Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

Schedule TBD

got it.

August 26th start.

Just a reminder that buddy read starts for this book on 26th August.

I'm in!

I'll be joining this one too. I might need to skim the ending of the first book to refresh my memory.

Just finished re-reading today but will be joining for the discussion!

About to start the first book and am hoping to be ready for this on the 26th. I skimmed the prologue of The Fifth Season and basically put all my other reading on hold to dive into this series.

I am rereading today. Forgot most of it since last year, and I want to experience The Stone Sky to the fullest.

Finished The Fifth Season tonight and am gonna hop straight into this tomorrow - I can't help myself!

The first book is being developed for TV!

http://deadline.com/2017/08/nk-jemisi...

Veronica wrote: "The first book is being developed for TV!

http://deadline.com/2017/08/nk-jemisi..."

I saw this as well. Interesting if they pull it off.

Yes. I'm excited and wary at the same time. lol

Veronica wrote: "Yes. I'm excited and wary at the same time. lol"

Ditto! I really do not want to be heartbroken.

What book is it about?

Raika wrote: "What book is it about?"

Read book one first to find out. :)

The Fifth Season

I am eagerly waiting for this one. It seems to go into the category: "love or hate books", judging from the reviews and I'm curious where I fit in.
I didn't particularly enjoy the second person narration in the first book but it was nicely balanced with the rest. If this whole second book concentrates mostly on that...

meaning our buddy read for the second book guys. Not the movie. 😅 Though that would be interesting to watch also.

Laura wrote: "I am eagerly waiting for this one. It seems to go into the category: "love or hate books", judging from the reviews and I'm curious where I fit in.
I didn't particularly enjoy the second person nar..."

Yes an entire book from that perspective might be too much. However even those who didn't like this book loved the 3rd so I'll press on even if I'm in the hate category.

oh. I'll stick on too. :) I'm already curious about how everything turns out in the end. :D

I ended up giving it five stars, previously four. Essun in Nastrima is no longer boring and in fact has become my fave parts. Seriously, this reread really helps.

If The Stone Sky gets 5 star too, The Broken Earth will be the first fantasy trilogy I read with all 5 star books. (Well, after LoTR but I have not reread them for more than a decade, so it could/is likely to change)

It is all five stars for me and I also found out that reread helps because the things that previously escaped my attention or deemed irrelevant turned out to be extremely relevant later on. No detail is pointless and some reverberate up until the final pages of the Stone Sky. Happy reading Silvana!

My copy of The Obelisk Gate arrived today... I'm really looking forward to delving into it.

I just finished up, with my review here.

Four-stars overall - it's definitely a middle book in a trilogy, but the quality is still high. I have a feeling I'll enjoy a re-read of this more, once I've finished the final book.

Starting this a few hours early. I didn't have a chance to reread the first book so I was a little rusty at first. I just finished chapter six and I'm feeling more settled now as things start to come back to me.

(view spoiler)[I'm not feeling a lot of sympathy for the daughter yet. I know she's just eight but, still. (hide spoiler)]

The book picked right up where the other one left off and I've really liked it so far.

I'm starting it tonight also.

Veronica wrote: "Starting this a few hours early. I didn't have a chance to reread the first book so I was a little rusty at first. I just finished chapter six and I'm feeling more settled now as things start to co..."

I'm on your team!

you guys mind me here for discussions?

Mayim wrote: "you guys mind me here for discussions? "

Always welcome.

I have to say the second person present tense hasn't affected me at all this time around. Once you're used to it there's a flow like any other perspective.

Veronica wrote: "Starting this a few hours early. I didn't have a chance to reread the first book so I was a little rusty at first. I just finished chapter six and I'm feeling more settled now as things start to co..."

I feel the same about the daughter

I feel compassion for Nassun. She's just a child and has been through so much. I want her to ice her father.

Just finished chapter 15 and I'm really not feeling any sympathy for Nassun now (view spoiler)[that she's stoned an entire comm. She resents her mother for being strict with her training but she trots off with the father who she KNOWS beat her little brother TO DEATH. Then she decides she loves Schaffa enough to just let him kill her if he decides it's necessary and she'll now apparently help him to kill other orogenes. (hide spoiler)]

I do like Essun's relationship with Alabaster. It started off very antagonistic because they were forced on each other but it's evolved in a very sweet, tough love, kind of way. It's not romantic...more familial.

I really need to know more about the stone eaters. I picture them like the Weeping Angels in Doctor Who. :-)

And I'm still confused about the obelisks.

