Name: Simon Crocker's review of The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin
Item: The Stone Sky
Rating: 4.5
Author: Simon Crocker

N. K. Jemisin

Humanity will finally be saved or destroyed in the shattering conclusion to the post-apocalyptic and highly acclaimed NYT bestselling trilogy that won the Hugo Award three years in a row. 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.

The Stone Sky

WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD WINNER OF THE NEBULA AWARD WINNER OF THE LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST FANTASY An Amazon Best Book of the Year The incredible conclusion to the record-breaking triple Hugo award-winning trilogy that began with the The Fifth Season The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women. Essun has inherited the phenomenal power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every outcast 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. Praise for this trilogy: 'Amazing' Ann Leckie 'Breaks uncharted ground' Library Journal 'Beautiful' Nnedi Okorafor 'Astounding' NPR 'Brilliant' Washington Post The Broken Earth trilogy begins with The Fifth Season, continues in The Obelisk Gate and concludes with The Stone Sky - out now. Also by N. K. Jemisin: The Inheritance trilogy The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms The Broken Kingdoms The Kingdom of Gods The Dreamblood Duology The Killing Moon The Shadowed Sun

The Broken Earth, Book 3, WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD 2018

Lauren

“I think," Hoa says slowly, "that if you love someone, you don't get to choose how they love you back."

How can we prepare for the future if we won't acknowledge the past?

Szymon

Solid conclusion to the trilogy, though the ending felt a bit rushed, despite a slower pace for the rest of this book. Leaves me wanting to read more from this author!

Simon Crocker

Whitley

Amanda Sutter

** spoiler alert **
           4.5 ⭐️

I feel so mixed about this one. The story telling was completely on par with The Fifth Season and Obelisk Gate. However I could not get past the fact that what took Nassun a lifetime to master, her daughter figured out on her own as a child in 2 years. And then her daughter was able to do what she couldn’t. Also, I never really felt sympathetic toward Shaffa until the very end, but maybe that’s just me. 

I initially rounded-up to 5 stars because of how masterfully Jemison connects human relationships, power dynamics, and environmental protection, and weaves it all into an gripping narrative, but after a few days I’m feeling annoyed, so we’re rounding down to 4.

Mila Visnjic

Bilge Ince

"I think," Hoa says slowly, "that if you love someone, you don't get to choose how they love you back."

Jemisin tells a compelling story, diving into themes like love, choice, and human relationships. The quote reminds us that love isn’t always straightforward and can be challenging.

The characters in the book are well-developed, and readers can easily connect with their vulnerabilities and hopes. Jemisin’s world-building is excellent, painting a vivid picture of a world where past actions shape the present and future.

As the trilogy’s final book, “The Stone Sky” has a bit more emotional than I’d desire. However the whole universe was amazing and I feel complete now.

I’m using this as more of an overall review/reflection of The Broken Earth Trilogy, specifically the last two installments.

One thing I really appreciated was that there was such a considered and deep understanding of how trauma carries on, and the different ways it can affect people- such as the differences in Essun and Nassun. Regardless of how you feel about their actions, you understand their motivations and the factors that lead to this.

The relationships were all so interesting and well-written, flawed and marred in their own ways but compelling. It was refreshing, and befitting of the world that surrounded them.

There were occasions where the pacing felt too-quick, but this was a minor issue. Essun’s ending also felt somewhat predictable, but this was in no way  a bad thing or detracted from the overall enjoyment of the read. It felt right, and matched the hints that the writing had been dropping throughout the series.

Overall, a compelling and gripping series, if somewhat vague/under explained at times, with nuanced social commentary- I’d highly recommend it!

I’m using this as more of an overall review/reflection of The Broken Earth Trilogy, specifically the last two installments.

One thing I really appreciated was that there was such a considered and deep understanding of how trauma carries on, and the different ways it can affect people- such as the differences in Essun and Nassun. Regardless of how you feel about their actions, you understand their motivations and the factors that lead to this.

The relationships were all so interesting and well-written, flawed and marred in their own ways but compelling. It was refreshing, and befitting of the world that surrounded them.

