The Stone Sky Book Review

Major Spoilers are included in this book review. Please read with caution.

The Fifth Season Book Review is here. The Obelisk Gate Book Review is here.

Mother and daughter start to conflict as the trilogy draws to a close. Essun and Nassun, after two books of not being together, reunite in an unexpected manner as they race to utilize the Obelisks to either save or end the world. The payoff to their reunion had this sadness that was perfectly conveyed—because I cried. Before I dive deeper into my cry, let’s talk about the story itself.

The story picks up where we left off with Essun. She went into a coma opening an Obelisk Gate, and has started turning into stone. At least an arm turned into stone. She had saved Castrima, but it also cost the community. The people didn’t die, but they had to move and find another safe place. Again, this part of the story does not interest me. Nassun’s side of the story with Schaffa is what intrigues me.

With Nassun, she has murdered her father and wants to see the world burn. This is where the story left off in The Obelisk Gate. Schaffa also joins her on this quest as he begins to make amends for a forgotten past. The father-daughter bond had started traumatic and ended the same way… pitting mother and daughter in a climatic end, where there was no return from.

Hoa’s story was also explored in flashbacks, but it didn’t feel character-driven. The whole story felt like a plot-driven flashback story to explore why the world became the Stillness and how Hoa became a good storyteller for us—the audience. It was the least interesting part of the story, but it was necessary for the context.

Overall, the trilogy came to a satisfying conclusion. There was payoff to my investment, and the Acknowledgments made me see how personal the whole story was to Jemisin.

I would recommend the trilogy to anyone interested in SCI-FI stories. Thanks!