The Obelisk Gate

Much more straight-forward than the first book, but still full of thrills and excitement. I love the constant pace of discovery around the magic system and world-building.

Some of the emotional points are feeling worn, though. I'm eager to read the third and final book, but I hope the characters' emotional range expands a bit.

The Obelisk Gate defies what often happens in trilogies in that all of the characters must have major setbacks that could break them and things must seem very bleak. Essen does have some losses along the way, but she experiences so much growth in her abilities and herself that there’s a much more hopeful tone by the end.

We also finally dive into Nassun and her current situation. It’s better than expected but not without its risks. I do see a very good setup for a clash later because of some of the people from Essun’s past making a connection with Nassun. There’s also going to be a clash over methods, but there’s hopefully going to be a realization that they’re working towards the same goal. There’s so much character growth from Nassun as well, and we see Jija get his deserved fate.

I look forward to reading the next book.

I think this is my favorite of the trilogy. So much juicy exposition, both of characters and plot. This is easily the busiest I've been at work in my adult life, and I try to be pretty strict about my bedtime, and the best thing I can say about this book is that I kept staying up too late reading it.

Another good break from the broken earth trilogy.

I especially liked nassun's story line and really enjoyed the parallels that NK Jemisin draws between orogenes and the gender sexual and romantic minority community and their struggle for aacceptance.

Great read all around and highly recommend it.

My youtube channel Drew's book reviews has a more detailed review so check it out

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and can clearly see why it won a Hugo award. The world-building continues in an unobtrusive way, we learn more about old characters, and meet two-ish crucial new characters. A lot of the writing and plot innovations that made [b:The Fifth Season 19161852 The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) N.K. Jemisin https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386803701s/19161852.jpg 26115977] so refreshing continue in the second book, though they understandably don't feel as innovative the second time around. My only complaints are that it suffered a little from middle-book syndrome (perhaps this is unavoidable in a trilogy), and some parts with Essun really dragged on. I went into the book knowing that I can already read the third one, so this didn't bother me as much.

This book is the almost perfect sequel to the first book in the trilogy (The Fifth Season), and I would have been enthralled entirely if personal matters did not steal me away from the book. I think this book has good characterization from the past book, interesting and great (at least for me) execution of the premise, good voice (that I probably became addicted too), and has set up everything for the next book.

However (and this is where I attempt to be unbiased), it could be said the book suffers from the last point–being the set-up book for The Stone Sky (the last installment). In relation to The Fifth Season, it was a bit slow from a plot perspective. I, personally, have enjoyed this book because it asked “questions” about its magic system and then answered them (though in the last few questions), set up the two (probably) major players in the next and last book (The Stone Sky) and set its premise.

I honestly would recommend, if you don't mind a middle “set-up” book (or at least one the feels like it), like I do. Can't wait till I start The Stone Sky tomorrow.

3,5 sterretjes

Opnieuw bijzonder onder de indruk over hoe fantasierijk en hoe mooi begrijpelijk de complexe wereld wordt neer geschreven.

Dit tweede boek was wel iets minder absorberend en dringend in het lezen dan het eerste boek, waardoor het een beetje aanvoelde als een brug naar de finale. Desalniettemin was dit deel heel intrigerend, omdat je meer en meer leert over het hoe en wat. En het einde was zo explosief!

Ik ben super benieuwd naar de grote finale!

N. K. Jemisin's writing fu is unmatched. In spite of that, however, The Obelisk Gate didn't work for me as well as [b:The Fifth Season 19161852 The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) N.K. Jemisin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386803701l/19161852.SY75.jpg 26115977] did. I think perhaps the relentless darkness of the tale troubled me a bit. I also had some WSoD problems.This book is highly rated by many people (some whose opinions I trust); so, YMMV.3+ stars.

Pros: everything good about the first book returns. It still handles apocalyptic topics in serious ways like The Stand and perhaps even The Road; it still handles grief in a way that's not only “good for fantasy,” but simply “great for fiction.” Jemisin remains the most thoughtful, insightful writer on emotional trauma I've read since The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I also appreciated the daughter's viewpoint, giving another shade of gray to the moral spectrum of the world.

