The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

Title: The Obelisk Gate

Author: N. K. Jemisin

Pages: 391

Finished: March 17, 2021

First Sentence: Hm. No. I'm telling this wrong.

Summary: As Essun struggles to fit in at Castrima, the Comm is threatened by an Equatorial Comm that wants nothing to do with orogenes or roggas. Meanwhile, her daughter Nassun finds shelter in Found Moon with Schaffa, the corrupted Guardian.

Thoughts: The dedication in this one is "To those who have no choice but to prepare their children for the battlefield."

This book picks up almost entirely where the first book left off though we now add Nassun's story into the mix. I feel about her much the way I feel about all the other characters. I may sympathize with how things have happened, but I don't find her all that likeable. 

This book is a strange balancing act of compelling and depressing. The world-building is top notch and I really want to see what these obelisks are and how Essun is going to solve everything that's happening. There's a number of mysteries at play that will hopefully fall into place in the third novel. And there's a Revolution brewing that I desperately want to end happily.

The prejudice, the hate, and the acts of violence that come from that are just depressing. I don't trust most of the characters, and I start crying when certain bits come across. Which is the point. I must say, Jemisin manages to really do a fantastic job of portraying the anger of a class of people who've been enslaved, mistreated, and attacked simply because they're different. But if you're not looking for that, then this may not be the book for you.

After finishing this book, I immediately started the final in the trilogy. I'm so very curious to see where this is all headed.

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

Title: The Fifth Season

Author: N. K. Jemisin

Pages: 449

Finished: March 7, 2021

First Sentence: Let's start with the end of the world, why don't we?

Summary: This is the story of Damaya, a young orogene sent to the Fulcrum for her ability to control rock. This is the story of Syenite, a 4-ringed orogene sent to be a mate to the mighty ten-ringed orogene Alabaster. This is the story of Essun, orogene in hiding who must hunt for her husband, the man who killed her son all while the world ends.

Thoughts: The book opens with the body of a toddler who was beaten to death by his father. I have to admit, I considered dropping the book then and there. It's not a happy image, nor is it one I particularly want in books I read for fun. I pressed on, however. The prologue includes someone ripping the world apart by controlling the bedrock of the continent, a boy made of rock being born out of a geode, and a woman who must enact revenge on her husband. Happy stuff.

This isn't the happiest of books, but I found myself engrossed in the story. Right off the bat, this is a book with its own world, its own vocabulary, and its own social system. It's not explicitly spelled out either. There's a glossary in the back, and with careful reading, you can pick it up fairly quickly, but if you don't like that, this may not be for you. 

If, however, you're of fan of worldbuilding, then this could be right up your alley. It's billed as an epic fantasy, but I feel it runs into more dystopia than anything. The world they live in is clearly a far-future version of our world

The characters are frustrating. All of them were a bit tough for me to like. I don't know that you have to like a character to make a book rewarding, but I found them to be on the acerbic and standoffish side. Of course, it did make sense considering they were members of what is essentially an enslaved people. And those that enslaved them are such masters of gaslighting it makes your skin crawl.

The writing style was interesting. Two of the characters' POVs were in the third person while the third was in the second person. I've never read a book in second person POV. It took a few chapters to figure it out. 

N. K. Jemisin is a black author. Her dedication reads  "For all those who have to fight for the respect that everyone else is given without question." She's also described herself as an author who likes "to write about ordinary people -- all kids of ordinary people -- in extraordinary situations, preferably in non-Earth worlds which nevertheless reflect our own. I'm trying to write decolonized fiction, for our postcolonial world. And at the end of the day I just want to tell a good story" (from her author blurb on Amazon). It's very clear that that's what she's doing with people in power controlling others. And it's interesting to see what happens when the controlled end up in communities where they can control themselves.

Also interesting to note, the characters are default darker-skinned. This is one of those things that shouldn't be surprising, but if you read enough fantasy, it seems in general that characters tend to be default white, so that was cool to see once I figured it out. I was also pleased to see LGBTQIA+ representation as well. 

The book ends on a cliff-hanger so if you find yourself enjoying it, make sure you have the second one either checked-out or on hold already so you can keep moving along. I have a feeling the books are going to move along as one big story.

I'd recommend this for anyone who enjoys epic fantasy or dystopia and maybe even sci-fi fans.

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

Title: A Study in Scarlet

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Pages: 142

Finished: March 1, 2021

First Sentence: In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army.

Summary: Dr. Watson, just home from Afghan wars, finds himself in need of a roommate. He takes up lodgings with the enigmatical Sherlock Holmes who, it turns out, is a consulting detective. Watson writes up the strange case of a dead man found in an abandoned house and how Holmes solved it.

Thoughts: Reading the source material for Sherlock Holmes is always interesting because I came to the source material after I was already aware of the character. My first remembered experience with Sherlock Holmes is from the Disney movie The Great Mouse Detective. Following that, I saw some various BBC versions - some actual Sherlock Holmes adaptations. At one point we listened to some Sherlock Holmes audiobooks on a family vacation. I remember the Speckled Band. Then there's all the various movies, Sherlock and Elementary, Data pretending to be Sherlock Holmes on Star Trek. 

