Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin starting July 20, 2021.

I think the writing in this book lends itself really well to oral story-telling. The first time around, I listened to these and maybe that’s why I liked them so much. Reading them now the voice is still in my head.
Up to chapter 1
(view spoiler)[ This was so tragic, revisiting Uche’s murder by his own father. Still cannot fathom how someone can do that to a child, let alone their own. And the tipping point was a diamond found by Nassun (I agree with the narrator, Nassun does not need to know). I highlighted “No one is to blame but him” because that really resonated with me. There might be reasons that triggered Jija’s act of murder, but he did it. No victim-blaming here! (hide spoiler)]

Hm, I'm tempted to start now. I've got some current readings, but I'm 3 weeks off starting this weekend.

3 weeks off sounds nice! I'll probably be taking this one slow since I've got a few other books going too.

I really do love the world-building in these books. Even though I'm pretty sure Jemisin herself said somewhere that is not her main focus when writing. She still does an amazing job. Even giving the different sciences and studies new names with "mestry" attached just brings you into the world that is familiar and yet so alien to ours. (view spoiler)[ Also, no moon! And the literal grounding of the people of the world. They do not pay attention, as a whole, to the skies. Which is also very different I feel from our world. (hide spoiler)]
Chapter 2
(view spoiler)[ And we're back to Essun and Alabaster, the moon thing is so mysterious, Alabaster still doesn't explain after Essun shows she can summon the obelisk.
We have travelers going to the North, maybe another com developing? Will they be a threat to Castrima?
Essun seems to be getting entrapped in Castrima, distracted from going to find her daughter. Will she try to continue on?
The little epigraphs (?) at the end of each chapter also drive home the point how brutal, and based on simply surviving the world is. Always about preparing for a season. (hide spoiler)]
Chapter 3
(view spoiler)[ Ah, we get Schaffas POV as well, yet still Essun is centered in the story. The POVs always relate back to her, as these people are a part of her. It is Hoa telling the story after all and Essun is his human for some reason.
This is right after Essun connected with the obelisk and destroyed (another) comm. And that line "Did she now know that Schaffa would lover son as a he loved her? He would lay the boy down gently, so gently, in the wire chair".. Wow these guardians are seriously twisted. This chapter we do get a bit more info on them. Schaffa really is old, hundreds of years.. They are somehow connected to another power, one that is very angry.. Does that use the guardians if they lose control, like that one guardian he killed in front of Damaya/Essun? The narrator insists that the Schaffa we knew is dead, yet Schaffa himself insists he is still himself? Is this defiant wishful thinking? Just something he clings to as his sense of self dies?
We also see the guardians somehow feed off the orogenes, (and the stills too, but it kills them quickly). Is this how they live so long and heal so quickly?
And again how cruel the world is. Eitz would probably be murdered by his family, or at least the comm if they found out and Schaffa can save him from that, and does seem to care about the boy in his own twisted way. This as he murders half the family... Everything is so messy.
Where is he taking the boy? Are other guardians who have been taken over by that angry power there? (hide spoiler)]
Chapter 4
(view spoiler)[ This one is hard. I was excited when Essun was able to get the boil bugs off the hunter, yay orogeny put to good use! Yet now they still have to kill the poor man. And Lerna's pain. He has been so stoic until now, I was almost wanting him to blow up a little. Essun did kill his comm after all, how is he not mad at her? It's not entirely her fault, but she did lose control. The orogenes are not feared for no reason, but it is still so unfair how they are treated. Hopefully Castrima does find a better way, and it seems they are trying. But what does Lerna want Essun to do about the season? She's only one orogene...
And Alabaster can't use powerful orogeny without turning more of himself to stone.. What does he want with Essun and what is the moon all about? (hide spoiler)]
Interlude
(view spoiler)[ And some tidbits about Hoa.. though not too much to explain anything really. Is he the vermin in this metaphor? Him and other stone-eaters? What role does he have for Essun that will end in her death? (hide spoiler)]
Also, sorry this post was very lengthy lol