The Stone Sky, N.K. Jemisin

The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin is the third book in The broken Earth series.

Started: 5/2/2020
Completed: 5/5/2020
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This book is just fantastic.  It is so clear why this book won both the Hugo and Nebula awards.  The thoroughness of the development of this world is amazing.  The way that Jemisin gracefully links together story lines is amazing.  It is mildly jolting in a good way as each puzzle piece clicks into place and the richness of the design snaps into clarity.  Three books that are deliciously used to build a concept, a sense, of what it means to be human, a soul, or, better, just alive.

The Obelisk Gate, N.K. Jemisin

The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin is the second book in the Broken Earth series.

Started: 4/4/2020
Completed: 4/6/2020
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Wow.  This book tears apart relationships and defines the nature of relationships over and over.  This feels like a world that could really live.  It could really exist.  What a wonderful book.  A certain degree of horrifying, but a very interesting idea and a wonderfully well developed concept.

The idea of a sentient planet is interesting (I once read a book by Hoyle that had a sentient cloud that devoured stars).  The effect of the Moon on the world reminds me of The Three Body Problem and also the Helliconia series.

The Fifth Season, N. K. Jemison

The Fifth Season: Every age must come to an end by N. K. Jemisin was recommended on a list of good books.  This is the first book in the Broken Earth series and have enjoyed other books by Jemisin.

Started: 10/7/2019
Completed: 10/12/2019
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

redolent -- fragrant or sweet-smelling

spavined -- suffering from or affected by spavin.  Being of or marked by a decrepit or being broken-down condition.

Review:

Jemisin builds worlds that are starkly different from our current world, but introduces them so gradually with a pinch of this odd thing or a snippet of that alien concept that one does not even realize how unfamiliar this should all be.  Through this gradual introduction Jemisin has the reader buying into the world and its constructs without even having to think about how odd it is.  This ability to create a consistent and coherent world and then introduce it as though it were a familiar environment is an incredible execution of craft.