Review: The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

BOOK STATS

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Title: The Obelisk Gate
Author: N.K. Jemisin
Series: The Broken Earth #2
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Audience: Adult
Format: Paperback
Length: 410 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: August 16, 2016
Source: Personal collection
Recommended for fans of:
Content Warnings: domestic violence, death of a child, death of a parent

SYNOPSIS

This is the way the world ends… for the last time.

The season of endings grows darker as civilization fades into the long cold night. Alabaster Tenring – madman, world-crusher, savior – has returned with a mission: to train his successor, Essun, and thus seal the fate of the Stillness forever.

It continues with a lost daughter, found by the enemy.

It continues with the obelisks, and an ancient mystery converging on answers at last.

The Stillness is the wall which stands against the flow of tradition, the spark of hope long buried under the thickening ashfall. And it will not be broken. 

MY THOUGHTS

This picks up right where The Fifth Season ends, after that earth-shattering revelation. We finally learn what Nassun was up to during the timeline of the first book as she becomes a new POV character. Nassun is a fascinating and somewhat terrifying character, and her relationship with her mother was not at all what I expected.

The expansion of the world building and magic system was impressive. This series is SO GOOD. The subject matter is complicated and difficult, but the writing is incredible. This is a great second book that sets up what is sure to be an epic conclusion to the series.