The Broken Kingdom

[Melhay]

Melhay wrote:

Nadine wrote:

I think I'm giving up on making this "Quote" thing behave properly. So I just copied things out and cobbled some stuff together so I could repost our "Facts We Know List" up front:

In her interview in the back, Nora makes some statements about what will be in the next book.

1. "In book two, you'll learn what becomes of Itempas after his fall from power."

2. "what caused him to turn on his fellow gods at the start of the Gods' War.

3 "In book two, I want to focus on the ordinary people of this world .

4. "how they cope when giant trees obscure the sky"

5. "the corner grocer might be a godling in disguise."

6. "The story will focus on a young blindwoman who finds a homeless man in her trash heap one morning--glowing like the rising sun."

7. he takes him in and this simple act of kindness lands her in the middle of a conspiracy to destroy the gods."

8. "Many characters from the first book will put in an appearance"

9. He [Itempas] also has a "light" nature -- but as book 2 will show, "light" does not necessarily mean "good" or "nice" or any of the other terms we normally associate with brightness.

From Melissa: Don't forget this comment by Nora:

10. T'vril will appear, briefly, in book 2

Hey Nadine, I have a few recent comments from Nora I would like to add to your list here:

11)  As for the new heir having power -- yes. Plenty. As Yeine points out, the Arameri still have insane amounts of wealth, political power, an army (though not much of one, since they've rarely needed it before now), and both the magical power (scriveners) and "propaganda power" of the Order of Itempas. However, they're no longer invulnerable, which will play a role in coming books

12)  Also, I should clarify: the next book will show more of the society of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms -- i.e., what life is like for people who aren't nobility. But the bulk of the story will take place in the city beneath Sky, which has developed the nickname "Shadow" in the ten years since the previous book (for obvious reasons, now that the World Tree has grown). Shadow is big and strange and beautiful and more than a little frightening -- like New York on hallucinogens, sort of. And what map could do New York justice, without simplifying it to the point of silliness? So no map.

Here is another little tidbit given too:

13)  And about Nahadoth's gender -- yes, Nahadoth is male, and has been since the Gods' War (and actually long before that).  She's also female and has been so at various times prior to and during human history, which is why the Library embossing depicted her that way.  (She has even borne children to Itempas, though rarely -- those godlings tend to be very, very unstable.  You'll meet one of them in The Broken Kingdoms.)  Nahadoth is also hermaphroditic (or intersex if you prefer that term), and genders we don't have a name for, and no gender at all. 

Then here was a great teaser!

~~>  I'm not going to say much about The Broken Kingdoms, because it'll be out soon anyway, and because no matter what I say you guys are going to have fun with this.    But I want to note something you might have missed in the first book, on p. 6 ("Now there are dozens [of gods], perhaps hundreds.  They breed like rabbits.") and also on p. 14 ("Not the gods that remain in the heavens, who are loyal to Bright Itempas.").  Basically, there are several dozen godlings that we haven't seen yet -- those who either fought for Itempas' side or stayed neutral.  Itempas has been keeping them away from the mortal realm all these centuries.  But now that Itempas is no longer in power...

So now I am wondering if the "god" we meet in the sample chapter is really Itempas or this unstable Godling.  Makes me wonder.....

[Liago]

Thank you Nora for all of your answers and insights in this thread. I know these kinds of speculations and crazy questions can be taxing especially while doing other work. I think all of your extra clarifications have added to the depth of the story for me and I now feel an even deeper appreaciation for the tale and am eagerly awaiting future installments.

Hopefully you won't get too burnt out on us through off of your books

[Melhay]

Liago wrote:

Thank you Nora for all of your answers and insights in this thread. I know these kinds of speculations and crazy questions can be taxing especially while doing other work. I think all of your extra clarifications have added to the depth of the story for me and I now feel an even deeper appreaciation for the tale and am eagerly awaiting future installments.

Hopefully you won't get too burnt out on us through off of your books

Nora,

I was thinking the same as Liago.  I hope you don't mind our questions on the book.  I have really enjoyed learning more from you on the book and the characters.  Some times typing it can be harder than talking or talking in person.  But, the information you have shared with us has been a treasure here for us.

I hope we didn't get to you to badly here.  It would be great to have you back again.

Thank you!!!

Melissa

[pen21]

Nora,

Thank you for all the time you spent with us. I hope to see you visiting the board and checking out what we are reading. I am looking forward to the next book. I will be watching your website.

This will make you laugh at my weird speculation. But at one point I thought it could be the Darr grandma manipulating and setting up Yeine. Obviously I was wrong, but that would have been a twist.

Luanne

[NKJemisin]

Argh!  Still having trouble posting.

