N.K. Jemisin

The Inheritance Trilogy Book One:

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

The Hundred One Thousand Kingdoms Cover

Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with a pair of cousins she never knew she had. Learn more.

It’s September 1. Do you know where your sample chapters are?

September 1st, 2010 • 3 Comments • BrokenK, Pimping

Why, right here — that is, if you’re looking for chapter 1 of The Broken Kingdoms. There is now a page devoted to book 2 live in the overhead navbar, too.

As I mentioned awhile back, I’ll be posting the first three chapters of book 2 over the course of the next three months, leading up to Launch Day (November 3rd!). Chapter 2 will be posted on October 1, and chapter 3 on November 1. Many of you have already read an early excerpt from chapter 1, of course — it appeared in the back of the US edition of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, as a little lagniappe from the folks at Orbit. You’ll notice here that the full version of chapter 1 is quite a bit longer. You’ll also notice, if you hadn’t already figured it out from the teaser in 100K, that this book is very different — a different story altogether, in a different setting, with a different protagonist. This makes it a gamble, as marketing strategies go; I blogged about this a little over at Whatever.

But all marketing-related anxiety aside, I have to say… I’m really, really excited to finally be able to share The Broken Kingdoms with you. I won’t talk about the plot until the book is available to read, but let me just share an anecdote. When I was a teenager, I went to see The Empire Strikes Back with my father. I’d been stupidly excited about it beforehand, and Dad less so, but he indulged my early geekery whenever possible, so he let me drag him to it. Afterward our positions reversed — Dad absolutely loved it, but I was pissed when I walked out of that theater, because the movie hadn’t done what I wanted it to do. There were no happy endings, no big explosions, and HOMG HAN IN CARBONITE WHUT OH NOES. But the movie stuck with me, needled me, for weeks afterward. Eventually I realized that although the movie hadn’t given me what I wanted, what it had given me was a powerful, unpredictable story that succeeded in emotionally chaining me to those characters, in a way that Star Wars itself hadn’t done. The first movie was dazzling, great fun, all that, but it was the second movie that made me give a damn.

I tried to do that with this book. You’ll have to tell me, in November, whether I succeeded.

In the meantime, an additional reminder — those of you who’ve been waiting for the audiobook of 100K? It’s out today, from Brilliance Audio. I haven’t heard it yet myself, but the folks at Brilliance have struck me as being really thoughtful and professional about the production process (they asked me how to pronounce the names!), so I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve spoken with the narrator, an actress named Casaundra Freeman, and I love her voice. She’s the perfect Yeine, IMO. So those of you who get that version — let me know what you think!

BTW: If you decide to post about chapter 1 of The Broken Kingdoms here, please try to avoid — or at least warn for — spoilers!

Reminder: io9 Book Club starts today!

August 30th, 2010 • 0 Comments • 100K

Looking for a new place to rave/bash/squee/contemplate over The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms? Then hie thee over to io9, where they’re discussing the book this week as part of their August Book Club! I’ll be joining in on Friday, for questions, hint-dropping about The Broken Kingdoms, and so forth. But in the meantime, talk amongst yourselves!

Kindasorta Countdown

August 23rd, 2010 • 6 Comments • 100K, BrokenK, KingofGs, Pimping

Just a reminder for all — in September, specifically September 28 according to Amazon, the mass market version of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms will go on sale. This is great, because it’s about a month before The Broken Kingdoms starts showing up in stores, so people who buy the mass market will be able to immediately indulge their urge to buy the second book — no waiting! But it also means, sadly, that the trade paperback version of 100K will probably disappear shortly afterward, because mass markets tend to kill more expensive versions. Just how the business works.

But the trade paperback of 100K is near and dear to my heart, because (obviously) it’s my First Published Book. And it’s so lovely — the matte-textured cover (US version) with its gorgeous colors, the soft feel of the paper. I freely admit that no matter how convenient it becomes to download ebooks, I may never give up physical books fully, because I just love the sheer aesthetic/tactile pleasure of them. I even sniff the pages; it’s kinda creepy. (Wait, no, I’m a Published Author now. It’s not creepy; it’s eccentric.)

So anyway, if you feel the same, keep in mind that the next couple of months will pretty much be your last chance to buy the trade paperback. Of course I don’t mind if you’d rather wait for the mm — sales are sales* — but for those of you who do share that purely tactile thrill of opening a nice fat book, just wanted to give you fair warning.

Also, I will be releasing the first three chapters of The Broken Kingdoms as I did with 100K — chapter 1 in September, chapter 2 in October, and chapter 3 in November (the month it goes on sale). I waffled a bit about this because BrokeKing doesn’t have the same kind of rapid hook as 100K did; it takes a little longer to get going, and I’m not sure readers can get as good a feel for the story with just 3 chapters. But what the heck; let’s try it anyway.

Super-advance warning: I will be in London in late October! Doing some events there to help promote book 2, plus just taking a much-needed vaycay. More on this later, for the London peeps. For everybody else, I’m already planning a contest for book 2′s launch week. The grand prize will a chance for one lucky reader to peruse the (draft) manuscript of book 3, The Kingdom of Gods!

Ah, autumn. My favorite season.

