Week Six: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (6 pts)

 N. K Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms dissects the traditional epic fantasy tropes of religion and race in a way that I haven’t really seen before. 


The continent of Senm is lush with cultures that never once fall into the conventional stereotypes of being inherently evil. In fact, when characters like Scimina or the other Arameri refer to other cultures as ‘barbaric,’ they’re definitely meant to be seen as terrible people instead of crusaders for good. The entire city of Sky and the Arameri rule are crafted to relay real world institutions that enforce the same kind of oppression on marginalized communities as they do to the countries under their rule. While Sky and the rest of the empire are thriving, they’re shown to be doing so off the back of the lower castes’ suffering. Yeine, a perfect outsider to this world of political scandal and intrigue, battles with the realization that the people of Sky do not act in their people’s best interest. She’s even told to neglect her duties to Darr and the other countries under her control in favor of the inheritance game by T’vril. Instead of working to better her the life of her people, she has to actively play into the Arameri’s petty power plays and the Enefadah’s scheme to revive their mother - even though that means her death. Granted, she’s able to take control as the next Grey Lady and can institute the changes she wants to see in the world, but that’s only after being granted that power. 


The major theme of this novel is power, what it means to have it, and the worth that gives a person to be a champion of change in their world. Yeine is constantly undermined because of her Darr heritage whereas the other Arameri are seen as ‘superior’ simply because of their heritage. It’s no mistake that Yeine is described as having dark skin while the Arameri are ‘pristine ivory.’ Despite this, however, Jemisin shows time and time again that Yeine is deeply intelligent and empathetic. Even the Enefadeh, who are literal gods in mortal form, can recognize their own mistreatment and continued abuse at the hands of the people in power but see in Yeine the ability to care. Yes, she’s carrying the soul of Enefa, but that doesn’t change her as a person. Yeine exists on her own, and even surpasses Enefa at the end - living as her own version of the Grey Lady. 


I really enjoyed this book. I usually don’t go for high fantasy because of some of the problematic tropes that plague the genre, but I’m extremely happy to see a woman of color take on those tropes and have an intelligent conversation about them through this narrative.


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