The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin
397 pages
Published 2016
Read from March 25 to March 27
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
It's been about four months since I read The Fifth Season, the first book in Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy. So much has happened since I read it—a move to another state, being away from my child—that it feels like a lot more time has passed. You know that feeling when you hop back into an epic fantasy series a long time after you read one volume? I had plenty of that throughout this book, many moments of "Wait, who is this again? Was this guy important? What does this word even mean?"
Despite that, Obelisk drew in and maintained my interest in a way none of the books I began this past month have managed. And I started reading quite a few.
On one hand, the narration style—conversational, sarcastic, full of asides and parentheses and a tendency to over-explain—can become grating and repetitive. I think I have some internalized expectation that a tale this epic in scope and intent should be burdened with "serious" writing. It's an often graphic exploration of a human-caused global mass extinction event, after all, with themes of abuse perpetuating itself and deep trauma causing those affected by it to make bad decisions. Surely (goes my expectation) it deserves haunting prose and a measured pace, perhaps something akin to the early novels of Helen Oyeyemi, nothing like this casual and (dare I say it!) flip attitude. Maybe I should examine that mindset, though. The plodding "epic" narration style has been codified in fantasy by generations of white male Tolkien imitators, and outside of genuine talents like Oyeyemi, it often just sucks. Perhaps it's a good thing to get beyond.
On the other hand, Obelisk was a swift read, far brisker than its length would suggest. I was shocked at how quickly I finished it, given my recent issues in maintaining reading interest and momentum. Backstory and fresh plot developments alike come at a rapid pace. Characters drop their barriers and make mistakes and grow. As a middle volume of a fantasy trilogy, it was superbly satisfying.
The book ends on a bit of an eye-rolling note. Spoilers! The main character's estranged daughter, rapidly becoming her equal in skill, resenting the abuse her mother put her through, becomes the main character's opposite, committed to destroying the world even as her mother becomes committed to saving it—a family drama trope that feels a bit on-the-nose, merely a gender-swap away from the core dynamic of far too many fantasy novels. Regardless, I feel confident that Jemisin can make something interesting out of it. I'm excited to complete the trilogy.
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