angelasheepie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
enbyglitch's review against another edition
3.0
Oof, this one took me a while. Probably should have taken a longer break between these books, but we're here now.
I enjoyed Sieh's perspective in a lot of this book, though once (spoiler) happens things got a lot more mundane.
The plot was strange at times and the twist was kind of meaningless to me. There's just so much relationship talk in these books that I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about S+E=K. Good? Bad? Weird? Yes to all I guess.
Still lots to enjoy in these books, but I'd recommend Broken Earth or City We Became over these ones.
I enjoyed Sieh's perspective in a lot of this book, though once (spoiler) happens things got a lot more mundane.
The plot was strange at times and the twist was kind of meaningless to me. There's just so much relationship talk in these books that I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about S+E=K. Good? Bad? Weird? Yes to all I guess.
Still lots to enjoy in these books, but I'd recommend Broken Earth or City We Became over these ones.
nbhatta's review against another edition
5.0
Loved. It.
I feel kinda sad that this is the last book in this universe. I kinda want to know what happened to Zhakkarn though.
I feel kinda sad that this is the last book in this universe. I kinda want to know what happened to Zhakkarn though.
moirwyn's review against another edition
5.0
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2014/04/10/kingdom-gods-n-k-jemisin/
I recently participated in a readalong of The Kingdom of the Gods, book three in N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy. To conclude most readalongs, I like to post a spoiler-free review for anyone who didn’t read along but is curious about the book.
The first two books in The Inheritance Trilogy are narrated by mortals, but The Kingdom of the Gods gives us the chance to experience the world from the gods’ perspective. Sieh is a godling and the first child of the Three. He’s the god of childhood, and like most children, he can can be a selfish little brat or a perfect angel. Then one day Sieh’s world starts changing. He starts growing up. This is bad for Sieh, because maturing is antithetical to who he is, as he takes on more adult responsibility, he begins to age faster and faster.
As Sieh’s life begins to change, he begins to care about a set of twins who are from the same family that enslaved Sieh and the other gods for generations. Sieh doesn’t want to like Deka and Shahar because they are from the Arameri family, but he finds himself opening up to them. They become friends, have fights, and build a lifelong relationship that’s strong enough to weather betrayals and drama. Sieh’s relationship with Deka and Shahar help him to heal from his lifelong loneliness and the aftermath of his enslavement.
Oh, and the world is ending.
The Kingdom of the Gods was easily my favorite book in the trilogy. I liked seeing Sieh’s perspective because we know from the first two books that he isn’t some benevolent or innocent force. When we see the world through his eyes, we know he’s not a wholly reliable narrator, and we bring to the table what we’ve learned about him already. And even though he can be a dick and cares nothing about human life, we begin to feel sorry for him and realize why he lives the way he does.
I also liked the fact that even though Sieh can be shortsighted, he has a lot of insight into what went wrong in his parents’ relationship. He understands why they all felt the way that they did and knows where all the hurt is coming from. And, more importantly, he learns from their mistakes. He realizes that he isn’t destined to be the same way.
This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it. It’s a fitting conclusion to a remarkable series.
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2014/04/10/kingdom-gods-n-k-jemisin/
I recently participated in a readalong of The Kingdom of the Gods, book three in N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy. To conclude most readalongs, I like to post a spoiler-free review for anyone who didn’t read along but is curious about the book.
The first two books in The Inheritance Trilogy are narrated by mortals, but The Kingdom of the Gods gives us the chance to experience the world from the gods’ perspective. Sieh is a godling and the first child of the Three. He’s the god of childhood, and like most children, he can can be a selfish little brat or a perfect angel. Then one day Sieh’s world starts changing. He starts growing up. This is bad for Sieh, because maturing is antithetical to who he is, as he takes on more adult responsibility, he begins to age faster and faster.
As Sieh’s life begins to change, he begins to care about a set of twins who are from the same family that enslaved Sieh and the other gods for generations. Sieh doesn’t want to like Deka and Shahar because they are from the Arameri family, but he finds himself opening up to them. They become friends, have fights, and build a lifelong relationship that’s strong enough to weather betrayals and drama. Sieh’s relationship with Deka and Shahar help him to heal from his lifelong loneliness and the aftermath of his enslavement.
Oh, and the world is ending.
The Kingdom of the Gods was easily my favorite book in the trilogy. I liked seeing Sieh’s perspective because we know from the first two books that he isn’t some benevolent or innocent force. When we see the world through his eyes, we know he’s not a wholly reliable narrator, and we bring to the table what we’ve learned about him already. And even though he can be a dick and cares nothing about human life, we begin to feel sorry for him and realize why he lives the way he does.
I also liked the fact that even though Sieh can be shortsighted, he has a lot of insight into what went wrong in his parents’ relationship. He understands why they all felt the way that they did and knows where all the hurt is coming from. And, more importantly, he learns from their mistakes. He realizes that he isn’t destined to be the same way.
This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it. It’s a fitting conclusion to a remarkable series.
firefly99's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating book, about the nature of childhood and growing up, what it means to make the most of the time you’re given. Not the most satisfying ending, but I enjoyed it overall. As a whole series, it was very different than anything I’ve ever read. Which is generally a good thing!
nytekit's review against another edition
4.0
This was such a great conclusion to this trilogy (excluding the novella). While not my favorite of the books, it was still an amazing and surprising story, and extremely touching. I was definitely tearing up at parts of this and had some audible shocked gasps at others. It was at the same time wonderful and sad reading about everything Sieh went through, through his own eyes this time. But I will also say, there were times in this one where it began to feel repetitive, particularly when “the big secret” was revealed to us about three times. It didn’t mess with my enjoyment of it and at times it fit the whirling way god-thoughts were sometimes mentions to be. Overall I greatly enjoyed it, and honestly, if you’ve read the other two, you’re going to read this one as well.
bramboomen's review against another edition
2.0
While in the previous installment in the inheritance trilogy I remarked that nothing of note happened, this book was just all over the place. Everything that happened plot-wise was unexpected and unexplained. Almost every plottwist, except maybe the ending, seemed to be preceded by "it turns out that this is a thing and has always been a thing but it just wasn't mentioned before so just go with it". It was like a reverse 'ex-machina' at every plottwist.
Also, it seems that, until the very last pages, Sieh's character was just made up of simultaneously wanting to love and kill everyone he meets, and an inability to get over his predjudices despite the overwhelming evidence. This was maybe supposed to make him a sort of anti-hero but made him a frustrating, unlikeable, whiny main character to me. Seriously, the "I love you but should kill you, but will not kill you because I love you"-thing was novel in the first book but became very old very quick in this one.
Still, Jemesins writing had radically improved since the first book, so while I did not like this trilogy story-wise, it certainly made Jemesin into a better writer and we have the absolutely brilliant Broken Earth trilogy as a result.
Also, it seems that, until the very last pages, Sieh's character was just made up of simultaneously wanting to love and kill everyone he meets, and an inability to get over his predjudices despite the overwhelming evidence. This was maybe supposed to make him a sort of anti-hero but made him a frustrating, unlikeable, whiny main character to me. Seriously, the "I love you but should kill you, but will not kill you because I love you"-thing was novel in the first book but became very old very quick in this one.
Still, Jemesins writing had radically improved since the first book, so while I did not like this trilogy story-wise, it certainly made Jemesin into a better writer and we have the absolutely brilliant Broken Earth trilogy as a result.
jmercury's review against another edition
2.0
I finally gave myself permission to not finish this book. The pacing is slow, none of the characters have compelling depth, and I could not bring myself to care about the plot. I bounced in chapter 7 after taking 2 months to get that far.
azuaron's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.25