicized series, something which in the 21st century tends to weaken rather than strengthen books.
DeleteWell, I understand Your point (...). I am happy that we suddenly got 3 of Octavia Butlers novels in Swedish; earlier we had only 1 short story (Speach Sounds). But of course; shes "correct".
ReplyDelete