The Temporal Void: An Action-Packed, Mind-Bending Final Volume Much like the Commonwealth Saga,this is a very long, detailed, imaginative, and sprawlinThe Temporal Void: An Action-Packed, Mind-Bending Final Volume Much like the Commonwealth Saga,this is a very long, detailed, imaginative, and sprawling epic space opera that involves dozens of characters, plots, advanced technologies, alien races, ancient galactic mysteries, nefarious plots and counterplots, all told in an engaging narrative that doesn't get bogged down in exposition like a lot of other hard SF stories. It's far more entertaining than the more grim future vision of Alastair Reynolds, to which Peter Hamilton is often compared to. The human characters here remain far more human than the cold post-humans of Reynolds, which sometimes strains credulity, as they regularly make contemporary cultural references and seem not so different from us, despite being set in a galactic society set in the 31st century, but that largely lies in how you would imagine future humans will be like.
The story is split into two main storylines, a fantasy-like coming of age story about Edeard, a young man coming into his own powerful telepathic powers in a medieval society, and another far more complex future narrative about the search for a Second Dreamer broadcasting dreams of a utopian world within the Void, a giant black hole that is steadily consuming the galaxy from the center outward.
Fortunately, this book makes up for the self-indulgent and juvenile power fantasies of the middle book with a vengeance, packing enough action, mind-bending speculation, and galaxy-busting events that I decided to give the overall series a 4-star rating for the wealth of ideas even if it lacked a tight focus and much of the characterization was a bit two-dimensional, as he seems to go for cramming as many characters and storylines into his epic, though he does go in-depth on his main protagonists. Overall, it's a very ambitious and entertaining series if you can forgive some of its excesses....more
The Most Gorgeous Book, Showing the True Genius and Humanity of Tolkien's Imagination My family was lucky enough to visit the Bodleian Tolkien ExhibitiThe Most Gorgeous Book, Showing the True Genius and Humanity of Tolkien's Imagination My family was lucky enough to visit the Bodleian Tolkien Exhibition in 2018 and get this truly handsome volume from the Bodleian Library at University of Oxford. It was a truly impressive collection of his illustrations, maps, letters, writings, and photographs, and you essentially get all of those reproduced in high-quality pages accompanied by comprehensive commentary spanning six essays by Tolkien scholar Catherine McIlwaine. Not only that, but on the train to Oxford we met a lovely couple who were also Tolkien fans and formed a lasting friendship as a result.
Tolkien: Maker of Middle Earth draws you deeply into the life and imagination of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and his lifelong obsession with his imaginarium that spawned his many Elvish Languages, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Sillmarillion, The Book of Lost Tales, The Children of Hurin, and many more obscure volumes of materials that fleshed out his world, more than any other imagined creation in the literary canon (unless you include religious writings, but I won't go there).
Though I bought the book two years ago, it being such a hefty coffee-table volume, I hadn't really sat down and read it through properly until the coronavirus outbreak at the outset of 2020. Since the lockdown here in London, I've finally had the time and opportunity to sit down and pore over this masterpiece of Tolkien scholarship. As a result the family watched the entire Extended Editions of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, watched the biographical film Tolkien (not great, to be honest, but still worth watching if you are a Tolkien fan).
In fact, when I first read The Lord of the Rings in sixth grade and it forever hooked my on fantasy (and later science fiction), I then went on to try The Silmarillion, thinking it would be a cohesive adventure story, and being so frustrated and disappointed as it was instead a collection of legendary tales from the Second Age of Middle Earth, intended to provide greater background and depth to his imagined world. For the past 30+ years I've always thought I would need to revisit this book at some point, and thanks to this book and the myriad background details I now know about Tolkien's life and thought process in developing his imaginarium, I think it' time to give it a go, this time in audiobook format....more
The Broken Kingdoms: Liked this better than the first book Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Based on The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate (the fThe Broken Kingdoms: Liked this better than the first book Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Based on The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate (the first two books in her BROKEN EARTH trilogy), N.K. Jemisin immediately became my favorite SFF author of this decade. Her DREAMBLOOD series was also very good, an original fantasy based on Egyptian and Nubian themes. However, as I was working backwards, I got to her earliest series last, the INHERITANCE trilogy. And in comparison, I thought The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was not as amazing as her BROKEN EARTH books. In particular, the YA mortal-girl-falls-for-sexy-but-troubled-immortal-guy aspect really didn’t interest me.
