it really is nice to discover a new (to you, anyway) writer who has that mysterious, ineffable, unquantifiable quality of sheer readability, whose words and pages fly by smoothly and easily and almost without effort. Jemisin has that quality, for me anyway, and I suspect for others, too, as she is definitely a rising star in fantasy.

Our heroine, Yeine, is the leader of a minor country in the north, often derided as barabaric by the ruling Arameri. As it happens, Yeine's mother was an heiress of the ruling Lord of the Arameri, and upon her mysterious death, Yeine finds herself summoned to the city of Sky by her grandfather and named heir, competing for the most powerful title in the world with two cousins she has never met, but who are much more advanced in the game than she is.

What makes the Arameri so powerful are the gods they control, enslaved in human form but still immensely powerful and extremely dangerous. No-one can stand against them, and the rule of the Arameri is absolute, but the gods long for freedom, and poor doomed Yeine may offer them the means of acheiving it. Whatever happens, Yeine is not expected to survive.

Arrogant rulers, unfathomable deities in human form, ancient myths and vengeance new and old, ruthlessness and cruelty and extremely inadvisable passions: it's a fantastically well-told tale and an incredibly enjoyable read.