The Obelisk Gate The Broken Earth: Book 2

Just a solid series all around.

fucking nonsensical

i like this series but this book was very boring. a lot of the time it felt like nothing was going on and it was a drag to get through. gonna stick it out for the final book, bec i am excited to see where it goes. like i love the character, world and concept still, it was just a smidge boring this time around.

boring.

Que livro lindoooo lindo lindo. Essa autora é tão inteligente, da vontade de entrar na cabeça dela para entender melhor o que ta acontecendo. É um tipico segundo livro, não acontece muita coisa mas o final é maravilhoso. Sinto que conheci e entendi muito melhor a Essun nessa história, e fiquei muito triste por todas as coisas que aconteceram com ela e tudo que ela sentiu. Sobre Nassun, não sei muito bem aonde a autora quer levar a história dela, o que me deixa muito animada para continuar logo. Acho essa série tão incrível porque é uma fantasia tão diferente, como nada que li antes, mas que mesmo assim é tão proximo de nós como sociedade em todas as situações que ocorrem. Tem que ser muito talentoso pra escrever isso aqui.

This book makes me want to be smarter

outstanding.

compared to the fifth season, the obelisk gate elaborated more on different povs and dynamics amongst the characters.

THANK GOD FOR N.K. JEMISIN.

A book rich in character development and a slightly predictable ending. Looking forward to reading the third novel in the trilogy!

Still really good! The worldbuilding and setting and characters and issues of the whole series are strong enough to hold this middle book up. That said, it did feel more static and regurgitative compared to the high-inducing experience of the first book. I also found it more confusing, plot-wise, maybe a little uneven. I think the highlight of this book for me was getting to see Nassun's POV and character development, which felt very mirrored to her mother's self-discovery and strengthening/hardening in the first one, with the twist of Nassun's own experiences and situation. Excited to see how the threads (wink!) coalesce in the finale! Side note: being immersed in the POVs and world of magical beings really lifts you up only to thunk you back down in the muggle world. Woe is sci-fi/fantasy.

Ms Jemisin had changed the fantasy game. This series has raised my fantasy standards, I can’t believe they used to be in hells basement. My bar is higher now I am a changed person Although bk1 is more twisty and clever book2 is more sustained and takes much needed time to develop the mc and the magic system. I appreciated it A LOT Review to come

I honestly thought this was incredibly slow and did not have a lot of story-line. It kind of felt like a book full of filler... Not sure if I'll continue with the series.

The Obelisk Gate is the sequel to the excellent The Fifth Season and the middle volume of the Broken Earth trilogy, N.K. Jemisin's critically-acclaimed take on the venerable Dying Earth subgenre. The Fifth Season was a highly accomplished novel, describing a brand new world with skill and intelligence and blending together elements of fantasy, post-apocalyptic fiction and a dash of the weird to create something compelling and interesting. Transitioning from where The Fifth Season left off, The Obelisk Gate is a stunning sequel. The non-linear plot of two past timelines and a present one converged towards the end of the first book, and The Obelisk Gate takes the story forward almost immediately with the second person present POV of Essun. There are two new third-person POVs. One is a character from the first book, Schaffa, and another which was only mentioned but not seen, Nassun, Essun’s daughter, who ran away with her father after he beat to death her brother. The Obelisk Gate mainly moves between Essun's story and that of her daughter’s Nassun. The first book was an extended road trip - mainly through the eyes of Essun, the second book alternates between Essun's static story in a local comm and Nassun's long journey across thousands of miles into the far south with her abusive father, who desires to cure her “orgeny”. This changes things up nicely and means that Essun, now a guest of the community of Castrima, has to actually stay put, learn what's going on from Alabaster and help defend the community from outsiders that would steal their supplies, even while she fears prejudice and hatred from members of her own comm. The worldbuilding deepens in this installment, with fresh revelations about the distant past and the true and alarming nature of the enigmatic stone eaters. But as in the previous volume, it’s the people who take front and center: Nassun and Essun are fascinating characters. And Jemisin’s depictions of mob behavior are frighteningly realistic. This rightfully deserved the Hugo award. The Obelisk Gate is a powerful middle volume. Put this series next to Lord of The Rings for best Fantasy.

4.25 stars | this series is blowing my mind.

i would give nk jemisin the entire universe "After all, a person is herself, and others. Relationships chisel the final shape of one's being. I am me, and you. Damaya was herself and the family that rejected her and the people of the Fulcrum who chiseled her to a fine point. Syenite was Alabaster and Innon and the people of poor lost Allia and Meov. Now you are Tirimo and the ash-strewn road's walkers and your dead children...and also the living one who remains." First of all, I would like to take a moment to appreciate this author's introductory paragraph(s). Caught me off guard once again, just like the first book did. The best thing is, nothing gets bad. Father Earth is still deteriorating and everybody's flaw started to show and civilization is (still) about to be totally wiped out, yes. But that's what made this book even better. At first I find it slow but never dragging, because every character was given an exposure for a reason (literally no tapon no extra-lang). Surprisingly relaxing and frustrating and nerve-racking. Did not expect that the gaps will be filled out this way but surely excited for the last piece!! excerpts: (wish I could put more but technically most of my fave lines = spoiler) p. 7 "He can sleep through anything. The songs of the earth have always been his lullaby." p. 163 "Thirty thousand years? Forty? A long time to be pathetic creatures we are now, huddling behind our walls and putting all our wits, all our learning, toward the singular task of staying alive. ... Once, we were so much more." (wish I could put more but technically most of my fave lines = spoiler)

