Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth Book 2)

Top positive review

Just as complex as The Fifth Season while expanding on its world and characters

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2016

The sequel to the Hugo Award winning The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin's The Obelisk Gate returns to the Stillness as the aftermath of its latest natural disaster takes hold. Essun, the earth-manipulating orogene from TFS, has chosen to stay in the settlement of Castrima to help them with (for lack of a better word) "doomsday preparations" and to train with her former mentor Alabaster Tenring. What is Alabaster's mission for her? A staggering feat that, if successful, could seal the fate of their world. Meanwhile, Essun's 10-year-old daughter Nassun, who was kidnapped in TFS, journeys with her volatile father to a community rumored to "cleanse" orogenes of their powers. Yet Nassun's gifts rapidly mature, and she learns to use them in unimaginable ways - with consequences that could weigh just as heavy as those from her mother's task.

I'm sure that summary will confuse people who haven't read this series yet. But it's difficult to say more without revealing too much of The Obelisk Gate's incredible world-building and the story itself. We learn much more about the Stillness, especially the obelisks and the stone eaters. Questions that were posed during TFS are answered, and more mysteries arise. There were also moments when I ached for Essun, Nassun, Alabaster, and Essun's stone-eater friend Hoa. (That Hoa scene in particular nearly made me cry.) All the emotional investment and immersion made The Obelisk Gate impossible to put down - and when I was forced to put it down, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Normally I'd use this space for criticisms... But I have none. Sure, The Obelisk Gate is intricate in its plotting and unorthodox in structure (e.g., Jemisin still uses second-person narration for Essun's chapters). But after reading TFS and other novels by Jemisin over the past year, I've learned she has reasons for her unconventional choices - and those reasons always reveal themselves in time. So I sat back, absorbed each chapter's events and the characters' choices, and let my speculations percolate. And based on The Obelisk Gate's climax... Oh my word. The Broken Earth is shaping up to be an outstanding trilogy, and I'm so nervous-yet-scared-to-death for its finale next year. Fantasy readers who haven't started this series need to get on it - but make sure you start with The Fifth Season, because The Obelisk Gate won't make sense otherwise.

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cramming too many themes into the story doesn't make it better

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2018

I purchased this book because I really enjoyed the previous in the series, and wanted to know more about the world it narrated. I thought the first one had put enough balls in the air so to speak that the second would expand and explain them. Instead it threw even more balls in the air, which in my opinion created only confusion. So while orogeny was the big "superpower" of the first book, now we are introduced to another ability (magic), which makes less sense than orogeny. We had Fulcrum and Guardians, but now we have factions among guardians, and it's not entirely clear why. We had stills, orogenes and stone eaters before, but now we have factions of stone eaters with different agendas. The motivations for choosing an agenda are also muddled. And since we didn't have enough to talk about, now we have humans doing war to each other.
Why? Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the book enough to finish it quickly and order the next, but why? All the author needed to do was stick to what she had presented in the first book, just explain it in greater depth. Sure some of the new themes are intriguing, which is why I keep reading, but I am starting to have some trouble keeping it all straight.

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ViolettePen

Just as complex as The Fifth Season while expanding on its world and characters

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2016

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Levi Jacobs

Read it.

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2017

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There’s a reason NK Jemisin won the 2016 Hugo for the first book in this series, The Fifth Season. A lot of reasons, actually. And they just get better in The Obelisk Gate.

Take the magic. A looked-down on (rather than the fantasy-trope of revered) class of gifted people can control the forces of the earth, drawing up heat and causing earthquakes in a setting already known for cataclysmic earthquakes every few thousand years. In The Obelisk Gate, Jemisin takes that magic deeper (boldly naming it ‘magic,’ a word fantasy authors have shied away from lately), and adds another layer onto it, building to some epic moments later in the book.

Take the characters. Jemisin’s background as a psychotherapist shines here. I don’t think I’ve read deeper, more complex, more real and loveable-while-hateable-or-vice-versa characters anywhere in fantasy. They are truly top-notch, and in The Obelisk Gate she pushes her characters deeper in quasi-redeeming the villains of the first book, while making her twin protagonists do some pretty terrible things in the name of what they believe in—and they are all written with such attention to the finer points of the human spirit that you walk away feeling more like you’ve read Dostoevsky than Heinlein.

Okay, not to sing only praises: this feels like a middle book. Which is to say, the plot is as much a recovery from book one and a build to book three as it is a story unto itself. Not to say it isn’t wonderful and engrossing, but it is those things kind of like The Two Towers is: wonderful and engrossing with a stress on middles rather than the tight beginning-middle-end we love from well-told tales.

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People say N.K. Jemisin is on the literary end of speculative fiction, but despite unabashedly using second-person for much of the tale, it never comes off as experimentally opaque or different for the sake of being different. The story sucks you in, the plot moves, the magic’s cool—it really just feels like she added a literary depth of character and experimentation with prose to all the things we fantasy readers love about our genre. Not many authors can do that, but Jemisin nails it. At 120,000 words it’s a decent-length book, but I’m not sure it took me two nights to finish (though they were late nights).

