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alfarmer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
4.25
If anything I love the characters more—flaws and all. A little bit of middle book syndrome. A lot of stuff happens just you set you up for the last book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Racism, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Gore
sparksofkell's review
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Gore and Cannibalism
nilssjoberg's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Child abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Cannibalism and Grief
Minor: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
f18's review
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content
PTSDsnipinfool's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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? It's complicated
4.25
This second book in the series took up where the first book left off. Essun, Hoa, Alabaster, Tonkee, and Lerna were living below ground in Castrima. Tensions continued as many of Castrima's residents were uneasy living with orogenes. The desolation above ground continued to threaten the lives of those barely surviving. Essun was reunited with and learned that Alabaster was responsible for the rift. He was slowly being turned to stone and eaten by the stone eater, Antimony, who cared for and protected Alabaster. Alabaster's fate was a consequence of the causing the rift and the current season. He hoped to be able to teach Essun what she needed to know to complete what he started. Alabaster wanted her to learn the special "magic" that allowed him to use the obelisks in the sky to complete the task.
This book told the reader about what happened with Nassun and Jija. We learned in the first book that after Jija killed Uche, they left their village. No other information was given about them. Jija took them toward the south. When the rift hit, Nassun was able to save them by using her orogenic abilities. Jija was noticeably upset. He killed his son, Uche, when he suspected the child to be an orogene. Jija decided to take them to a place he heard could cure orogenes called, Found Moon. Once they arrived, the readers met up again with Schaffa, who was Essun's Guardian. He ran Found Moon with two other Guardians. Shaffa agreed to mentor Nassun and teach her how to improve her orogenic skills. Jija was led to believe that in order to be cured of orogeny, one must master the skills to an exceptional level. Jija allowed Nassun to train with the other young orogenes in order to master those skills and then expected her to cure herself.
Both Essun and Nassun learned and studied to improve their skills in hopes of changing the course of the season and allow those left to survive. Both used their skills to make changes, but they also created new problems for each to solve.
I read The Fifth Season at the beginning of the year and had forgotten so much more than I realized about the important details of the story. I found an online summary of that book that brought me back up to speed. I enjoyed The Obelisk Gate very much. The book was written the same style as in that it bounced back and forth between different different points of view. It wasn't as compelling as the the first book, but that is often the case. I am assuming this book was mostly about filling in the necessary information to take us to the final part of the story. I look forward to reading the final installment in the trilogy very soon so I don't have to scramble to remember the details necessary for this world and characters. I am very interested to see how this story ends.
This book told the reader about what happened with Nassun and Jija. We learned in the first book that after Jija killed Uche, they left their village. No other information was given about them. Jija took them toward the south. When the rift hit, Nassun was able to save them by using her orogenic abilities. Jija was noticeably upset. He killed his son, Uche, when he suspected the child to be an orogene. Jija decided to take them to a place he heard could cure orogenes called, Found Moon. Once they arrived, the readers met up again with Schaffa, who was Essun's Guardian. He ran Found Moon with two other Guardians. Shaffa agreed to mentor Nassun and teach her how to improve her orogenic skills. Jija was led to believe that in order to be cured of orogeny, one must master the skills to an exceptional level. Jija allowed Nassun to train with the other young orogenes in order to master those skills and then expected her to cure herself.
Both Essun and Nassun learned and studied to improve their skills in hopes of changing the course of the season and allow those left to survive. Both used their skills to make changes, but they also created new problems for each to solve.
