THE PLOT: ‘The Stone Sky’ by N.K. Jemisin is science-fiction fantasy about the end of the world. In a distant future, Sanze – the world-spanning empire for a thousand years – collapses as an enormous continental rift sends a colossal ash-cloud into the sky. Essun has mastered the magic needed to fix the rift and save humanity for good. But first, she seeks to finally find her missing daughter, Nassun. After seeing the evil of the world, Nassun wants to use her own magical powers; not to fix the rift, but to destroy the planet completely. As they both converge on the location where everything started, mother is pitted against daughter for the fate of humanity.

SUMMARY: This is the final book in a trilogy so if you haven’t read the first two, you should stop reading and get a coffee. Now, if you’re still here, let’s dive right in. I love this series. I will defend it until I die. I will always recommend it. The world-building is intricate, the characters are loveable and the plot is absorbing. But I’ll be honest. This was my least favourite book in the series. This is still a five-star book and a five-star trilogy in my opinion. However, I felt it got a little bit too complicated and high-level for my tastes, particularly in the detailed descriptions of the magic.

GOOD BITS: The origins of Hoa and Syn Analgist were my favourite chapters. I loved getting more of the lore. Being able to connect to Hoa as a ‘human’ and understanding his backstory were key to unlocking the world-building, which gave me a reason to care about the Stone Eater characters. Similarly, I loved Ykka and low-key want a book about her rebuilding Castrima in Rennais. The people and the settlement pulled me in, and the cast of secondary characters will always remain in my heart.

NOT SO GOOD BITS: My favourite parts of any fantasy are the human emotions. I love a bit of magic, but it’s the character’s struggles that hook me. And, well, I just never truly believed that Nassun wanted to destroy the world. The plot came together well and it all made sense. But the antagonist/conflict never made me feel like there was true jeopardy. I knew Essun would complete her goal. This also linked to Father Earth being too abstract a villain. In order to believe in the antagonist, I wanted more grounding in human actions (e.g., a sect that created Guardians rather than Father Earth stealing(?) people and putting corestones in them).

OVERALL: I’m not a huge SFF reader so I don’t have a ton of comps. But I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘The Parable of the Sower’ by Octavia Butler, ‘The Lies of Locke Lamora’ by Scott Lynch, and ‘The Poppy War’ by R.F. Kuang. If you want to completely lose yourself in a world, buy this trilogy ASAP.

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