A review by grahamclements
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin

4.0

I bought this book by accident as I aimed to buy one of her novels which had one the Hugo award. Jemisin, won the Hugo three years in a row from 2016 for Broken Earth trilogy so that sparked my interest. I was also interested because she was a Black writer too. Having said that I had "Grown" out of reading sword and sorcery novels years ago, prefering fantasy such as American Gods. Killing Moon is set in an Eygpt type world which helps get rid of the cliches inherent in many novels set in a medieval English type world, ie there are no trolls, elves or wizards. It is about a Gatherer and his apprentice who help release the souls of the dying to their version of heaven or nirvana. They discover a conspiracy to start a war. I was expecting a different sort of style or attitude because of the author's background, but I can't say I noticed one. The writing though is very descriptive, especially of emotions, but not flowery. Knowing there was a second book set in the same world, I expected it might have a hanging ending, but instead it had a very conclusive ending. A very enjoyable read.