The Stone Sky

4.5 ⭐️

I feel so mixed about this one. The story telling was completely on par with The Fifth Season and Obelisk Gate. However I could not get past the fact that what took Nassun a lifetime to master, her daughter figured out on her own as a child in 2 years. Yes, Nassun had internalized trauma to overcome and a lot of unlearning to do, and her daughter did not have to deal with these things, but it still felt unrealistic. And then her daughter was able to do what she couldn't? Also,
—maybe it's just me—but I never really felt sympathetic toward Shaffa until the very end and I resented that N.K. Jemison was pushing me into empathy.

I initially rounded-up to 5 stars because of how masterfully Jemison connects human relationships, power dynamics, and environmental protection, and weaves it all into an gripping narrative, but after a few days I'm feeling annoyed, so we're rounding down to 4.