-
The Obelisk Gate
- The Broken Earth, Book 2
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Series: The Broken Earth, Book 2
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $30.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Stone Sky
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women. Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe. For Nassun, her mother's mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: That sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.
-
-
Dragged Out
- By Audra Lorton on 07-29-19
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Casaundra Freeman
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian North. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history.
-
-
Eh...
- By bren on 04-10-19
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
The City We Became
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn't remember who he is, where he's from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power. In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it's as if the paint is literally calling to her. In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels.
-
-
I don't understand the hype
- By Joe on 04-13-20
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
The Killing Moon
- Dreamblood, Book 1
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ancient city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Upon its rooftops and amongst the shadows of its cobbled streets wait the Gatherers - the keepers of this peace. Priests of the dream-goddess, their duty is to harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to heal, soothe . . . and kill those judged corrupt. But when a conspiracy blooms within Gujaareh's great temple, Ehiru - the most famous of the city's Gatherers - must question everything he knows.
-
-
Refreshing Take on Fantasy
- By Patrick on 06-22-12
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
The Way of Kings
- The Stormlight Archive, Book 1
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer
- Length: 45 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter. It has been centuries since the fall of the 10 consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor.
-
-
Great Story!! Cons: slow start & poor narration
- By Monica on 01-17-17
-
Black Sun
- By: Rebecca Roanhorse
- Narrated by: Cara Gee, Nicole Lewis, Kaipo Schwab, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial even proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger.
-
-
5-star Concept; Too Many Threads Left Hanging
- By Lisa Davidson on 10-26-20
-
The Stone Sky
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women. Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe. For Nassun, her mother's mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: That sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.
-
-
Dragged Out
- By Audra Lorton on 07-29-19
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Casaundra Freeman
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian North. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history.
-
-
Eh...
- By bren on 04-10-19
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
The City We Became
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn't remember who he is, where he's from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power. In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it's as if the paint is literally calling to her. In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels.
-
-
I don't understand the hype
- By Joe on 04-13-20
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
The Killing Moon
- Dreamblood, Book 1
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ancient city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Upon its rooftops and amongst the shadows of its cobbled streets wait the Gatherers - the keepers of this peace. Priests of the dream-goddess, their duty is to harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to heal, soothe . . . and kill those judged corrupt. But when a conspiracy blooms within Gujaareh's great temple, Ehiru - the most famous of the city's Gatherers - must question everything he knows.
-
-
Refreshing Take on Fantasy
- By Patrick on 06-22-12
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
The Way of Kings
- The Stormlight Archive, Book 1
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer
- Length: 45 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter. It has been centuries since the fall of the 10 consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor.
-
-
Great Story!! Cons: slow start & poor narration
- By Monica on 01-17-17
-
Black Sun
- By: Rebecca Roanhorse
- Narrated by: Cara Gee, Nicole Lewis, Kaipo Schwab, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial even proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger.
-
-
5-star Concept; Too Many Threads Left Hanging
- By Lisa Davidson on 10-26-20
-
Warbreaker
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
- Length: 24 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Warbreaker is the story of two sisters who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn't like his job, and the immortal who's still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can be collected only one unit at a time.
-
-
Good but Not Great
- By Gregory E. Clifford on 07-15-19
-
The Final Empire
- Mistborn Book 1
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison.
-
-
Prepare for sleepless nights
- By tercia on 10-21-18
-
The Name of the Wind
- Kingkiller Chronicle, Book 1
- By: Patrick Rothfuss
- Narrated by: Nick Podehl
- Length: 27 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man's search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.
-
-
This is why I joined Audible!
- By customer on 02-14-20
By: Patrick Rothfuss
-
How Long 'Til Black Future Month?
- Stories
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Shayna Small, Gail Nelson-Holgate, Robin Eller, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
N. K. Jemisin is one of the most powerful and acclaimed speculative fiction authors of our time. In the first collection of her evocative short fiction, Jemisin equally challenges and delights listeners with thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption.
-
-
Great! One quibble with the audiobook editing
- By L on 03-05-19
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
Hyperion
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Allyson Johnson, Kevin Pariseau, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all.
-
-
Well written but boring
- By surfgoat on 08-06-18
By: Dan Simmons
-
A Memory Called Empire
- Teixcalaan, Book 1
- By: Arkady Martine
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident - or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court. Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion.
-
-
Story is great, weird editing, not great narration
- By Nadia on 06-10-19
By: Arkady Martine
-
A Darker Shade of Magic
- A Darker Shade of Magic, Book 1
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kell is one of the last Travelers - magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes. As such, he can choose where he lands. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there's Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. There's White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now.
