Vinaya's Reviews > The Broken Kingdoms
The Broken Kingdoms (Inheritance, #2)
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Vinaya's review
bookshelves: books-i-ought-to-love-but-dont, could-have-been-better, fantasy, mixed-vibes, not-for-me
Jun 14, 2011
bookshelves: books-i-ought-to-love-but-dont, could-have-been-better, fantasy, mixed-vibes, not-for-me
I've thought a lot about why N.K. Jemisin's writing doesn't appeal as much to me as it should. Undoubtedly, The Broken Kingdoms was an infinitely better book than The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. You could almost see Jemisin grow as a writer and as a person, as the world becomes more vivid and more real to her than the scattered pieces of lore she inserted into the first book. The writing style and characterizations, too, felt smoother and more personal. All in all, The Broken Kingdoms was a better reading experience.
But there is one common thread between these books that really disturbs me on a personal level. Jemisin seems to like making her heroines so very helpless. It's not a function of disenfranchisement or marginalization that makes them so; it seems to be built into them, this instinct to fall apart when the shit hits the fan. Like Yeine in the first book, Oree spends a lot of time being the victim of circumstance. Her actions rarely empower her, and her epiphanies are all forced out of her by the actions of other people. There were way too many times in this book where she was not just fatalistic about her impending death, but actually ready and willing to embrace it. And not in a positive way, either; mostly she knew it was coming and didn't do anything but accept it.
The other area where Jemisin leaves me cold are her romantic relationships. In fact, I think both The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms would have been better, more solid books if the author hadn't tried to write a romance into them. Tried being the operative word. (view spoiler)
Plotwise, I found this infinitely more interesting than the first. The Broken Kingdoms is a more mature, better written book that doesn't try as hard to be a special snowflake. I'm still not convinced that Jemisin is the writer her hype makes her out to be, but I do respect authors who work at their craft and grow better with each successive book, instead of assuming they're the next best thing to God and sitting around patting themselves on the back. I'd be interested to see where she goes from here- to be sure, the sheer amount of diversity present in her characters makes her awesome and I'm hoping her books get better and better.
But there is one common thread between these books that really disturbs me on a personal level. Jemisin seems to like making her heroines so very helpless. It's not a function of disenfranchisement or marginalization that makes them so; it seems to be built into them, this instinct to fall apart when the shit hits the fan. Like Yeine in the first book, Oree spends a lot of time being the victim of circumstance. Her actions rarely empower her, and her epiphanies are all forced out of her by the actions of other people. There were way too many times in this book where she was not just fatalistic about her impending death, but actually ready and willing to embrace it. And not in a positive way, either; mostly she knew it was coming and didn't do anything but accept it.
The other area where Jemisin leaves me cold are her romantic relationships. In fact, I think both The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms would have been better, more solid books if the author hadn't tried to write a romance into them. Tried being the operative word. (view spoiler)
Plotwise, I found this infinitely more interesting than the first. The Broken Kingdoms is a more mature, better written book that doesn't try as hard to be a special snowflake. I'm still not convinced that Jemisin is the writer her hype makes her out to be, but I do respect authors who work at their craft and grow better with each successive book, instead of assuming they're the next best thing to God and sitting around patting themselves on the back. I'd be interested to see where she goes from here- to be sure, the sheer amount of diversity present in her characters makes her awesome and I'm hoping her books get better and better.
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Reading Progress
June 14, 2011
–
Started Reading
June 14, 2011
– Shelved
June 14, 2011
– Shelved as:
books-i-ought-to-love-but-dont
June 14, 2011
– Shelved as:
could-have-been-better
June 14, 2011
– Shelved as:
fantasy
June 14, 2011
– Shelved as:
mixed-vibes
June 14, 2011
– Shelved as:
not-for-me
June 14, 2011
–
Finished Reading
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Chichipio
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Jun 15, 2011 08:25AM
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"Let's start with the end of the world, why don’t we? Get it over with and move on to more interesting things."
And the last words of the prologue of the first book:
"This is what you must remember: the ending of one story is just the beginning of another. This has happened before, after all. People die. Old orders pass. New societies are born. When we say “the world has ended,” it’s usually a lie, because the planet is just fine.
But this is the way the world ends.
This is the way the world ends.
This is the way the world ends.
For the last time."
Like, I don't know about you, but I found that pretty gripping--after reading that, I definitely wanted to know more.
I would even say the ultimate, end-game romance was rewarding, but romance wasn't overly present in the series--when it came to relationships, the main focus was more motherhood and family and the different ways it can play out (and at times go wrong).
I'm a bit uncertain as to whether I'll be continuing the Inheritance Series after reading the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but I would highly recommend reading the Broken Earth Trilogy--I can almost certainly guarantee it will be well worth your while :)
I interpreted her heroines to be gaining strength from their way of viewing the world and their interactions with people, the strength of their character shining through to form the relationships that empower them.
Of course, I’ll acknowledge that I find characters who in the face of immense power to be refreshing, as the reactions of fear and fatalism in the face of terrifying power and soul crushing grief are a refreshing and I find more realistic archetype.
It does help that I have mostly liked her protagonists and enjoyed how Yiene’s interactions and impressions she left on people from the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms bleed into how the world and people of The Broken Kingdoms function.
I do mostly agree that the paradigm of Oree and Shiny being friends who fulfill some longing in each is more tangible than the eventuality of them as lovers. I do think they didn’t love each other as much as their other relationships.
Also I agree the Broken Earth Trilogy is worth everyone’s while.