The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

Book Title: The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth Trilogy #2)
Author: N. K. Jemisin
Genre: Fantasy
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Source: Library

Amazon UK, Goodreads

As usual there will be NO spoilers for previous books in the series, so the summary is the one for the first book.

My review of the first book can be found here.

Goodreads Summary: A season of endings has begun. It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, from which enough ash spews to darken the sky for years. Or centuries. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester. And it ends with you. You are the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where orogenes wield the power of the earth as a weapon and are feared far more than the long cold night. And you will have no mercy. 

What did I think? The Fifth Season was unlike anything  I'd read in a long time. A perfect blend of science fiction and fantasy in a fascinating world. But when I picked up The Obelisk Gate, I had just read something like it, not too long ago: The Fifth Season.

Don't get me wrong, the second book in the trilogy is just as good as the first, but I knew what to expect and was no longer blown away by the novelty of it.

It's very hard to write about this series without giving too much away, because I believe this world should be experienced without any prior knowledge. There are strong female characters, clever world building, an interesting and novel magic system and wonderful prose. Part of it is written in the 2nd POV, bringing you even closer to the main character. It takes a little getting used to at first, but Jemisin knows how to make it work.

A beautiful read that I recommend to every fantasy fan with a bit of patience, because Jemisin does ask for some patience with her slow and subtle reveals.

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

Book Title: The Fifth Season
Author: N. K. Jemisin
Genre: Fantasy
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Source: Library 

Goodreads, Amazon UK

Goodreads Summary: This is the way the world ends... for the last time.
A season of endings has begun. It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun.
It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter.
It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.
This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.

What did I think? 4.5 Stars, most likely. Though not far from a full 5 Stars. The Fifth Season is unlike anything I've read in a long time. A perfect blend of science fiction and fantasy with a fascinating world.

The prose is very pretty, the world building interesting and the characters enticing. It's been a while since I've read a book where I liked everything. All POV characters (three female protagonists), the setting, the story and the prose.

It took me a few pages to get into Jemisin's style, especially the chapters told in the second point of view. I didn't think it would work. In fact when I saw that Jemisin had written part of it in present tense and used the second point of view, I almost didn't pick it up. But it works.

The world building and magic system are both well developed and interesting. In this world some people are Orogenes and they can control seismic activity and hence move mountains, create earthquakes or even still earthquakes. Because humans fear the unknown the Orogenes are feared and often killed or trained and treated as slaves.

I think The Fifth Season is best enjoyed going in blind. If you're confused at first, don't worry, it'll all come together and if in doubt use the glossary at the end of the book.

I read this as part of the fantastically diverse read-athon that Uma put together over @ Books.Bags.Burgers and I know I'm late by now, but I don't care. I have a few more I want to read even if it takes me all of 2017.