The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, The Stone Sky
1424 pages
English language
Published May 18, 2018 by Orbit.
A great end to a great trilogy! Almost all my questions were answered by the end, and I was very satisfied with how the conflict resolved.
Deep and wide-ranging world-building, a complex and thrilling plot, and an uncoventional, convincing and immersive representation of slavery and exploitation. I especially liked how Jemisin managed to capture my attention and keep me guessing on three levels simultaneously: deep civilisational history, impending apocalypse, and finally family and personal sacrifice.
Wow. I think I'll need to reread this trilogy now.
Ha tenido que ir pasando el libro para que me fuera enganchando. No lo recomendaría a todo el mundo pero los personajes molan.
8/10
Wow! What a breakthrough way of telling the story, shifting between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person views. Referring to the main character as "you" for much of the story really brings the story and messages much closer. In addition, the story itself was really good, and leans heavily on the effects of persecution and marginalization on individuals. It's a complex, non-linear story that really pulls you through it.
https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/17/16156416/n-k-jemisin-broken-earth-trilogy-the-stone-sky-fantasy-book-review
I was quite excited to get into The Obelisk Gate after finishing the previous book, because it left off on a very promising note and the richness of Jemisin’s writing was still fresh in my mind. However, I found that the second book rode a bit too much on the efforts of the first, resulting in a book that was not as spectacular nor as captivating as its predecessor. Here, Jemisin scarcely builds on the worldbuilding from the previous books, and when she does, it is done through straight exposition. Too much of “telling” rather than “showing”… and while there is a narrative excuse for that, it could have been executed better.
Following the events of the previous book, the story in the second edition halts to a grinding stop. Essun’s story involves mostly mundane things relating to Castrima and her attempting to ‘learn’ what her new role in …
I was quite excited to get into The Obelisk Gate after finishing the previous book, because it left off on a very promising note and the richness of Jemisin’s writing was still fresh in my mind. However, I found that the second book rode a bit too much on the efforts of the first, resulting in a book that was not as spectacular nor as captivating as its predecessor. Here, Jemisin scarcely builds on the worldbuilding from the previous books, and when she does, it is done through straight exposition. Too much of “telling” rather than “showing”… and while there is a narrative excuse for that, it could have been executed better.
Following the events of the previous book, the story in the second edition halts to a grinding stop. Essun’s story involves mostly mundane things relating to Castrima and her attempting to ‘learn’ what her new role in this book is, but even the latter is relegated to background noise while Castrima deals with their own issues. Because of this, much of the exciting events from Essun’s perspective only happen in the very last chunk of the book, which leaves the reader rather stubbornly waiting for things to finally get going.
On the other hand, Nassun’s narrative is slightly refreshing—at least at the start—because hers is a new voice so far in the story. However, I had some serious reservations about her side of the story and her character in general. A large part of Nassun’s story revolves around her dealing with her father’s actions from the previous book (that of killing Uche, her younger brother) and revealing to the reader her complicated relationship with her mother, Essun.
Slight spoilers: We learn that Nassun does not view her mother favorably, in large part because Essun was training Nassun to control and hide her orogeny, but all Essun knows is what the Fulcrum taught her. And we know that the Fulcrum’s methods were less than… pleasant. Because of this, Nassun has a lot of traumatic baggage as she sets out on a journey with her murderous father who likely hates her as much as he loves her. Jemisin uses Nassun’s voice as a way to explore the way trauma impacts a young child and colors their worldview; given that Jemisin has a professional psychology background, this makes sense, and a lot of what she writes about Nassun’s trauma likely hits home for a lot of readers.
However, Nassun’s voice became more of a regurgitation of the effects of trauma—and how much she despises her mother and views herself as a monster—rather than the voice of a child. Maybe I was just dumb, but as a child I did not have as clear a view of trauma nor my understanding of problematic family and/or myself as Nassun does here, at age ten or eleven or so. Her voice started to feel a lot more like a bitter version of Essun rather than a child dealing with trauma.
I also ended up greatly disliking how overpowered Nassun was—understandable since she is the child of a powerful orogene, but that she so quickly establishes connection with an obelisk and displays an innate affinity for magic, which even a ten-ringer struggled to match, is incredulous. She’s literally too perfect in her abilities with minimal effort, and it sets up a rather tired dynamic for the third book—powerful mother vs. even more powerful child, because of course they will be on opposing sides. The trope of an abused, traumatized child discovering her powerful abilities and embracing her identity as an evil monster is also not a particularly innovative one.
For these reasons, I disliked Nassun’s narrative, and after the initial chapters it too grew wearisome. Essun and Nassun are the main perspectives in this book, though there is a slight third—that of Hoa, who is conspicuously missing for much of the novel.
With a lackluster plot, less than endearing characters, and worldbuilding that offered little novelty, there were few things that kept me excited about the book. For one, I appreciated learning more lore about the stone eaters and Hoa in particular—the fact that the novel is framed from his perspective superimposed on Essun’s is something hinted at in the last book and confirmed here. It brings up interesting questions about his motivations and even whether we can claim to know Essun as well as do. There are also a few more interesting things said about orogeny and its close cousin, but the latter was not as fleshed out or compelling as the development of orogeny from the first book.
