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A review by nhborg
The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
4.0
Biig exhale after a rollercoaster of a trilogy…
Hear me out: I’d rate this book 3 stars for enjoyment, but 5 for originality and the pure world-building genius we are dealing with here. This series is epic in the truest sense; the entire freaking globe is at stake, and the powers at play are dizzyingly grand. You can tell that N. K. Jemisin is 100% present in her own fictive universe, and the lore and storylines are thus beautifully crafted. On top of it all you can relate this fantasy story to relevant real-world issues such as climate change, overexploitation, unwillingness to acknowledge own responsibility, oppression and genocide, consequences of neglectful parenting, and the list goes on… In addition to the thematic depth, there is also a cleverness to the storytelling that will blow your mind by tying all aspects together in a beautiful unity. For these reasons I want to acknowledge «The Broken Earth» trilogy as quite the literary masterpiece.
However, the reason for the drop in enjoyment rating is that the books themselves had a tendency of being dry and hard to get through. Especially applicable to the 2nd and 3rd book, the first half/two thirds feel very monotonous and filler-y, while the wow-factor doesn’t hit until the finale and then makes the journey worth it. Still, I can’t ignore the fact that much of the series is quite boring to read and difficult to follow. Some of my struggles are my own fault, either by a) having forgotten parts of the story from book 1 and 2 before finishing book 3 and therefore not being fully up to date, b) being too impatient to pay close enough attention and catch all the details, or c) simply not being big brain enough. Despite this, I’ve seen several other reviews describing a similar reading experience. My impression is that the author sometimes is so caught up with the story that she writes out the explanations more to herself rather than paying attention to how it would pace out for a relatively unknowing audience. That made the books feel patchy, with some chapters being quite interesting and resparking the interest, and others just proceeding before my eyes without being fully processed.
For this book, I really liked the last third; it suddenly went back to being as dark, eerie and existential as I’d remembered the series to be. Someday in the future I might reread the whole series just to see if I’ll be able to understand even more to appreciate it fully.
Finally, I’d like to suggest listening to the «Enchanted land» fantasy ambience music (on YouTube) in the background while reading. IMHO it set the perfect tone:)
Hear me out: I’d rate this book 3 stars for enjoyment, but 5 for originality and the pure world-building genius we are dealing with here. This series is epic in the truest sense; the entire freaking globe is at stake, and the powers at play are dizzyingly grand. You can tell that N. K. Jemisin is 100% present in her own fictive universe, and the lore and storylines are thus beautifully crafted. On top of it all you can relate this fantasy story to relevant real-world issues such as climate change, overexploitation, unwillingness to acknowledge own responsibility, oppression and genocide, consequences of neglectful parenting, and the list goes on… In addition to the thematic depth, there is also a cleverness to the storytelling that will blow your mind by tying all aspects together in a beautiful unity. For these reasons I want to acknowledge «The Broken Earth» trilogy as quite the literary masterpiece.
However, the reason for the drop in enjoyment rating is that the books themselves had a tendency of being dry and hard to get through. Especially applicable to the 2nd and 3rd book, the first half/two thirds feel very monotonous and filler-y, while the wow-factor doesn’t hit until the finale and then makes the journey worth it. Still, I can’t ignore the fact that much of the series is quite boring to read and difficult to follow. Some of my struggles are my own fault, either by a) having forgotten parts of the story from book 1 and 2 before finishing book 3 and therefore not being fully up to date, b) being too impatient to pay close enough attention and catch all the details, or c) simply not being big brain enough. Despite this, I’ve seen several other reviews describing a similar reading experience. My impression is that the author sometimes is so caught up with the story that she writes out the explanations more to herself rather than paying attention to how it would pace out for a relatively unknowing audience. That made the books feel patchy, with some chapters being quite interesting and resparking the interest, and others just proceeding before my eyes without being fully processed.
For this book, I really liked the last third; it suddenly went back to being as dark, eerie and existential as I’d remembered the series to be. Someday in the future I might reread the whole series just to see if I’ll be able to understand even more to appreciate it fully.
Finally, I’d like to suggest listening to the «Enchanted land» fantasy ambience music (on YouTube) in the background while reading. IMHO it set the perfect tone:)