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graceprechtel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Death
fiveredhens's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
favorite serious quotes:
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 tocatch the moon ? sign me up
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
Content Warnings
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-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
5.0
The Stone Sky is an ending. The end of the series, the end of so many lives, in many ways the end of the world contained within these books. And it is very, very good.
This book again had the perspectives of Essun and Nassun, but also the third persepctive of Hoa. And this time around I actually did enjoy all three different perspectives - although I mainly liked Nassun's perspective because she was seeing interesting things in the present world and Hoa's because it was mostly from when he was young tens of thousands of years ago and gave context for what the world used to be like and what happened to make it so terrible. Of the main characters in the story, Essun is still the only one I really, truly care about.
That was the most interesting part of the book for me - learning about the past, the context, what society was like before the Seasons started, what and why the obelisks are, and how Father Earth came to see the life on its surface as an enemy. If The Fifth Season was about Essun and The Obelisk Gate was about feelings and internal journeys, The Stone Sky is about the past - how the world was broken, how Essun could put it back together to build a better future for her children, and how Nassun could tear it apart to end the hatred that fills the cracks and has shattered her young life over and over.
I knew that this is not the type of story or world where I would find a happy ending. There has been so much darkness and death and trauma in these books that a happy ending would feel cheap. But I did expect the ending to feel more satisfying than it did. Some of that may have to do with the fact that I liked Essun drastically more than Nassun and wasn't super happy with how big of a role Nassun played in the climax. It was a reasonable ending, and probably as happy as it could have been considering what kind of story this is, but it left me feeling not completely satisfied.
I thoroughly enjoyed every book in this trilogy, and all of them are really, really fantastic books with good characters, an amazing world, a beautifully complex plot, and a ton of depth in multiple areas. But after being so completely blown away by The Fifth Season, the last two books seemed shorter, less layered, slightly anticlimactic by comparison. They're still great and absolutely worth reading and I would recommend the whole trilogy without hesitation, but the first is by far the best of the three.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
troisha's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Body horror and Racism
blakethebookeater's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- 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
The Stone Sky is the final book in the Broken Earth trilogy and I feel like it *mostly* sticks the landing.
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!
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!
Content Warnings
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
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Though this book took longer for me to get through, it really is just a great book. Totally deserving of the awards it's won. I knew this book was going to torture its characters and make them work for everything they want/need but it still hurt me watching this all happen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit
natcat's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Amazing. This series is fantastic. So many parts of this broke me a little, emotionally speaking, and the writing style is so precise and gorgeous. Incredibly well-crafted.
Content Warnings
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
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Great ending to the series
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Child death
tachyondecay's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Look at me, finishing a series within a year! Who even am I?
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, and Violence
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