* Though if you’re really concerned, I get a slightly-higher percentage of royalties from sales of the trade paperback than I do from the mass market. And while sales are sales, sales sooner are always better than sales later, for most authors these days. But no pressure.

And Just In Case…

August 18th, 2010 • 31 Comments • Controversies, Guestblogs

…anybody sees my post over at Whatever on the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, and decides to come over here and start something… a simple admonition:

Don’t.

ETA: And because somebody decided to be hard-headed, just an FYI: I’ve put the blog on moderation until further notice. If you’ve commented here before and been approved, you should be able to comment freely; if you’re a newbie you’ll have to wait ’til I get around to approving it. Sorry, but this is why I said “don’t.”

100K in the io9 Book Club!

August 18th, 2010 • 2 Comments • 100K, Appearances, Pimping

If you missed my Tweet about it a few weeks back, here’s the update from the folks at io9 itself — they’re going to be focusing on The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms for their August book club. Details of how to participate are over there, but basically — read the book if you haven’t read it, then go there and talk about it. I’ll be joining them during the last week of August/first week of Sept in order to answer any burning questions that people still want to ask. And of course, because I am Evil and that’s what Evil people do, I will be dropping copious hints about The Broken Kingdoms and The Kingdom of Gods. [insert maniacal laughter here]

Jooooooin us.

Altered Fluid Interview at Clarkesworld

August 10th, 2010 • 4 Comments • Appearances, Interview

This got posted last week, but I was busy moving and only had time to Tweet it.

People often ask published authors how they got to where they are. The route is different for every author — but for me, it’s included a number of good writing groups. My current group is Altered Fluid, a New York-area group that’s been running since 2002 or so. Every writing group has its own culture, and what I like about AF’s is that they’re a group of similarly dedicated people — we meet every week, for example — who understand the value of personal connections for success in this business. They’ve been instrumental in not only helping me improve my writing, but also helping me improve my professional networking. Thanks to them I’ve been on the radio, been able to submit stories to closed anthologies and markets, made contacts that turned into commissions and job opportunites, and more. And most importantly, they’re not just colleagues; they’re friends.

So check us all out over there. A sample:

Funniest moment at an Altered Fluid meeting?

JEMISIN: You mean besides the time David [Rivera] danced naked on the table with a beer stein on his head?

KRESSEL: Yeah, but by the seventh time he took off his clothes, it got old. And weird.

RIVERA: Sheesh! No one appreciates physical comedy these days.

My name in lights

August 8th, 2010 • 5 Comments • Appearances, Squeeage

…well, not quite, but on the cover of Locus‘ August 2010 issue, at least:

August 2010 Locus cover

There’s a nifty interview with me in the back of the issue, too! For those of you who don’t know, Locus is the industry news magazine for the science fiction/fantasy field — think of it as the Forbes of the geek set. So it’s Big Stuff to get this interview; seriously squee-worthy.

There’s other good stuff in the issue too, including an interview with Pat Rothfuss and a kickass review of buddy Alaya Dawn Johnson’s unique epic fantasy “Spirit Binders” trilogy (highly recommended). So if you can, grab a copy of Locus from your local bookstore or SF/F convention, and check it all out!

Gone Fishin’

August 2nd, 2010 • 1 Comment • Appearances, Guestblogs

…well, not really. Actually, I’m in the process of moving to a new apartment this week, so I’m pretty busy. But in addition to that, I’m going to be guest-blogging for the next few weeks over at SF writer John Scalzi’s Whatever. I’m not very good at blog multitasking — as those of you who read the Magic District might have noticed — so I might be a little quiet here ’til I’m done there. That’s OK, though; you’re welcome to read me there too. There’s three other people guestblogging with me, and I think all four of us are going to be coming up with some really interesting posts. So check us out!

Now THAT’S fan appreciation!

July 27th, 2010 • 6 Comments • 100K, Causes

Just got directed toward this gorgeous piece of jewelry inspired by The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, made by “Queen of the Cat People”. Its title is “The Death of Enefa”. And say, that’s a familiar well-read book underneath (click to big up)…

Necklace on viewing stand, sitting atop a copy of 100K

Want to see closer-up? Oooh, is that a white knife? And drops of blood?

Close-up of pendant of necklace: several small dark red jewels pierced by a silvery sword

Holy crap, this is beautiful. Many thanks to the artist for sharing such a lovely piece!

Want it? You can go bid for it now as part of a fundraising auction to benefit the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center! They’ve got other great stuff up for bid too, so be sure to check it out.

SHINY SHINY BOOK 2 GOODNESS

July 21st, 2010 • 11 Comments • BrokenK

So, got a little pressie in the inbox from my editor today, and I’m sharing it with you. Click to biggify:

Cover of THE BROKEN KINGDOMS

Ain’t I nice for sharing? And, BTW, you can preorder it now at Amazon, B&N, and Borders!


Epiphany’s Greatest Hits

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms Open Chat Thread

A Name Pronunciation Guide for The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

Describing Characters of Color (an ongoing writing series; parts 1, 2, and 3)

I Am the Market

Don't Put My Book in the African American Section

Darre Details

Why I Think RaceFail was the Bestest Thing Evar for SF/F

 

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