I actually finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (fantasy 408 pages) by N.K. Jemisin last Friday, 17 January. As usual, life got in the way and that prevented me from updating this as soon as I finished the book.

The concept of this book was remarkable and incredibly complex. I have to admit that it took me a little bit to really get engrossed with the story and feel like I understood at least part of what was going on. It took me a little bit of time to adjust to the jumping around that happened, but I did appreciate the story because it jumped around. A lot of times in real life, stories aren’t coherent and they don’t always make sense right away. I know that my brain likes to take random side trips all the time and that things that don’t seem related to outside observers are usually somehow connected in my head. So even though it wasn’t structured in the way I normally read books, I eventually got into the flow and managed to enjoy the jumps into the main character’s head.

Another interesting aspect of this story was that there were a lot of clues as to what was going on, but I don’t feel as though the author ever really flat out tells you what’s going on. I thought this was interesting and I actually kind of enjoyed it because I sometimes get rather tired or annoyed with books that feel the need to tell you exactly what happened and why. (I have some mild patience problems, you see 😉 )

I definitely enjoyed the concepts around the gods and their relationships with the people of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. I also enjoyed the spirit of Yeine and her search for the truth of the world she lived in.

Overall, an interesting book and one that makes me curious enough to search out the sequels.