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N. K. Jemisin

The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth, 2) Paperback – August 16, 2016

by N. K. Jemisin (Author)

4.6 23,499 ratings

Book 2 of 3: The Broken Earth

Editors' pick Best Science Fiction & Fantasy

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Essun's missing daughter grows more powerful every day, and her choices may destroy the world in this "magnificent" Hugo Award winner and NYT Notable Book. (NPR)

The season of endings grows darker, as civilization fades into the long cold night.

Essun -- once Damaya, once Syenite, now avenger -- has found shelter, but not her daughter. Instead there is Alabaster Tenring, destroyer of the world, with a request. But if Essun does what he asks, it would seal the fate of the Stillness forever.

Far away, her daughter Nassun is growing in power -- and her choices will break the world.

N. K. Jemisin's award winning trilogy continues in the sequel to The Fifth Season.

Book 2 of 3

The Broken Earth
Print length

448 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Orbit
Publication date

August 16, 2016
Dimensions

5.45 x 1.55 x 8.15 inches
ISBN-10

0316229261
ISBN-13

978-0316226172
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Popular Highlights in this book

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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.
Highlighted by 2,036 Kindle readers
But it is one thing to resolve to die, quite another to actually carry out that resolve in the midst of dying.
Highlighted by 1,064 Kindle readers
Now you know that miracles are a matter of just effort, just perception, and maybe just magic.
Highlighted by 878 Kindle readers

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Jemisin is now a pillar of speculative fiction, breathtakingly imaginative and narratively bold."―Entertainment Weekly

"Beyond the meticulous pacing, the thorough character work, and the staggering ambition and revelations of the narration, Jemisin is telling a story of our present, our failures, our actions in the face of repeated trauma, our responses to the heat and pressure of our times. Her accomplishment in this series is tremendous. It pole-vaults over the expectations I had for what epic fantasy should be and stands in magnificent testimony to what it could be."―NPR on The Obelisk Gate

"Jemisin builds off of the strong foundation laid in The Fifth Season ... an interesting new series."
―Booklist on The Obelisk Gate

"Exceptional."―Library Journal (starred review) on The Obelisk Gate

"Stunning, again."―Kirkus (starred review) on The Obelisk Gate

"[How] can something as large and complex as this story exist in her head, and how does she manage to tell it to me so beautifully? I can't stand how much I love The Broken Earth trilogy so far.... Absolutely dazzling."―B&N Reviews on The Obelisk Gate

"Stunning.... Jemisin's most accomplished series yet."―RT Book Reviews on The Obelisk Gate

"Jemisin is a tremendously talented writer on every level and she's at the top of her game here. I love books that beat me up and take my lunch money, and this one left me bruised, breathless, and desperate for the final volume."―Rose Fox, senior reviews editor Publishers Weekly, (PW Staff Picks: The Best Books We Read in 2016) on The Obelisk Gate

"Brilliant characters, vivid world, and pacing . . . .The Obelisk Gate is an incredibly ambitious and important novel."―The Verge on The Obelisk Gate

"Intricate and extraordinary."―New York Times on The Fifth Season

"[The Fifth Season is] an ambitious book, with a shifting point of view, and a protagonist whose full complexity doesn't become apparent till toward the end ... Jemisin's work itself is part of a slow but definite change in sci-fi and fantasy."―Guardian on The Fifth Season

"Astounding... Jemisin maintains a gripping voice and an emotional core that not only carries the story through its complicated setting, but sets things up for even more staggering revelations to come."―NPR Books on The Fifth Season

"Jemisin's graceful prose and gritty setting provide the perfect backdrop for this fascinating tale of determined characters fighting to save a doomed world."―Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on The Fifth Season

"A must-buy...breaks uncharted ground."―Library Journal (starred review) on The Fifth Season

"Jemisin might just be the best world builder out there right now.... [She] is a master at what she does." ―RT Book Reviews (Top Pick!) on The Fifth Season

"[A] powerful, epic novel of discovery, pain, and heartbreak." ―SFF World on The Fifth Season

"This is an intense, exciting novel, where survival is always on the line, set in a fascinating, original and dangerous world with an intriguing mystery at the heart of it. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!"―Martha Wells on The Fifth Season

"Stunning and well constructed ... a book that imbues itself with deeper meaning the more it unfolds and reveals itself, and by the end, I saw everything in a new light. I knew Jemisin was talented, being a huge fan of her Inheritance and Dreamblood books, but here she employs heretofore unseen skills."―Lightspeed on The Fifth Season

"One of the most celebrated new voices in epic fantasy."―Salon.com

"With every new work, Jemisin's ability to build worlds and break hearts only grows."―Kirkus (starred review)