Cons: the pacing felt slightly off to me; took me a while to get through the first third, then I read the second half at a sprint

Executive Summary: I absolutely loved [b:The Fifth Season 19161852 The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) N.K. Jemisin https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1386803701s/19161852.jpg 26115977], making this book an almost impossible task. It held up fairly well to the original, but suffered a bit from middle book syndrome I think. I'm greatly looking forward to the final book in the trilogy.Audiobook: Robin Miles does another excellent job, and I will continue to do this one in audio as a result.Full ReviewThis had to be one of my most anticipated reads of the year. That was amped up even more after Ms. Jemisin won a well deserved Hugo. This series is unlike anything else I've read in fantasy, and I thank her for it. Over the years I tend to favor fantasy books with cool magic systems and lots of action. This series is almost the opposite of that. There is an interesting magic system that important to the plot, but the plot largely deals with how people are treated in society when they are different. Discrimination based on race, gender or sexual preference are still far too common today, yet they don't tend to show up in fantasy. Not to mention that the characters are often all entirely white. Science Fiction has a long tradition of evaluating not only the possibilities of science, but as a commentary on present day society. Why not fantasy? Ms. Jeminsin manages to do this while telling a very interesting and engaging story.I still love my high action magic fight books, but a book like this tends to stick with me a lot longer. It's the kind of book you think about even when you're not reading it. That's hard to do, especially at a time when we're being inundated with amazing new stories in the form of books, games, TV and the occasional movie. With so much vying for our attention, it can be hard to be memorable. This series easily does that so far.One of the things I loved best about [b:The Fifth Season 19161852 The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) N.K. Jemisin https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1386803701s/19161852.jpg 26115977] was how the story was told. We had three different POV stories that tied very well together by the end of the book, but what would Ms. Jemisin do here? I found her choices of story telling to work nearly as well. Essun's story continues on in the second person, a form I pretty much haven't encountered since English class. Most of the rest of the story is told from a new POV and I found that story complements Essun's quite well.That said, I didn't enjoy this quite so much as the first one. There were a few slower parts, and at times it felt like things was being set up for the final book. In other words a bit of “middle book syndrome”. I still tore through it in only a few days however, and I'm still thinking about it while I've moved on to other books.If you enjoyed [b:The Fifth Season 19161852 The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) N.K. Jemisin https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1386803701s/19161852.jpg 26115977], I suspect you'll like this one as well. If you haven't read [b:The Fifth Season 19161852 The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) N.K. Jemisin https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1386803701s/19161852.jpg 26115977] yet, and are interested in something more thought provoking than your average fantasy book, give this series a try. I think it's really fantastic and can't wait for the final book to come out.

N K Jemisin consegue me surpreender de novo com sua narrativa mais do que única e uma história de fazer seu queixo cair.

Sério, gente, essa escritora é perfeita em tudo o que ela se propõe. Esse livro é uma belíssima continuação de uma história forte e profunda, tratando de temas tão importantes quanto xenofobia e, de certa forma, racismo.

Embora esse livro se inicie de maneira mais lenta e demorando para engatar nos acontecimentos, com muitas nomenclaturas técnicas e explicações sobre a “magia” que cerca o mundo, não o senti, de maneira alguma, como um livro maçante ou pesado. Ainda mais que, depois dos 50% a narrativa engata em ação atrás de ação, deixando difícil desgrudar das páginas.

Rever personagens que eu amava em situações ainda mais inusitadas foi o combustível certo para eu devorar esse livro nos últimos três dias. Recomendo demais e mal posso esperar para ler o último livro dessa trilogia.

Some people say this is boring, but I didn't find it so. Sure, there's very little physical action, but the emotional action is quite enough :-DI find this story deeply moving and engaging, and I can't wait for the next book :-D (Though, I can, and I will, because I am in the middle of the Amazing Readathon, and I need to go sightseeing now, and read short books to collect points for my team ;-) But come July, and I'll be on to [b:The Stone Sky 31817749 The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth, #3) N.K. Jemisin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1478547421l/31817749.SY75.jpg 52472813]