So I was pleasantly surprised by The Broken Kingdoms, her follow-up to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. It dialed back on the romance elements somewhat, and I really liked the heroine Oree Shoth, a young blind woman who sells art to religious pilgrims who come to Shadow, the city below the World Tree that grew following the climactic events of the previous book. The reign of Bright Itempas came to an end, the Gray Lady was born (or reborn, perhaps), and Nahadoth the Night Lord was freed, along with a host of ‘godlings’ who made their new homes in Shadow. It is a fascinating milieu, and one I much preferred to the palace intrigues of the first book. In addition, we see the lives of more commoners and street merchants.
What is really great about this book is that we see the events and characters of the first book from a completely different perspective, that of Oree. She is special for two reasons - she is blind, but she also has an ability to to see the magical auras projected by goslings and scriveners. So in her world of darkness, these beings glow with bright auras. And when one day she stumbles over the dead body of a murdered godling and then takes in a strange man who glows very brightly, (she names him “Shiny” since he doesn’t offer his name or any other information), her life will never be the same.
Oree is a great heroine, one who refuses to let her blindness become a disability or excuse to give up on life. She has a circle of friends who help her, and she makes a precarious living by selling her art. In fact, despite her blindness, she has an uncanny knack for creating incredible paintings that have real power. However, she knows that revealing this ability may attract the unwanted attention of the Order Keepers of Itempas.
Since the godlings have been released unto the world once again, the political and religious climate has been thrown into flux. Several religious orders still revere Itempas, and the Arameri still hold political power in Sky, but beneath the surface many factions seek to leverage the situation to their advantage. As it turns out, one group in particular wants to completely upset the hierarchy of the gods, and is murdering godlings as a means to this end. They decide that Oree’s abilities may be of use to them and come in pursuit.
Oree, Shiny, and their allies find themselves entangled in a series of intrigues that will reveal unexpected strengths and powers. However, their enemies are ruthless and powerful. Finally, the gods themselves will get involved, and we will see new sides to them as things come to a head in the finale. There is even a coda that adds a more bittersweet note to the lives of the two main characters.
In hindsight I thought the characters, plot, pacing, and world-building of The Broken Kingdoms was superior to the first book. Sure, there were still mortal-god romance elements that I could live without, but it didn’t overwhelm the story here. Jemisin also revealed a lot more backstory about the War of the Gods and the religious and political ramifications of events of the first book. More than anything, the descriptions of Oree’s world, in many ways a hyper-reality informed by her unique visualizations, was something fresh and intriguing. Casaundra Freeman remained the narrator for this book, and she does an exemplary job with the characters and story - she tells the story with relish and enthusiasm. So I would be willing to give the third book Kingdom of the Gods a try, but for some inexplicable reason Brilliance Audio has not produced an audio version....more
The Shadowed Sun: Mature, intelligent, challenging, unafraid Originally posted at Fantasy Literature The Shadowed Sun (2012) is the second book in N.K. The Shadowed Sun: Mature, intelligent, challenging, unafraid Originally posted at Fantasy Literature The Shadowed Sun (2012) is the second book in N.K. Jemisin’s DREAMBLOOD two-book series, inspired the ancient kingdoms of Egypt and Nubia. However, rather than simply changing some names and using thinly-disguised history as her template, she introduces an entirely new religious and social system, one centered around worship of Hananja, the dream goddess represented by the moon. The story this time is set a decade after the events of the previous book, and features some of the same characters like Nijiri, now a full-fledged Gatherer, and Sunandi, member of the Kisuati Protectorate now ruling Gujaareh. However, Jemisin introduces three new main characters: Hanani, a young Sharer priestess, the first female granted this position; Prince Wanahomen, son of the power-hungry King Eninket and now living in exile with barbarian tribes; and Tiaanet, daughter of a powerful Gujaareh family.
