A Love Letter to NK Jemisin

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Guest 5D writer Laurie Bachman talks about her literary obsession.

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A few months ago I started reading again, I had taken a 9-year hiatus from books after my degree – burnout is real and man did I feel it. Then I stumbled upon the novel Legend Born by Tracey Dion and I couldn’t stop. Now having the disposable income of an adult I have gone on a spending frenzy to quench the thirst this book awoke.

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During my hauls I stumbled across the City We Became by N K Jemisin and thus a fan girl was born. N K Jemisin, Nora Kieta Jemisin a New Yorker residing in Brooklyn, her debut novel The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms won critical acclaim. With a plethora of awards to their name and various project, including an option deal and a graphic novel, there isn’t much that Jemisin hasn’t achieved on their bucket list.

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Inheritance Trilogy

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The Inheritance Trilogy began with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, published in 2010 Yeine Darr is not the typical Arameri, born to Kinneth Arameri – Her Grandfathers treasure and a Northern Darre heir. Yeine is summoned by her Grandfather to the Sky Palace. Named as heir, Yiene must navigate the palace’s classist social structure while attempting to solve a number of mysteries, including who murdered her mother.

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There is a dash of romantic undertones to this story as Yeine explores who she is in the face of cultural and social oppression. But the most touching relationship within the book is with the captive god Sieh who shows Yeine that she is more than just a “northerner” and can use her circumstances to destroy those that stand in her way if she is willing to pay the price.

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I greatly enjoyed this book, I read it on the back of SJM’s ACOTAR series and I must say the romance in Jemisins work is far superior, even though it is not the driving force in Jemisins novel it is masterfully crafted and a far more relatable paring that what occurs within Maas’s work. I draw this comparison as both novels make use of uplifting and evolving characters.

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The second and Third Books within the Inheritance Trilogy – Kingdom of the Gods and the Broken Kingdoms, do not disappoint; they follow different aspects of the mythos established in Hundred Thousand Kingdoms with the second book focusing on Oree, a blind woman with the gift of seeing magic and painting doorways. The latter gift was unknown to her. The third instalment is set 100 years after the Broken Kingdoms.

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The Inheritance Trilogy incorporate many different myths and folklore forms. The world-building is complex but understandable, the time shifts do not detract from the overall power and force of the story and the characters, which you briefly get to know and engage with, work well to construct the broader tapestry of the story.

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Dreamblood Duology

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I have yet to read these. They currently sit on my now impossibly large TBR and I will be saving these for a long weekend free of interruption. The Duology is set in a world with a mad king where magic is harvested from Dreams. Peace is the only law and the Gatherer’s main purpose is to maintain this.

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Someone is murdering the Dreamers and the Gatherer and Ehiru must figure out who and why. There is intrigue, and mystery but also questions about the driving force of religion and hierarchy. It is safe to say I cannot wait to complete my Jemisin experience and dive into this one as well.

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Broken Earth Trilogy

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Began in 2015 with The Fifth Season, this book received the Hugo prize for Best Novel. The story begins with the end of the world the characters inhabit. It follows three women in different time periods, this does not make the story hard to follow and is in fact masterfully done.

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The POVs include Essun, a woman grieving the death of her son and searching for her missing daughter, Damaya who is a young woman who is sent away with a Guardian to the Fulcrum, and Syenite a rising star at the Falcrum.

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All three women are Orogenes, people who have the ability to manipulate the earth. Orogenes are feared and usually killed, or sent to the Fulcrum to learn to use their abilities in a “controlled and appropriate” manner.

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Obelisk Gate follows on from the events of the Fifth Season with POVs from Essun continuing but also introducing the characters Nassun and Shaffa, the book continues on from the point where the Fifth Season finishes. The Stone Sky is the final instalment, in order to avoid spoilers I will simply say it is a direct continuation of what occurs in Obelisk Key and is truly spectacular with an amazing twist in the final chapters.

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Great Cities series

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This is Jemisin’s most recent series, The City We Became was released in 2020 and the sequel is available in November. The City We Became introduced me to Jemisins work and the plot for this fantasy novel was so unlike anything I had encountered before. It follows the story of the main boroughs in New York as they inhabit Avatars to battle against an ancient threat. Like that of War of the Worlds, the evil already resided beneath the earth and was allowed through with the awakening of New York. The boroughs must come together for New York to fully awaken.

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There is a great deal of underlying social commentary with this book – as with all of Jemisins work, which does really well to highlight what makes people act how they do, believe and behave negatively towards others, but ultimately addressing racial and racist undertones within society and address how this impacts communities coming together against bigger threats. I greatly enjoyed the style of writing, but also the ways in which Jemisins weaves together these messages and themes to broaden the understanding of how racial tensions exist from not just the BIPOC perspectives but also the communities that exist with unconscious bias and how this deepens the divide.

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The plot itself is so unlike any fantasy I have encountered, the settings and descriptions come alive and the magic structure is so intertwined with the boroughs the avatars inhabit, each Avatar tapping into the unique energies and driving forces within their respective boroughs. Brooklyn for example is Music, Queens being the creative and aspirational energies of its inhabitants. It builds such a wonderful and complete picture for those that have never graced the city.

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Final thoughts, Jemisin opened a new perspective for me when it comes to literature, as a BIPOC writer there are of course explorations of ideas of “othering” within their work, they provide a clear and strong perspective on what being BIPOC means in society and the struggles and prejudice that exist because of it. The ideas of unconscious and conscious bias when it comes to things like race and cultural backgrounds are explored and conveyed through their writing in a subtle way that adds to and enriches the experiences of the characters they create.

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As well as this, Jemisin creates worlds unlike anything I have ever read before, their use of land and home in building this connectedness to the spaces we inhabit. Jemisin also creates characters that are relatable, and struggles that are tangible and understandable for every reader, the losses of these characters are felt deeply and keenly.

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