There were occasions where the pacing felt too-quick, but this was a minor issue. Essun’s ending also felt somewhat predictable, but this was in no way  a bad thing or detracted from the overall enjoyment of the read. It felt right, and matched the hints that the writing had been dropping throughout the series.

Overall, a compelling and gripping series, if somewhat vague/under explained at times, with nuanced social commentary- I’d highly recommend it!

A bit of an anticlimactic end to the trilogy. Overall was a very slow series.

Anna

Caoimhe Creaven 

Jamieson

I liked this, but unfortunately I didn't like it as much as book one and two in the series. review to come.

Laura Kehoe

Emotions. So many emotions running through me right now. On the one hand, that was such a satisfying and sweet ending to an amazing series. But, sad at the same time. I need more, although I do feel like that was the perfect way to end the series. So basically I don't know what the heck is happening in my brain. I loved this book though. Loved, loved, loved, LOVED it!

Ryan LaFerney

Jemisin concludes her Broken Earth trilogy about a vengeful Earth whose tectonic instability can be controlled by the despised and feared orogenes. One of these orogenes, a woman named Essun, is determined to end the tectonic instability once and for all, appeasing the Earth, and possibly reconciling with her daughter in the process. Can it be achieved - especially now she's taking control of the Obelisk Gate and is turning to stone? The powerful and painful collide in The Stone Sky. 

Essun has learned to take control of the Obelisk Gate, but she’s now suffering the same side effects as Alabaster. Every time she uses her powers, part of her turns to stone. Still, now she’s powerful enough that she might be able to use the Obelisk Gate to bring back the moon, appeasing a planet dead set on killing all of humanity. But which is more important: saving the world or saving her daughter, Nassun? Nassun doesn’t want to save the world. After everything she’s been through, she’s decided it’s better to burn it all down. And her power is growing to rival her mother’s. What happens when Essun and Nassun meet again? Can the earth be appeased? Read to find out.

As mentioned, The Stone Sky concludes N.K. Jemisin's The Broken Earth trilogy, a post-apocalyptic fantasy series. This entry is perhaps the most intense in the entire series, as Essun is forced to make some truly devastating choices (no spoilers). The Stone Sky is also a very brilliant and unusual entry into the world of fantasy. The Stone Sky centers around abuse and exploitation, and in many ways, is using fantasy to address real-world exploitations and trauma. This isn't meant to be escape fare. Jemisin writes a number of gruesome scenes with a steel-eyed resolve. And perhaps the most unusual element of this series is it's focus: It also centers on age and dying. Not death. Dying. Characters limbs are literally falling off because they use magic. Where most fantasy stories - even dark ones - focus on the redemption of our heroes, this one isn't about some happy-ever-after. There is some redemption here - kind of - but it's messy. And another the Earth may be appeased in the end, healing takes time, and as Jemisin reminds us: there is much work to do if we wish to make a better society. 

Ms. Jemisin set up the cataclysmic finale of the reunion of mother and daughter, on different sides of whether or not to destroy the world and in The Stone Sky, she sticks the landing. It is truly exhilarating, powerful and painful to witness such reunion. The characters are what make THE STONE SKY and the entire Broken Earth trilogy exemplary reads, but I would be remiss if I didn't give credit to the amazing world that Jemisin has created within these books. It’s the world and the author that shaped these characters. There are a lot of parallels with this fictional Earth and our Earth: the prejudice for those who are different; judging others by their skin tone, their hair, their talents, and their downfalls. Not to mention the cataclysmic world of The Stillness mirrors our own current climate crisis. 

The Broken Earth series is a heartbreaking, epic,, powerful, and fresh fantasy series that deserves to be sat right next to Tolkien on the shelf due to it's rich characterizations, worldbuilding, and influence on the genre in the years to come. 

I look forward to revisiting this challenging series again and again to work through all it's nuances. Good job Jemisin.

renee badenoch

The Stone Sky was a very exciting and satisfying conclusion to the Broken Earth Trilogy. I thought this was by far the best of the series, I was so captivated by the world building, especially as it worked in the Sci-fi elements when explaining how the obelisk gate and the stone eaters were made. The book also did a good job weaving together Essun, Nassun, and Hoa's stories with each other. 

