#broken earth trilogy spoilers

[twicetolivetwicetodie]

Propaganda:

The White Tower (The Wheel of Time):

You are an Accepted in the White Tower in hopes of becoming an Aes Sedai. You became an Accepted by going through a test through the use of a magical device that emotionally traumatized you by forcing you to go through scenarios where you have to make a decision to walk away from people in your life that need your help. You are told some women never return from this test and are lost forever. The Aes Sedai do not go back for them as they do not know exactly how these devices work. A good portion of your teachers might be evil but you don't know which ones they are and who you can trust as it could be any of them. The Aes Sedai deny the existence of an evil faction of them even exists.

The Black Tower (The Wheel of Time):

You are a male channeler, doomed to go insane and destroy everything around you. The entire world despises your very existence. You have very few options. You could be captured by the Aes Sedai and Gentled (a process which is essentially a magical lobotomy, which causes you to lose your will to live). You could end up being murdered by the people around you. Or you could join the Black Tower, which is essentially a magical military academy created by the Dragon Reborn himself. Your purpose there is to learn every possible way to kill with the One Power so you can be useful at the Last Battle against the forces of the Shadow. A few problems though. The principal is literally working for the devil. You have a very high probability of being turned to the Shadow against your will with magic. If you run away and you're caught, you will be murdered and your head will be displayed on a tree in the middle of the schoolyard.

Clerres (Realm of the Elderlings):

You are a prophet, able to see into the future via your dreams. Clerres' purpose is to train you how to interpret those dreams and visions for the betterment of humanity in order to put the world on a better path. Or so you think. The Servants who run the school have their own agenda which isn't what you initially thought it was. The White Prophet, the Chosen One, is who they say it is and no one else, even if you are 100% certain it is you. They do this so they can set the world on the path that they think it should be and not necessarily what is for the best. If you fight against them, they will torture you into submission. They are intent on inducting you into their breeding program that they have for all their students. You have a high likelihood of being sexually assaulted by one of your teachers. If you run away, and are caught, you will be murdered via parasitic worms.

The Fulcrum (Broken Earth Trilogy):

You are an orogene, a user of powerful earth magic that has the capability to rip the world apart. The entire world despises your very existence. You are ripped from your family and treated as less than human because of your magic ability (by your own family as well). You are harshly treated by your Guardian and let known that your only worth as a person is what your magic can do for the world (while being kept on a tight leash by the school). If you are more powerful than the Fulcrum thinks they can handle, they will strap you to a device at the planet's fault lines and use you as a machine and force you to use your powers to prevent earthquakes. You are also forced to be part of a breeding program in hopes of producing more powerful mages.

Aretuza (The Witcher):

You are a mage in training at Aretuza, and there is a possibility that you are not there of your own free will. You have been physically and emotionally abused by your teachers. If you have elven blood, you have a high possibility of being kidnapped and used in a horrific experiment by one of your teachers that will turn you into a monster. If you fail as a novice, you will be turned into an eel and forced to power the school.

#sorry for making a new poll #but i wanted to include more options #wheel of time #the witcher #realm of the elderlings #broken earth trilogy #wheel of time spoilers #the witcher spoilers #realm of the elderlings spoilers #broken earth trilogy spoilers

[gettingovershame]

Schaffa in The Fifth Season vs Schaffa in The Obelisk Gate gives the same energy as “How my parents were with me” vs “How my parents are with their grandchildren”

#WHERE WAS THIS ENERGY WHEN I WAS GROWING UP!? #the broken earth trilogy #broken earth trilogy #fifth season #spoilers #broken earth trilogy spoilers #the broken earth trilogy spoilers #obelisk gate #the obelisk gate

[theineated]

If I had one nickel for every time a bunch of special guards from the bbeg got spiky metal implanted into them that caused them pain but granted them great power and prolonged lifespans I'd have two nickels, which isn't much but it's weird that it happened twice

#mistborn #mistborn spoilers #broken earth trilogy #broken earth trilogy spoilers

