Book #01 - The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) by N. K. Jemisin
The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) by N. K. Jemisin
Essun finds refuge in Castrima, Nassun finds the Moon, and Hoa grows up.
The second book is just as good as the first one, making some things clear that were just hinted at before, and revealing a lot more about the world and the people living in it.
I'm not going to say all that much, it's a second part of a trilogy and I'm already reading the third, so they're bleeding together in my head.
* It's fun to see that the second-person narrative is... not actually second-person, or maybe *real* second-person, because it turns out Hoa is narrating that part, as if he's telling it to Essun. Which makes a lot of sense.
* Hoa's memories imply that he's known Essun before, but maybe he just doesn't distinguish between individuals all that much. He does tend to blend them together somewhat. I like this, it's interesting. And it is better than it all being "fate" that she found the obelisk in Allia and lifted it, freeing Hoa.
* Hoa's memories of ancient civilization(s) are fun. Not relevant, I think, but interesting.
* I love the revelation that there are several stone eater factions.
* I still love-hate Alabaster, just like Essun. He really is a terrible teacher (and she is not an ideal student), and all their interactions hurt. I found this more realistic than the improbable threesome they had with Innon in the first book. I loved that threesome, but it was not very realistic. But now all they have is devastating memories, and everything hurts. <3
* I didn't understand the turning-to-stone thing at first, but it's starting to make a little more sense the more Essun learns. (And Alabaster is finally made of alabaster! <3)
* I love that there's a whole other layer of... something... under the orogeny Essun knew. I don't like that Alabaster calls it magic, Nassun's descriptive "silver" is more to my taste, just because it doesn't attribute anything to it. (Iirc, the book makes her call it magic a few times, too, but I think that's an editing mistake.)
* I hadn't expected "Father Earth" to actually be alive, but that seems to be what's happening. The earth has an awareness, it's a magical sentient entity all in itself. (Unless that is a misdirection and it's really the stone eaters, but I don't think so.) This took me by surprise, and I still don't quite know what to think about it. But why not?
* Nassun's relationship with Schaffa is interesting! I never thought he was a good person, and I thought the deal he made with Father Earth would make him even worse, but apparently the opposite has happened.
* I thought the conflict between Nassun and Jija (her father) was well done, and brought to its inevitable conclusion.
* I like that the main characters are female, and a lot of the supporting characters are, too.
* I kinda like that both Essun and Nassun keep destroying/killing without meaning to, trying to wield that immense power without knowing how. I love this, it fits so well with the rest of the worldbuilding: so much lost knowledge, so much fumbling.
* I found it satisfying that the book makes it explicit how the orogenes were enslaved and how that's a very bad thing for any society to do. It was implicit in the first book, but so clear that I picked up on it. I didn't need it spelled out now, but it didn't annoy me, either. It is the main point of the book, I think, so it bears repeating.
* Hoa... I absolutely believe he loves Essun and is a good person. He's still extremely creepy. :D
* All the stone eaters are very alien and very hard to trust, which is a good thing going into the third book. It keeps the suspense up because they're so unpredictable.
5 stars - As good as expected.
1 - 5 stars - The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) by N. K. Jemisin [DW link & LJ link]
x-posted from dw (comments:
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