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graceprechtel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Death
fiveredhens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Hoa says to your slumped back, "I can't die."
You frown, jarred out of melancholy by this apparent non sequitur. Then you understand: He's saying you won't ever lose him. He will not crumble away like Alabaster. You can't ever be surprised by the pain of Hoa's loss the way you were with Corundum or Innon or Alabaster or Uche, or now Jija. You can't hurt Hoa in any way that matters. "It's safe to love you," you murmur, in startled realization.
"Yes."
She draws up her feet and wraps her arms around her knees, curiously vulnerable for someone whose presence within the strata is as deep and dense as a mountain. I reach up to touch her ankle, greatly daring, and she blinks and smiles at me, reaching down to cover my fingers with her hand. I will not understand my feelings for centuries afterward.
The onyx says, in its ponderous, wordless way:
Execute Y/N?
And in the cold stone silence, alone, Nassun chooses.
YES
"It might take some time."
"I don't think I'm very patient."
But you take my hand. Don't be patient. Don't ever be. This is the way a new world begins.
"Neither am I," I say. "So let's get to it."
It's almost like the old days, except that now Hoa appears as you walk, gets left behind as you keep walking, then appears again somewhere ahead of you. Most times he adopts a neutral posture, but occasionally he's doing something ridiculous, like the time you find him in a running pose.
Remwha crouches to run a hand along the wooden slats of the floor. I don't know why he does anything.
Asked Tinimony to take me into the hole today and she said no. What's in the hole, huh? What's in the hole.
complex mother-daughter relationships fraught with abuse and they have to
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Abandonment, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Excrement, Gore, Medical content, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, and Vomit
bluejayreads's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror
troisha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Xenophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Drug use, Excrement, Infertility, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
anna_23's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Body horror and Racism
blakethebookeater's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I kid you not I have never read another series like this one and I don't think I will again. It's so unique and fresh and it boggles my mind that more people are not just constantly SCREAMING about how damn good this trilogy is. It deserves all the hype.
The characters in this entry are at their peak. The emotional, the turmoil, and the tension is all top notch and watching how their narratives unfold in this book is nothing short of masterful. The sheer imagination that Jemisin put into the worldbuilding of this series is astounding to me in the best way. It's so weird but I loved it.
The only area I have slight quibbles with are the flashback sections in this book. They felt a little *too* obtuse and is was very very hard for me to wrap my head around some of the imagery/events. It was good but I felt like it could have been condensed just slightly.
The pace of this book was also very slow. Enjoyable slow, but if you're expecting an action-packed finale, this doesn't fit the usual cliches (and that's a good thing).
Everything Jemisin did in this book felt absolutely deliberate and calculated and by the end you realize she's been setting us up for that final twist since the opening pages of the first book. Insane how well-crafted this trilogy is. I really have nothing else to say other than that I need more people to read this series. You, yes you, if you haven't yet, go pick up these books. NOW!
Moderate: Abortion, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, and Slavery
myladyreads's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit
natcat's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Body horror, and Grief
Moderate: Cannibalism, Child death, Child abuse, Xenophobia, and Slavery
Minor: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
whatcassiedid's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Body horror and Child death
tachyondecay's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Stone Sky is the last book of The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. She give us answers to some of the questions from the first two books, as well as closure—of sorts—for most of the main characters. I’m not sure I would call the ending satisfying, but it is certainly thoughtful. This is how I’ve come to regard Jemisin’s storytelling and how it interacts with my sensibilities as a reader: she doesn’t always deliver the type of story I want, but I can appreciate that she is delivering a top-quality story.
Spoilers for the first two books but not this one.
Picking up just a few days after the end of The Obelisk Gate, this book is narrated in the second person. Hoa the Stone Eater tells Essun her own story, beginning with her return to consciousness after successfully using the obelisks at the end of the last book. Essun’s ability to use magic as well as orogeny now means that any such actions will petrify a part of her body. Nevertheless she remains committed to using the Obelisk Gate to recapture the Moon. She also needs to find Nassun—and here Jemisin alternates perspectives, allowing us to follow Nassun’s parallel journey to take control of the Gate and execute a plan, far more destructive, suggested by a rival Stone Eater. Who will make it to the Gate first? And what’s with the interspersed chapters about the ancient city of Syl Anagist?
I’d forgotten how young Nassun is! Only 11 years old! I’m trying to remember what I was like at 11—certainly not that capable. Of course, much of her apparent maturity has been forged in the painful crucible of necessity. Jemisin does a good job of displaying the trauma that weighs on Nassun’s young shoulders, the mistakes in judgment, etc. In a genre littered with youthful chosen ones, Nassun stands out. She has been chosen in the sense that others found her, groomed her, influenced her. Yet she is also broken; she is not serving out a destiny but rather stumbling towards something resembling the resolution of millennia of stagnation.
Both Nassun and Essun’s stories are about family. In the most narrow sense, both protagonists are attempting to find or reform their family: Nassun, having literally killed her biological father, chooses Schaffa as a new father; Essun becomes closer to Lerna even as she searches for a hint of belonging in Castrima. And of course, Essun yearns for reunion with Nassun, even if the latter has no idea her mother is still out there. As the world enters another apocalyptic Season, as the survivors of Castrima march desperately through a desert towards the ruined city of their would-be conquerors, these characters strive for those simplest, most basic connections.
In a broader sense, The Stone Sky questions who we consider family at a species level. Bigotry has been a bedrock of this series from the beginning. As Jemisin fills in some of the gaps about the origin story of orogenes, we understand that this isn’t merely about “roggas versus stills.” This is a rondo of discrimination: throughout thousands of years, humans repeat a pattern of discrimination caused by needing a narrative of difference to justify the subjugation of people who can be exploited. In this way, Jemisin tackles the white supremacy of our society from a high-concept, highly abstract perspective—the parallels are not exact; the correspondences are not one-to-one, but they are present in the themes and variations of these stories.
As I mentioned at the beginning of my review, Jemisin is a writer whose words I have come to respect and admire even if I don’t always enjoy the stories they create. The Broken Earth series has impressed me. And I would say I enjoyed it on some level. The style, particularly the characterization and narration, don’t appeal to me. Yet these are decorations atop a much more compelling and careful story that does have something important to say. Moreover, Jemisin is doing good work elevating and energizing fantasy and science fiction with these stories. I love the diversity of voices and storytelling happening in these genres these days, and The Stone Sky is the end of a series that epitomizes that diversity.
Originally posted at Kara.Reviews.
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, and Violence