The Obelisk Gate

by N. K. Jemisin

eBook, 448 pages

English language

Published Aug. 15, 2016 by Orbit.

ISBN:: 978-0-316-22928-9

(185 reviews)

The season of endings grows darker as civilization fades into the long cold night. Alabaster Tenring – madman, world-crusher, savior – has returned with a mission: to train his successor, Essun, and thus seal the fate of the Stillness forever.

It continues with a lost daughter, found by the enemy.

It continues with the obelisks, and an ancient mystery converging on answers at last.

The Stillness is the wall which stands against the flow of tradition, the spark of hope long buried under the thickening ashfall. And it will not be broken.

2 editions

patchworkbunny reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #2)

Review of 'The Obelisk Gate' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

After devouring The Fifth Season I was eager to continue Essen's story and when The Obelisk Gate dropped into my lap via my generous Ninja Book Swap partner, I knew it had to go to the top of the TBR. I was not disappointed.

Essun has kind of resolved herself to not seeing her daughter again, but this instalment also follows Nassun's path after the death of her brother. Her father is conflicted with his hate, his daughter is both a rogga and his little girl, how can he reconcile the two. He takes her to the far South where he has heard rumours of a cure.

Schaffa is still alive but a changed man, his paths becoming entwined with Nassun's. She hates her mother but befriends the man responsible for making her that way...yet is he still the same man? He no longer serves the Fulcrum, the lines between sides becoming blurred every second. This is one complicated family.

Alabaster and Essun are reunited once more, but Baster is also not the man he once was. He's slowly turning to stone and his stone eater companion appears to be eating him, yet is also fiercely protective. More light is shed on the stone eaters, revealing that they don't all have the same agenda, just as all people from one race don't. I hope the third book answers my questions about these people.

Whilst in the first book, the points of view were all different versions of Essun, the actual narrator is revealed in this book, which is even more intriguing. There is still some second person narration, and with the context of the narrator it seems so much more natural. It makes sense that the whole thing is being recounted.

There are so many elements wound together, and you discover who the overarching narrator is to the series, which add context to the second person parts. Love, grief, fear and persecution all at the end of the world, what more could you want? Seriously, if you are still to discover N.K. Jemisin, wait no longer, this trilogy is stunning.

Gossamerchild reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

Review of 'The Obelisk Gate' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

I will have to come back to this one. I need time to think. I might wait until I read the third one...

betty reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #2)

Review of 'The Obelisk Gate' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Not really about this book, but: man, one thing people forget to mention about ebooks is that when the alternative is a TPB, an ebook really saves your wrists.

Old_Tim reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #2)

Review of 'The Obelisk Gate' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is the second book in the trilogy, and as such has to do a lot of heavy lifting. World-building is further developed, and we begin to get some glimpses of where this series is going.

Fortunately I found this volume to be less depressing than the first, although it is absolutely a post-apocalyptic story. So keep in mind that that "less depressing" is indeed relative.

Overall this is a fantastic book. Jemisin is in great form, and it is a pleasure to read anything she is writing these days. I'm looking forward to volume 3.

Felis reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #2)

Review of 'The Obelisk Gate' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Couldn't put it down. This series was exceptional and I'm anxious for the conclusion.

Strakul reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #2)

Review of 'The Obelisk Gate' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This book was just as good as the first one, which was excellent. We continue the story where we left off and learn a lot more about the world, orogeny, the Seasons, and some of the characters. While the characters are still great, it feels much smaller in scope as we spend practically all the book with either Essun or Nassun. The setting is fantastic and the plot is still pretty good, though it feels a bit slower or more confined than its predecessor. Regardless, The Obelisk Gate is a top notch book and a must-read.

For my full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2017/01/book-review-obelisk-gate-by-nk-jemisin.html

Daniel Andrlik reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #2)

Review of 'The Obelisk Gate' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This series is so wonderful.

unicorndeburgh reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #2)

Review of 'The Obelisk Gate' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

I read the first book, "The Fifth Season", when it came out, but I re-read it before reading this sequel. Both books are excellent. The world-building is amazing. I felt like I understood the setting without any painful info-dumps, and it's rich and strange. The characters are complex and compelling. The plot pulled me along urgently.

matt reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #2)

Review of 'The Obelisk Gate' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I liked Obelisk Gate a lot, even if it wasn't quite as strong as Fifth Season.

Part of the difficulty for me was the amount of exposition, however I more or less see this as unavoidable. Fifth Season was able to maintain its velocity in part by shunting off all explanation for another book, and that narrative debt comes due midway through OG. It's not, bad - I feel like Alabaster explains quickly to Syen/Essun, and her reactions are completely believable, it's just a lot of volume.

I think a second difficulty is the scope of the plot, which has become more complicated and with more stakeholders. The strength of FS was the very personal story against the backdrop of the global catastrophe. In the pull back to reveal more of the history of the stoneeaters and the guardians there feels like a change of scale of the story and something is lost.

The shift from just orogeny to actual magic was a bit of a jolt, but I came around to really liking how they talked about magic.

I have mixed feelings about Nassun - it breaks my immersion a little that she's so talented so quickly. It makes sense (and is emphasized) that orogeny is inherited and that Essun is also extraordinary, but I never really connected to Nassun in the same way. It felt too easy for her.

Anyway, the book is great even if I had some quibbles. Very excited to conclude the trilogy.