A review by nytephoenyx
The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 The Broken Earth trilogy is by far the most unique series of its kind I’ve ever read, and I’m comfortable saying that after only having finished the second book of three.  The science that drives the dystopia is fascinating, the storytelling style is unique… it takes me a little while to settle back into the world, but once I do, I find myself immersed.

First of all, the writing style is wonderful.  It doesn’t have that flowery flow of some of the authors I enjoy – rather, it is precise and strange and beautiful, like a carefully folded origami creature.  The Obelisk Gate is written in multiple perspectives – not just character perspectives, but POV styles.  Essun, our protagonist from The Fifth Season, is told from a second person perspective.  Avid readers know this – second person perspectives are uncommon, and when they do pop up, they are rarely done well.  I had forgotten this aspect from my read of the first book, and it took a little while to get used to the second person language… but it is done well.  Really well.  It gives the novel the cadence of a story being told in some ways, which serves to lure the reader in even deeper.

We also have a new character here, one who I did not expect to see, and I don’t want to spoil for those who haven’t yet read the books.  Suffice it to say that there’s a bit of a twist at the beginning of the book.

The Obelisk Gate is more linear than The Fifth Season was.  With the world building more or less complete after the first book, The Obelisk Gate is able to spend more time building up the plot and the trajectory of the rest of the story.  Characters we knew and cared about from the first book are changed and/or gone, but their mark remains as the story slowly unfolds itself.  For me, there wasn’t as momentous a reveal in this book as there was in the last one, but nor did it suffer from the second book blues. It remained engaging, the issues in the book pressing, and had its own momentum.

For those who enjoy science fiction, I think this is a great read.  It’s has a bit of a high fantasy feel to the way the writing rolls out and the world is built, but it’s undeniably a far future, post-apocalyptic story, and I honestly believe it’s the best of it’s kind.  Well-worth reading, and I’m looking forward to the conclusion in The Stone Sky. 
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