All that to say, I've seen so many Sherlock Holmes characterizations that coming back to the source was interesting. The book itself is broken into two parts. The first part is the set up of meeting Sherlock, the mystery, and the investigation leading to an arrest. The second part begins in America with two people on death's door being saved by Mormons. It was such a jarring switch that I actually thought the ebook I was reading had a different story in it. Nope, all good. It's just the context for why the murderer became a murderer. After we get all that context, we get the wrap up of how Holmes solved the case and the aftermath. 

Weirdly enough, because I'm more familiar with pop culture Holmes, I found myself comparing the original to what I know. He's a cocky jackass for sure. I'm not sure if I'll continue reading more Holmes. 

This does count as one book off my Classics Club list and I'll be using it for a category in Back to the Classics, though I'm not yet sure which one.

The Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove

Title: The Glass Sentence

Author: S. E. Grove

Pages:

Finished: February 18

First Sentence: It happened long ago, when I was only a child.

Summary: (from Goodreads) Boston, 1891. Sophia Tims comes from a family of explorers and cartologers who, for generations, have been traveling and mapping the New World—a world changed by the Great Disruption of 1799, when all the continents were flung into different time periods.  Eight years ago, her parents left her with her uncle Shadrack, the foremost cartologer in Boston, and went on an urgent mission. They never returned. Life with her brilliant, absent-minded, adored uncle has taught Sophia to take care of herself.

Then Shadrack is kidnapped. And Sophia, who has rarely been outside of Boston, is the only one who can search for him. Together with Theo, a refugee from the West, she travels over rough terrain and uncharted ocean, encounters pirates and traders, and relies on a combination of Shadrack’s maps, common sense, and her own slantwise powers of observation. But even as Sophia and Theo try to save Shadrack’s life, they are in danger of losing their own.

Thoughts: This is a re-read of this novel, and I enjoyed it just as much this time around as I did many years ago when I first read it. 

Characters: All feel in place in a middle-grade fantasy. Flaws are fairly minor or serve to make the character more likeable which could lead readers to feel the characters are too archetypal, but I don't mind it so much in middle grade literature. Sophia has a quiet strength that pulls her out of the Strong Female Character stereotype that sometimes prevails in women-led novels. Theo seems like the standard brash sidekick. Pirates Calixta and Burr are fun. The villain is very villain-worthy. There's enough of a reason that she doesn't seem just evil for evil's sake, but she's very disturbing.

Setting: World-building is pretty good. I would have liked to know even MORE about the ages, but I understand that's not the point of this book. New Occidant has enough familiarities for it to feel familiar even as it's different. The Baldlands are so completely different. 

Writing: The books moves at a decent clip. I continually found myself frustrated when I had to put it down. Point of view is primarily Sophia's in third person though Shadrack has a few POV chapters as well. His chapters are spaced fairly far apart, but they're really nervewracking. 

This is a solid middle grade fantasy similar to Inkheart or the Golden Compass. 

Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston

Title: Master of Poisons

Author: Andrea Hairston

Pages: 507

Finished: February 24, 2021

First Sentence: We are more likely to deny truth than admit grave error and change our minds. 

Summary: Poison desert ravages the land. Djola, Master of Poisons and right-hand mand of the Emporer is banished to live a life among pirates for suggesting people work together and those higher up make sacrifices to solve the problem. Awa, a young smoke-walker travels her own road of danger as she goes against what the Empire believes to be true.  

Thoughts: This is a slow burn book. I started it at the beginning of January and it took close to two months to read. I found this book while looking up fantasy based on African legends. I don't know enough of any African folklore to say whether this one followed any, but I was definitely expecting more along the lines of Redemption in Indigo. 

This is epic fantasy told in a style that I imagine is more similar to oral storytelling. The sentences have a cadence unlike any I've read recently. It took a while to wrap my head around, but once I got there, I was fine with it. Time tends to jump too. The book starts with many chapters that take place in one day, then suddenly jump years. It's jarring at first but you get there in the end. There's also a bit of a learning curve with this world's language. Most fantasy I read is decidedly western in its setting. There's familiarity in the creatures and the names used. It took a bit more time to understand the setting here as well.

Mainly, the book itself was oddly paced. It mostly alternated between Djola's and Awa's points of view. The first few chapters were quick and I was on board with what was happening. But when Djola's point of view chapters were stuck in his eight-year pirate journey where he just felt sorry for himself, I floundered. He wasn't a particularly likeable character, which doesn't kill a book for me, but his self-pity was tough to take at the moment when I was reading it. 

Awa was more likable in that first half, though as her story became what it was and she became angry and disillusioned with the world, I found her fairly tough to deal with as well. The story itself picked up when Djola's and Awa's paths finally converged at which point the final 200 pages were a quick finish. 