There were still a few questions I had unanswered (I really want to know how our favorite stone eater ended up in the obelisk submerged beneath the coral in book one), but mostly all the loose ends were tied up nicely. Despite the heaviness of the trilogy, it ended on a hopeful note.

eliz

"You can reject these dregs of your old self and pretend that nothing and no one else matters...or you can embrace them. Reclaim them for what they're worth, and grow stronger as a whole."


out of the three books, this one's the hardest to take in. what's complex with the first two books is even more bewildering here. (no, not only because it's science fiction.) I am not completely sure if I understand what I just read but... evil earth, it's so good.


  "Life is sacred in Syl Anagist — as it should be, for the city burns life as the fuel for its glory." ... "...for a society built on exploitation, there is no greater threat for having no one left to oppress. And now, if nothing else is done, Syl Anagist must find a way to fission its people into subgroupings and create reasons for conflict among them."


summarization: everybody is a human being. substantial gap between different creatures (stills, orogenes, stone eaters, guardians) made them believe otherwise. and so confusion shaped the foundation of their diversified beliefs. what's even more fascinating is how you could never hate on any of them. you will come across the parts of separate stories and witness the contrasting desires and objectives of two main characters, the mother and the daughter, but for some reason, you would want both of them to succeed. but it's impossible. 

excerpts:
p. 101 "It has never been clear to us whether we were built wrong, or whether their understanding of us is wrong. Or whether either matters."
p. 216 "How can we prepare for the future if we won't acknowledge the past?"
p. 229 "You know the end of this. Don't you? ... But sometimes it is the how of a thing, not just the endgame, that matters most."
p. 299 "There is life here, among these people. It isn't life as she knows it, or a life she would choose, but life nevertheless."
p. 305 "...sometimes she is surprised to realize Nassun is still her name. How much more different will she be in three years? Ten? Twenty?"
p. 313 "No one really wants to face the fact that the world is the way it is because some arrogant, self-absorbed people tried to put a leash on the rusting planet. And no one was ready to accept that the solution to the whole mess was simply to let orogenes live and thrive and do what they were born to do."

Didi Chanoch

I have called The Broken Earth the defining sff series of this decade, and THE STONE SKY clinches that. This is a series that shows just how much MORE sff can be, how much more it can do, and how devastatingly relevant it can be. Now, more than ever. It is a series about family, and about subjugation, and about the ways the subjugated can and do respond. It is a series of apocalypse. Repeated, searing apocalypse. It is a towering achievement.

Leonor Ribeiro 

Haley Murray

”I think,” Hoa says slowly, “that if you love someone, you don’t get to choose how they love you back.”



i have quite complicated feelings about this series..

for better or for worse, this really is one of the most interesting and original fantasy series’ i have ever read. i have read nothing like it, nothing with this level of world building and detail

that being said, this was quite laborious to read at times. the level of detail and complexity in this world was often so hard to keep up with that it took away from the story being told. i can honestly say that i didn’t really understand what was actually happening and WHY it was happening roughly 30% of the time throughout the entire series. 

i love detail, and i love world building, and for a fantasy series, it’s essential. but this novel, as well as the first two, felt too busy and saturated for me to fully engage with the story. i kept saying “What?” out loud to myself. 

there’s this thing that certain authors do as part of their style
of storytelling and narration where they have their narrator in a stream of consciousness type of situation, and once they piece something together and realize something, instead of having it written out, the author will instead end it with “Oh.” or “Ah, I see.” and assume the reader can piece together what the narrator realized. I. Cant. Stand this… i’m sorry but i do not know what the narrator is thinking?? tell me???

but it wasn’t all bad!!! again this world was so so interesting and unlike anything i’ve read about, and even with the dense world building and complexity, i still did enjoy it for the most part.

