The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin (Discussion)

[Adri]

Hey, all! Adriana from perpetualpages here to host the read-along for The Obelisk Gate. This will be a re-read for me, and I'm excited to experience it all over again before the release of The Stone Sky! Feel free to drop in on this thread any time throughout the month of May to share your thoughts on this sequel. Please clearly denote your spoilers when discussing.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts! Happy reading!

[Matt]

I am just a few pages in, but I loved The Fifth Season, and already pre-ordered the finale. Should be good.

[Adri]

Matt wrote: "I am just a few pages in, but I loved The Fifth Season, and already pre-ordered the finale. Should be good."

I feel ya there! I preordered TSS as soon as the listing was posted. Can't wait!

[Anna]

I'm waiting until later in the month to shorten the wait for The Stone Sky, but I'm so excited I'm finally going to read this series!

[Alistair]

I also have #3 on pre-order.
I have "doubts" over whether Obelisk Gate can be "best" novel because it is so reliant on reading The Fifth Season?
I read and enjoyed both and await #3 with anticipation/impatience, but I'm not sure about whether it would work on its own?
Could be "best series/best-in-series" but I feel that "best novel" should be able to stand alone.

[Anna]

There are so many books on the shortlist that can't be read on their own! (Sanderson novellas *eyeroll*) I don't mind book 2 in a series being on the shortlist, but I do think that it would be nice to have more standalones. But people will nominate what they like best, and that's how it is.

[Alistair]

Anna wrote: "There are so many books on the shortlist that can't be read on their own! (Sanderson novellas *eyeroll*) I don't mind book 2 in a series being on the shortlist, but I do think that it would be nice..."

yes, The Obelisk Gate was nearly on my list of nominees but it is very much part of the "Fifth Season" world, it dumps you right back where book #1 ends, it's a bit like reading "Lord of the Rings" as 3 separate books?
Might be popular with booksellers, but it is one unbroken story?
As far as the rest of shortlist....don't get me started!!!! :)
I'm being "very selective" on what I'm going to read.
(my sympathies to the judges!) ;)

[Anna]

To be fair, it's not in the criteria that the book should be able to stand alone. My main concern with this vs. Ninefox is whether I'll be able to look at Obelisk on its own, since I'll be reading both books back to back for the first time. So if The Fifth Season is amazing and this is just fine, will I still think this is better? I've never thought about this before, but I noticed it when I read Shades of Magic 1-3 one after the other, that it's really hard to look only at the middle book. It doesn't really matter because it wasn't even close to being as good as Ninefox, but I was originally expecting to like this more, so I'll have to pay close attention to make up my mind based on only book 2.

[Anita Reads]

I started on Obelisk Gate, and am now about 19 % into the audio.
I think I'm enjoying this book a little more so far than the first, as I'm more used to the 2nd person narrative. (I really struggled with that POV, when I read 5th season. I don't know if it was the audio).

[Stephanie]

Finished Obelisk Gate. I loved it. I seldom like second books, but I liked this one even more than The Fifth Season.

[[deleted user]]

I am actually enjoying Obelisk Gate a little less than the Fifth season, which I really loved and adored and gave 5 stars to.
Obelisk Gate is not bad, I just feel that so far (I'm about halfway through) I am not getting much out of any of the side characters. They're just there, and sometimes you get a page worth of development like "oh, and during the span of this time, this thing happened, that is not going to get explore in more detail."
So even though I do still enjoy this book, I find that the pacing is a little off compared to first one.
I'll see how I like it once I finish it.

[Anna]

I liked The Fifth Season (4.5 stars) so much more than The Obelisk Gate (3.5 stars). I still liked this, but it wasn't as amazing as the first book. There was nothing to fill the space left by the "twist" from the first book, and no more world building, so it felt much less exciting.

[Kelsey]

Unfortunately, I had to return this to the library with the last couple chapters or so unread, but I'll be getting it back soon! In the meantime, I feel pretty confident commenting.

Obelisk Gate seemed a lot more technical to me, with a lot of focus on the workings of orogeny and the obelisks, whereas The Fifth Season sort of explosively introduced this whole crazy society, asking tons of questions that books 2 and 3 have to go about answering. It's obviously really important for the story, but maybe not quite so dramatically exciting?

I haven't had the opportunity to read Ninefox Gambit, but comparing this on to A Gathering of Shadows (both middle books), I'd say that Obelisk Gate is objectively by far the better book, but I probably enjoyed AGOS more.

[[deleted user]]

Now that I'm finally done with Obelisk Gate and I've had time to digest it, I think it was an enjoyable read.

(view spoiler)[Though I think that Ykka could've been utilized a lot better given more character development and interactions outside of being the bosslady. Maybe that will change during the third book,
but as of now she's only there to really act as a foil to Essun and be a plot device. There was a little bit of foreshadowing to what she could do with her orogeny, but without that much needed development, the twist ended up feeling rather weak and undeserved. (hide spoiler)]

I think what is maybe hard to come to terms with, regards to this book is the fact that the first one was a sprawling epic (or felt like it atleast) and this second one is much more close knit and community driven.
(view spoiler)[I think Essun's character was reduced a little bit to her orogeny and what she could accomplish with it. Not much, but I did not feel as connected to her this time around. I enjoyed Nassun's side of the story much more. She had a lot more inner turmoil and development and also she danced the same story beats as Essun when it came to her 'training'. (hide spoiler)]