Here, Essun confronts her former lover Alabaster, the dying revolutionary who unleashed the current apocalypse, and begins to unravel the secrets of the obelisk network—ancient floating monoliths tied to the planet’s tortured geology and the missing moon’s return. Meanwhile, her daughter Nassun, under the sway of her abusive father and the manipulative Guardian Schaffa, hones her own terrifying powers at a remote orogene colony, setting the stage for a collision of world-altering forces.
Jemisin’s prose thrums with geological urgency, weaving themes of systemic oppression, maternal fury, and ecological collapse into a narrative where magic and science blur. The novel’s structure—layered with shifting perspectives and cryptic stone lore—mirrors the fractured world it depicts.
For readers who crave more, The Stone Sky (2017) concludes the trilogy with a cosmic reckoning, while Jemisin’s The City We Became (2020) offers a contemporary mythos of urban survival.
Awards & Honors:
- Hugo Award for Best Novel (2017)
- Nebula Award Finalist (2016)
- New York Times Bestseller
