I can’t remember why I bought this
book, it hadn’t been on my “to read” pile and it wasn’t one that was making a
lot of noise in the bookshops or online. It has been around for about six years
now and been nominated for Hugo and Neblua awards – though I didn’t know this
at the time. I think it might have been a slow lunch browsing through
well-known online books shops but, whatever caused me to buy this book, I’m
glad I did.
The world of the Hundred Thousand
Kingdoms will resonate with fantasy fans. Sky (the main city and capital) is
ruled by the Dekarta Amaeri, the most powerful and ruthless man in the
Kingdoms. The Amaeri occupy the entire city,
servants and all. Everyone is related to the head in some way, though
many would prefer to be elsewhere than carrying out their menial and, often
degrading, tasks. There are various human races competing for power and land.
There is a single religion to which adherence is essentially compulsory for your
existence to continue, you get the drift.
This probably sounds quite typical,
and there are many elements of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms which will feel
very familiar indeed to those fans of the fantasy genre. The world feels grand
and well realised, though the bulk of the action takes place in Sky and the
outlying regions are often just mentioned.
The nice little twist that N.K.
throws into the mix concerns the non-human participants – the Gods and
Godlings. With a few notable exceptions, the Gods and Godlings are essentially
trapped in corporeal form and forced to serve the Amaeri. They are used as
“weapons” when the Amaeri need them, though care has to be taken to ensure that
commands cannot be misconstrued – it would be hard to describe the Gods as
“willing”
Into this maelstrom is thrown
Yeine, estranged granddaughter of Dekarta. Yeine’s grandfather is preparing for
his death and has now appointed three heirs, seemingly for the sole purpose of
watching them try to kill each other in the attempt to succeed him. Yeine
definitely doesn’t want to be there, but returning to her homeland isn’t an
option – she can either stay alive, or succumb meekly to her fate.
Yeine herself is an interesting
character, and she undergoes a significant change in the short space of time we
are with her. The other main human characters I found a bit underwhelming and
slighted clichéd. Her cousins (and rivals for the throne) don’t particularly
break new ground for me. Scimina is calculating, ruthless and determined to eliminate
all opposition to her claim. Her brother Relad is more cowardly (and a drunk)
who realises he cannot win the battle with his sister. Pretty standard.
It is the Gods and Godlings that I
found a bit more interesting particularly the tortured Nahadoth and the
childlike and irrepressible Sieh. There is a depth to these characters which is
missing from the humans in the tale, whether this is deliberate or not I don’t
know.
I did find this an interesting read
though, and I cracked through it pretty quickly. The idea of caged Gods is not
new but the way N.K. writes doesn’t allow you to settle. It always feels that a
major catastrophe is just around the corner and there is a palpable sense of
rushing towards an inevitable cataclysm throughout. Yeine is undeniably thrown
in at the deep end and we don’t have time to slowly get to grips with the way
things work.
This pacing helps to draw along a
narrative in which a great deal doesn’t actually happen. Everything that does
happen, happens quickly though. I can’t remember the exact timescale but I
don’t think more than a couple of weeks is covered by the whole book. The plot
doesn’t have a great chance to evolve in the timescale available, though N.K.
does manage to keep the tension ratcheted up for the duration. I found the
ending a little contrived and convenient, not enough to detract from the tale
but a bit disappointing considering what had gone before.
Overall this was enjoyable enough,
and I’m probably going to read the others in the series. Some of the characters
felt a bit one dimensional and the denouement a tiny bit contrived. It didn’t
jump off the page, nor grab my attention throughout – but it was still a pretty
decent read and you could do far worse than give it a whirl.
Verdict: 3.5 stars out of 5
Till next time,
DT
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