Just started tonight, and the first chapter is just heart breaking.

Veronica wrote: "And I'm still confused about the obelisks."

In which regard? (view spoiler)[They're basically a satellite system that can be used to move the moon and enhance a orogene's power . (hide spoiler)]

That's as good an explanation as any, Scott, thanks. I guess I'm just wanting more specifics about the Hows and Whys than I am likely to get since the history of it all seems to have been lost to time and even those old enough (view spoiler)[(stone eaters) (hide spoiler)] can't seem to remember clearly anymore.

Was it explained in the first book what's happening to Alasbaster - (view spoiler)[the whole turning to stone bit- or what Antimony is doing to him/wants from him (hide spoiler)]?

Veronica wrote: "I really need to know more about the stone eaters. I picture them like the Weeping Angels in Doctor Who. :-)"

Exactly my thoughts! I think the Jemisin really gets across how creepy and strange they are with how she writes them.

With Nassun, I think you've just got to remind yourself how young she is and how fucked her childhood has been. I thought I'd grow tired of her chapters as they went on, but I enjoyed them till the end.

Seán wrote: "Veronica wrote: "I really need to know more about the stone eaters. I picture them like the Weeping Angels in Doctor Who. :-)"

Exactly my thoughts! I think the Jemisin really gets across how creep..."

Really, no. This is stillness after all so cosy is not an option. She had had a happy stable family and a house and a comm to belong. True, her mother was uncompromising when it comes to orogens training but Nassun is not a stupid thing and surely realises that it saved her life. Knowledge what to do with rogga is as common as the stone lore. I get that she did what she needed to do in order to survive when her father killed her brother. But her deep hatred against her mother? This I cannot fathom. She was not brought up with malice.

Re Nassun

(view spoiler)[I think you're all forgetting what it's like to be 10-12 or so years old like Nassun is. Now imagine your parent breaks your hand to teach you a lesson. Even if you understand your mother did it to save your life you would feel resentful. At that age thinking or saying you hate somebody or feeling overly strong emotions in every direction depending upon the circumstances is understandable. She's developing adult thoughts and feelings but doesn't yet have the emotional control. (hide spoiler)]

Scott wrote: "Re Nassun

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I entirely understand but this is taking a mindset of a contemporary kid, brought up in comfort and safety and applying it in a hostile environment and being under threat. If you read, for instance, memoirs of Jewish children from second world war, you will not find resentment against their parents who sometimes used harsh and desperate measures in order to save them.

Having said this, I am able to accept the premise, only I find it a little far fetched AND only after reading the whole series. This I think is an important disclaimer, because I didn't have such qualms when I was reading the OG for the first or second time without knowing what comes in the Stone Sky. (hide spoiler)]

Veronica wrote: "That's as good an explanation as any, Scott, thanks. I guess I'm just wanting more specifics about the Hows and Whys than I am likely to get since the history of it all seems to have been lost to t..."

(view spoiler)[I think Jesmin is doing a great job of feeding us just enough to get us thinking but not give the game away. The origins of the stone eaters are mysterious. Look at current knowledge of an ancient society such as the Mayans, Incas, Egyptians...we know they had things such as advanced medicine, calendars, astronomy........but there's a lot of conjecture. That's going back a couple thousand years. This is 20-50,000 years.

I'm still not sure why Antimomy is eating Alabaster. I had thought he had reached a point of evolution with his orogene abilities that he was turning into a stone eater and would regrow everything but now that seems all wrong.

Also I had thought during book one that the guardians had pieces of obelisk put in the back of their heads but that's been proven to be bits of metal from the earth. I've been pondering what metal. It seems to be common iron ore but I have to wonder if there will be a something more specific and for a reason.
(hide spoiler)]

Mayim wrote: "Scott wrote: "Re Nassun

[spoilers removed]"."

(view spoiler)[
The Jewish kids is a good point but Nassun was raised halfway between that world and ours. Her comm was dangerous should her identity been revealed but she to that point relatively speaking to that world had a loving family where her mother was in her mind secretly abusing her.

I think even Essun has shown contrition at some of her choices in regards to Nassun's upbringing. Even the guardian regrets some of those choices.
(hide spoiler)]

Scott wrote: "Mayim wrote: "Scott wrote: "Re Nassun

[spoilers removed]"."


The Jewish kids is a good point but Nassun was raised halfway between that world and ours. Her comm was dangerous should her identity ..."

