Jul 21, 2010

Covering Covers - The Broken Kingdoms - N. K. Jemisin


Cover Artist - Cliff Nielsen (art) & Lauren Panepinto (design)

Earlier this year, N.K. Jemisin made huge waves with her excellent debut novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Now just a few months later, Jemisin returns with the 2nd novel in the The Inheritance Trilogy, The Broken Kingdoms. Earlier today, Jemisin debuted the final cover on her blog.

It's great to see to a fantasy trilogy being released in such a timely fashion. The third book, tenatively titled The Kingdom of Gods, will likely be out in mid 2011 meaning that you don't have to wait years or decades before getting some sort of conclusion.

And what a cover! I loved the original cover but this one tops even that with its beautiful art. The blue and green tones are stellar. I wish I knew who put this together (I'm assuming its the same person), because I want to see more art from them. But what of The Kingdom of Gods? A red and purple flavor obviously (after bluegreen and orangeyellow) but what would replace the city and the tree? My guess, a mountain?


My only complaint is that I wish they had kept the placement of the text and the Inheritance Trilogy Banner intact but that's a minor quibble as long as the book is still the same size and format. Here is the summary according to Amazon:
In the city of Shadow, beneath the World Tree, alleyways shimmer with magic and godlings live hidden among mortalkind. Oree Shoth, a blind artist, takes in a strange homeless man on an impulse. This act of kindness engulfs Oree in a nightmarish conspiracy. Someone, somehow, is murdering godlings, leaving their desecrated bodies all over the city. And Oree's guest is at the heart of it. . .
Anyone who has read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms will be interested to see how that description meshes with the events of the first book. It's the same world but different characters. I'm sensing a vibe similar to that of Ursula K. Le Guin's Voices/Powers/Gifts.

The Broken Kingdoms will be released by Orbit on November 3rd, 2010.

1 comment:

  1. I love the color palette for The Broken Kingdoms. At a glance one might say the two are identical other than the colors used; for whatever reason The Broken Kingdoms stands out more to me.

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