While this book wasn’t as much of a page-turner as the first, it still continues the narrative and hopefully establishes enough momentum for the third book to be better. I still have hopes for the final book in the trilogy to end things in a satisfying way, since some trilogies fall victim to the ‘Middle Book’ syndrome—wherein the novelty of the first book has waned but the truly exciting plot resolution cannot happen until the third book. Jemisin is a talented writer and I hope she brings the trilogy to a successful conclusion.
When I first started the book, I braced myself for disappointment, because what often happens with over-hyped books is that I tend to disagree with the majority when it falls flat for me. N. K. Jemisin was also quite a popular author already, and I was skeptical of that popularity… for that, I am truly sorry, because after reading this book I can say the accolades and fans are all well-deserved. While initially the writing style and confusion threatened to upend my experience of the book, I persevered and was gradually sucked into the story and incredible worldbuilding.
Jemisin has a way of writing her characters and creating an expansive yet brutal world. In the world of the Stillness, nothing is taken for granted, and Father Earth is seen as a violent force who is not on your side. Yet there are people with magical abilities, orogenes, who have an …
When I first started the book, I braced myself for disappointment, because what often happens with over-hyped books is that I tend to disagree with the majority when it falls flat for me. N. K. Jemisin was also quite a popular author already, and I was skeptical of that popularity… for that, I am truly sorry, because after reading this book I can say the accolades and fans are all well-deserved. While initially the writing style and confusion threatened to upend my experience of the book, I persevered and was gradually sucked into the story and incredible worldbuilding.
Jemisin has a way of writing her characters and creating an expansive yet brutal world. In the world of the Stillness, nothing is taken for granted, and Father Earth is seen as a violent force who is not on your side. Yet there are people with magical abilities, orogenes, who have an innate connection to the Earth and his natural forces; they are vital to the preservation of society, but they are also a force of destruction, just like Earth. Another reviewer mentioned that by the end of the book it almost feels like this world is not all that different from our own, if you fast-forward a little and add a few changes, and I agree—there are a lot of subtle themes that could be interpreted from the book, such as the destruction of natural resources and human hubris in the age of the anthropocene. In addition to the realistic facets, Jemisin is skilled at worldbuilding and creating lore, definitions, nations, races, etc. that are all a breath of fresh air from your standard fantasy fare. What I appreciated even more was the deft interweaving of science and magic in the book, with the insertion of ‘geomests’ and ‘archaeomests’ and even anthropological records of the previous Seasons provided in an appendix, making it feel like more than a book. This is a decent example of ‘sci-fi AND fantasy’ for a change—though this is very much more of a fantasy novel than a sci-fi one… at least for now. Jemisin also crafts a narrative that is both mysterious and illuminating, with clever machinations of the plot that I both did and did not anticipate.
What I didn’t enjoy as much were some of her stylistic choices. Some parts of the book are told in the second person, which I just never click with as a reader, and which makes it hard for me to comprehend what is happening. Despite this annoyance, I pushed through because I enjoyed the rest of the book… and by the end, I even almost got used to it, somewhat. (And there is eventually a reason to explain this choice of narration.) At other times, Jemisin will take extreme poetic license and go into non-standard prose, breaking sentences in half like it’s a verse of poetry, or repeating things in brackets (in brackets) for… dramatic effect? I don’t know. I didn’t like it, but it doesn’t happen too often in the book so it’s easy to brush aside the cheesiness of those moments. I also felt initially that some of the worldbuilding was static and underdeveloped, but things get better as the book progresses, and this is the first in a trilogy so it isn’t out-of-place.
While reading, I found myself resisting the urge to pick the book back up while I had to do other things (like sleep…), which is a mark for me that I had a great time with this one. It’s not a perfect book, but that is rarely the case—and perhaps since my expectations were low to begin with, I ended up enjoying it more than I anticipated. I would recommend this book to any sci-fi/fantasy fans who appreciate good worldbuilding and an interesting, at times even complex plot… and I’m excited to read the rest of the series. (Though I do wish I would finish more of my currently in-progress series before starting new ones… note to future self: stop starting new series!)
P.S. Also I saw an interview between Neil Gaiman and N. K. Jemisin, and it is very delightful to watch.
A interesting and original piece of fantastical literature. With new paths and directions, not stuck in old tropes and conventions. At the same time not aiming to disentangle itself from its genre. But alas a bit to discontinuous and unclear, me hardly grasping even the most fundamental concepts of the book before I was half way through. Still, I'll read the rest of the series.
A solid conclusion for a wonderful trilogy.
In a lot of ways the most personal, if perhaps the least cohesive, of the trilogy, enough is left unexplained to leave you curious, while also continuing all of the really compelling thematic elements from the first two books.
The series ends strong. Entertaining, suspenseful, brutal, wondrous, thought-provoking, and with fantastic characters. I'm definitely a fan and will read many more Jemisin books and series.
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The Fifth Season set a very high bar.
Following a none linear story structure is hard since now we know who is who and when what is.
For those who want to find out more about this world and how things turn out, continuing with the trilogy is certainly worth it.
This entire series is amazing.
I listened to the audio books and Robin Miles is superb.
Took me a bit to get into the first one, but I loved the world-building, character development, and the originality of the entire series.
One of, if not the best, science-fiction series I've ever read.