I am not generally a big fan of fantasy series, because they often tend to rehash the same events with minor variations for volume after volume, sometimes spawning multiple, superfluous trilogies of increasingly poor quality. But I know that Jemisin is not one of those authors content to churn out more of the same for a steady income stream (and apparently that is all some fans want, sadly).
As I mentioned, Jemisin has taken inspiration from ancient Egypt and Nubia, but has transformed it for her own literary purposes and to explore her favorite topics. In The Shadowed Sun she again examines crises of faith among the Hetawa priesthood, due to their dual calling to heal the sick and injured and also punish the corrupt. In addition, Hanani the female Sharer takes center stage as a woman in a male-dominated religion that, ironically, considers women to be goddesses that should be worshipped but not allowed active roles in political or religious leadership. When her test of certification goes terribly wrong, it is used by opposition elements as evidence that women don’t belong in the priesthood as Sharers.
As a result of this, Hanani is sent as a hostage to the barbarian tribes of the Banbarra, who live high up in cliff faces (apparently inspired by the Anasazi). They have strict social conventions very different from both Gujaareh and Kisua, and the exiled Prince Wanahomen has spent much of his life living among them. Through various complex political maneuvers, Hanani and Wanahomen find themselves involved in a plot to return to Gujaareh and overthrow the occupying Kisua Protectorate. Initially they dislike each other, but … yes, there is a love-hate relationship which will test their beliefs about the roles of men and women in healing and the use of dream magic. If this was just a standard opposites-attract romance I would have been skipping ahead, but the role of magic in their relationship makes it bearable, even intriguing.
Meanwhile, back in Gujaareh, diplomat Sunandi is struggling to maintain the position of the Kisua Protectorate as the occupying rulers of the city. She tries very hard to minimize frictions with the local political leaders and Hetawa priests, but as inevitably happens, economic and social tensions make her position increasingly precarious. Adding to this is a mysterious dreaming plague, which leaves its victims traumatized or dead. Sunandi’s relationship with Nijiiri is also complex, as they both recognize what is needed for peace is “not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice.” But in a rapidly shifting political climate, such noble sentiments are difficult to put into practice.
As Prince Wanahomen builds an army to take back the city, forces are struggling within the city and Hanani finds herself forced to hunt down the source of the dream plague in the world of dreams, using her healer’s skills. There is a fair amount of overlap with the Reaper threat of the previous book, but I can’t fault her for wanting to re-explore this strange and original dream magic, which can as easily be used to kill as to heal.
The Shadowed Sun really pushed the gender politics agenda to the forefront, as Hanani battles against the prejudiced attitudes of the Barbarra tribe, her own Gujaareh people, and Prince Wanahomen himself. At times it detracted from the momentum of the narrative, but Jemisin is skilled enough to not let it become sermonizing. After all, if she wants to point out that womens’ positions even in fantasy societies are often restricted and inferior, then that is a legitimate axe to grind. And it’s certainly true that many religious hierarchies exclude women from the inner sanctums and mysteries.
There are several instances involving rape used as a form of punishment in the barbarian tribes, and a very telling incident in which a foreign female spy is captured and the women of the tribe demand she be raped by the men, until Hanani points out that rape within the tribe is proscribed, so why should it be acceptable against a woman who happens to be an enemy? Pointing out this hypocrisy is something we should all do when people start calling for blood-revenge as a form of “justice.” The position of the beautiful Tiaanet is also a good illustration of how a power-hungry father uses his daughter for his own purposes, and in so doing creates a disastrous situation which reverberates throughout the book.