[branched-man]

cannot believe that this year i read both the scene in stone sky where hoa erotically eats essun’s arm and the scene in harrow the ninth where harrow erotically cuts off and replaces ianthe’s arm... it really was the year for sexy arm removal

#locked tomb spoilers #broken earth trilogy spoilers

[genspiel]

if i had a nickel for every time an n.k. jemisin protag mistook a powerful, ancient immortal entity for a young boy, i would have two nickels. which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice

#tre reads #the inheritance trilogy #the hundred thousand kingdoms #yeine #sieh #broken earth spoilers #broken earth #the fifth season #the obelisk gate #the stone sky #essun #hoa #houwha #and when i say “weird” i mean “this is super interesting actually” fshdk #it's kinda cool seeing how certain character types/worldbuilding details/plot beats have evolved throughout jemisin's writing career #and how even when they're similar between series the rest of the setting n stuff still makes them feel different from each other

[deviousdayz]

One thing I love about NK Jemisin’s broken earth series is the amount of perspective we get on Essun. We get to see how other people view her without knowing who she really is, we get to see how she views herself, and we get to learn what she thinks are the important parts of herself. Like ugh.

If you like sci fi/fantasy with love and duty and growth interwoven into the lines then this is the series for YOU.

#nobody is going to have a broken earth spoiler tag so I just won’t spoil it #this series is so worth reading man #nk jemisin #the broken earth trilogy #there’s also polyamory and lots of lgbt characters🙏🏾 #and black main characters

[undyingdoom]

Just finished reading the Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin and it's excellent. It isn't really like tlt but it reminded me of it, mainly because (spoilers for The Stone Sky and Nona the Ninth) the locked tomb asks the important question "what if the earth was a person and it loved you" and the broken earth asks the important question "what if the earth was a person and it hated you"

#the locked tomb #the broken earth trilogy #nona the ninth spoilers #the broken earth trilogy spoilers #tlt

[bereft-of-frogs]

Broken Earth Trilogy Spoilers (?? Is that a thing I should be spoiler tagging? How long has this series been out? Idk. Anyway.)

**

**

THIS:

THIS WAS SO GOOD.

Ok, years ago I made a post about being kind of annoyed how ubiquitous renaming basic fantastical concepts is in science-fiction and fantasy. The target then was Victoria Schwab’s Dark Vault duology because like…just call them ghosts. Why do we have to call ghosts ‘Histories’ when they’re just ghosts? (And to be clear, that wasn’t my main problem with that duology and also I usually like Schwab’s writing don’t come at me for that.) My annoyance stemmed from the way it feels like a lot of the time (not all the time) it’s just used to make it appear that the author is doing some creative world building when they’re really not, and it’s done carelessly without thought for what the words really mean. Like I just find with a lot of particularly YA sff, there’s no point to changing the words around. It will be like, the exact same concept but blah only plebs call them ghosts, us real people in-the-know call them Histories. (It also irks me in the same sort of nebulous way that in a lot of modern vampire stuff the characters are dismissive of cool vampire lore like ‘no, stupid audience-proxy-main-character, we can’t turn into bats and we don’t sleep in coffins, so silly’ that sucks actually, turning into bats is cool.)

(Somewhat related this is also why I personally ignore 99% of the stupid sci-fi terms that have built up in the SW Legends stuff when I write my own fic, because there’s rarely a point to deviating from familiar vocabulary in that case, it only makes reading difficult and alienates the audience for no reason.)

BUT THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE.

‘Maybe knowing the name will give you power somehow.’ ‘But maybe you can give it meaning.’ And when he called it magic I yelled. Because yeah it takes about 50 pages of The Fifth Season to sort through all the vocabulary and figure out what an orogene is and geomest and all that stuff, but Jemisin does it with a purpose and as the series is continuing, the audience is being drawn in more, it’s purposefully unfamiliar at the start and becoming more familiar. I just. Really love how intentional this all is. This really is top-tier fantasy.