Enough praises. This is well worth a read, for pretty much anyone except a Sad Puppy—and it would probably do them some good too. No wonder it’s nominated for a Nebula Award this year. I usually end with some kind of “for fans of this,” or “if you like that” kind of reading recommendation, but no need in this case. Read it.

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Cooper Sharp

Great sequel

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2018

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Awesome! Purchased immediately while in the middle of reading the first book of the series, which I found myself hooked to, and am more than satisfied to see that this isn't some typically poorly written "second book" that seem to stop readers from completing other trilogies. Even though we find out that the origin of orogeny is caused by magic, it is not done in a stereo-typically Lord of the Rings manner, which is a breath of fresh air for those of us who want a break from the Middle Earth-type setting. The story picks up where it left off, and also begins to narrate Nassun's point of view and backstory, including her complicated relationship with her parents, without straying from the original plot after revealing her whereabouts -I appreciate that her maturity level is at her age group instead of being typically written as an adult in a child's body that seems to plague fiction these days, though this is better in that she is just as complex as the adult characters in this gritty series.The author also delves more deeply into the other key characters, their backstories and what motivates their choices as a result, giving them gray areas and making them more human and relatable, without any clear-cut good guy/bad guy or likeable/unlikeable characters in the plot -overall excellent character development in my opinion. Flew by this and started book 3 in a short amount of time.

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Kindle Customer

An amazing sequel to The Fifth Season.

Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2016

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If you've read the Fifth Season, you have been waiting on pins and needles for this sequel. If you haven't read The Fifth Season, go do that NOW. Don't worry, we'll wait.

The Obelisk Gate further develops the world we began to see int he first book. We learn more about the Fulcrum, the Guardians, the obelisks--and even more importantly--about the lives and motivations of characters we have come to love/hate/fear. Essun, as a woman in her mid forties is not your average protagonist. But she is someone who feels a million times more human and relatable than the cardboard cut out perfect princesses of urban fantasy. She is both powerful and humble, kind and cruel, she makes mistakes and has victories. She is in short, a person. And you can feel her blood, sweat and fears throughout the novel.

We finally get to meet Nassun, and understand what is like to be the daughter of such a strong and damaged woman like Essun. We learn more about Hoa. And the dark adversary that Alabaster fights is finally revealed.

This is not a novel that suffers from Second Book Syndrome. So much happens and yet nothing feels rushed. Another brilliant entry into an epic and unforgettable series.

What the hell am I supposed to do with myself until the next book is released?

56 people found this helpful

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Kylie

A wonderful sequel

Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2021

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The Obelisk Gate is my favorite book from what is, in my opinion, one of the best fantasy series ever written.

This book is an absolute dream for anyone who enjoys meaty character conflict. Every character involved is smart, stubborn, flawed, selfish, altruistic, and wholly unique. Though I am particularly fond of the conflict between Alabaster and Essun, the entire community of Castrima is a constantly fluctuating genuine community (and one that is refreshingly non-Lord of the Flies for once).

The addition of Nassun's POV brings such richness to the story. Children (especially POV children) is something I rarely see done well in adult fantasy, and this novel only proves how well it can be done. She strikes a wonderful line between opinionated and containing her own agency, and a naive (but not stupid) understanding of the politics of her world. Her tattered relationships with her mother and father are relatable and devastating despite her extraordinary circumstances.

Ultimately slower than the rest of the novels, I really enjoyed watching the characters get a short minute to breath in what has been non-stop survival and watching the tensions and biases float to the surface. It creates a very slow and satisfying build to renewed tension at the end of the novel and the various conflicts that immediately arise.

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John Murzycki

Book 2 is another “Must Read”

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2022

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The Obelisk Gate may feel like a second book in a trilogy, but it’s still impressive. Much like Book 1, The Fifth Season, I enjoyed how N. K. Jemisin constructed a world unlike those in most fantasies. But she doesn’t dwell on descriptive narrative or rules of the fantastic as much as focusing on the more compelling parts of storytelling. For those who do not read much fantasy, this book may be a bit confusing at times, and essential sections of the plot take their time to be revealed. The magic isn’t always evident, and character motivations are not straightforward.

But it’s consistently fascinating and keeps me wanting more. I’m rarely, if ever, bored. This series (so far) is the perfect example of ideal fantasy: one with sweeping storylines, unique ideas, and captivating characters. I can’t wait to read the next book.

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Dan'l Danehy-Oakes

As good as the first one

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2019

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Is it the middle book of a trilogy?

Yes. Yes, it is. But it does not suffer from middle-book-itis. Part of this is because two new PoV characters are introduced here, one major and one minor. The major new character is the daughter of Essun, the main character of the trilogy. The story is still narrated by the same person as before, still addressing Essun as "you."

At the end of the first book, Essun has joined a community in a huge underground geode, whose people accept orogenes ("roggas") as equals, and indeed have one as their leader. Here the community is endangered from within by social chaos, and from without by a foraging army who have allied with a group of Stone Eaters - a kind of person who is made of rock, and can move through it as if it were air.

