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.
My thoughts:
This is not your average epic fantasy novel! Political intrigue mixed with deities and humans - sign me up! I've read some reviews where people have disliked the whole Gods/mortals aspect of the novel...I guess if that's the case then don't read this book. I'm not sure what these individuals were expecting, but the entire storyline is about the Enefedah (Gods) and mortals. Otherwise, I've seen nothing but well-deserved praise for this series!
I found The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms a bit difficult to get into at first. I'm not sure if this was just my own reading frame of mind or if the first-person narration threw me off a bit. Either way, the reader is floundering around along with Yeine in the beginning of the book. While there is much foreshadowing, I was a bit lost (like Yeine) until I got further into the novel. Once I got to the meat of the story I was hooked! I definitely did some late-night reading with this chunkster.
I really loved Yeine as a main character. She was very easy to relate to and (thankfully!) was not a whiner - despite having some very tough circumstances thrust upon her. I thought all of the characters were extremely well-drawn and my two favorites had to be T'vril (Yeine's only human friend in Sky) and Sieh (the child-like Enefedah). I love that most of the characters in this book are neither entirely good nor bad (with the exception of the horrible Scimina).
Bottom line: I highly recommend to fantasy readers looking for something a bit different and to open-minded readers intrigued by a Gods/mortals storyline!
4/5 stars
This fulfills my Fantasy entry for the Eclectic Reader 2012 Challenge as well as my Mount TBR Challenge!
This book sounds really interesting, I think I would like a Gods/mortals story line. It is something that I do not usually read. Thanks for the great review, I might have to read this one!
ReplyDeleteI've heard so much about this book lately and have been meaning to look into it. I just threw it up on my Goodreads in hopes I can get to it soon. It looks PERFECT.
ReplyDeleteI'm really bad with names, though, so I know I'll be flipping back and forth a lot while I'm reading... ;)
A first person narrative often throws me as well, I am glad that you ended up enjoying it so much though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your review a great start on the Eclectic Reader Challenge
Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
Great review, I've been meaning to check this out!
ReplyDeleteI've got this on my list for one of my 2012 reading challenges, and although I've heard great things about it, I'm afraid to pick it up. Probably because of the whole "political intrigue" thing -- that has the potential to take over the entire novel, and be pretty boring to boot. Glad it got its hooks into you -- hopefully I'll like it as well.
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