Anyway, it sounds like you guys are done reading and chatting -- unless all of you are having trouble posting too.  -_-  (I'll check back a couple of more times before the end of the month just in case.)  I just wanted to say -- it's been a lot of fun participating in this, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity. Thanks to Paul for inviting me, and all of you who joined in.  I can't tell you how fun it is for me as a writer to see people geeking out over something I wrote!  Let me know if you'd like to do a similar reading of The Broken Kingdoms when it comes out (or Book 3).  Both are very different books, so I'll be curious to see what you think of them. 

Thanks again!

Nora

[NKJemisin]

pen21 wrote:

Nora,

Thank you for all the time you spent with us. I hope to see you visiting the board and checking out what we are reading. I am looking forward to the next book. I will be watching your website.

This will make you laugh at my weird speculation. But at one point I thought it could be the Darr grandma manipulating and setting up Yeine. Obviously I was wrong, but that would have been a twist.

Luanne

pen21,

::lol::  That really would've been a twist!  Great speculation. 

Nora

[Melhay]

NKJemisin wrote:

Argh!  Still having trouble posting.

Anyway, it sounds like you guys are done reading and chatting -- unless all of you are having trouble posting too.  -_-  (I'll check back a couple of more times before the end of the month just in case.)  I just wanted to say -- it's been a lot of fun participating in this, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity. Thanks to Paul for inviting me, and all of you who joined in.  I can't tell you how fun it is for me as a writer to see people geeking out over something I wrote!  Let me know if you'd like to do a similar reading of The Broken Kingdoms when it comes out (or Book 3).  Both are very different books, so I'll be curious to see what you think of them. 

Thanks again!

Nora

Yes, I have been having troubles getting in to respond too.  I think from other posts we all have been.  That's partly why when I did finally get in I wanted to thank you, afraid I wouldn't be able to get in before you left.

I may only be speaking for myself, but I think others would agree, It would be great to have you back for both Broken Kingdom AND book 3. We can be a little selfish once we get an author here, we like to keep them coming back.

Melissa

[Nadine]

NKJemisin wrote:

Argh!  Still having trouble posting.

Anyway, it sounds like you guys are done reading and chatting -- unless all of you are having trouble posting too.  -_-  (I'll check back a couple of more times before the end of the month just in case.)  I just wanted to say -- it's been a lot of fun participating in this, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity. Thanks to Paul for inviting me, and all of you who joined in.  I can't tell you how fun it is for me as a writer to see people geeking out over something I wrote!  Let me know if you'd like to do a similar reading of The Broken Kingdoms when it comes out (or Book 3).  Both are very different books, so I'll be curious to see what you think of them. 

Thanks again!

Nora

Oh, we have already decided, Nora. You are on. Posted on another thread:

posted Tuesday

Nadine wrote:

OK, our line-up for the end of the summer and fall--if not sooner with a Sneak Peek

The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson

Antiphon - Ken Scholes

The Broken Kingdom - N. K. Jeminsin

I hear you, Nadine! Geez, talk about an awesome fall line-up.....

Paul

[Nadine]

Nadine wrote:

OK, our line-up for the end of the summer and fall--if not sooner with a Sneak Peek

The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson

Antiphon - Ken Scholes

The Broken Kingdom - N. K. Jeminsin

I hear you, Nadine! Geez, talk about an awesome fall line-up.....

Paul

[Nadine]

I have only a few words about logging on to this system !#&%, &%$@, %&$#.  ,  ,  I was on about five minutes yesterday and that was it! This system seems to randomly descriminate -- some people can get on while others can't and then it cycles around and the ones who got on now can't get on but others now can. It makes it darn hard to hold a conversation. And I can't get my two-cents worth in which is hard for me!

[pen21]

Totally agree with you Nadine. It has been horrid trying to discuss.

I feel the end of the book discussion got cut off because of the logging on issue.

I am looking forward to discussing Nora's next 2 books.

I hope they clear up this issue.

Luanne

Nadine wrote:

I have only a few words about logging on to this system !#&%, &%$@, %&$#.  ,  ,  I was on about five minutes yesterday and that was it! This system seems to randomly descriminate -- some people can get on while others can't and then it cycles around and the ones who got on now can't get on but others now can. It makes it darn hard to hold a conversation. And I can't get my two-cents worth in which is hard for me!

[Nadine]

Nora posted a character analysis of Yiene on her website.

Nora, really spelled her out as a kind of negative character. Some people didn't like her, but I did. I felt sympathetic toward her throughout the book. Some of her end-of-book behavior surprised me but she had evolved into another being:

Here are some statements Nora made:

She has the soul of the goddess of death,

She’s been raised with some distinctly Machiavellian values, and she has a hefty streak of something I’d call sociopathy

But from the outside, her behavior probably looks a bit creepy. She kills people with no apparent remorse, both before 100K and during the book.

She’s impulsive, often making irrational decisions and riding them into the ground

She’s manipulative as hell, even toward her friends, and she’s not above hurting herself or others to get what she wants.

Pretty much the only way I could make her identifiable and sympathetic was to show her from the inside out (first person), so that people would see her thoughts and feelings, not just her behavior.