Another note, the first book is an excellent example of how the reader can see a twist coming from the start and have the reveal still be really satisfying, I guessed it pretty early on and felt so vindicated when it came together. I’m so mad at myself for waiting this long to read this series, it’s so good.

Tldr; I should not have waited this long to read The Fifth Season and it is only making me more assured in my opinion that using invented words and conlangs should really only be done sparingly and with a purpose ok that’s it gotta keep reading

#broken earth trilogy #broken earth spoilers #???? idk if that’s a thing you guys should read this though #*read the book not the post #idc if you want to read the post but you should read the book it’s so good

[trash-capable-of-sentience]

how on EARTH did i only JUST CLOCK that Schaffa = the commander, I finished reading this book a week ago

#broken earth #reading the stone sky by n.k. jemisin #the stone sky #the stone sky spoilers #broken earth spoilers #broken earth trilogy

[nkjemisin]

Things in my ask box

Hi folks. Every so often I get questions from folks that are good, but which I worry might catch them some flak from my other readers or whoever. Sometimes I answer those people privately, but in general I prefer not to do private replies to asks; for one thing, other people might want to know the answer, and for another, I've had a few awkward situations result from doing so (basically just people going parasocial on me), and I think that sort of thing is less likely when it's clear I'm talking to everyone. So, I'm going to handle these awkward asks by just treating them as Q&A questions -- without showing that person's username and where necessary, altering the question in order to protect their identity. I've got a few of these stored up, but just gonna do two this time for length and time reasons. I'll get to the rest later.

Are you a proshipper?

Yep. Feel free to alter your decision re following me on social media now that you've read that answer. But I believe in "don't like, don't read," and that fiction doesn't indicate what an author really believes (because it's fiction), and that there's no subject matter too immoral to explore on its face (everything depends on the execution), so... yep.

2. I love the Broken Earth trilogy, but I have to say, the middle book really didn't go anywhere, literally. Essun stayed in Castrima and Nassun moved around a little more but mostly stayed in the same place too. It killed a lot of the story momentum for me. Why did you decide to do this?

[spoilers for Broken Earth books, though I'll try to minimize them and will put a "read more" before I get there]

Because I felt like it. I'm not saying that defensively, I'm just noting that the answer to pretty much any question you might ask a writer about why they do a particular thing is... because they felt like it. Period full stop. Sorry that wasn't what you wanted to read! It was, however, the story I wanted to tell.

To elaborate... different people have different expectations of trilogies. That's because there are a lot of different ways to handle them, narratively speaking. Sometimes a trilogy is really a group of shared-universe stories taking place in the same world but not necessarily featuring the same characters, and with unrelated plots. Some are telling a single story, but through different POVs and smaller plot arcs that each have their own terminuses; that's what I did with the Inheritance Trilogy, for example. And sometimes, as I did with the Broken Earth books, the author is just telling one big story broken up into three parts. (There are more ways to do a trilogy than this, but let's keep this brief, lol.)

Now, there are a lot of ways to handle this kind of story, but a pattern that most of us are used to is:

Book One: Introduction to the world and important characters and the apparent stakes;

Book Two: Deep dive into the important characters and world, thus giving the audience a reason to care more; and

Book Three: Now we really know the stakes and shit just got real! Now we care what happens to the characters when EVERYTHING! BLOWS!! UP!!!

(I am feeling very silly today, sorry.)

We're familiar with this pattern because we see it all the time, especially in American media. It's a variation on the three-act structure seen in plays and other narratives. It's the basis of our most popular longform stories! The original Star Wars trilogy did it. The Mass Effect trilogy did it. (Andromeda was a separate story, probably meant to be the start of a new trilogy.) The Lord of the Rings did it, prequeled by the Hobbit and mirrored by the Silmarillion. I mentioned those examples because the middle stories of each all exhibit the same traits: a drastic change of pace or location for the protagonists, putting the protagonists through personal character growth arcs, and poking at minutia or seemingly unimportant aspects of the world (which usually end up pretty important before all is said and done).

