The Obelisk Gate
In The Fifth Season, the world ends. In The Obelisk Gate, the characters figure out what they're going to do about it. The thing is that the world hasn't ended so much as changed. The constant refrain throughout the book is that the planet will be just fine. It's the future of humanity that's in question now. But the bulk of humanity is no more than innocent bystanders in a war that's been going on for millennia. A war that, we're told, has more than one side. A war for which this will be the final decisive battle.
The scope expands in this book. The end of the last book revealed that this story is being told to Essun by Hoa, which sparked my biggest question and one that doesn't even come close to being answered in this installment. But it must be in the conclusion. It's such a specific and unique framing device that there has to be a reason for it. But instead of addressing that question, since Hoa and Essum both presumably know the answer to it, he expands the cast of characters, adding Schaffa and Nassun's points of view.
The insight into Nassun and her life was my favorite part about this book. Essun spent the first book following her, determined to protect her from her father, so it's a shock to realize that Nassun hates her mother and jumped at the opportunity to get away from her. From there it's a series of disappointments and tragedies that could easily be titled "How to Make a Monster". By the end of the book Nassun has picked her side in the war, and unbeknownst to her she will be standing in direct opposition to her mother.
For all the excitement and magic in this series, it's really the unflinching, brutal look at a broken world creating broken people and broken families that makes it special. There are epic battles and an incredible magic system. But there's also a wealth of deeply flawed and recognizable people who are just trying to survive and build a world worth living in.
The scope expands in this book. The end of the last book revealed that this story is being told to Essun by Hoa, which sparked my biggest question and one that doesn't even come close to being answered in this installment. But it must be in the conclusion. It's such a specific and unique framing device that there has to be a reason for it. But instead of addressing that question, since Hoa and Essum both presumably know the answer to it, he expands the cast of characters, adding Schaffa and Nassun's points of view.
The insight into Nassun and her life was my favorite part about this book. Essun spent the first book following her, determined to protect her from her father, so it's a shock to realize that Nassun hates her mother and jumped at the opportunity to get away from her. From there it's a series of disappointments and tragedies that could easily be titled "How to Make a Monster". By the end of the book Nassun has picked her side in the war, and unbeknownst to her she will be standing in direct opposition to her mother.
For all the excitement and magic in this series, it's really the unflinching, brutal look at a broken world creating broken people and broken families that makes it special. There are epic battles and an incredible magic system. But there's also a wealth of deeply flawed and recognizable people who are just trying to survive and build a world worth living in.
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