The Obelisk Gate

jspquoidire reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

A cool page turner (but I'm getting slightly tired of it)

4 stars

Still binge reading this series. Read this one in two sittings... I like the characters, I like the psychology, I like way trauma is described, the way parenting is a topic, including bad parenting and abuse and their effects, etc. all this being said I'm growing kind of tired : the main impetus in the first volume, to me at least, was to understand. In this second volume it very much has to do with the main charater becoming more and more incredibly super powerfull. Very much specisesist is my main criticism I guess. In one page the author goes on about how communities go mad if they lack meat vs beans. (Granted B12). And precisely it could have been a way of imagining how to do without accessible B12 or imagine something of the sort. But then again this is a minor point : this is a good book.

JR reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

Really a 3.5

3 stars

Another solid sequel, better than most sequels. Again well crafted but the viewpoint characters aren't my favorite so I stop the rating at a 3.5

Billy The Kid reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

5 stars

Content warning Spoilers for this book and the first book in this series

This novel suffers from middle book syndrome. It continues the story set up in the first book and, hopefully, sets up the third and final book.

Unlike The Fifth Season, this novel fails to coalesce the different POVs into a cohesive whole which was one of the best aspects of the first book.

The Obelisk Gate feels like two different stories that were spliced into each other and suffers for it. But, this doesn't stop the book from being amazing, just less amazing than it could have been IMO.

I'm VERY excited to read the last novel in this trilogy... This series has been riveting thus far and I don't expect that to change.

Nicolas Delsaux reviewed La porte de cristal by N. K. Jemisin

Review of 'La porte de cristal' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Ce deuxième tome de la terre fracturée nous emmène dans une direction très différente du premier.
Il sera ici question d'Essun et de sa fille Nassun qui vivent dans deux communautés différentes, lesquelles doivent survivre au cataclysme provoqué dans le premier tome. Il y sera évidement question de racisme sous différentes formes, mais aussi de politique, de fin du monde (ou pas) et de relations (in)humaines.
En fait, je fais la fine bouche.
Parce que ce roman est bien écrit, que l'histoire est de qualité, que les personnages sont vraiment bien campés, aussi bien dans leur complexité d'adultes que dans leur simplicité d'enfants. Bref, tout est bien.
Sauf que le premier tome ajoute à ça un jeu formel extrêmement séduisant en tant que procédé littéraire. Et le fait d'enlever cette fioriture littéraire met ce livre dans une position classique de lutte contre la fin du monde. En y réfléchissant bien, …

Ce deuxième tome de la terre fracturée nous emmène dans une direction très différente du premier.
Il sera ici question d'Essun et de sa fille Nassun qui vivent dans deux communautés différentes, lesquelles doivent survivre au cataclysme provoqué dans le premier tome. Il y sera évidement question de racisme sous différentes formes, mais aussi de politique, de fin du monde (ou pas) et de relations (in)humaines.
En fait, je fais la fine bouche.
Parce que ce roman est bien écrit, que l'histoire est de qualité, que les personnages sont vraiment bien campés, aussi bien dans leur complexité d'adultes que dans leur simplicité d'enfants. Bref, tout est bien.
Sauf que le premier tome ajoute à ça un jeu formel extrêmement séduisant en tant que procédé littéraire. Et le fait d'enlever cette fioriture littéraire met ce livre dans une position classique de lutte contre la fin du monde. En y réfléchissant bien, je trouve d'ailleurs beaucoup de similarité entre ce récit et [b:le gambit du renard|42203387|Le Gambit du Renard|Yoon Ha Lee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1538924610l/42203387.SX50.jpg|46065520]. Et même si aucun de ces livres n'est mauvais (au contraire, ils sont tous les deux franchement bons), voir cette similitude diminue à mon sens l'intérêt de ce second tome.
Ca n'en fait vraiment pas un mauvais livre, j'ai d'ailleurs passé un très bon moment en le lisant. Et la révélation finale m'a paru aussi logique que stupéfiante (ce qui est une très bonne chose). Mais il lui a manqué un petit quelque chose pour être authentiquement exceptionnel.

Sarah Green reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

Review of 'The Obelisk Gate' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This and the book it follows are devastating.

Kadomi reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

Review of 'The Obelisk Gate' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The middle volume of The Broken Earth series did not grab me as much as the mindtwister of the first volume, but it's still a captivating story that I cannot wait to see concluded.

Our protagonist Essun stops her search for her daughter Nassun as she is swept into a comm that seems friendly to orogenes, Castrima. There, she meets her old friend [spoiler]Alabaster[/spoiler], who is beseeching her to complete the task he's started, to possibly destroy the world. But it's a Fifth Season, and there are factions at work who do not want Essun to be able to access the obelisks as she is being taught.

We also get to meet Nassun, who flees to Antarctica with her father, and there gets to meet Schaffa of all people, the Guardian who was in charge of her mother at the Fulcrum. Just like her mother, she also learns to control …

The middle volume of The Broken Earth series did not grab me as much as the mindtwister of the first volume, but it's still a captivating story that I cannot wait to see concluded.

Our protagonist Essun stops her search for her daughter Nassun as she is swept into a comm that seems friendly to orogenes, Castrima. There, she meets her old friend [spoiler]Alabaster[/spoiler], who is beseeching her to complete the task he's started, to possibly destroy the world. But it's a Fifth Season, and there are factions at work who do not want Essun to be able to access the obelisks as she is being taught.

We also get to meet Nassun, who flees to Antarctica with her father, and there gets to meet Schaffa of all people, the Guardian who was in charge of her mother at the Fulcrum. Just like her mother, she also learns to control obelisks, setting out for the same task of changing the world forever.

I have to admit that the overarching plot is still doing my head in a bit. I don't understand the different factions yet. Why are some stone eaters trying to stop Essun, while Hoa supports her? I am sure we'll find out more in the final book of the series.

I really enjoyed the damn good writing of this book, but it didn't wow and surprise me quite as much as the first volume. I mean, at this point you expect N.K. Jemisin to be as outstanding as she is. It's still the best goddamn series I have read this year.

daNanner reviewed The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

Review of 'The Obelisk Gate' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This was the page turner I've been waiting to read all year. I stayed up late and even read while exercising to find out what happened next only to be left with a cliffhanger ending until next August.