The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

"N.K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is a cross-genre fiction that explores themes of cultural identify and what people deem the “quintessential” hero. I like that the story pours new wine into old skins, borrowing from the mythology of gods and mortals, and character stereotypes, for example the trickster Sieh, in a world of role reversal where the gods are enslaved. As I wrote in another of my books, Writing Speculative Fiction , “in this first book of the Inheritance Trilogy, Jemisin borrows from a northern African tribe in designing the traditions of the fictional barbarian Darre—protagonist’ Yeine Darr’s people. Stealing from Christianity and concepts of resurrection, the Holy Trinity, as well as from Hinduism , Egyptian mythology, and Greek mythology , Jemisin hurls in the appeal of a demonic lover, forging a romantic plot as fundamental to the speculative work. Simple, really. We wanted to give voice to writers from Africa and the diaspora to shape the futurisms in their stories, while paying attention to some of Africa’s problems, such as famine, gender and sex discrimination, climate change, atrocious leadership, and more, to reshape the narrative in cautionary or hopeful ways. The invitations to writers outside the Sauútiverse Collective was targeted. The main challenge was to see how authors external to the foundations of the Sauútiverse could interpret our story bible and come with their own unique, original texts that explored and expanded our world. Looking at Sauúti Terrors, I think they succeeded rather well. Completely! I’ve never felt more exhilarated about Afrocentric writing, creative works by Afro-descendant peoples sharing their longings—past, present and future—through storytelling. We’re excited about promoting this significant anthology in a UK book tour, running from the end of January to mid-February, 2026."