In the meanwhile, Nassun and her father Jija have been travelling south, away from the great rift that started the first book, and fall in with a community run by Guardians - the (more-than-) people who were responsible for keeping the orogenes in line. Indeed, Nassun is taken up by Essun's former Guardian, who has mellowed a great deal due to his experiences early in this volume (he is the minor viewpoint character).

Worth noting: all the viewpoionts are mediated by the teller, Hoa, a stone eater who is peculiarly dedicated to Essun, believing she can end the ancient war between the Earth and the life on its surface. This would involve the use of the mysterious obelisks that circle in the Earth's atmosphere; and Essun has already attuned to one of these in the first book, with disastrous results. Hoa _seems_ to be a reasonably-reliable narrator, but who knows...

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Josh Mauthe

A second amazing entry that uses world-building to explore its deeply human characters

Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2018

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I was a huge fan of N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season, the first volume in her "Broken Earth" trilogy, in which she created a lush, compelling, diverse, nuanced fantasy world - and then ripped it apart, kicking off her book with an apocalyptic event that sends her characters into survival mode. More than that, though, there was the way that Jemisin used her unusual structure - interweaving three stories with different narrators and time periods - into one cohesive whole, building not only a lush world but also engaging in rich characterization.

The Obelisk Gate, the second volume in the trilogy, picks up almost immediately after the end of The Fifth Season - in one way, anyways. About half of the book follows Essun, the woman we met in The Fifth Season chasing after her husband - the man who murdered her son and kidnapped her daughter. By the time we ended The Fifth Season, we understood Essun to be so much more than she appeared - a powerful orogene (this series' version of magic users, whose abilities to control the energies of the earth are both this world's salvation and its biggest threat), a survivor of unimaginable trauma and grief, and a fiercely independent woman who has weathered the world's attempts to wear her down. That serves her well in The Obelisk Gate, as Jemisin steers the book into territory it touched on in the first novel - the question of whether orogenes, with their supernatural abilities, can even be counted as human - and explores that in complicated terms, questioning what humankind's relationship is to the earth, and to the other creatures that live there as well. More than anything else, Jemisin asks this question: would the earth be better off without humankind? And what did we do that could cause something like these horrific Seasons?

That's half of the book. Once again, though, Jemisin interweaves through those chapters a second story - that of Essun's daughter, on the run with her murderous father. This is an unexpected choice, but a richly rewarding one, one that allows Jemisin to look at how we pass down intolerance or strength to our children, how children learn to define themselves as separate from their parents, and what it means to come to terms with your heritage. More than that, there's the way that Jemisin is echoing the stories of these two women off of each other, doing a constant compare/contrast that's equal parts great plotting and rich characterization.

In short, then, The Obelisk Gate is every bit as good as The Fifth Season and then some. Once again, Jemisen's worldbuilding is unreal, but more importantly, so is her characterization, which gives every character nuance, depth, backstory, and a richness that's impossible to ignore. There are no easy villains here, no pure heroes, and Jemisin forces us to make tough choices constantly. More than that, though, there's the way that Jemisin uses modern issues - intolerance, racism, xenophobia - in quiet ways to structure her conflicts, creating obvious parallels with modern society that never turn the fantasy into pure allegory. Instead, Jemisen manages the remarkable feat of creating an incredibly human fantasy novel - one that uses its fantastical elements not as an end unto themselves, but as a way of exploring her characters and their relationships with the world (to say nothing of questions about power, authority, society, and more). I can't wait to read The Stone Sky and see how this story ends, but more than that, I'm just glad that there's a lot more Jemisin out there to read.

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Stephanie

Engrossing and unfathomable

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2021

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This book continues following the travails of Essun (Syenite/Damaya), across an unfathomable world radically different from any we've lived in or read about before. We learn much more about what orogeny really is and what it's for, and we get some pieces of the bigger picture. Like why the Stillness...IS, and what Essun has to do.

Outstanding read. Completely engrossing and original and fantastical. I couldn't put it down, and came upon the end abruptly, eliciting a loud expletive in real life. Am purchasing book three as soon as I click submit.

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Jesslyn H

Series Review

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2017

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Review added to all books in series)
This was so good, I'll probably re-read the entire series again by the end of this year. This was truly a 5-course meal of a trilogy. Jemisin never hesitated staring an ugly truth right in the eye and it really paid off. Nothing came easy and there wasn't a hint of a Mary Sue moment.

It was refreshing to be offered a series where the main character was over 40, had kids and had already lived a full range of experiences. This is the second series that I've read by Jemisin and as much as I loved the 1st one (The Inheritance Trilogy), this was even better. I hope it doesn't sound pompous, but you can see more maturity in both the writing and the story-line.

The audio-book narrator, Robin Miles, is headed to the top of my narrator list. She can add everything from an African to a Gaelic? to a Slavic accent without sounding fake. It really brings the characters to life in a nice way.

I'm sure I'll still be re-reading this series decades from now. It's easy to see why Jemisin won the Hugo back to back on this one.

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