A very satisfyingly fast-paced and grand scale fantasy debut by N.K. Jemisin. Yeine Darr's mother was once heir to the thrown of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but she was banished when she married Yeine's father. Yeine grew up in the High North, among traditions consider barbaric to the ruling class in Sky, the capital city. Yeine is shocked to be summoned to Sky two months after her mother's murder by the grandfather she has never known, and even more disturbed when he decrees her a contender to the thrown. Now Yeine must unwillingly battle two of her cousins, only one of whom can become the ruler of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, likely killing their rivals in the process. Yeine's only allies are the enslaved children of the Sun God. These divine beings, part mortal, part immortal, have plans of their own going back centuries as they fight their father for freedom and revenge. Yeine can sympathize. She does expect to win the crown, but with the help of the enslaved gods she might be able to avenge her mother before her own death.