Now let's answer your question. Spoiler warning again:

In the Broken Earth, we got introduced to the Stillness and Essun in Book One. There was a lot of physical movement in that book as Essun was on the road for most of it (as were other characters), but the plot itself was relatively simple: A bad thing happened to this person and she needs to go somewhere and find someone, to fix it! And then pretty much the entirety of that book's narrative was "Who is this person, why does the bad thing matter, and how close does she get to finding her missing person?" Then in Book Two, we learned a little more about this person, a lot more about her impact on other characters including the one she's been trying to find, and we spent a while learning about orogeny, the Obelisk Gate, and what the stone eaters have been up to. I cheated a little on this; there wasn't room to do a deep dive into the backstory of one pivotal character, but I did finally reveal that this character is the "secret" narrator of the whole trilogy, and made his agenda clearer. I ended up putting his "deep dive" into Book Three instead, where it was particularly relevant to the STUFF! BLOWING!! UP!!!

The reason a lot of readers complain about "Middle Book Syndrome," I suspect, is because of this pattern -- and because of their expectations. A lot of people come at a middle book expecting Book One Redux. That's what you often get in shared-universe trilogies -- Book One over and over again, roughly the same balance of characters vs events each time, in a familiar setting. We're conditioned to want that, I think, from other episodic works. Comic books, for example: When I was working on FAR SECTOR, my editor at the time explained that I needed to try and have a fight or action scene in most of the issues. I hate fight scenes -- sorry! -- so that was hard for me. TV shows -- the ones that aren't themselves telling a single big story over time -- do this, too. I think of it as the "If You Liked X, Then Try... X!" structure. Absolutely nothing wrong with this structure, by the way. I'm just describing it, not throwing shade. I'm a big fan of stories like this myself.

But even for audience members who were expecting the Three-Act Trilogy structure instead, that middle book is going to be jarring. It's supposed to be jarring. The refugees have survived the first book but stopped to dress their wounds and regroup; the adventurers on a quest have reached an impasse and need to find allies and grind to build up their strength; the stalwart hero has just suffered a massive setback and needs to overcome their own doubt or character flaws. A good way to handle this is to take the characters out of their familiar space, and put them somewhere new, or give them a very different kind of challenge. [Mass Effect and LOTR spoilers] Oh, no, Shepard died and their team broke up! What now? Oh, no, Frodo and Sam are on their own trying to get to Mordor! They're just these little guys! How are they gonna make it? If you got overly attached to Shepard team from ME1, or the Fellowship, you're in for a rough ride in these followups. But the jarring nature of this kind of followup is absolutely necessary. An author who does this knows they're going to lose some readers, when they do it. Clearly I almost lost you! But I stand by that choice, because I think it made the whole trilogy better.

Sidebar: I'm old enough to remember the controversy back when "The Empire Strikes Back" came out. Critics haaaaaated that movie! It was too dark, they said; wasted too much time on unimportant stuff. Too much character work, not enough space battles. Then it became clear that audiences loved the second movie even more than the first, precisely because it was darker and because Luke spent so much time futzing around with Yoda and because there were all these girl cooties romantic moments between Leia and Han. A lot of the critics backpedaled at that point, with some of them even acknowledged that they'd been hoping for Star Wars All Over Again and not What Happens Next That Is Not Star Wars. They'd simply brought the wrong expectations to the story.

This is not to say that you have the wrong expectations, Ask-er. Maybe you were expecting exactly that structure, and you just don't like the way I handled it, or you think I did a poor job. Every reader's experience of a story is different, and not everybody's gonna want to pick up everything I throw down. But you asked why did everyone stay in one place, and this is why: to do a deep dive into the character of the Stillness itself. In a story where the setting was as much a "character" as the people in it, I felt it necessary to show enough of that setting for readers to care about it. Would you care, for example, if the town of Brevard (Damaya and Schaffa spend one night there in Book One) got blown off the map in Book Three? Probably not, because I spent no time on any of its citizens or issues. A lot of people cared about Castrima, though, by the end of Book Two.