Overall, I found the world-building of The Shadowed Sun to be as good as The Killing Moon, but the occupation plot and return of the exiled prince were a bit too familiar, as was the love-hate romance of Hanani and Wanahomen. For that reason, I gave it 4 stars rather than 5, but still emphasize that anything Jemisin writes is superior to the vast majority of derivative medieval European fantasies with dragons, elves, dwarves, and magic swords and quests that still clutter bookstore shelves (to be fair, a lot of much higher quality fantasies have been coming out in the last decade, so I support this trend whole-heartedly). The DREAMBLOOD series is mature, intelligent, and challenging fantasy that is unafraid to incorporate issues from the real world, without detracting from the quality of its writing, story or characters....more
Read this series back in high school when I was devouring epic fantasy regularly. It takes the very overused concept of several people from our world Read this series back in high school when I was devouring epic fantasy regularly. It takes the very overused concept of several people from our world being transported into a fantasy world, who get embroiled in big events and hold the key to peace and defeating evil. Yeah, it's been done many times, including C.S. Lewis's Narnia, Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant, Roger Zelazny's Amber series.
I do remember the high quality of the writing and characters, but it was fairly slow-moving and the epic fantasy elements overly familiar. It's clear that Kay later discovered his calling as a master of epic historical tales (not fantasies exactly, but rather reshaping of historical periods and events) like Tigana, A Song for Argonne, Lions of Al-Rassan, Under Heaven, Sailing to Sarantium, etc. So I'd much prefer to read those books than this solid but unspectacular epic fantasy series. ...more
Read this series back in high school when I was devouring epic fantasy regularly. It takes the very overused concept of several people from our world Read this series back in high school when I was devouring epic fantasy regularly. It takes the very overused concept of several people from our world being transported into a fantasy world, who get embroiled in big events and hold the key to peace and defeating evil. Yeah, it's been done many times, including C.S. Lewis's Narnia, Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant, Roger Zelazny's Amber series.
I do remember the high quality of the writing and characters, but it was fairly slow-moving and the epic fantasy elements overly familiar. It's clear that Kay later discovered his calling as a master of epic historical tales (not fantasies exactly, but rather reshaping of historical periods and events) like Tigana, A Song for Argonne, Lions of Al-Rassan, Under Heaven, Sailing to Sarantium, etc. So I'd much prefer to read those books than this solid but unspectacular epic fantasy series. ...more
Read this series back in high school when I was devouring epic fantasy regularly. It takes the very overused concept of several people from our world Read this series back in high school when I was devouring epic fantasy regularly. It takes the very overused concept of several people from our world being transported into a fantasy world, who get embroiled in big events and hold the key to peace and defeating evil. Yeah, it's been done many times, including C.S. Lewis's Narnia, Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant, Roger Zelazny's Amber series.
I do remember the high quality of the writing and characters, but it was fairly slow-moving and the epic fantasy elements overly familiar. It's clear that Kay later discovered his calling as a master of epic historical tales (not fantasies exactly, but rather reshaping of historical periods and events) like Tigana, A Song for Argonne, Lions of Al-Rassan, Under Heaven, Sailing to Sarantium, etc. So I'd much prefer to read those books than this solid but unspectacular epic fantasy series. ...more
The Obelisk Gate: A worthy follow-up, intense and engrossing Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Coming on the heels of N.K. Jemisin’s Hugo Award foThe Obelisk Gate: A worthy follow-up, intense and engrossing Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Coming on the heels of N.K. Jemisin’s Hugo Award for The Fifth Season just last weekend, expectations for the sequel The Obelisk Gate were astronomical throughout SFF fandom. As one of the many readers waiting with bated breath for the follow-up to one the best SFF novels I’ve read in years, I’m sure some were concerned that Jemisin might have trouble living up to the pressure to avoid the dreaded middle book syndrome. But I was strangely certain she would not disappoint.
That is because the world-building, detailed back-story (of which we only get glimpses), powerful and assured narrative voice, and overall mastery of storytelling of The Fifth Season told me that Jemisin has mapped out this entire story ahead of time (whether in her head, on several PC drives, hundreds of pages of hard-written manuscripts, or just chiseled deep in the earth in crystal), and that we are in strong but firm hands here. She knows where this story is going, exactly how to deliver it, what details to reveal, and how the characters will struggle and grow. She also has an excellent collaborator in Robin Miles, who goes beyond narrating the audiobook to being a co-creator of this world. When she reads the words of Jemisin’s characters, she delivers their thoughts and raw emotions with total conviction. This inescapable proximity is aided greatly by Jemisin’s use of the rarely-utilized second-person perspective.
