The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth, #2)

by N.K. Jemisin

Don’t be fooled. The Guardians are much, much older than Old Sanze, and they do not work for us.

“Ever the good pupil, Syen,” he murmurs. “But rusting Earth, is it costly to teach you.”

But she speaks, because in the end she is her mother’s daughter, and if Essun has done nothing else, she has trained her little girl to survive.

You pretended to hate him because you were a coward. But you eventually loved him, and he is part of you now, because you have since grown brave.

He quarter-smiles with the half of his mouth that hasn’t been burned. “You never change. If I ask you for help, you tell me to flake off and die. If I don’t say a rusting word, you work miracles for me.” He sighs. “Evil Earth, how I’ve missed you.”

Now you know that miracles are a matter of just effort, just perception, and maybe just magic.

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.