"Heartbreaking, wholly unexpected, and technically virtuosic, The Fifth Season is a tour-de-force. I felt every shock--and the book is packed with them--in my marrow. It's no exaggeration to say that Jemisin expands the range of what great fantasy can be."―Brian Staveley, author of The Emperor's Blades

About the Author

N. K. Jemisin is a Brooklyn author who won the Hugo Award for Best Novel for The Fifth Season, which was also a New York Times Notable Book of 2015. She previously won the Locus Award for her first novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and her short fiction and novels have been nominated multiple times for Hugo, World Fantasy, Nebula, and RT Reviewers' Choice awards, and shortlisted for the Crawford and the James Tiptree, Jr. awards. She is a science fiction and fantasy reviewer for the New York Times, and you can find her online at nkjemisin.com.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orbit; Reprint edition (August 16, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316229261
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316226172
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.45 x 1.55 x 8.15 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #24,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,013 in Fantasy Action & Adventure
- #1,901 in Epic Fantasy (Books)
- #2,198 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 23,499 ratings

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N. K. Jemisin

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

N. K. Jemisin is a Brooklyn author who won the Hugo Award for Best Novel for The Fifth Season, which was also a New York Times Notable Book of 2015. She previously won the Locus Award for her first novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and her short fiction and novels have been nominated multiple times for Hugo, World Fantasy, and Nebula awards, and shortlisted for the Crawford and the James Tiptree, Jr. awards. She is a science fiction and fantasy reviewer for the New York Times, and you can find her online at nkjemisin.com.

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4.6 out of 5

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Andrew Britton

Thank you for another thrilling read.

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2023

Verified Purchase

NK Jemisin just seems to have a way with plot, prose, and layered characters that makes for one heck of a read.

I was worried Book 2 couldn’t match the stellar Book 1, but I thoroughly enjoyed the second installment of this adventure.

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Ms. Parker

Great series, I recommend.

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2023

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The author provided enough character development that you can imagine what is like walking in their shoes. Start with the first book in the series and you'll be hooked.

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melanie (meltotheany / jtotheimin)

5/5

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2017

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I finished this book just after it won its Hugo award for the best novel of 2017. This and The Fifth Season are so deserving of the awards and praise they receive. These books leave me wordless, because there is no explaining how much of a meaningful impact these books have on the world, let alone the SFF community. All I can truly say is thank you to N.K. Jemisin for this world, these characters, and these important messages that continue to render me speechless.

I also finished this book the same night that white supremacists rallied at Charlottesville and spread their hate in my country. The country that says we are past racism. The country that is constantly telling us that we are the greatest and most forward-thinking country of all time. The country that’s passing this hatred and violence off as “free speech”.

“But if you stay, no part of this comm gets to decide that any part of this comm is expendable. No voting on who gets to be people.”

Literature does represent our real life. The Broken Earth trilogy makes us feel the things it does because it mimics our world today. It shows us the oppression unapologetically, and this oppression doesn’t just live in this SFF book, it’s in our world right now, even if you’re choosing to keep your eyes closed to it. This series is a masterpiece and I hope you read it, but I also hope you learn from it.

The Obelisk Gate picks up where The Fifth Season left off, where earth’s civilization is beginning to prepare for a new Season. What doesn’t kill them quickly, will starve them to death slowly. This book mostly follows Essun, one of the most powerful Orogene in existence, where she is trying to live in a new community in a rather strange location. She meets up with old friends who are now also a part of this community, but her thoughts never stray from her daughter that has been missing since the start of The Fifth Season. Essun is also met with new problems and dilemmas that are so much bigger than the community she is residing in.

This is one of the most immersive books I’ve ever read. The narrative of this book just forcefully will pull the reader into this broken world, regardless of if they want to or not. You can’t help all the connections you will feel and form subconsciously. You end up with this experience that just feels so real and so emotionally overwhelming. Plus, I read this with so many tears in my eyes constantly, because even though this earth is trying to kill everyone that inhabits it, it is still the humans that are the terrifying villains.

Also, this is the most beautifully crafted diverse cast I’ve ever read in any piece of literature. The representation is just on an entirely differently level. And I believe with my whole heart that every other author out there should aspire to seamlessly create their cast of characters like N.K. Jemisin.

On top of the amazing diversity and representation, as a woman, I really sympathize with the underlying theme of motherhood throughout this series. I do not currently have any children, but I’d one day like to, and this book just emphasizes that there is no word to describe the love a mother feels for her child/children. Like, this book is heartbreakingly beautiful, and this constant reminder of how it feels to lose a child is something I can’t put into words. I think that is every parents’ greatest fear and this book doesn’t shy away from that topic ever. The heart of this novel is oppression, but the soul of this novel is that there is nothing a parent wouldn’t do to protect their child.

“You serve a higher purpose, little one. Not any single man’s desire—not even mine. You were not made for such petty things.”

