The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin: A review

Once again we enter N.K. Jemisin's richly imagined world called Stillness. It's a world that is never still.

As we learned in the first entry in this trilogy, The Fifth Season, Stillness is populated by human or humanoid beings called stills, orogenes, stone-eaters, and guardians. And floating somewhere above them all are a series of obelisks. It is unclear who made the obelisks or just what purpose they serve.

At the time of events in The Obelisk Gate, the apocalyptic, world-shattering action of The Fifth Season is in the past and the residents of Stillness are trying to find ways to adapt and survive in a world gone mad.

In the first book, we had the point(s) of view of Damaya/Syenite/Essun. In the aftermath of everything, we now get Essun once again as she makes a place for herself in an underground comm (community) led by a strong female head. This comm is not without its conflicts and some of the arguments sound very like what we hear in the daily news in our own country, especially those arguments which seek to set one group against another.

Essun is searching for her daughter, Nassun, who is an orogene like herself. Nassun was spirited away from her home by her father, Jija, and Essun is concerned for her safety and for her further training and education as an orogene.

We meet Nassun and Jija and learn that Essun is right to fear for her safety. Jija is taking her to a place where he has heard that she can learn how to not be an orogene and that is what he fervently wishes for.

Fortunately for Nassun, she meets Schaffa, her mother's former Guardian at the Fulcrum. Schaffa takes over the training and protection of Essun's daughter.

The action in this book is slower than in the first book. The apocalypse becomes a slow-moving disaster and we see how different groups position themselves to try to survive. Meanwhile, Essun's friend/lover/teacher, Alabaster Tenring, the world-destroyer, is present in the same comm with Essun and he continues her instruction, including urgently trying to teach her how to utilize the obelisks.

I found the narrative in this book somewhat confusing. For example, it wasn't entirely clear to me just who the "you" addressed in the narratives at the beginning of chapters was. Best guess: Essun. But it seemed unnecessarily ambiguous.

And what's the deal with the Moon being flung out of orbit and into space at some point in the past? And that's why Father Earth is angry and is taking it out on the inhabitants of Stillness? He wants his Moon back and apparently Nassun and/or Essun will attempt to deliver it. Maybe in the next book? Stay tuned.

In short, I think this book suffered just a bit from "second book syndrome." It didn't seem quite as fresh and powerful as the first one. Still, overall, it was a compelling story - good enough to win the Hugo Award just like the first one, so what do I know?

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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