Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand

The Kingdom Of The Gods The Kingdom Of Gods
by N. K. Jemisin
Orbit

Supplied for review by Hachette New Zealand

Reviewed By: Simon Litten

The Kingdom of Gods is the concluding part of N. K. Jemisin’s triptych otherwise known as the Inheritance Trilogy. This book includes as an extra a short story set in the same world and which functions as an excellent reminder of what went before in the previous book.

The Kingdom of Gods continues the story the re-establishment of the triumvirate of gods and Itempas’s fall, but now the central character is the eldest godling Sieh – the eternal child and perennial trickster. Sieh was a weapon of the Arameri and has no love of Itempas, but Sieh has a problem. Now for some inexplicable reason he is growing older and losing his godly powers. To live and remain a god he needs to ask Itempas’s help, an act that Sieh is most loathe to do. Along the way Sieh becomes friends with two Arameri (a people of whom he has sworn undilutable hatred) and the need to work for a living – a most ungodly thing to discover.

The Kingdom of Gods is the proper end point to the Inheritance Trilogy. The first book dealt with becoming a god and returning from exile, the second book dealt with living in exile and being a god forced to live as a human (the return to godhood is on offer), and the third deals with losing godhood by increments and the meaning of friendship between gods and humans.

While all three books are almost separate enough to be read independently I strongly recommend that The Kingdom of Gods be read last as it is the natural end of the cycle. I thoroughly enjoyed the series and am impressed with Ms Jemisin’s ability to make a cohesive trilogy out of a story seen through three very different view points told at three different time points. An author to watch for and buy.

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