-
-
Don't do that, male narrators
- By Sara on 03-12-19
By: V. E. Schwab
-
The Dragon Republic
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 23 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three times throughout its history, Nikan has fought for its survival in the bloody Poppy Wars. Though the third battle has just ended, shaman and warrior Rin cannot forget the atrocity she committed to save her people. Now she is on the run from her guilt, the opium addiction that holds her like a vice, and the murderous commands of the fiery Phoenix - the vengeful god who has blessed Rin with her fearsome power.
-
-
A dark and beautiful fantasy
- By Patrick on 01-06-20
By: R. F. Kuang
-
The Blade Itself
- By: Joe Abercrombie
- Narrated by: Steven Pacey
- Length: 22 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he's on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian - leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies. Nobleman, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, Captain Jezal dan Luthar has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.
-
-
A 22 hour Prequel
- By Kindle Customer on 06-13-19
By: Joe Abercrombie
-
The Fellowship of the Ring
- Book One in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Rob Inglis
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume in the trilogy, tells of the fateful power of the One Ring. It begins a magnificent tale of adventure that will plunge the members of the Fellowship of the Ring into a perilous quest and set the stage for the ultimate clash between the powers of good and evil.
-
-
Audiobook version better than I had hoped
- By James W. on 10-31-18
By: J. R. R. Tolkien
-
The Left Hand of Darkness
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A groundbreaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants can change their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters. Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement.
-
-
Ruined by the narration
- By James Tomasino on 04-15-20
-
Who Fears Death
- By: Nnedi Okorafor
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a far future, post-nuclear-holocaust Africa, genocide plagues one region. The aggressors, the Nuru, have decided to follow the Great Book and exterminate the Okeke. But when the only surviving member of a slain Okeke village is brutally raped, she manages to escape, wandering farther into the desert. She gives birth to a baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand and instinctively knows that her daughter is different.
-
-
Amazing Book, bad narration
- By James Thompson on 11-15-16
By: Nnedi Okorafor
Publisher's Summary
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.
Essun - once Damaya, once Syenite, now avenger - has found shelter, but not her daughter. Instead there is Alabaster Tenring, destroyer of the world, with a request. But if Essun does what he asks, it would seal the fate of the Stillness forever.
Far away, her daughter Nassun is growing in power - and her choices will break the world.
Critic Reviews
Featured Article: Best Authors for Fans of Margaret Atwood
Iconic Canadian author Margaret Atwood is more than a beloved novelist, poet, and essayist. She’s also a feminist, environmental activist, and innovator. Atwood examines important themes across many genres, including nonfiction, poetry, dystopian fiction, science fiction, and retellings of mythology. If you've worked your way through all of her stellar audiobooks and don’t know where to go next, here are some listens by authors similar to Atwood for you to enjoy.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Obelisk Gate
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Vincent Jeffries
- 07-22-18
Enjoyed This, But Won't be Finishing the Series
I really liked the Fifth Season, but struggled a bit to finish this second entry to the Trilogy and won't be reading the last volume.
Jemisin is clearly an accomplished writer and imagines a very rich fantasy world. I never encapsulate plots in my reviews as there are many great resources for that. The themes (to the extent I can comprehend them) of class, race, family and tribalism along with gender contrasts are well presented and thoughtful. There is much to like about this book and it's understandable that NKJ has won many awards for Broken Earth books.
For me, this book suffered a bit from middle-book issues that tend to favor world and character setups over plot developments and resolutions. I can see the conflicts and concerns that will be likely be addressed in the third book, but I don't think I'll invest any more time to find out.
The narration is excellent, and overall, my feelings about the book are positive, but I can't give it a warmer recommendation than that. This is probably a result of my personal feelings about the characters whom I ended up caring less about at the end of this book compared to how deeply invested I was in this story after the Fifth Season.
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jesslyn H
- 08-29-16
Miles is becoming my favorite narrator
Can I give this 10 stars? Jemisin is a freaking writing god. If anything, this was better than the 1st book. I rate this series alongside the Stormlight Archive and have no doubts that I'll be reading and rereading them both many, many times.
The narration was just beautiful. I love the varied accents that Miles can bring to the table.
My only complaint is that the audio and Kindle versions aren't synced so I had to always make sure I switched back and forth at a chapter break. That is more than a bit of a pain.
49 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Darwin8u
- 02-01-20
Father Earth's Lost Child
"But just because you can’t see or understand a thing doesn’t mean it can’t hurt you.”
- N.K. Jemisin
Book two in the Broken Earth trilogy, The Obelisk Gate is reallytwo (well perhaps three) stories woven together. Essun, the primary focus of Book 1 (three stories/narrators in one, perhaps?), and her daughter Nassun This really is one book, but it is a bit like juggling how talented Jemisin is at transitioning voices, perspectives, weaving up/down/forward/backward/in/out and creating a story out of the Earth and out of a mother's need to find her daughter.
If you consider these three books to be one, with one giant narrative arc (which you should) this is the point where the momentum twists, where it seems for a second or forever, like the death of the world will never end. But then the gravity of the series pulls the story back down again and accelerates the reader right into book three.
