The Obelisk Gate: As good as the first book (A Review)

Just because they want to kill her is no reason to forget her manners.

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin is the second book of the Broken Earth Trilogy, the fantasy epic that began with the Hugo Award-winning The Fifth Season. The Obelisk Gate is a finalist for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel. The last book of this trilogy is going to be released in August, so it’s really a perfect time to get on board with the series.

For those that have not read any of The Broken Earth Trilogy, The Obelisk Gate is the second part of one long story. You absolutely must read The Fifth Season before you read this book. So….go do that. It’s good. If you are waiting to see if the rest of the series is good before you take the plunge, Book 2 is good too. I’ll let you know in August if the conclusion is satisfying!

For those that have read The Fifth Season and liked it, The Obelisk Gate is not a letdown. The story continues. A few more mysteries are solved and a few more mysteries are introduced. There’s a little more action, with higher stakes. The writing style is the same, with the second person POV still being used for about half of the chapters.

For those that have read The Fifth Season and did not like it, you are probably not going to like this book very much either.

Rating:  4 stars

[A bit of housekeeping — I usually post my reviews on Saturday morning, but I am taking the site down this weekend for some work. Things will be back on schedule next week. Hopefully.]