278 replies to this topic

[Katia11]

yeahhhh, that's fair!! 

[Mara=^.^=]

 

 

I hated this series. Black Sun was okay - maybe 3 out of 5 stars - but Fevered Star was a jumbled mess, and I put Mirrored Heavens down after 50 pages. I think this author is just not my cup of tea, because I didn't much care for Trail of Lightning, either.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Katia11]

I'm sorry, Mara! that's such a bummer.

[Mara=^.^=]

 

 

Well this was a hell of a thing. Innovative and original, but also exhaustingly familiar. Some strange writing choices. Some incredibly cool writing choices. I hated one of the main characters, and absolutely loved another. I appreciate the risks the author took with this series, as well as the monumental effort she clearly put into it (at every point, you can practically feel her struggling as she battled with the text. This was not an easy or pleasant process for her). Definitely an interesting experience.

 

The Fifth Season 

 

Obelisk Gate 

 

Stone Sky 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Katia11]

I read this series last year! I really enjoyed it! I was frustrated at point and enthralled in others. I think the first book was my favorite of the series, but I still did like the other two quite a bit. The last one was also probably my least favorite, but overall the series was one I’d re-read.

Which main character did you hate? Give me the tea, Mara!

[Mara=^.^=]

I read this series last year! I really enjoyed it! I was frustrated at point and enthralled in others. I think the first book was my favorite of the series, but I still did like the other two quite a bit. The last one was also probably my least favorite, but overall the series was one I’d re-read.

Which main character did you hate? Give me the tea, Mara!

 

I loved Hoa. Hated Nassun. Loved Damaya when she was still Damaya. Was constantly frustrated by Syenite/Essun. Deeply admired Ykka. Felt like Tonkee was kind of wasted as a character.

 

I was wildly unconvinced by the recurring theme that people confronted with oppression would jump so quickly to global slaughter as a way to "reset" things and even the playing field. "Burn it all down and start over" never actually works. That whole concept just reeks of the Biblical flood narrative (which, as you may recall, failed to purge the world of evil too), and should have been clearly refuted in the text. I wish more attention was paid to the role that propagandists (the Guardians) play in creating and perpetuating injustice. Was sort of shocked by the lack of opposing voices screaming out against said injustice, especially in a world where frequent periods of extreme instability cause opportunities for rapid change and reinvention. In actual real world history, every imaginable form of exploitation and abuse has been resisted by a fairly large minority of people (sometimes organized, sometimes not). Where are the orogene allies? In real world history, there have always been external allies, even to the most marginalized, feared, and hated groups. People who shout "no!", not because of a personal relationship that allows them to see past their bigotry, but rather as the result of an ideological opposition to inequality itself. Mr. Rogers called them "the helpers." 

Anyway. One thing I wish had been explored in greater detail was what draws the stone eaters to the orogenes. Like, there's a clear attraction and symbiosis in these weird pair-bonds that goes beyond a simple desire to "reproduce". Why does each stone eater adopt, love, consume, and transform a specific person? This was one of the most interesting and unique features of the series, and I really wanted to understand it better. 

 

EDIT: Upon further consideration, I think my biggest problem with the series was that it was both thematically heavy-handed, and thematically confused. I felt like it needed a better thesis statement. My favorite part of the series was how clearly the love came across, even when it was misguided or strained.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Katia11]

I loved Hoa. Hated Nassun. Loved Damaya when she was still Damaya. Was constantly frustrated by Syenite/Essun. Deeply admired Ykka. Felt like Tonkee was kind of wasted as a character.
 
~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

That’s fair.

I loved Hoa. Hated Nassun. Loved Damaya when she was still Damaya. Was constantly frustrated by Syenite/Essun. Deeply admired Ykka. Felt like Tonkee was kind of wasted as a character.
 
I was wildly unconvinced by the recurring theme that people confronted with oppression would jump so quickly to global slaughter as a way to "reset" things and even the playing field. "Burn it all down and start over" never actually works. That whole concept just reeks of the Biblical flood narrative (which, as you may recall, failed to purge the world of evil too), and should have been clearly refuted in the text. I wish more attention was paid to the role that propagandists (the Guardians) play in creating and perpetuating injustice. Was sort of shocked by the lack of opposing voices screaming out against said injustice, especially in a world where frequent periods of extreme instability cause opportunities for rapid change and reinvention. In actual real world history, every imaginable form of exploitation and abuse has been resisted by a fairly large minority of people (sometimes organized, sometimes not). Where are the orogene allies? In real world history, there have always been external allies, even to the most marginalized, feared, and hated groups. People who shout "no!", not because of a personal relationship that allows them to see past their bigotry, but rather as the result of an ideological opposition to inequality itself. Mr. Rogers called them "the helpers." 