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- just for reviews
- 03-13-19
Mostly ok, but confusing
Because of the way this book is written, critical parts of it are very confusing. There are sections where you cannot tell through the narration process which character is telling certain important parts of the story. Probably in the text the author might use fonts or something tho give readers clues, but it leaves listeners guessing. The story is good enough to continue the series and hope the parts come together in the end, but it might require a trip to the library.
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 12-28-18
First book was better
Narrator was great, but towards the end the story was dry. Almost didn't finish. Probably won't start the next book.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nathan J Robertson
- 08-29-18
The story begins to take shape
I found the first book lacking for reasons mostly fixed in this book. Still a bit annoyed at the glacial pace certain things happen in but much of that is taking time to answer questions from the last book. I am more interested now after this book but only a little. The book has some fun concepts but the tenor and direction of the protagonist are not resonating with me and it brings down the enjoyment.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Hayes
- 08-27-16
Excellence - A rare gem
If you could sum up The Obelisk Gate in three words, what would they be?
This books continues the story lines from book one. The world is going through another season but this one will last thousands of years with the resulting planet being inhabitable. But the people do not accept this or understand it. It seams that the extinction of the human race is eminent but Alabaster has been to the mountain top and returns (broken and half-dead himself) to tell the only person who can finish what he started to heal the Earth. Tons of questions are answered. Revelations are realized. Nassun comes of age in this madness. Essun grows in her craft, realizes her potential and that she can't do it alone.
It is nothing like N.K. Jemisin's other series which is nothing short of amazing because world building is hard and that is exactly what the writer does here. Among horrifying post-apocalyptic events, dogmatic guardians who believe their evil is good, the mysterious absence and presence of celestial staples we continue to learn about the relationships of the characters, their histories as to how they came to be who they are and one I didn't see coming...Father Earth.
What did you like best about this story?
This books has something for fans of Octavia Butler, Jules Verne, world ending scenarios, dysfunctional families and of course...N. K. Jemisin.
Which character – as performed by Robin Miles – was your favorite?
Alabaster (sp?). I think Robin did an excellent job capturing his unique personality and quirks.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
The constant struggle for acceptance for who a person is as a human being.
Any additional comments?
This is the third world built by this author. I don't know many who can do this. I am not surprised that the author won a Hugo for this series.
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rudranil
- 08-06-18
Like a song with beautiful lyrics, but dull tune..
All the 3 books in the series have beautiful prose. But, the pace is agonizingly slow. Same things are repeated countless times before anything actually happens and the story moves forward. In the end, I just finished the last book only out of obligation to complete the series, but can't say I enjoyed the journey.
The narration, however, is top notch. It complements the beautiful prose and elevates it to a magical level.
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- theresa saso
- 09-06-16
Love this series!!!
Where does The Obelisk Gate rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Current fave in all fiction
What about Robin Miles’s performance did you like?
Mile's voice is like a massage on my ears, and her performance drops me right into the middle of this world.
Any additional comments?
Such an amazingly rich and different world. Extremely unique and a wonderful travel experience. I'm going to listen to the first book again right now.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Heather
- 06-20-17
Interesting Reveals but Mostly Filler
As a follow up to book one, I found this book to be mostly filler. It was one of those books where I was willing to give the author a pass on some style choices but then it really got on my nerves towards the end.
What I enjoyed - We get to learn some interesting information on why there are the seasons. I like the idea of post-humans evolving special abilities (I think that's what happened, anyway). We learn a lot more about the different types of post-humans and their function. Nessun was interesting to see how she learns and deals with her past. I liked the interactions with Alabaster and learning more about stone-eaters. It's a very interesting world she has created.
I had hope, after book one, that she was going the direction of Mark Lawrence's first two series. The idea of a future Earth where they are interacting with old tech that we recognize. While I believe there was this tech in "Obelisk Gate," I could not determine what she was implying they were interacting with. I was especially disappointed when we learn there is magic (instead of them just being post-humans). Finding out that magic is in everything felt like - oh, it's just pantheism. It was like something unique just became cliché with these choices.
The author continues the issues with murkiness in other ways: The use of pronouns became very confusing with several choices the author made. One is the continued choice of using a second person pov for Essun. There are also sections with first person pov and others with third person but you don't know who is talking or being talked to. There are also quotes with redacted parts at the beginning of chapters. I found myself often unsure of what person a pronoun was referring to and the style felt pretentious and not well-deployed.
Another source of annoyance is the extensive focus on everyone's appearance - their hair especially. I have no idea why we should care. Is she trying to imply the movement of humans/post-humans through Earth? As an aside - also there is so much focus on the interpersonal community stuff and I just didn't see how it was relevant to the plot in the end.
The book was okay, but I just think the author fell victim to hubris. I do admire her creativity but she was unsuccessful at implementation of her ideas. She made too many bad style choices and needed more editing.
17 people found this helpful