Actually, this is a very good point Scott, and I think I find it more compelling (view spoiler)[ to believe in the Essun-Nassun dynamics on the basis of how similar they both are. (hide spoiler)]

Mayim wrote: "Scott wrote: "Mayim wrote: "Scott wrote: "Re Nassun

[spoilers removed]"."

Yes I think they are more alike than Nassun would like to admit. My two eldest are 15 and 12.5 and they parrot things back to me that I would have said at their age. Sometimes that elicits a smile and other times a cringe.

Example "I don't know why they even bother teaching us that. When will I ever use that in life and what job will it help me get?"

UMmmm, I agree with you but as a parent feel I can't say that? :)

I'll just respectfully disagree with you Mayim! I thought Jemisin wrote Nassun pretty well and her relationship with her Mother makes sense, giving her circumstances. Just my feelings on it though - I was particularly worried that this side of the story would fall flat as I'm pretty anxious when child characters are the focus, but thought Nassun's development was justified and made sense.

I am currently at chapter 9 as weekends for me involve more family time and less reading.
My feelings for Nassun are a little mixed right now:

(view spoiler)[Essun was forced to teach her child how to control orogeny and how to survive in secret. Any parent would find that tough. So I think for Essun it was easy to resort to shouting and scolding and sometimes even hitting, simply because she didn't know any other way. She herself had been trained by the Fulcrum and didn't have any parent to show and teach her affection. In turn, she is unable to show proper affection for her own children even though she loves them.

The girl is small and doesn't understand the risks and doesn't concentrate; the mother is terrified of what may happen and needs to make sure it all stays a secret. The harder the training the more strain on the child. And if you stop and think a bit, Nessun's need to flee the mother makes sense because from the child's point of view "mother was bad and didn't love me". Perhaps if Essun would have had different training methods without hitting, scolding and shouting, Nessun would have reacted differently. This way she turns to the father who has never scolded and made time to hug and spend time with her.

She is a very smart child though judging by the way she manipulates her father. And she has a little streak of ruthlessness there easily noticed from the way she kills an entire community without the smallest regret.
And then I sit and wonder is it just the "mommy was bad to me" combined with the fact that she's seen her baby brother killed that drives Nessun or is there some inherent "mean streak" inside her that simply comes out because of the circumstances. Is she a fundamentally good person or a bad one?

Whichever society we are in and whichever time period, if we were to put different children through the same circumstances, the reactions are bound to be different. They will ultimately depend on the child.

I will not judge Nessun for now but wait and see what she will do in the end. (hide spoiler)]

Seán wrote: "I'll just respectfully disagree with you Mayim! I thought Jemisin wrote Nassun pretty well and her relationship with her Mother makes sense, giving her circumstances. Just my feelings on it though ..."

I'm with you on this Sean. Even if I don't like what Nessun is turning into I understand why and it makes perfect sense.

Laura wrote: "I am currently at chapter 9 as weekends for me involve more family time and less reading.
My feelings for Nassun are a little mixed right now:

Essun was forced to teach her child how to control or..."

Laura not only is Essun (view spoiler)[" unable to show proper affection for her own children even though she loves them", but "unable to show proper affection" full stop. That includes Alabaster and other people she feels responsible for/attached to. This is one her tragedies. She has been made this way by the Fulcrum, the Guardians, life in Stillness in general. I think this is the reason why my heart breaks for her. She is a victim of circumstances more than anything else. (hide spoiler)]

Sean, it is OK to disagree I wholeheartedly endorse plurality of opinions. Mind you, my reflections are really borne out of the whole trilogy; I felt differently after reading only books 1 and 2.

Mayim wrote: Sean, it is OK to disagree I wholeheartedly endorse plurality of opinions. Mind you, my reflections are really borne out of the whole trilogy; I felt differently after reading only books 1 and 2.


Cool, I'll definitely keep that in mind and see if my thoughts after finishing The Stone Sky.

Mayim wrote: "She is a victim of circumstances more than anything else."

But couldn't the same be applied to Nassum? I think they're both beautifully flawed characters.

I'm done. Couldn't put it down. Damn but I should have trusted my instincts. (view spoiler)[I was right about Alabaster turning into a stone eater and now so will Essan. Steel pointing mother against daughter. Somehow I feel Schaffa might yet save mother and daughter. (hide spoiler)]

Scott wrote: "Mayim wrote: "She is a victim of circumstances more than anything else."

But couldn't the same be applied to Nassum? I think they're both beautifully flawed characters.

I'm done. Couldn't put it..."

I'm glad you liked it Scott!

Still, I feel like Nassum had been more cushioned than Essun. ;)