The setting was an interesting take on climate change. This was man-made climate change though through environmental means and magic. It mirrored a lot of what we see happening now with those on top not only being unwilling to try anything new but also digging in deeper with harmful practices that artificially keep the poison desert away. Hezram's dream/nightmare gates were especially distressing and poignant. 

I also appreciated that the book didn't end with a complete turnaround. Awa, Djola, and their allies didn't save the world. They just managed to figure out a less-harmful temporary solution so they could breathe and figure out a more permanent solution. 

This book definitely falls on the epic side of the fantasy continuum. I'd recommend it to people who enjoy long sagas such as Lord of the Rings or the Eragon series especially if they're looking for something a little less white male centric. While the empire itself is very patriarchal, there are matricarchial societies within the Empire and there's a subset of people called the Green Elders who live a life as non-binary individuals. Of course, both the matriarchial societies and the Green Elders are persecuted for these things, but, as is usually the case when people want to make changes in the world, they play a large role in the climax of the story and the band-aid solution to get some breathing room. 

2021 Back to the Classics and Chunkster

I really like the Back to the Classics and have decided it will be one of two I sign up for this year to help motivate me as I work through my Classics Club list. I'm not assigning any books, though I've gone ahead and categorized my remaining books where they fit. I'll link everything at the end of the year. I'm also signing up for the Chunkster Reading Challenge as most of these books are fairly hefty.

1. A 19th century classic: A Study In Scarlet

2. A 20th century classic: East of Eden, Endless Night

3. A classic by a woman author. Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Endless Night

4. A classic in translation: Don Quixote, Anna Karenina

5. A classic by BIPOC author: ???

6. A classic by a new-to-you author: Vanity Fair or Anna Karenina or Don Quixote

7. New-to-you classic by a favorite author: East of Eden or Endless Night

8. A classic about an animal, or with an animal in the title: ???

9. A children's classic. Peter Pan

10. A humorous or satirical classic: Martin Chuzzlewit

11. A travel or adventure classic: ???

12. A classic play: A Winter's Tale

Looking Forward 2021

As I said in my post yesterday, I've been thinking about my reading and what I want out of it. I work in a children's library, and when I started this blog, I had been reading mainly children's literature. I wanted to start reading adult literature, but wasn't sure where to start so I joined a few book challenges and was using this blog to track progress and write reviews. 

For the last two years, I'm noticing that I haven't been as interested in my challenges and I'm not reading much children's literature at all. I've liked the challenges because they do help me grow as a reader. Reading outside my comfort zone has been fun in some ways. But at the same time, I tend to then get frustrated when I read something that doesn't "count" for a challenge, even if I'm enjoying reading it. Basically, I'm really good at starting off focused, and then I get distracted and look at all the pretty things. It's a problem. 

So this year I'm doing things a bit differently. With the exception of potentially two challenges, I'm not signing up for or making my own challenges. I'm just setting some goals. There are some challenges that I will be using to provide roadmaps, but I don't plan on signing up and counting books for them. So without further ado, my 2021 reading goals. 

Goal 1: Make progress on my Classics Club List

Technically five years is up in January 2022, but of the 11 books remaining on my list, six are over 500 pages long. Two clock in at close to 1,000. I don't see myself finishing by 2022. I also foresee needing some motivation because, while I always feel like I get a lot out of reading classics, sometimes it's a bit of work to get through them. I will vaguely follow the Back to the Classics challenge simply because it's a great motivator. There's also a chunkster reading challenge I found that could be a fantastic motivator as well. 

Goals 2 and 3: Read more children's books and read more diverse books. 

Professionally, I cannot overlook children's literature. At the very least, I need to keep up with what's out there. On top of that I really want to focus on diverse literature for kids. While I don't plan to sign up for challenges, there is a Reading Children's Books For Adults and a Diversity Reading Challenge that look like they could be a great road map if I need help there.

Goal 4: Read books I enjoy.

I really enjoy fantasy adjacent novels for just plain fun reading. There's a fantasy challenge that could be fun for a road map of discovering new fantasy because it's always fun discovering new stuff! But aside from that, I've really enjoyed trolling the New section on Goodreads and grabbing something from there. Almost every book I've read since September is from there, and I've enjoyed every one!

Goal 5: ETM Study

Recently I've been studying with a group called Education Through Music. Their way of teaching music has really resonated with me, and every time I attend a workshop, I come back with more ideas for deliberate, successful teaching both at my library and my private music studio. They have quite the book list to study regarding things like motivation, teaching practices, brain development, child development, and the like that are really fascinating. I always keep meaning to read them... but never do. 

As for my Mount To be Reads and DeLint novels and the like... I'm still going to keep those lists, but I'm not making them as much a priority at this point. 

I feel good about these goals. They give me some direction in my reading because some of my reading does need direction, but since they're goals rather than challenges to be participated in, I can move them aside for other things as desired. 

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and Happy Reading!