#obeliskgate

In the Castrima Comm, Essun struggles to navigate the many threats assailing her: her mentor is unwell, her daughter is missing out in the world somewhere, there are scheming Stone Eaters, and, oh, just a little thing about how the current Season won’t end in her lifetime and humanity, as she knows it, seems doomed to extinction. Y’know, normal stuff that happens every day. Also, what the heck is a moon....?

The Fifth Season had me stumbling a bit over Jemisin’s use of the Second Person voice and, if that was rough for the reader in that book, well, book two continues that same device. By now, I’ve settled into it, it doesn’t bother me. On the contrary, use of the Second Person voice makes it easier to accept moments in which the narrator withholds information.

That latter scenario is what convinced me that I actually was enjoying The Obelisk Gate; the narrator alluded to events but provided no details. Something inside me shrieked, “tell me!” From that point on, I was committed.

Even as I write this, I realize how cagey is the language I employ. Another bit of oblique evidence for how much I really liked the title: I don’t want to spoil anything for another prospective reader.

Essun is well-written, to my mind. She’s very capable in many ways, although she doesn’t always succeed in the way she hoped. Sometimes, her victories come at a cost, and sometimes that cost is paid by people she cares about. It helped keep me grounded in the world!

I have, however, discovered that I can’t comfortably read these books back-to-back. The setting, the characters, the unfolding events, all of them are GRIM. Moments of levity are rare. It wasn’t so severe that I needed to take a break mid-novel, but I did need time between to cleanse the palate a bit.