The Obelisk Gate

It's always a bit daunting to start the second book in a series when you so thoroughly enjoyed the first book. Will it be as good? Better? I would say that N.K. Jemisin's second book in The Broken Earth trilogy was just as good, if not even better. Some of the lulls in the first book which spiralled into stories I wasn't as interested in are replaced by fascinating parallel journeys of mother and daughter in all its messy, heart-wrenching ways. This really is the core of the story and I think a stronger one for it, but it also expands the world and continues to spin new mysteries while answering old ones. New characters and places continue to fascinate and frustrate in equal measure. Although I felt the secondary characters certainly don't get as much fleshing out, Essen and Nassun more than make up for it. I was flipping pages and staying up late to finish ‘just a bit more'. This continues to be one of the best fantasy reads I've read in awhile and I'm excited to dive into the final chapter.