Thursday, December 07, 2017

THE OBELISK GATE



Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org


The Obelisk Gate, N K Jemisin, Orbit, 2016, 391 pp
 
 
In the second book of her Broken Earth trilogy, for which N K Jemisin won the Hugo Award for the second year in a row, we continue to follow the characters from the first book, The Fifth Season. A minor character from the first book becomes a major one.
 
Essun and her daughter Nassun, who were cruelly separated in the earlier book, alternate chapters. If you have ever had a child taken from you, this story will rebreak your heart. The determination of both to find each other in the aftermath of the chaos which began in The Fifth Season, is the emotional heart of the story.

In addition, more of the background to the world of The Stillness is made known to the point where it became crystal clear that this is one of the farthest-into-the-future worlds I have come across in any kind of fiction, ever! Positively chilling to imagine that the forces which are, whether we believe it or not, destroying our earth could lead to what the author posits in these books.

I had a little trouble with the voices. The mother Essun's story is told in second person, her daughter Nassun's in third person, and then there is another third person voice who is not identified. For many pages, this was freaking me out but finally I just went with it. I am hoping it all becomes clear in the final volume. As in the first book, more and more is revealed about what is going on, what happened in the past, and which characters are working for good, which for evil.

I admire N K Jemisin for being so out there with this series. I imagine she wondered if what she was writing would be read by anyone at all, yet still she went ahead and told the story she had to tell. I think one could read these books on a couple different levels, either for the adventure of the tale and/or for its parallels to the world today. In any case, her bravery as a writer paid off. Two Hugo Awards, almost 2000 reviews on Goodreads, and an overall rating of 4.36 stars. 

She also violated every taboo against mixing fantasy, science fiction, and magic in one story. I find that exhilarating. If you love any of those genres, you will love The Broken Earth trilogy. I can't wait to read the final volume, The Stone Sky. Then I will have to decide whether I should read all three books again or read her earlier books.


(The Obelisk Gate is available in paperback by order from Once Upon A Time Bookstore.)

10 comments:

  1. Wow, you really seem to be into this trilogy completely. I can't wait for you to read the third book and tell us all about it. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is on my list for December/January. Stay tuned!

      Delete
    2. Yesterday I bought The Thousand Autumns... by David Mitchell, which was on sale on Amazon's Kindle, and I saw the third installment of this trilogy in my related books wheel, and it reminded me of you. :-)

      Stay safe through the fires. It looks like Hell down there. I can't imagine what is like in real life.

      Delete
    3. I did not know you were a David Mitchell fan. Thanks for letting me know you were thinking of me. We are safe now. Our fire is almost out. But more keep starting. It is truly apocalyptic!

      Delete
    4. I was waiting to buy several of his novels on sale before tackling all his works.

      Delete
    5. Now that sounds like something I would do!

      Delete
  2. So you are one book ahead of me. I just finished and reviewed The Fifth Season. Amazing story! I look forward to this one and number three.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I am so excited you liked it! I am going to read your review right now!

      Delete
  3. I like the covers of these books, and look forward to hearing about Book 3. Enjoy. ps. thinking of you thru all the news of Fire & Wind. Stay safe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Susan. This morning we are fine. No flames or smoke in sight. It has been quite a week.

      Delete