Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin

16 reviews

coffinfinite's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I can at this point no longer give an unbiased review of any book in the Inheritance trilogy, because it has stolen my heart. This has been such a wonderful and heartbreaking journey, and when I finished The Kingdom of Gods at midnight last night I cried for a long while afterwards. Jemisin has created a fantasy world so vivid and well realised I felt like I could step through the pages into the world of the Kingdoms and their many gods, godlings and demons. The final book in the trilogy follows my favourite character from the first book, Sieh (who only makes a brief appearance in the second book) and I knew at once I was in for an emotional ride as he navigates the world in mortal form, struck down by a bargain made with a pair of unlikely twins.

Experiencing the narrative from Sieh's perspective was exciting, as previously he has only been observed by characters who perceive him as a child - being the God of childhood, he has an image to maintain. But this is a God of childhood who is untold millenia old, and his very nature is threatened as secrets from this long past begin to emerge. What follows is both tragic and gratifying as Sieh comes to grasp the gravity of what it means to grow up.

I would highly recommend this trilogy to anyone who loves fantasy, especially fantasy that revolves around pantheons and magic. Sieh is but one of a cast of many rich and nuanced characters, and his story kept me gripped through to the end.

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achingallover's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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mazomazli's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I want to give this 4 stars but can’t because there was way too much incest that weirded me out sm. Like it’s all over and I get that it’s mainly amongst divine beings so they work differently but... NOT THE GOD OF CHILDHOOD SLEEPING WITH HIS PARENTS???? WHY??
This entire series I just want to bonk the author and characters and send them to horny jail. Like I’m concerned with these relationships in each book... 

And
WHAT WAS THAT SCENE WHERE SIAH F*CKS DAKA IN FRONT OF HIS SISTER?  *screams*


Anyway, you will be entertained that’s for sure. 

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kylieqrada's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A five star series, my favorite work from N.K. Jemisin so far (that's saying alot), and potentially a favorite series of all time. I didn't realize that these books, while connected by a common core of characters and a general plot, are more companion novels than sequential books in an interconnected series. Usually with series like that, I inevitably fall more in love with one book/story more than the others. Not so here. I am trash for this entire series, and I'm SO glad my mom got me the giant bind-up so I can hop straight into the novella! 

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treestargarden's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Kingdom of Gods reckons with the origins and present state of the Arameri as seen through Sieh to make an amazing end to The Inheritance Trilogy. It complicates what we learned before without making earlier knowledge feel cheap, molding rage and sorrow like clay.

This was a deeply satisfying conclusion to The Inheritance Trilogy. There is a sequel novella to this trilogy which I will read after this, but I am content with what's here. It was tense, moving, contemplative, tumultuous, scary, exciting, and finally at peace, without losing zest and intensity along the way. It confronts and dismantles the Arameri's colonialist justifications which filled the first two books. They were challenged earlier, but this book brings things to a head in order to have a chance at a true reckoning for past misdeeds, of humans and gods. 

I loved Sieh as the narrator. I've loved him as a character since book one, and I was not disappointed by his spotlight here. Writing a long-lived godling of childhood in a way that makes him feel like a child when it's fitting doesn't seem easy, yet it was carried off in a way that accomplishes a complex portrait of childhood, not cheapening it by typifying it. 

This book examines and pulls apart old wounds, deep rifts, and sorrows from the dawn of time, giving space for healing and growth without demanding forgiveness from the people who were hurt. It is an artful example of confronting past abuses, both of the importance of doing so and of a few small ways to attempt it. The idea of a cycle of violence fills this trilogy, and this third book especially, but also there's a hope of breaking the cycles, of having something better than rage and pain to look forward to.

It's ultimately joyful without asking for mourning to cease, leaving space for both grief and joy, for people to have complex and contradictory experiences of the same events. 

Read this book, read this trilogy.

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