Anyway. One thing I wish had been explored in greater detail was what draws the stone eaters to the orogenes. Like, there's a clear attraction and symbiosis in these weird pair-bonds that goes beyond a simple desire to "reproduce". Why does each stone eater adopt, love, consume, and transform a specific person? This was one of the most interesting and unique features of the series, and I really wanted to understand it better. 
 
~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

Yeah, all of this makes a lot of sense. I struggled with many of the same things! I do see how the sort of more apocalyptic events might have influenced the general public to rely on the system for survival, and thus, I could see how they would be less likely to fight back. But to see so little of that resistance was frustrating, because even if it’s rare, like you said, it feels like it would still be present.

I also wanted more information about the stone eater thing too!

[Mara=^.^=]

But to see so little of that resistance was frustrating, because even if it’s rare, like you said, it feels like it would still be present.

 

It's not rare at all. It's rare that it succeeds in unraveling entrenched power structures, but its existence itself is not rare. It is actually ubiquitous. Essun et. al definitely should've encountered it in their lives more than once, even if nothing changed as a result. 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Katia11]

Oh no! I meant rare in the book, like the audience doesn’t see it much.

[Mara=^.^=]

Oh no! I meant rare in the book, like the audience doesn’t see it much.

 

It's basically nonexistent in the book. Even when Syenite and her mandatory baby daddy take shelter on pirate island – a culture that has developed in isolation, with no Guardian propaganda and a friendly relationship with orogenes – it's still directly stated that the people of the island would turn on orogenes in the event of a crisis. WHY? There's nothing inherent about any minority group that makes them a target in the absence of specific cultural ideas about that group. It's just as likely that the population would turn on people with ashfall hair, or limb differences, or mental illness, or any other number of things. The book seems to take the position that there's something inherent in orogenes that makes them an eternal target of discrimination, but that's not how bigotry actually works. Bigotry is subjective, cultural, and above all, mutable. That's why it's so useful to tyrants.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Katia11]

This is a very fair point!

[Mara=^.^=]

I think my favorite setting in the whole story was the underground geode city. What an amazingly cool experiment! I was so bummed when it got destroyed. 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Katia11]

Yeah, that was cool! I remember wishing the book had lingered there a little longer!

[Mara=^.^=]

One reason I disliked Nassun so much was that she just seemed like an extension/reiteration of her mother, rather than her own character. I was really hoping she would become a lorist, because that caste was both sorely underdeveloped and also probably the most interesting caste in the series. It's a direct link back to the time of the ancients, and it would've been really cool to see Nassun learn about the world and change her perspective in a way that wasn't wholly centered on parental trauma. 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Katia11]

Yeah, I feel like her character did sort of end up as a a re-tread of her mother, especially because of the relationship she ends up having with the guardian guy (who I am currently forgetting the name of). I did end up liking her anyway in the end though, but your critique is very fair.

[Mara=^.^=]

 

 

Started this, but just couldn't get through it for some reasons. Nice descriptions, though. 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Katia11]

That’s a bummer. To no one’s surprise, I liked it and I want to read the other book by them but my ebook borrows are uh... piling up. I wonder if the audiobook is any good. Do you listen to audiobooks, Mara?

[Mara=^.^=]

That’s a bummer. To no one’s surprise, I liked it and I want to read the other book by them but my ebook borrows are uh... piling up. I wonder if the audiobook is any good. Do you listen to audiobooks, Mara?

Only on occasion. I read so much faster than a narrator can speak, and I get impatient.

 

I'm much more likely to listen to nonfiction audiobooks than fiction audiobooks. 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Katia11]

That is fair, you can adjust speeds I think some apps allow all the way up to 3.0x speed now. I listen at about 2x or 2.5x

[Mara=^.^=]

 

This book was...fine. I don't really have any strong complaints about it. I think the town itself was probably my favorite character, if that makes sense.

 

 3 stars.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =