N.K. Jemisin, now an award-winning author of some very complex and wonderful fantasy books, did not have a rosy beginning in publishing. Her first two novels were not published because the protagonists were all black. So, instead, she got this book published, which she admits herself is an “eye-roll in the general direction of epic fantasy.” Is it any surprise I didn’t love it? But wait, there’s more!
First of all, can I please say that there’s something seriously wrong with a publishing system that chooses to publish this series before the infinitely better, more nuanced, more complex Dreamblood duology? This book wasn’t even in the same city, much less the same ballpark as that wonderful series.
Anyway. Jemisin’s writing is mesmerizing as always. She does VOICE (yes, with caps) better than anyone else. She also does social commentary very well. But this novel, after a compelling hook and great beginning, dissolved quickly into a lack of a plot driven by the protagonist’s proverbial search for her “real mother” (which got boring very quickly).
Even that I could deal with. But ultimately there are two things that killed it for me. The gods of this world are far worse than humans. Jemisin, who I think professes as a Christian (based on her interview at the end of the book), seems to interpreted the idea of being “created in God’s image” to mean that our faults are reflections of “divine sins.”
That is a very serious reinterpretation of Christian theology. It’s also a major reason why I didn’t like this book, in spite of the wonderful prose. I don’t like to read about worlds were the gods are worse than their creation, unless there’s a redemptive or at least cautionary take-away from it at the end. I subscribe to Tolkien’s ideas about fairy stories and what fiction should do to effect actual positive change. This book’s core philosophy is problematic at least, and insidious at worst.
Plus, I really, really don’t like it when glorious, mind-shattering sex is presented as the solution to internal and external conflict. There are good reasons philosophically for such a mindset, but I don’t like postmodernism, so I beg to differ. Especially when the protagonist is a 19-year-old virgin effectively, and her “partner” is an omnipotent being who might have her, literally, for lunch. Yeah, I bristle when I read scenes like these. Your mileage, naturally, may vary.
I go into this, and other rants, in more detail in my video review:
I’m not going to continue the series, sadly.
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