Whoo, this got long! Hope it answers your question, Ask-er.

#answered asks #the broken earth #spoilers #things in my ask box

[wingsofhcpe]

Oh tell me about the fifth season I’m intrigued 👀👀

RIGHT OKAY SO real quick rundown from what I remember, after I'm done studying I'll shoot you a DM if you wanna hear more!

The Fifth Season is the first book in the Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin. The main premise is that people live in a continent that's very geologically active (volcanoes, earthquakes, etc etc) and because of that they're just... used to it. Any day they expect a catastrophic geological event that will lead to a post-apocalyptic series of years that will realistically claim thousands of lives every time. These events are called Seasons, and there's already been a bunch of them (records of each at the back of the book!). So people just kinda live with that knowledge and organise their society around it.

Now, the big deal is that some people are born with Earth magic, the ability to control, predict and prevent such disasters. They're called Orogenes, and you'd think they'd be revered... but they're not. They're seen as monsters, exactly because they can also cause those disasters. There's a special school of them and all but it's mostly like a holding pen for them, they're also assigned special human handlers who are equipped to kill them should they go rogue. So it's also very much a social commentary.

The real geological horror element, though, comes from two things: first, the Obelisks, mysterious massice stone structures that just... low-key float around in the sky and are generally horribly ominous, often associated with Seasons. Second, the stone people (who iirc have a name, I just can't recall it rn). Human-like beings that are ...basically stone/gem, though, not organic. They feed exclusively on rock and are actually fuckihg terrifying exactly because not much is known about them. I can't really describe either of these more without massive spoilers though, so I'll avoid it in case you wanna read it.

There's also an ot3 queer storyline somewhere in there but it's not the focus. Pretty cool though!

As for triggers, please be warned for violence, genocide, bigotry, extreme death mostly through natural disasters, possible genocide, and child abuse. Off the top of my head.

....this was supposed to be a quick rundown but I ended up writing down pretty much all I can remember about the books huh! Anyway, I still haven't read the 3rd book but the first two were GREAT and I can't wait to get the final one and see where this story goes. I think I'd put the first book especially among my Top 10 Fave Reads in general. Hope I sold it to you too! :D

#turns out i love talking about books. who could've thought. also now i wanna reread the first book #the fifth season #n k jemisin #staliaofatreides #mar's book rambles

[nerves-nebula]

do you have any recs for books about or surrounding trauma?

Mm. Not exactly? I mostly read fictional books that have abuse and trauma as, like, themes, but which aren't necessarily only about those things. i guess i can rec you some of those if that's what you're interested in.

but if you want like, nonfiction stuff, then there is this google drive that a guy gave me and it's full of csa/sa/childhood trauma/trauma healing books, articles, and workbooks. some pdfs and some epubs i think.

anyway i went back through my library log and here's some of the books i've read in which abuse is a main focus, but be warned that these stories aren't all 100% about abuse 100% of the time. anyway, under the cut.

the people in the trees (still reading)(about pedophilia and the abuse of a native population by the narrator)

the child finder (also still reading)(about a detective with a mysterious child abuse past who specializes in finding missing kids)

being lolita (a woman recounting how she was groomed by her english teacher and his weird reading of lolita)

lolita (its lolita. you know lolita)

juniper & thorn (a girl & her sisters kept in near isolation by her father. theres some SA, CSA, and incest, but it's also about a magic murder mystery and a hot dancer. the narrator has a weird blood kink its cool)

hench (OK THIS ONE IS NOT REALLY ABOUT ABUSE but early on in the book the MC gets a traumatic life altering injury and it's about trauma TO ME even tho it's really more about like. a corrupt shitty system of government/superhero stuff ruining ppls lives and the main character's rise in villainy trying to fix/tear down said system)

last ones left alive (ok also not about abuse/trauma exactly either but. listen. it's the only zombie story I've really enjoyed all that much in a while and this girls life is so sad fhasdifsdjf and really arent all zombie stories kind of about abuse and trauma? I mean when they aren't just silly webtoon type shit...)

