Posts Tagged: The Inheritance Trilogy

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Yesterday, Orbit Books announced Shades in Shadow a collection of three short stories from N.K. Jemisin. Each of the three stories in the collection is set in the same world as Jemisin’s Hugo Award-nominated Inheritance Trilogy.

From the shadows of the greater stories, away from the bright light of Sky and wending ’round the sagas of the Arameri, come three quieter tales. A newborn god with an old, old soul struggles to find a reason to live. A powerful demon searches for her father, and answers. And in a prequel to the Inheritance Trilogy, a newly-enslaved Nahadoth forges a dark alliance with a mortal, for survival… and revenge.

The fantasy world can never have too many stories from Jemisin, who’s one of the brightest and most talented writers in the genre, and returning to the world of the Inheritance trilogy is just icing on the cake. Can’t wait to get my hands on this.

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Via the official Orbit Books blog, we are now privy to the gorgeous cover art and a synopsis for N.K. Jemisin’s upcoming sequel novella to her popular Inheritance trilogy. The Awakened Kingdom tells the tale of the first godling born to the world of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms in thousands of years, and “Shill’s got big shoes to fill.”

As the first new godling born in thousands of years — and the heir presumptive to Sieh the Trickster — Shill’s got big shoes to fill. She’s well on her way when she defies her parents and sneaks off to the mortal realm, which is no place for an impressionable young god. In short order she steals a demon’s grandchild, gets herself embroiled in a secret underground magical dance competition, and offends her oldest and most powerful sibling.But for Eino, the young Darren man whom Shill has befriended, the god-child’s silly games are serious business. Trapped in an arranged marriage and prohibited from pursuing his dreams, he has had enough. He will choose his own fate, even if he must betray a friend in the process — and Shill might just have to grow up faster than she thinks.

If Jemisin’s other work is anything to go by (and it is!), readers have a lot to look forward to when The Awakened Kingdom releases later this year.

The Awakened Kingdom is a novella that takes place after the conclusion of The Kingdom of Gods, the concluding volume of Jemisin’s Inheritance trilogy. It will be included in all print and eBook editions of the Inheritance trilogy omnibus that is set for release on December 9th, 2014.

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After teasing fans for a few weeks, N.K. Jemisin, award-winning author of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, announced that she is currently working on a sequel to her popular Inheritance trilogy. The novella, titled The Awakened Kingdom follows the events of the Inheritance trilogy, and is “a bit more lighthearted than the main trilogy,” Jemisin said.

“Please note,” she was quick to make clear, “this is a novella and not a full novel.” Fans of the trilogy might be disappointed that they aren’t getting a full-length novel, but Jemisin pointed out that while it’s set in the same world, and likely deals with the fallout from the end of the trilogy, The Awakened Kingdom is full of original content.

“A few old faves will appear, but for the most part this is a new story with new characters,” Jemisin said. “Shill is a true child god — unlike Sieh, who just played at childhood — and frankly I’m loving her; writing her basically means contemplating how a being with an adult-level intellect, Phenomenal Cosmic Power, and no freaking clue about anything blunders through complicated events.” Read More »

Recently, I picked up a copy of N.K. Jemisin’s latest novel, The Kingdoms of God and was surprised and delighted when I flipped through to the glossary and saw this (click to embiggen):

N.K. Jemisin on God-doodled Appendices

I amused myself for a few more minutes by reading the rest of the glossary and immediately knew I needed the story behind it. I contacted Ms. Jemisin and she was kind enough to share the story behind the creation of Sieh’s tomfoolery.

The idea hit shortly after my editor had accepted the book. She asked me if I had any additional end-matter to include, like the “scrivener’s notes” that were at the end of the previous two books. Orbit likes to include extras when it can, a sort of lagniappe for readers. At the time I couldn’t think of any. (Later, the short story “Not the End” popped into my head, and I wrote it and sent that to her.) But as I tried to think of what sort of end-matter would befit Sieh, it occurred to me that there wouldn’t be any, not like I’d written before. Any scrivener who tried to take notes on Sieh would become so exasperated with his pranks and blatant lies that he wouldn’t commit the report to paper, or he’d have to cover it in “none of this may be true” disclaimers. And as soon as that scrivener wrote it down, Sieh would sneak in during the night and doodle all over the thing, just to teach the scrivener a lesson. Meddle not in the affairs of trickster gods, for they will drive you nuts.

But it gradually occurred to me that Sieh wouldn’t stop there. Throughout THE KINGDOM OF GODS, he breaks the fourth wall to address the reader. He’s a god, aware of things beyond mortal ken; he knows we’re here, reading about him. So it occurred to me that Sieh would also sneak in and doodle all over *my* work. Ideally just before it went to print, so that he could prank not just me, but my entire readership.

I asked my editor if something like that was do-able. I expected her to say it would cost too much; I have no idea how they figure these things. But she seemed delighted by the idea, so I scribbled some stuff on the copyedited glossary and sent that back to her, just to give her an idea of what I had in mind. I kept it short and black and white only, mindful of costs. But because I’m no artist by far, I asked if they could get a real artist to play around with it, maybe make it look more childlike somehow. The designer they sent it to (Fearn de Vicq), however, sent it back virtually unchanged and said my own doodles were fine. (She did clean up the giant glops of liquid paper, and rearranged the doodles to make them integrate with the text better.) So what you’re seeing is my own inept artwork and handwriting.

I’ve had to issue a few disclaimers since the book came out, because I’ve seen some concerned emails and blog posts from people who honestly thought their copy of the book was defaced. One librarian was absolutely furious on my behalf — though he laughed when I told him *I* had done it. It’s fun when people fall for a prank, but even better when they’re good-natured
about it.

I also intended for it to be a part of the story in a way, so pay attention to how Sieh’s reacting to various entries. If someone skips to the glossary, it shouldn’t spoil them, but for people who’ve already read it, I think they’ll notice, for example, where Sieh stops doodling and sort of freaks out.

If you haven’t already, go grab The Kingdom of Gods and check out the terrific glossary. Or, if you haven’t read Jemisin, run out and buy her first novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (REVIEW) because it seriously rocks.