I’ve been reviewing science fiction and fantasy releases for almost two decades now and my favorite reads are by far and away debut novels. It’s the exhilaration of experiencing the unknown, like stepping across a threshold into an unexplored world. I could discover a mind-blowing story from a transcendent new voice in the genre – like Ken Scholes, Jesse Bullington, Jon Armstrong, Kirsten Imani Kasai, or David Oppegaard – but unfortunately, more often than not, I stumble across something pedestrian; a book that may be mildly entertaining but that I’ll forget about completely in a few days.
Well, there is nothing pedestrian about The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the debut novel from N. K. (Nora) Jemisin. The first installment of her Inheritance trilogy is nothing short of a towering fantasy tour de force comparable to existential masterworks by genre icons like Lucius Shepard, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Octavia E. Butler. Its serpentine, richly tapestried storyline makes it addictively entertaining but it’s also wildly thought provoking as well, particularly the themes that explore, as Jemisin herself says, “humanity’s desire to dominate everything it can – even its own gods.”
And speaking of the multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winning Octavia Butler, there are subtle thematic similarities between Jemisin’s novel – which is set in a sprawling realm where fallen gods live (albeit enslaved) amongst mortals and one extended royal family rules supreme – and Butler’s unfinished Parable trilogy (Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents), in which the fictitious philosophy/religion Earthseed is prominently featured throughout:
“All that you touch
You Change.
All that you Change
Changes you.
The only lasting truth
Is Change.
God
Is Change.” – from 1993’s Parable of the Sower
But although change is a significant theme in Jemisin’s much historied realm of a hundred thousands kingdoms, it’s only a part of the trilogy’s underpinnings, which revolves around the tumultuous relationship between a triad of Gods, who embody Order, Change and Balance:
“Once upon a time there were three great gods. Bright Itempas, Lord of Day, was the one destined by fate or the Maelstrom or some unfathomable design to rule. All was well until Enefa, His upstart sister, decided that she wanted to rule in Bright Itempas’s place. She convinced her brother Nahadoth to assist her, and together with some of their godling children they attempted a coup. Itempas, mightier than both His siblings combined, defeated them soundly. He slew Enefa, punished Nahadoth and the rebels, and established an even greater peace—for without His dark brother and wild sister to appease, He was free to bring true light and order to all creation.”
Jemisin describes Nahadoth, the Nightlord, very much like the embodiment of Earthseed: “He must change; he is Change.”
Jemisin, who is a guest in BarnesandNoble.com’s Fantasy/Science fiction forum this month, says that the central issue in the Inheritance trilogy isn’t so much about change as it is “change that’s handled badly.”
“…I would say my trilogy’s philosophy is that change itself is irrelevant, because it’s unavoidable; how we deal with change is what matters," she says. "Which I suppose does fit in with my personal philosophy, in a way – I'm a counseling psychologist in my day job life, and much of what I do involves helping people adjust to change in healthy ways.”
The main storyline in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms involves Yeine, the estranged granddaughter of Dekarta, the head of the Arameri family and “uncrowned king of the world.” Born and raised in a remote northern kingdom, when Yeine is summoned back to the towering city of Sky – also the location of the floating palace of the Arameri family – shortly after her mother dies under mysterious circumstances and is named an heir to her grandfather’s throne, she finds herself in the middle of a viper pit of scheming cousins, enslaved – and tortured – deities, self-absorbed nobles, and a virtual labyrinth of bloody family secrets. When she realizes that she is just an expendable pawn in a much larger game – one where the salvation of humankind may very well be in the balance – she must make the terrible decision about how best to use her death...
In her acknowledgments, Jemisin wrote: “Posthumous thanks to Octavia Butler, for going first and showing the rest of us how it’s done.”
Butler was a true original, a pioneer, an icon, and was described by NPR as “a rare science fiction author – black and a woman.”
When asked why more Afro-American women aren’t writing SF/fantasy, Nora replied:
“I'm not really sure how to answer that question, because it starts from what I think might be a false assumption. I know plenty of African American women (and men, and Asian Americans, and Latino/a Americans, and so on) who write SF/F. Offhand I can mention Nisi Shawl, Nnedi Okorafor, Nalo Hopkinson, LaShawn Wanak, Alaya Dawn Johnson, K. Tempest Bradford, Helen Oyeyemi, Tananarive Due, L.A. Banks, Ibi Aanu Zoboi, Carole McDonnell, Linda Addison, Sheree R. Thomas, Jewelle Gomez... I'm probably missing quite a few. And those are just the ones who've published short stories or novels; I know many more who are on the hoping-to-get-published track. Octavia Butler left behind a lot of children, spiritually speaking.
Now granted – I think there should be *more* black women writing SF/F. For a very long time now SF/F has mostly reflected the mythic structure and futuristic ideologies of a fairly narrow subset of people (mostly straight white American men). Nothing wrong with that: their myths and futures are interesting. But so are other people's, and we won't get to see more of those as long as the white guys are hogging the spotlight.”
Jemisin concludes: “SF/F claims to incorporate the full complexity of humankind in its fiction, so it needs to reflect this complexity in its own makeup. I'm hoping we'll see more changes of this nature over time.”
Well, readers – that time is now. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is epic fantasy at its very best: entertaining and enlightening. And in terms of style and theme and clarity, Jemisin just may be the next coming of Octavia E. Butler…
