The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) by N.K. Jemisin
Synopsis
"This is the way the world ends... for the last time.
The season of endings grows darker as civilization fades into the long cold night. Alabaster Tenring – madman, world-crusher, savior – has returned with a mission: to train his successor, Essun, and thus seal the fate of the Stillness forever.
It continues with a lost daughter, found by the enemy.
It continues with the obelisks, and an ancient mystery converging on answers at last.
The Stillness is the wall which stands against the flow of tradition, the spark of hope long
buried under the thickening ashfall. And it will not be broken."
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed this sequel to The Fifth Season, though not nearly as much. Probably because the storytelling and the intricate weaving of the character's perspectives were just so amazingly done in the first book. But once the trick is played, it doesn't work going forward. Though I thought it was amazing that we got to see from Nassun's perspective in this one. You get more insight into the events that started The Fifth Season and how Nassun and her father move on from there.
“Being useful to others is not the same thing as being equal.” ― N.K. Jemisin, The Obelisk Gate
These books are dense and I had to go back several times in my audiobook to make sure I didn't miss anything. I thought that the further building of the past events that lead to the seasons in this world was brilliant.
This was a fantastic sequel and I'm eagerly looking forward to finding out how this world concludes in the next book!
Genre: fantasy, lgbtqia+
Representation: bi, trans, BIPOC
Content Warnings: abuse of children, discrimination, violence, graphic death of a child, gore, death, murder, cannibalism, body horror