But this all being said, this book does feel like the second book in a series, and it feels like it’s leading up to what I’m sure will be a perfect ending in The Stone Sky. There wasn’t any filler so to speak, but the events very slowly unraveling to put the pieces in place so that everything makes sense. But please, don’t let that stop you from giving this once in a lifetime series a try. It truly is a masterpiece that deserves all the praise and hype that is bestowed upon it.

5 people found this helpful

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Edgar

Good read

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2023

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Fast service. Good price. Good read

Helpful

Unique and Genuinely Different

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2017

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This series is a little different from many that I’ve read recently. I said in my prior review that it seemed like a Dystopian Fantasy and I believe it is classified as Sci-Fi. I’m still not sure what it is officially but with some of the revelations in this it appears that this might be a version of Earth in the distant, distant future.

I really like the writing in this. The way the PoVs is presented really works for me. There are a few first person PoVs and then there is this other narrative by someone that sounds completely different in the way it is presented. I thought that maybe it is the Stoneeater companion Essun is keeping but then there are moments in this that I think perhaps some of them are Father Earth talking.

***We cannot be permitted to win. So this is a confession, my Essun. I’ve betrayed you already and I will do it again. You haven’t even chosen a side yet, and already I fend off those who would recruit you to their cause. Already I plot your death. It’s necessary. But I can at least try my damnedest to give your life a meaning that will last till the world ends.***

The Obelisk Gate covers both Nassun and Essun’s stories. We start off with what happened to Nassun the day that her father killed her baby brother and took her away from her mother. Her story is a little heartbreaking as you learn what Essun did to teach her how to use her magic and the struggles Essun now has to face to stay alive while traveling with her father. It gave the reader great insight into why she would want a parental figure so much that she latched onto the first one that came around at that point in her life.

Essun’s story is just as engaging as Nassun’s and possibly more so since I connected to her in the first book. In the commune she is trying to learn from Alabaster before his imminent demise. You learn that there was a method to his madness and maybe he didn’t just want to destroy the world. Perhaps he was trying to move towards saving it and destroying it is just the first step.

***“Using that to channel the power of the Rift should be enough.”
“To do what?”
For the first time, you hear a note of emotion in her voice: annoyance. “To impose equilibrium on the Earth-Moon system.”
What. “Alabaster said the Moon was flung away.”
“Into a degrading long-ellipsis orbit.” When you stare blankly, she speaks your language again. “It’s coming back.”
Oh, Earth. Oh, rust. Oh, no. “You want me to catch the Moon?”***

There are other dangers of course to be faced. There are Stone Eaters and they have their own agendas including the one that has been following Essun around. There is the growing tension in the Comm between the Orogenes and Stills and even more outside of the Comm as food becomes scarce and other Comms have decided to try and invade for food and supplies. Then there is also the interesting wildlife changes that include some animals hibernating while others have different deadly instinctual habits during a season.

One of the most interesting things for me in this book was getting a little more insight into the Guardians and what makes them what they are. Shaffa’s part in this book with some explanations of ‘gifts’ Guardians are given was especially inventive and creepy. But his relationship with Nassun is equal parts beautiful and terrible. I’m so worried for what is going to happen in that dynamic in The Stone Sky.

***He loses so much else, though. Understand: The Schaffa that we have known thus far, the Schaffa whom Damaya learned to fear and Syenite learned to defy, is now dead. What remains is a man with a habit of smiling, a warped paternal instinct, and a rage that is not wholly his own driving everything he does from this point on.***

This was a really good follow up the The Fifth Season and has one of the more interesting concepts I’ve read recently. I’m really excited to the conclusion to this trilogy in The Stone Sky.

2 people found this helpful

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James Hutchinson

Good Read

Reviewed in Canada on October 31, 2021

Verified Purchase

A book with a good storyline and well developed characters. The story is told from several points of view that eventually link.

Susana Ezquerra Díaz

Breath taking

Reviewed in Spain on July 15, 2021

Verified Purchase

If you have read the first novel you already know that you must read the next novel. This is a must. There is a reason for this second hugo award.

sumitha75

Predictable

Reviewed in India on January 11, 2021

Verified Purchase

The second book does not have focus,the story meanders from one character to another. I did not feel invested in any of the characters and will not read the third book in the series.

One person found this helpful

IxchelL

Excelente libro

Reviewed in Mexico on August 8, 2019

Verified Purchase

Es una gran secuela... prácticamente la continuación del libro. Sigue siendo genial, creo se convertirá en un clásico de la Sci-Fi

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Amazon Customer

Faz tempo que não lia algo tão legal

Reviewed in Brazil on October 2, 2017

Verified Purchase

Todos os livros da série tem uma ótima escrita, com direito boa trama e um encerramento bem interessante no livro três. Recomendo muito, fazia tempo que não lia uma séria tão legal.

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