lost in the moment and found (less about trauma more about abuse and adults lying to kids. there's some gaslighting & CSA stuff early on. part of a series but you dont really need to have read the rest to understand it i think. also the entire series is kind of about kids who feel like they belong in other worlds and that includes a lot of discussions of traumatizing things)

the entire broken earth trilogy (it's ripe with themes of abuse, genocide, violence, and inter-generational trauma)

I Hunt Killers (+ the rest of the books in this series. this one is a bit of an iffy recommendation because I last read it like. 10 years ago. So um. yeah idk?? I remember it being good tho and i liked the SPOILERS!!! weird incest reveal stuff near the end of the series. from what i remember at least)

#nnstuff #ask #books

[transbookoftheday]

Deadendia: The Divine Order by Hamish Steele

SPOILERS FOR “DEADENDIA: THE BROKEN HALO”!

In this diverse YA graphic novel, third in the DeadEndia trilogy, Barney, Norma, and friends team up with unlikely heroes to fight a battle for the fate of the universe, all while dealing with their greatest challenge of all: their love lives.

The battle between angels and demons rages on, and Courtney finds themselves restored to former glory in the realm of the angels with a new mission: bring about a new Divine Order and create a fourteenth plane of existence to keep the demons at bay. On the seventh plane, known to us as Earth, Norma Khan and Barney Guttman have allied with the demons in a search for both freedom and peace. There’s just one thing standing in their way: the Guttman family reunion. Badyah has joined the resistance as well, honing her martial arts skills and getting ready to protect Norma in battle.

But Pael, the Divine’s lead angel, has tricks up their sleeve that throw everything into chaos as Norma, Barney, and Badyah learn the truth behind everything. The three friends struggle to stop Pael before their lives are changed forever, and a familiar friend returns with a power that just might save them all in this stunning conclusion to the DeadEndia series.

#deadendia #deadendia: the divine order #hamish steele #dead end: paranormal park #transmasc #trans book of the day #trans books #queer books #bookblr #booklr

[abookisafriend]

the city we became: four out of five make a brand new start of its

the city we became is a 2020 novel by n. k. jemisin. it's a love letter to new york city and a snapshot of the culture at the time it was written (which still feels very much like the present). six people have "become" new york city--living incarnations of the boroughs and the city itself--and they have to deal with the birth pangs of the process...plus an unexpected challenge from far outside the city's normal sphere. overall, it's a fantastic novel. once i got into it, i read it in one night.

the cast is really interesting and represents jemisin's vision of who new york really is. there's even a lenape character to represent the city's continuity with the precolonial life of the place. she's an artist working in the bronx who was in the american indian movement in the seventies. you love to see it. lots of queer representation, which i know makes a difference for me and i think for my readers here too. the antagonists in the novel also speak to the essential challenges of our society in this historical moment in a way that's kind of vindicating.

there are like two places where it falls flat for me, two, and the rest of the book is vibrant and powerful. i'm going to hit one of them below the cut. apart from that, this novel is a knockout. great contemporary fantasy concept, great execution, vivid characters you can really root for and plot dynamics that will have you lost in the pages.

overall, solid four out of five. i liked it better than the broken earth trilogy. spoilers for probably the biggest surprise in the book below

the one thing that really hit me wrong about this book is the lovecraft fic aspect. the novel makes explicit reference to lovecraft through the characters (who spend a lot of time ribbing him and shooting straight about the racism in his work), which is fine--i guess she decided the book owed a debt to the old hatebag, so she wanted to acknowledge it--but, near the end, it takes an element from his stories and just introduces it whole cloth into the novel. it didn't work for me; it felt like a flat, uninspired choice rather than the sharp originality jemisin's well known for. why trot that out? was it supposed to be like a Big Reveal for lovecraft fans to get off on? like, "ohhhh nooooo, not the mi-go!!! :O " (it's not the mi-go.) i don't get why she felt the need to make one of the biggest plot points a xerox of a lovecraft element, and like i said it did not work for me. it took what was a totally novel and exploratory story element and collapsed it into a copy of someone else's work. why? there was no need for it. i guess she just thought it was cool?

if i ever meet her, that's my first question.

the book is good. don't let this make you skip the book.

