May Fantasy Book Recommendation: The Inheritance Trilogy

Starting this month, we will be recommending books from different genres to my fellow readers. And in this article, we will be recommending the fantasy series The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin.

The Inheritance Trilogy Summary

The novel starts off with the first book on the series The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and follows Yeine Darr, an outcast who has been summoned to the city of Sky. It is there that she finds out that she has been named an heiress to the king and must fight for her survival. 

Besides the fighting for the throne, the novel also focuses on the Gods that live in Sky who are enslaved and must do the Arameri’s bidding. But gods are still gods and are impossible to control. Yeinne is told to be wary of them but is caught up in their scheme to be free and seek revenge on the Arameri and their god Itempas. 

 Commentary

As someone who loves fantasy series and is always reading them, I loved every second of The Inheritance Trilogy. Jemisin is an amazing worldbuilder and the only thing better than her worldbuilding ability is her story structure. Her novels feel like movies and it is unfortunate that her novels haven’t been adapted into movies yet.

The Inheritance Trilogy is the second series about gods that I have read this year but it is the best one so far. Jemisin makes the gods feel like humans but at the same time she makes sure that they are gods. Where she draws the line is what makes her characters feel whole and they shine bright.

Besides the gods, there is a magic system that honestly feels like it too complex to grasp. And that may be the point because gods are complex and speak in a different language than humans. But there are rules and consequences as even the gods have to follow them or else the universe may be destroyed as a result.

Besides the fantasy element, there is also a lot of romance in these books. Jemisin does a great job of balancing romance and fantasy and also making it easy to differentiate all the different gods. And she doesn’t make them one dimensional either, instead showcasing the complexity of emotions and that many of them tend to overlap. 

Conclusion

After having read The Fifth Season by Jemisin, I knew I would be revisiting her in the future and I am glad that I did. Her novels give fantasy a new shape and direction and I am all for it. She gives representation to different races and the LGBTQ+ community and the novels never deviate from the plot.

With the recent shift of fantasy novels towards more romance, it is nice to see Jemisin still make sure the novels are fantasy and that worldbuilding and magic systems are still exceptional. She could have catered towards romance more but instead has an amazing plot and a great cast of characters that I was sad to say farewell to after finishing the series. 

The Inheritance Trilogy is our fantasy recommendation for May and I am happy to choose it as the first one of many. This is a trilogy you won’t be able to put down. Happy reading!

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