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donnawr1's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not normally a sci-fi/ fantasy fan, but I did really enjoy the beauty of the writing in this entire trilogy, and the final book did a great job of creating a satisfying ending. The author is highly skilled in her craft and I particularly enjoyed her use of point of view in the entire series. I kept finding myself sighing each time I realized how well she had just written some part or another. Her world building is superb and she created a future that seemed reasonable. I loved the whole premise of Father Earth being angry at human-kind for it's greedy use of its resources. The perspective of a woman of color came through in the story somehow, greatly adding to its unique flavor. Great ending to a great story.
aneges's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I'm a bit sad that I've come at the end of this story.
It was a fitting end to the trilogy and I'm glad that we got a glimpse on how and why the seasons happened. The writing was intense and powerful in the best way, even though I didn't feel fully emotionally attached to the characters I felt the rage in the prose. It's hard for me to describe.
There is also so much said between the lines, sometimes more openly than others, but it doesn't give you a clean answer of what is wrong and what is right. Most of the characters did some terrible things but at the same time you understand them because of the circumstances.
I appreciated that there is some hopefulness in the end, without being too unrealistic which would have clashed with the overall story.
I am glad I got to read it and will probably think about it for a long time.
It was a fitting end to the trilogy and I'm glad that we got a glimpse on how and why the seasons happened. The writing was intense and powerful in the best way, even though I didn't feel fully emotionally attached to the characters I felt the rage in the prose. It's hard for me to describe.
There is also so much said between the lines, sometimes more openly than others, but it doesn't give you a clean answer of what is wrong and what is right. Most of the characters did some terrible things but at the same time you understand them because of the circumstances.
I appreciated that there is some hopefulness in the end, without being too unrealistic which would have clashed with the overall story.
I am glad I got to read it and will probably think about it for a long time.
jmta's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
emmahollis's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
craigt1990's review against another edition
5.0
N.K Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy is a critically lauded fantasy series, having scooped the Hugo award, like the Oscar of fantasy books, not once but thrice. A first I believe that a trilogy of books has gone on to receive a Hugo award for each instalment. So the expectation was set high going into the series. So did it disappoint or is it’s hype deserved.
It is thoroughly deserved.
N.K Jemisin’s characters in this series are complex. If you know anything about the author, which I didn’t until I looked her up, you’ll know she was a psychologist by training and profession before and during her writing.
The books story focuses on the relationship between a mother and her daughter and between the Earth and it’s moon. The author writes the Earth as a living sentient being with its own will. During the story we see our mother and daughter become separated quite literally at opposite ends of the world. The moon is already separated from the Earth but it’s reentry into orbit as a satellite is crucial to the storyline and parallels the mother-daughter story right up until the climactic finale which does not disappoint.
In my opinion it ends up being as much a SF as it is fantasy once the story unravels itself and you get into the history of the obelisks and Syl Anagist, and ancient high tech civilisation which basically created replicants and sophisticated technologies and started the whole feud with the Earth off in the first instance. The way in which this unravels is very satisfying.
The characters and traumas they experience and how much they grow and have to go through and empathise with other people’s views and learn to cooperate for a better future is what separates this book from others.
It’s extremely well written and the way in which the mistreatment of people and the planet are so central to the story in such a bold way is refreshing and exciting.
The finale of the book and the aftermath and the way in which the final couple of pages leaves it is a satisfying end to one of the greatest fantasy/SF trilogies ever written.
It is thoroughly deserved.
N.K Jemisin’s characters in this series are complex. If you know anything about the author, which I didn’t until I looked her up, you’ll know she was a psychologist by training and profession before and during her writing.
The books story focuses on the relationship between a mother and her daughter and between the Earth and it’s moon. The author writes the Earth as a living sentient being with its own will. During the story we see our mother and daughter become separated quite literally at opposite ends of the world. The moon is already separated from the Earth but it’s reentry into orbit as a satellite is crucial to the storyline and parallels the mother-daughter story right up until the climactic finale which does not disappoint.
