Most themes in The Obelisk Gate carry over from the first novel in the series, like power dynamics and oppression, which are expanded upon in this volume. There is a focus on who is and who isn’t considered human, a person worthy of respect and (a dignified) life.

While the plot unfolds and the main quest of the series becomes clear to us and the protagonist, we learn more about the Stillness, its history and all of its people as well as the magic system. The Obelisk Gate is paced better than The Fifth Season in my opinion but that likely attributes to having fewer perspectives and timelines.

Jemisin’s characters are still flawed, multi-faceted, and therefore interesting. There are revelations and defining moments that gave me the chills and show how the characters grow.

It’s just a detail, but I really liked how Jemisin explores the fawn-response; neither flight nor fight nor freeze, but fawn—an attempt to please the aggressor, assuaging them in order to be safe from harm. The author does a good job getting across that terrifying feeling of having to perform obedience and especially affection, because there will be dire consequences if you don’t.

On the flip side, the excessive use of “rust/rusting” as a curse word continues to bother me—it happens to be a pet peeve of mine. The writing is also very colloquial at times, which would take me out of it a little. As for the content, there were so many detailed descriptions of the—broadly speaking—workings of magic that my eyes would occasionally glaze over, and I found myself increasingly unable to follow every single thing that was happening with regards to orogeny, magic, silver threads, obelisks, networks, geodes, spinels etc etc. Those things could have been simplified for my liking.

All in all though, The Obelisk Gate is a really good book! I will definitely read the next and final instalment.