For years after finally completing Wheel of Time and finally giving up on George Martin I stayed away from any multi volume fantasy. I just couldn’t find anything that seemed worth the investment in time.
After Fifth Season won the Hugo, I got the free sample on Kindle … and the opening blew me away. This was DIFFERENT.
So I did the only thing my ADHD completionist brain could think of - I put the book down and went back to the first book Jamisin wrote - The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. And it turned out that was awesome too!
I’ve since read every scrap she has published. The only books she’s written that I can’t recommend without reservation are her new New York City duology - and the recommendation there is still absolute if you happen to love NYC or closely follow the BLM movement.
As far as Broken Earth goes, I loved the narrative devices and the overall theme of how much sin can a society commit before it is beyond redemption was striking. I loved the buildup of Essun and her daughter’s characters and their differing paths to the final showdown.
This is S tier science fiction and the triple Hugo’s were well deserved. This is an excellent example of great writing that holds a mirror up to society and I’ll be sure to continue buying everything Jamisin publishes.
Ditto on the Marquez. He’s pissed me off, I’m tired of his sad old men protagonists, but you can’t deny his prose is amazing.
There’s a lot of good stuff in the Russian classics but last time I reread Gogol’s overcoat it hit just as hard.
Recently reading Colson Whitehead’s Nickel Boys I full on broke down at two different parts. Like ugly crying and not just because it was a sad moment - there was too much going on in my head as a result of the writing for me to process.