#the city we became #n.k. jemisin #book review #book reviews #reviews #review #fantasy #science fiction #queer lit #scifi #lovecraft #h.p. lovecraft #fucking mi-go

[sergeifyodorov]

hi hello super random question but i’m trying to read more & i feel like you’d have the best recs. do u have any fav books ?? thank u !! 🫶

YES I DO

okay ive already answered abt nonfiction so this is going to be CODYS FICTION CORNER amen

the broken earth trilogy, nk jemisin. has everything. rocks. milfs. annoying trans people (as an annoying trans person myself... i crave rep). the writing style (it's largely in the second person) might throw you off. the body horror (no spoilers) might throw you off. the geology (there's a lot of geology)(most of it's geology actually.) might throw you off. read it.

the devil all the time, donald ray pollock. you might have heard of this thee "southern gothic". hold on i have a meme for this one

anyway. the song of ice and fire series, george rr martin. yeah the game of thrones books. yeah they're good. sorry about that. yes i know. yeah. im going home part of next week i'm going to take em... reread em... yeah.

okay last one, the martian, andy weir. im a slut for survival stories and this is Thee survival story (it's not Thee survival story necessarily but i adoreee it)

#asks

[willmarstudios]

Bookworm Will Review 2024 (#9 + 10)

Title: 'The City We Became' and 'The World We Make'

Author: N.K. Jemisin

Rating: 4 / 5

Review: (MILD SPOILERS)

I read the first book in the Broken Earth trilogy last year and found it to be such a headscratcher, in a hard-to-follow way. However I've continued to hear great things about Jemisin, so I wanted to give this duology a shot and I was very happy that I did!

The way this world worked was much easier to follow and enjoyable to read while still including Jemisin's metaphorical and fantastical writing style.

The concept alone was a huge undertaking because we have multiple POVs from such a wide cast of characters, each representing an individual aspect of a whole, kind of reminded me of 'Inside Out' but far more realistic. Each individual interacts with the world and this embodiment of an impending multidimensional annihilation really created a well-crafted character-driven story.

I can't speak on how accurately Jemisin represented each borough of New York, but my father is a New Yorker, so I'm hoping he can share some input. Since the setting was an encapsulation of supposedly everyday life, but with metaphysical avatars inhabiting everyday people, there was an abundance of commentary that some may find to be try-hard or check box-y, but I quite enjoyed it. The socioeconomic and political commentary didn't overtake the fantastical aspects either, instead worked in a way that strengthened the takeaway messages. It was relevant. It was relatable. It felt real. It didn't feel like you were reading from a textbook either (which I appreciated lol).

The overarching subplots for each avatar's journey felt so individualized that, even when it came together, still felt unique.

I'm not saying the very real hardships that they faced like racism, homophobia, xenophobia, bigotry, and misogyny ( just to name a few) are fun to read. They were not there for shock value. They had a purpose.

I personally enjoyed book 1 more than book 2 because I felt like we had more time with the cast and the whimsy that was this unseen threat. Book 2 was enjoyable, but I felt like the last few chapters almost felt rushed and the ending became rather abrupt. At the same time, it still kind of fits Jemisin's writing style, not everything will have an obvious build-up until BAM. Then you're like 'Oh....!!!!!'

Overall, I liked this a lot and think this is the place to start if you want to start reading Jemisin's portfolio.

#bookworm will #book recommendations #book review #queer books #bookworm #nk jemisin #the city we became #the world we make #contemporary literature #contemporary fiction #fiction #fantasy #we need more diverse books