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The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth, #3)

N.K. Jemisin

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Aug 15, 2017 Megan rated it it was amazing

There were very few things that would have made me dislike this book, but the weight of the series is exactly what gives The Stone Sky a lot of its strength, so I feel that this is less a bias and more of an appreciation of the wonderful, rigorous development of one of the most important fantasy series in the last few years. Every time I think N.K. Jemisin is done being ambitious, that she has done all one needs to do in order to make a satisfyingly complete fantasy world, she does one better.

(v There were very few things that would have made me dislike this book, but the weight of the series is exactly what gives The Stone Sky a lot of its strength, so I feel that this is less a bias and more of an appreciation of the wonderful, rigorous development of one of the most important fantasy series in the last few years. Every time I think N.K. Jemisin is done being ambitious, that she has done all one needs to do in order to make a satisfyingly complete fantasy world, she does one better.

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The social struggles and rifts in those worlds are reflective of our own, though, and The Stone Sky contains insightful, cutting looks at how oppression twists and hurts people just like the rest of the series. There are some hard truths here - the node maintainers! Nassun and Schaffa! - and The Stone Sky is not entirely allegorical, but it was incredibly eye-opening. The ideas about motherhood and how children imprint upon parents was hard-hitting (especially after reading the author's afterward.) The best fantasy ties the characters' personal themes to the world, and The Broken Earth does that so well. The ultimate villain is the least scientific part of the story, and I did feel a lack of some sort of geological rationale behind it (him?), but that really didn't take away from the human story the fantastical conflict was telling. The human villains - in very The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas fashion - are enough to unpack.

Brilliant, powerful, socially significant. I hope it brings Jemisin another Hugo.

A bit about the ending: (view spoiler) ...more

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