The second book in this series is simpler in structure than the first. The chronology is mostly linear. Much of the story takes place in one location. But we get more information about Essun and her daughter Nassun, as well as more information about the Stone Eaters. [Y'all, I listened to the audiobook. I may spell the names wrong since I haven't eye-read them. I had to look back at other reviews just to get the names of the main characters spelled right.] It's a good continuation of the story, though not quite as compelling as the first one. I've got volume 3 queued up on my audio player, so I'll be listening to that pretty soon! Distracting annoyance: Audible narrator Robin Miles appears to pronounce spinel (I think that's the word she's using) as SPY-nel (like spine, with el hooked on the end.) Seriously???

What do you do, after writing a blindingly impressive fantasy novel as the first in a series? If you're Nora Jemisin, you follow it up with a sequel that may be better. As this is the second in a trilogy, and as just about anything I have to say will be a spoiler, I'll just say this: Read this series. The Broken Earth is staggering. The language, the characters, the worldbuilding, the story. No element is weaker than the rest. All are almost ridiculously strong. If you played the Mass Effect 3 DLC "Citadel," you may be familiar with with the arena in that game. As Shepard, you can basically break the scoring system of the arena. If I could award this book the number of stars it deserves, it would break Goodreads' scoring system.

*4.5

3.5 god damn this is so complex.. like the world building is so hard to follow sometimes it kind of takes me out of the story :/ but for the most part, still enjoyable

I know I've read this before, but for some reason I could not for the life of me remember much of the last half. Soooooo glad I reread this beauty. N.K Jemisin is just so fantastic. This series is terrific!

"O Portal dos Obeliscos" é o segundo livro da trilogia "Terra Fraturada" de N.K. Jemisin. Apesar de receber o segundo prémio Hugo consecutivo, o livro foi atacado por alguns fãs por sofrer do chamado síndrome do "segundo livro", ou "livro do meio", de que discordo. Apesar de poder considerar este livro ligeiramente inferior ao primeiro, continua a apresentar níveis de envolvimento, de construção de mundo e desenvolvimento de personagens de grande qualidade. Mais importante, a narrativa prossegue, de modo brilhante, cruzando fantasia e ficção-científica, com várias explicações de grande relevo a surgirem e a fazerem elevar toda a nossa compreensão do mundo-história iniciado no primeiro livro. Inevitavelmente sente-se que estamos em trânsito, que vimos de algum lado e temos um lugar aonde queremos chegar. Este segundo livro preenche o que faltava no primeiro, abre mais elementos do jogo, mas deixa ainda muito suspenso no ar que nos obriga a partir para a leitura do terceiro para poder chegar à compreensão do universo criado por Jemisin. Continuamos a ter narração em 2ª pessoa o que continua a surpreender-me pela forma belíssima como funciona, e é já uma marca da série. Continuamos a ter personagens densos, intrincados totalmente humanos apesar da sua suposta não-humanidade. Aliás o gozo de ler uma série como estas está na forma como Jemisin cruza géneros, como ora estamos a ler conflitos, lutas, traições, clichés de um género, para a seguir entrarmos em descrições complexas sobre geologia e física, e na página seguinte estarmos dentro dos personagens em total indagação sobre a razão de continuar a ser. Neste livro senti que o modo como a história vai refinando a ciência e humano se aproxima de algum modo dos mundos trabalhado por Alex Garland, o que inevitavelmente me atrai ainda mais para dentro do mundo-história. O ponto menos bom do livro, mas era-o já no primeiro, assenta no modo algo denso e caótico como muita exposição vai sendo feita que dificulta a completa compreensão, ou melhor, a compreensão fácil de tudo que está a acontecer. Claro que isso ajuda à produção de mistério, mas por vezes sentimos algum desespero tentando recordar que personagem é, ou em que conflito foi relevante, e ligar as informações para chegar ao que autora está a tentar passar. Como digo, acredito que podia ser melhor cozinhado, mas isso faria com que se perdesse alguma similitude com o próprio mundo, caótico, que está a ser descrito. A diversidade e inclusão continua à flor da pele, muitas situações conflituais são facilmente identificáveis como analogias da nossa realidade o que torna o universo em si ainda mais atrativo e relevante. E agora resta-nos o terceiro livro, perceber de que são verdadeiramente capazes Essun e Nassun e qual a explicação para o surgimento dos Comedores de Pedra e da Orogenia. Publicado no VI: https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.com...

I love this series. Jemisin is an amazing writer and this series is just so good. Excited to finish this series soon.

AMAZING! Excellent sequel to the first book. "The way of the world isn't the strong devouring the weak, but the weak deceiving and poisoning and whispering in the ears of the strong until they become weak, too."