===========================================

Now that I think back on the story, these things were probably true. I guess the first person narrative worked for me. Also the fact that in contrast to the other characters in the story, she was a pretty nice person. She did seem to care about people (and gods). But these attributes made her a more interesting character. One thing that did strike me about Yeine, was that even though she was pretty clever, sometimes she seemed outright stupid. Like when she made herself vulnerable to Scimina and caused a lot of pain because of it.

Did any of the rest of you react negatively to Yeine?

[Melhay]

Nadine wrote:

Nora posted a character analysis of Yiene on her website.

Nora, really spelled her out as a kind of negative character. Some people didn't like her, but I did. I felt sympathetic toward her throughout the book. Some of her end-of-book behavior surprised me but she had evolved into another being:

Here are some statements Nora made:

She has the soul of the goddess of death,

She’s been raised with some distinctly Machiavellian values, and she has a hefty streak of something I’d call sociopathy

But from the outside, her behavior probably looks a bit creepy. She kills people with no apparent remorse, both before 100K and during the book.

She’s impulsive, often making irrational decisions and riding them into the ground

She’s manipulative as hell, even toward her friends, and she’s not above hurting herself or others to get what she wants.

Pretty much the only way I could make her identifiable and sympathetic was to show her from the inside out (first person), so that people would see her thoughts and feelings, not just her behavior.

===========================================

Now that I think back on the story, these things were probably true. I guess the first person narrative worked for me. Also the fact that in contrast to the other characters in the story, she was a pretty nice person. She did seem to care about people (and gods). But these attributes made her a more interesting character. One thing that did strike me about Yeine, was that even though she was pretty clever, sometimes she seemed outright stupid. Like when she made herself vulnerable to Scimina and caused a lot of pain because of it.

Did any of the rest of you react negatively to Yeine?

I guess those things are true about Yeine, but I didn't think negatively about her.  I actually thought she was raised to be a strong character.  Yeine did over see things at times but I never thought of her as negative.  There was some stereo typing going on a lot in the book.  Yeine was classified as a barbarian, which I think maybe the Arameri were more barbaric in some of their ways than Yeine.  But Yeine also did stereotyping of the Arameri too.  But, there is a frame of thinking that has to go along with reading fantasy too.  This is not the world we live in and you have to be strong to survive.  And that is where I see Yeine being, strong to survive.  Both mental and physical strength helps.

I actually like reading the book from the first person view point.  I have grown to like this view point over the last year. (Kind of starting with Ken and even a few books over in paranormal too.)  It is exciting to read and learn along with the main character or characters.

[Dragondragonfly]

I so want to read this.....

Sounds amazing and I havent read anything amazing lately

[paulgoatallen]

Here are a few things:

1. I'm SOOOOO sorry for all of these sign on difficulties – it's been a real buzzkill as far as posting and spontaneity goes. Hopefully the problems are all solved now...      

2. Thank you SOOOOO much, Nora, for all of the time spent here engaging in all of the comments and speculation. From a reader's perspective, threads like these are priceless.    

3. The Broken Kingdom is SOOOOOOOO going to be a feature here in the fall.  

Paul

[Nadine]

Nora is adding more of her character analyses to her blog. She has one about Scimina. I did think Scimina was a bit sketchy as a character but that was apparently deliberate.

She has also done one about Nahadoth. I found that one very interesting reading. Thought I would quote this one section and maybe post it in the Broken Kingdom thread.

============================

It’s because of traits like this that Nahadoth slipped a little in my esteem; he’s not my favorite god-character anymore. Sieh became my new fave somewhere along the way, to the point that book 3 will be all about him. (Unfortunately, that means I won’t be doing a Character Study of him for some time, to avoid spoilers. Sorry!) I still like Naha; he’s not my favorite, but he’s definitely the most fun to write. Remember Chapter 5 of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, in which Nahadoth destroys a continent? I’m not much of a metal fan — drum ‘n’ bass and hip hop are more my speed — but I wrote that scene while listening to Drowning Pool’s “Bodies” on full blast. For that matter, Naha’s got his own (short) soundtrack on my iPod: “Bodies”, “Would Be Killer”, and “Little Light of Love”. Yeah, I don’t get that last one either. Sometimes I’m just the messenger, ya’ll.

Of course, I haven’t discussed Naha — Nahadoth’s daytime form. Frankly, he deserves a character study all his own… but I can’t do that one for awhile either. (Yeah, I guess that’s a hint.)

Character anaysis for Nahadoth.

[Nadine]

I decided to check out Nora's blog and she has finished the last book of the Inheritance Trilogy. So we will get the second installment The Broken Kingdom in November and we can be assured that the third and final book in the Trilogy should be right on schedule and out in a reasonable time. Looks like I'm going to have to reread A Thousand Kingdoms soon. Lots of reading and rereading in the next few months.

Nora's Blog