I don’t often wax this enthusiastic about a SFF book because I know that there are so many different tastes out there, but this series is just so damn good I would recommend it to anyone who loves powerful storytelling. And as many have pointed out, the BROKEN EARTH series is a dark and sometimes draining experience, given the hardships and emotional wreckage of the main characters at every turn. Jemisin is not interested in comforting images or situations — she takes on suffering, cruelty, discrimination, and vengeance head-on. And yet the sly irony of the narration provides welcome relief amid the tough going. Somehow I feel like this is what Jemisin might be like in person — unafraid to face up to negative aspects of the modern world, but keeping a strong and ironic attitude that refuses to be cowed.
Moreover, the entire world of the Stillness is an apocalyptic landscape rent by geological violence that mirrors the turmoil of the protagonists’ lives. After the massive, destructive events of Book One, we see the deepening ashes of the fallout, the increasing desperation of the common people pushed to raiding, murder and cannibalism for survival. This world is a ruthless one, after repeated Fifth Seasons that have wrecked and humbled successive human civilizations again and again. Having been beaten down this many times, it’s a wonder that people don’t give up hope completely and throw themselves into steaming fissures in the earth.
The plot picks up IMMEDIATELY after The Fifth Season, so hopefully the details are still fresh in your mind. And if for some unfathomable reason you haven’t read that yet, stop reading this review and get it immediately, because it’s all spoilers ahead. I usually lose track of things after a year’s gap, but I almost immediately fell back under Jemisin’s spell. Essun finds herself in the underground geode city of Castrima, trying to nurse back to health her injured 10-ringer orogene companion Alabaster, who cracked the continent in half and triggered the onset of the most brutal Season to date.
He is slowly turning to stone in a particularly gruesome way, but is strangely protected by an inscrutable Stone-eater named Antimony, who quietly monitors him but will not reveal its motivations. The leader of this comm, a tough older woman who is a feral orogene (untrained by the Fulcrum), has an uneasy relationship with the traumatized Essun and bitter Alabaster. Her mission is to keep this comm alive amid the chaos and collapse that surrounds it. We learn much about orogeny, Alabaster’s past, some tantalizing bits about the Stone-eaters (especially a surprise one from Book One), and another hidden power on par with orogeny that infuses all things.
The details of Jemisin’s world are even more impressive in this book. Novels that blend elements of both science fiction and fantasy are hardly uncommon, but the rigor of her creation elevates this to the level at which we must accept it as matter-of-fact. Jemisin has really done her homework here. It was completely convincing, and incredibly original and compelling to boot.
But the biggest surprise is definitely the development of Essun’s daughter Nassun, who has been kidnapped by her father Jija after he murdered her young brother Uche in a violent reaction after discovering they both were rogga, the derogatory term for orogenes. The troubled relationship of Jija, who cannot condone even the whiff of contamination (in his eyes) from such powers, and the immature little girl Nassun, who has great powers but still just wants her father to love her as before, is explored in great depth.
When the two encounter a mysterious but deadly traveler on the road, audiobook listeners will immediately recognize him as the Guardian Schaffa from Book One, since Robin Miles gives him a warm but menacing Scottish accent. His relationship with Nassun becomes the centerpiece of this story. Schaffa can be utterly ruthless one second, slaughtering those he considers obstacles, and then patting Nassun on the head the next like a kindly father-figure. His story is also one that Jemisin carefully teases us with, to great effect.
As we learn more about the Guardians’ mission at the onset of a new Season, the rivalries among rival factions, their connection with the Fulcrum and Yumenes, and the complications caused by the mysterious Stone-eaters, and revelations about the ubiquitous obelisks of a past age that quietly float in the sky, we can see an epic third movement coming into view. It is a very complex story, but so firmly grounded in human suffering that it strikes the perfect balance. The ending is powerful and gut-wrenching. Despite the dark tone, The Obelisk Gate represents a worthy follow-up to The Fifth Season, and has set the stage for the epic final act. Assuming that Jemisin can deliver a conclusion as satisfying and masterful as the first two installments, it’s not too bold to claim this may become one of the best SF-fantasy works of the last decade or two....more
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