The Stone Sky Book Review

Title: The Stone Sky
Author: N.K. Jemisin
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2017
Pages: 398
Goodreads Rating: 4.31
Rating: 9/10

“How can we prepare for the future if we won’t acknowledge the past?” 

In The Stone Sky, Jemisin wraps up The Broken Earth trilogy as we continue to follow Essun and her daughter, Nassun. The fifth season continues to wreak havoc on the world and our main characters carry a heavy weight on their shoulders… the future of humanity. Will they be able to end the war and the destruction of the fifth season? You’ll have to read it to find out.

Pros:

Historical perspective and worldbuilding
In The Stone Sky, Jemisin solidified her spot as one of my favorite authors because of her superb worldbuilding. Throughout the book, Hoa has chapters from his POV where he shares his story from an earlier time in Earth’s history. In his chapters, we gain historical context and useful info that explain what led to the events happening around our main characters. Along with Hoa’s chapters, the little excerpts at the end of some chapters add interesting bits of info regarding orogenes, research projects, and stonelore. While some readers have said that it feels like info dumping, I loved learning more about the world and the character races.

Nassun’s character development and POV
Nassun’s character development and journey in The Stone Sky are equally fascinating and irksome. At times I was impressed by her maturity and at other times, I was frustrated by her naiveness. I had to constantly remind myself that she is around ten years old and she’s had to mature at a rapid rate as life forces her to deal with life-or-death situations. When I fully realized the gravity of her situation, I couldn’t help but feel sad for her and the life that she has been dealt. 

Ending sets it up for continuation
Jemisin did a phenomenal job ending the trilogy. She beautifully wrapped up the storyline and threw in a few plot twists and character connections along the way. Her ending reminds me of Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogies and I’m really hoping Jemisin writes more books in this world. She could easily write another trilogy based in the future or past. 

Cons:

Some confusing parts of story
In the final book of the trilogy, I was hoping Jemisin would have explained a few things in more detail… Without giving away spoilers, I wanted more of an explanation about the motives and desires of some of the characters. I also would have liked clearer groups of allies in the ongoing war. Lastly, there wasn’t much of an explanation regarding what appears to be the natural ability of one of the main characters. 

Overall… 

If you’re looking to try out fantasy and sci-fi books, I highly recommend starting with The Broken Earth trilogy. It is officially one of my favorite series in the genre and I appreciate this trilogy’s uniqueness in the fantasy genre. While Jemisin’s books and writing style are not without some issues, her storyline, worldbuilding, and characters are absolutely amazing.