Nelson Zagalo

O último volume da trilogia Terra Fraturada — The Stone Sky (2017) — é um trabalho soberbo, na continuação dos volumes anteriores, com direito a uma ampliação da história que vai muito além do esperado, com um ritmo de leitura imparável até ao final. Contudo, se até 2/3 segui Jemisin, e adorei todo o novo enquadramento proposto, perdeu-me no último terço, quando desistiu da ciência para simplesmente abraçar a fantasia. Acabou seguindo, para mim, o caminho mais fácil, fazendo com que o universo que vinha construindo até ali, sempre na fina linha entre ciência e fantasia, se perdesse de vez. Ou seja, continua sendo um grande livro no domínio da FC & Fantasia, mas acabou por se fechar no género, ao contrário do que tinha acontecido antes, especialmente com o primeiro livro.

[Publicado com links e imagem e vídeo no Virtual Illusion:
https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.com...]

A questão da fantasia é tanto mais frustrante quanto percebemos que Jemisin sustenta, do ponto de vista da ciência, quase 80% de tudo aquilo que montou enquanto mundo-história. Sinceramente não percebi a necessidade de extravasar, de dar consciência ao planeta, de introduzir decisões morais em eventos produzidos por aquilo que seriam forças magnéticas entre a Terra e a Lua. Até ao último terço, teria sido possível sustentar praticamente tudo, mesmo a ideia da "magia" que Jemisin coloca sempre em itálico, poderia ser uma espécie de "fluxo de vida", como algo próximo de "energia". Mas não, no final parece que abandonamos o mundo da Terra Fraturada para abraçar o mundo dos super-heróis, a génese dos seus poderes, as intrigas e as missões ocultas de sabotagem, etc. 

Do mesmo modo, o surgimento da raça Niess, uma espécie de novos judeus perseguidos, depois redimidos por via da criação genética dos tuners é não só excessivo, mas desnecessário. Já tínhamos os Roga, com a orogenia e a ferrugem, para quê adicionar mais uma raça de oprimidos? Não existe suporte para tal, não se percebe o sentido, e depois acaba meramente a servir de justificativo moral, bons e maus, para a fantasia do “Pai Terra”, algo que sempre esperei vir a ser explicado como mero mito.

[imagem
O final de "Raised by Wolves" não só abandona a ciência, como entra pelo mundo do bizarro adentro sem nunca olhar para trás.]

A minha experiência de leitura assemelhou-se bastante ao que aconteceu com a recente série de Ridley Scott, "Raised by Wolves" (2020). Se adorei experienciar, ser levado na desvelação de cada nova camada de ideias e conceitos, dedicando-me a descodificar e a significar cada elemento, à medida que o significado derradeiro do mundo se ia evidenciando o meu entusiasmo ia esmorecendo, com o espanto a dar lugar a ausência de reação...

Apesar desta minha deceção, a trilogia só dificilmente não se tornará um clássico da FC, ganhar 3 prémios Hugo seguidos não está ao alcance de qualquer um. NK Jemisin é uma autora imensamente talentosa, e alguém que precisamos de continuar a seguir. Deixo o seu discurso realizado na entrega do terceiro Hugo:

[Publicado com links e imagem e vídeo no Virtual Illusion:
https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.com...]

James Eaton

If you have not read this trilogy, then you need to add it to your list. 

The writing and structure can be a little confusing at first, but the payoff is so good. 

Each book in the trilogy is great. The ending is rewarding and there is plenty of backstory and information about the world (Jemisin is a very thorough author). 

I started 2022 with the first book (The Fifth Season) and I’m so glad I read this series early on this year. It’s a high bar for other series.

Michael Pejin

Rather lackluster ending to the trilogy. Anti-climatic, dragged a lot and suffered from a lot of telling and not showing. So many things happening off screen. Big reveals feeling empty due to how off hand they were presented. Extremely dissatisfied with it after my enjoyment of the first two books.

Zoey Mikalatos

Excellent finale to the trilogy. I loved every minute of it, and even stayed up until around midnight to finish reading it in one day.

Dweedle 

Fantastic trilogy, all the way through. Incredible world building. A must read.

Michelle García

The book was a bit difficult for me (a lot of information to keep track of with my adhd brain) but holy cow was that A GREAT ENDING, very satisfying and just right. Amazing!

Szymon &
The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin

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