In my opinion it ends up being as much a SF as it is fantasy once the story unravels itself and you get into the history of the obelisks and Syl Anagist, and ancient high tech civilisation which basically created replicants and sophisticated technologies and started the whole feud with the Earth off in the first instance. The way in which this unravels is very satisfying.
The characters and traumas they experience and how much they grow and have to go through and empathise with other people’s views and learn to cooperate for a better future is what separates this book from others.
It’s extremely well written and the way in which the mistreatment of people and the planet are so central to the story in such a bold way is refreshing and exciting.
The finale of the book and the aftermath and the way in which the final couple of pages leaves it is a satisfying end to one of the greatest fantasy/SF trilogies ever written.
cheerbrarian's review against another edition
5.0
I did it! I finished the trilogy!!! It feels a little weird to be proud, I mean, I've read a trilogy before, but because I started this journey with an arched eyebrow toward fantasy I feel like I have come out on the other side as a little different, a true fantasy fan. And that credit goes to the awe-inspiring Jemisin. I went down a bit of an internet rabbithole reading about her because she is so cool and smart and found an early AMA she did on Reddit so I'll let her explain in her own words why you should read her books, and what I learned about fantasy.
Hmm -- I'd have to say that if you think of epic fantasy as formulaic, then you should read my books because they're not. Or at least, I try not to make them so. I usually tell people that if you used to like epic fantasy and got bored with it, or if you've never touched it in the first place because you think it's all faux-medieval-Europe and guys with mighty thews, then give my stuff a try.
And therein was my problem! I was defining fantasy as "faux-medieval-Europe and guys with mighty thews." And like. She used the word thews?! C'mon. (Fans self)
I hope everyone I know is excited to hear me talk about this book and trilogy forever because that is what is going to happen. What a joyful experience reading N.K. Jemisin is. She is so freaking smart it is mind blowing. This trilogy finished as strong as it started and wrapped everything up in a pretty satisfying way. If you were paying close attention there weren't necessarily big surprises but when you are on a three book journey it's nice to have a satisfying and thoughtful conclusion. For me it did drag a little diving back into the Stone Eater past, so my pace slowed a bit, but altogether I have nothing but heaps of praise for this book, the series and Jemisin.
Hmm -- I'd have to say that if you think of epic fantasy as formulaic, then you should read my books because they're not. Or at least, I try not to make them so. I usually tell people that if you used to like epic fantasy and got bored with it, or if you've never touched it in the first place because you think it's all faux-medieval-Europe and guys with mighty thews, then give my stuff a try.
And therein was my problem! I was defining fantasy as "faux-medieval-Europe and guys with mighty thews." And like. She used the word thews?! C'mon. (Fans self)
I hope everyone I know is excited to hear me talk about this book and trilogy forever because that is what is going to happen. What a joyful experience reading N.K. Jemisin is. She is so freaking smart it is mind blowing. This trilogy finished as strong as it started and wrapped everything up in a pretty satisfying way. If you were paying close attention there weren't necessarily big surprises but when you are on a three book journey it's nice to have a satisfying and thoughtful conclusion. For me it did drag a little diving back into the Stone Eater past, so my pace slowed a bit, but altogether I have nothing but heaps of praise for this book, the series and Jemisin.
megancmahon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Spoilers!
I am absolutely blown away by this book. It's a beautiful saga about cycles of oppression, what it means to dehumanize someone, and building new worlds. It pulls no punches and offers no false hope, just tells an incredible story of how one world ends, and another begins.
The second in this series, The Obelisk Gate, raised more questions than it answered for me. But this book answers them all, and in a fascinating way. One of the things I love best about Jemisin's work is that it's CHALLENGING. It makes a reader THINK. I feel like the age of BookTok has reduced a lot of publishing down to its sparest elements while sacrificing complexity and nuance. Not here!! This is a complex story that challenges its readers to keep up and, in some cases, to make their own conclusions.
