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.
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
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.
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.
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.
I had really high hopes for this book and while I thought it was good, I found it a disappointing conclusion to an otherwise very strong trilogy. The plot felt VERY slow in this one, and on more than one occasion, I found myself thinking "Okay I understand what the city looks like. What do they do next??" I liked the additional story of the pre-stillness world and the origin of stone eaters, guardians, etc. But there were several times when I just got lost in the complex relationship between magic, obelisks, stone eaters, the moon, etc. I'd have liked the overall story in this book to be a bit more concise, but as a trilogy, I loved the series.
Wildly imaginative but I’m not convinced the POV shifts work.
A conclusion that feels inevitable yet satisfying. This series blends the personal with the political and manages to evoke so much with its themes, it is truly a masterpiece deserving of its awards. Yet the acknowledgement at the end reframes the whole story in a poignant manner that underlines the humanity at its heart.
Jemisin caps off the best fantasy trilogy with a conclusion that is deeply & profoundly personal to the protagonist, and also about changing the world. Jemisin is endlessly imaginative, but her books capture a grittiness about our world, about self-sacrifice and cultural conflicts and about what people in power inflict on others. This is one of the darkest books I've read in ages and I was sitting on a friend's floor trying to convince her to read it anyway: "When Jemisin's characters die, it's about something. She cares about her characters. They aren't forgotten. The other characters don't just magically heal their trauma. They find ways to construct meaning to move forward." This is a story about being in community and how we do that, despite hurting each other, despite being unable to save each other. This is a story about unconventional loves (and more about Alabaster and Essun) including …
Jemisin caps off the best fantasy trilogy with a conclusion that is deeply & profoundly personal to the protagonist, and also about changing the world. Jemisin is endlessly imaginative, but her books capture a grittiness about our world, about self-sacrifice and cultural conflicts and about what people in power inflict on others. This is one of the darkest books I've read in ages and I was sitting on a friend's floor trying to convince her to read it anyway: "When Jemisin's characters die, it's about something. She cares about her characters. They aren't forgotten. The other characters don't just magically heal their trauma. They find ways to construct meaning to move forward." This is a story about being in community and how we do that, despite hurting each other, despite being unable to save each other. This is a story about unconventional loves (and more about Alabaster and Essun) including platonic and familial. I loved every page.
Wow. NK Jemisin is a force. Every bit as good as the Fifth Season, Jemisin has basically turned the genre on its head to produce something truly original, but with all of the nostalgic resonance deserving of an epic fantasy trilogy.
Keeping a brisk pace in this second book, with tons of plot reveals and twists Nassun taken in by Schaffa! and character development (including a deepening of the relationship between Alabaster and Essun, which may be my favorite relationship in a modern book.) The characters are rich, nuanced, broken (so broken) and really relatable. There's an intimacy to the story, which mostly takes place within the confines of Castrima in this middle book, despite having world-altering consequences.
I think one of the places where Obelisk Gate really shines is exploring the metaphysics of orogeny and depicting how it's much broader than Essun (and we!) have been given to believe …
Wow. NK Jemisin is a force. Every bit as good as the Fifth Season, Jemisin has basically turned the genre on its head to produce something truly original, but with all of the nostalgic resonance deserving of an epic fantasy trilogy.
Keeping a brisk pace in this second book, with tons of plot reveals and twists Nassun taken in by Schaffa! and character development (including a deepening of the relationship between Alabaster and Essun, which may be my favorite relationship in a modern book.) The characters are rich, nuanced, broken (so broken) and really relatable. There's an intimacy to the story, which mostly takes place within the confines of Castrima in this middle book, despite having world-altering consequences.
I think one of the places where Obelisk Gate really shines is exploring the metaphysics of orogeny and depicting how it's much broader than Essun (and we!) have been given to believe from the Fulcrum. I was also really drawn in by Schaffa's story and the deepening of our understanding of Guardians in general.
