The World We Make

The boroughs of New York may have won their last battle with the Women in White, but she is far from gone. Hovering over Staten Island, she’s brewing up new ways to strike out against the city. With her influence, a new mayoral candidate is taking the stage, spewing racism and bigotry, and he is swiftly winning over the populace turning New York on its heels. Brooklyn, Manny, Bronca, Venezia, Padmini, and Neek are going to have to think of a plan fast. Before they lose connections to their city and another universe is destroyed.

Once again the audiobook was a phenomenal listen. Being able to hear the various accents of the characters added to the experience. Not to mention the tactfully placed sound effects and modifications to voices that incorporated environment, pitch, and tone. I highly recommended giving this a listen. I’m sure it would be a great read, but the audio will definitely make it all the more enjoyable.

It never ceases to amaze me how N.K. Jemisin can take modern world politics and put a fantasy spin on them. Politics are usually the last thing I enjoy in a book, but the writing just pulls you in and makes you connect on a whole nother level. The amount of care and ingenuity that goes into each battle, and each struggle, makes the reader feel deeply for the characters and the fate of New York. It shows how people can band together to fight for their homes, their culture, and all the things that make them who they are. But it also shows the reverse, the darker sides of humanity, the ones that disregard the individual and want uniformity. The irrational need to purge anyone who is different. The hatred and depth of xenophobia in The World We Make are startling and hit home with the radical thinking that has been brought to light in recent years. It’s terrifying and eye-opening.

The World We Make also expands on the world-building of The City We Became, introducing readers to other awakened cities. Readers will travel around the world meeting a new host of personalities and opinions. It is a fascinating adventure learning snippets about different cultures and how they view the enemy. And while New York may be full of different cultures, they certainly are due to learn a lesson about other cities and how they handle themselves.

Once again N.K. Jemisin has created an engrossing and captivating tale of culture and social awareness. If you pick up this book, brace yourself for the stunning draw of real world politics into a fantasy setting. This book is chilling in how it connects to recent events and will pull readers in with the drive to find out how the characters endure each new challenge. Once you pick up this book, you won’t be able to put it back down again until you’re finished.

Well, I think this is probably my least favorite Jemisin book, which is sort of like saying it's my least favorite ice cream. Jemisin is definitely in my top three living authors, and this was still a fun read even though it didn't quite live up to the first book in the duology. After reading her afterword, I think I understand why a bit, and how she might be a little burned out writing what is supposed to be a fantastical dystopia but is in fact our reality.

The City people are all fantastic. The Lovecraft smackdown is still great. The action sequences are a little sillier and clunkier to me than the first book, and some of the “New York is great!” occasionally feels like the post 9/11 add on scene in Sam Raimi's Spiderman movie. But most of what I know about New York comes from this series and Broadway musicals, so maybe it's more realistic than it seems from my suburban eyes. I think it probably could have used 3 books, but I'm glad she at least decided to finish the series even as Lovecraftian horrors spring up around us in realtime.

I'm clearly not the intended audience.