This last book in the series was also the culmination of some beautiful character arcs, and I fell in love with them all even more. I never thought that I could like Schaffa, but his love for Nassun, and hers for him, really touched me. Nassun herself made me want to give her a hug: this poor girl was so beaten down by the world that she could be easily manipulated to end it. But I loved her ending: she isn't sure where to go forward from there. She still has so many things to do, and work through. But the whole point, the whole victory, is that she's alive to do those things should she want to. She made her choice, helped by her mother, and now she has a future.
ESSUN. I loved reading the whole of her story. What really drives Essun's tale here is love, and her ending - sacrificing herself, and (to her mind) the world, because she loves Nassun - was so perfect. Nassun got to see that she wasn't alone, that despite it all her mother loved her. By giving it up, Essun's last act as a human was to save the world.
The final ending of this book made me cry. And I LOVE that Essun got to live, with Hoa (as the reincarnation of Kelenli?? Who knows...) and see the beginning of something new: a truce with the Earth, a world without Seasons, and a society that survives through unity.
Side notes: I LOVED the little inserts of other scholarship at the end of each chapter, particularly in this book, because they show that the true role of orogenes has been vastly underestimated and that all scholarship that discussed their essentialness and humanity was stifled. Also...poor Lerna.
"Don't be patient. Don't ever be. This is the way a new world begins."
I am absolutely blown away by this book. It's a beautiful saga about cycles of oppression, what it means to dehumanize someone, and building new worlds. It pulls no punches and offers no false hope, just tells an incredible story of how one world ends, and another begins.
The second in this series, The Obelisk Gate, raised more questions than it answered for me. But this book answers them all, and in a fascinating way. One of the things I love best about Jemisin's work is that it's CHALLENGING. It makes a reader THINK. I feel like the age of BookTok has reduced a lot of publishing down to its sparest elements while sacrificing complexity and nuance. Not here!! This is a complex story that challenges its readers to keep up and, in some cases, to make their own conclusions.
This last book in the series was also the culmination of some beautiful character arcs, and I fell in love with them all even more. I never thought that I could like Schaffa, but his love for Nassun, and hers for him, really touched me. Nassun herself made me want to give her a hug: this poor girl was so beaten down by the world that she could be easily manipulated to end it. But I loved her ending: she isn't sure where to go forward from there. She still has so many things to do, and work through. But the whole point, the whole victory, is that she's alive to do those things should she want to. She made her choice, helped by her mother, and now she has a future.
ESSUN. I loved reading the whole of her story. What really drives Essun's tale here is love, and her ending - sacrificing herself, and (to her mind) the world, because she loves Nassun - was so perfect. Nassun got to see that she wasn't alone, that despite it all her mother loved her. By giving it up, Essun's last act as a human was to save the world.
The final ending of this book made me cry. And I LOVE that Essun got to live, with Hoa (as the reincarnation of Kelenli?? Who knows...) and see the beginning of something new: a truce with the Earth, a world without Seasons, and a society that survives through unity.
Side notes: I LOVED the little inserts of other scholarship at the end of each chapter, particularly in this book, because they show that the true role of orogenes has been vastly underestimated and that all scholarship that discussed their essentialness and humanity was stifled. Also...poor Lerna.
"Don't be patient. Don't ever be. This is the way a new world begins."
johnnaingram's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This series as a whole was well written. Particularly in this book I enjoyed the journey we went on and the conclusion. However I did not connect fully with the characters and thus found myself completing this series for the sake of completion.
Actually, I take that back. I do like Hoa a lot. I think I kept reading for him.
Actually, I take that back. I do like Hoa a lot. I think I kept reading for him.
gabalodon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oof.
So much to chew on in this entire trilogy and what a hopeful way to end something so devastating.
So much to chew on in this entire trilogy and what a hopeful way to end something so devastating.
cal_the_queer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0