You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
For me the compelling parts of this book were the characters and the description of and homage to New York. It was a very interesting and intricate portrayal. I did struggle a lot through the middle. The fantasy (sci-fi? Lovecraftian?) elements were reeeeally hard for me to follow, which made that aspect feel much less engaging. I imagine some people will love this more than I did and some would like it less. Full of powerful writing enough to make it worth finishing for me and left me feeling fond of a city I don't really like in real life so take that for what it's worth.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
not the subtlest of NK Jemison’s work — but still a great read for anyone who loves a city (NYC or otherwise)
Read it for book club, Anne's choice. It has some merit but even for science fiction I didn't think it had anything particularly original. Just not my thing.
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This book can’t hold my attention for nothing. I’ll try again later
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
EDIT: I want to add that, upon reflection, I've come to realize that I missed part of the point with this book; that is, that it is meant to be a bit silly and fun. I still find i's city-centric-ness a little off-putting, but I mostly rescind my critique of the overall premise as too goofy.
It was hard to decide on a rating for this one. I devoured the Broken Earth trilogy and, while I knew Jemisin was departing from her usual by setting the story in present-day New York, I still found the basic conceit a little … almost silly? It’s such a city-centric metaphysics and kind of ethics, too; I ended up finding it a bit off-putting on behalf of all the non-urban, thriving life out there.
Overall I enjoyed it and may continue with the Great Cities series, but right now I doubt I’ll be as invested as I was in the Broken Earth series.
It was hard to decide on a rating for this one. I devoured the Broken Earth trilogy and, while I knew Jemisin was departing from her usual by setting the story in present-day New York, I still found the basic conceit a little … almost silly? It’s such a city-centric metaphysics and kind of ethics, too; I ended up finding it a bit off-putting on behalf of all the non-urban, thriving life out there.
Overall I enjoyed it and may continue with the Great Cities series, but right now I doubt I’ll be as invested as I was in the Broken Earth series.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The 'essence' of a city seems to be a thematic trope for fantasy fiction at the moment. Not that I read enough of it to really know something like that, but Alan Moore's The Great when has something to say about the mystical flip-side of London, and N.K. Jemisin's The City we became does something similar for New York. Jemisin came to my attention as a writer of secondary-world fantasy, with a rigorous approach to her craft, which seems to be a very unusual combination. Writing a contemporary setting, as she does here, is quite a different thing, both in terms of worldbuilding and language, but she nails it on both those counts, for me. When the characters embody something as clearly defined as a city district however, it's quite hard to read their interactions other than as a very literalistic allegory. I'm not sure what Jemisin is getting at in this book, and I'm left with the feeling that she may not be getting at anything in particular. The story seems to be a straightforward good vs. evil, enlightenment vs. ignorance, diversity vs. fascism, Lovecraftian adventure romp, in which things go more or less as the reader would like them to, with a few ups and downs for the sake of narrative tension. There's nothing wrong with any of that, but I did feel like there could have been something more—something to chew on intellectually, something to challenge my understanding, some effort to represent the complexity of the idea of New York, to problematise it as it deserves (beyond the rather obvious observation that it extends beyond its official geographic boundaries). It's an enjoyable, very well written book, and it certainly does nothing to undermine Jemisin's place as (for me) one of the very best fantasy writers working today, but I do hope that the next instalment works a little harder to mess with my head.
Dans ce premier tome de la série « Genèse de cité », N-K Jemisin imagine un univers dans lequel notre monde ne serait pas le seul et l’unique, mais un parmi un nombre infini d’autres dimensions. Et chaque naissance d’une cité, comme ici New York, amène l’apparition de ses représentants chargés de la défendre contre d’autres univers. Parfois la cité perd et meurt, comme ce fût le cas de La Nouvelle Orléans ou de Port-au-Prince, et parfois elle gagne mais à quel prix ? Les cinq ambassadeurs new-yorkais, un pour chaque arrondissement, doivent alors s’unir pour sauver leur ville des puissances lovecraftiennes qui s’en prennent à elle.
Ce roman brillamment construit, se veut à la fois un hommage à New York, dans sa beauté, dans son rythme, dans sa modernité mais aussi dans sa dureté, et l’élaboration d’un imaginaire si bien amené qu’il pourrait paraître crédible. L’intelligence narrative de l’autrice jaillit à chaque paragraphe, son audace est un véritable coup de poing.
On y trouve également une grande diversité parmi les personnages, tant au niveau racial que de genre et d’orientation sexuelle, comme N-K Jemisin nous y a déjà habitué. Des personnages très bien construits qui, en plus de porter merveilleusement l’histoire sur leurs épaules, servent le discours anti-raciste et anti-homophobe qui parcourt ce roman, de manière réaliste et franche, sans lourdeur inutile.
Absolutely my favorite book of the year so far! Now to find and binge everything else N.K. Jemisin has EVER written...