I was mixed on The Fifth Season - confused by some of the narrative styles, but felt better after reading a few summaries. I didn't have that problem with The Obelisk Gate.

By focusing on only a couple characters, the story is more streamlined and easier to follow, but it feels like a lot of the worldbuilding and kineticism of the first book is lost. Which is a shame, because that was my favorite part of the first in the series.

It feels like Jemisin's ramping up for the final book in the trilogy, so I'm excited to see what follows.