I read The Fifth Season at the beginning of the year and had forgotten so much more than I realized about the important details of the story. I found an online summary of that book that brought me back up to speed. I enjoyed The Obelisk Gate very much. The book was written the same style as in that it bounced back and forth between different different points of view. It wasn't as compelling as the the first book, but that is often the case. I am assuming this book was mostly about filling in the necessary information to take us to the final part of the story. I look forward to reading the final installment in the trilogy very soon so I don't have to scramble to remember the details necessary for this world and characters. I am very interested to see how this story ends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Child death, Blood, Child abuse, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Grief, and Gore
Moderate: Violence
madamenovelist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Grief, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Medical content, Body horror, and Blood
Minor: Cannibalism and Alcohol
leguinstan's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
4.0
I am just amazed at how this series breathes new life into the epic fantasy genre AND the apocalyptic genre. The magic system is unlike anything I've read in other fantasy novels and the world-building is beautifully done *chef's kiss*. You really get a good sense of how the setting influences the behavior of individuals and the social mores of larger communities. I have a hard time picturing any of the characters existing in other fictional universes.
One of my biggest pet peeves in (post-)apocalyptic stories is the abundance of cartoonishly self-serving characters. I'm happy to say this is very much NOT the case in this series. While several character act in a self-serving manner I never got the sense that any of these characters were inherently selfish and each individual self-serving act is understandable considering the past experiences and current circumstances of these aforementioned characters.
I also love how there are not just two, but several groups in this novel with opposing goals and priorities. It's not just Essun and her allies vs. a singular group in direct opposition to her plans. I also really like that we got a better understanding of the stone eaters in this novel.
My only complaint about The Obelisk Gate in particular is that the pacing drags during the many discussions between Essun and Alabaster. Luckily the relationship and history between the two characters are absolutely fascinating and their discussions are very relevant to the plot. Regardless, a fantastic follow-up to The Fifth Season!!
One of my biggest pet peeves in (post-)apocalyptic stories is the abundance of cartoonishly self-serving characters. I'm happy to say this is very much NOT the case in this series. While several character act in a self-serving manner I never got the sense that any of these characters were inherently selfish and each individual self-serving act is understandable considering the past experiences and current circumstances of these aforementioned characters.
I also love how there are not just two, but several groups in this novel with opposing goals and priorities. It's not just Essun and her allies vs. a singular group in direct opposition to her plans. I also really like that we got a better understanding of the stone eaters in this novel.
My only complaint about The Obelisk Gate in particular is that the pacing drags during the many discussions between Essun and Alabaster. Luckily the relationship and history between the two characters are absolutely fascinating and their discussions are very relevant to the plot. Regardless, a fantastic follow-up to The Fifth Season!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Genocide, Body horror, Racism, Child abuse, and Cannibalism
Minor: Ableism and Sexual content
The racism is fantastical in nature and has very little to do with our real-world understanding of race. Ableism: so this is an apocalyptic setting and there is talk of physically disabled characters being a drain on resources and not contributing as much to the survival of their communities. Not a major theme in the novel, but it does come up several times. Cannibalismcvbattum's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.75
The second part of the Broken Earth Trilogy falls only marginally behind its predecessor. It gets a lot darker and more grim, but we also get to learn a lot more about the world. The slow trickle of new lore keeps you invested at all times.
Of course the writing is stunning once more. There is good cadence to the sentences and the writing is complex. It is never complicated however, and reaches moments of poetic beauty at times. Even punctuation and styling is employed to deepen the emotional expression, something I am a huge fan of.
The one thing this book could have been improved in, is its pacing. Towards the middle, it drags a little. Not all that much happens in this part, except more exposition, more setup for the big finale. It's impressive it managed to stay interesting nonetheless, and I highly recommend it.
Of course the writing is stunning once more. There is good cadence to the sentences and the writing is complex. It is never complicated however, and reaches moments of poetic beauty at times. Even punctuation and styling is employed to deepen the emotional expression, something I am a huge fan of.
The one thing this book could have been improved in, is its pacing. Towards the middle, it drags a little. Not all that much happens in this part, except more exposition, more setup for the big finale. It's impressive it managed to stay interesting nonetheless, and I highly recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
applequinn's review
dark
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Child death, and Death of parent
Minor: Cannibalism
zombiezami's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Genocide, Death, Blood, Body horror, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Cursing, and Physical abuse
Minor: Deadnaming