Book Review: “The Obelisk Gate” by N.K. Jemisin

Håfa adai! June is Pride Month in the United States. For the second to fourth Mondays of June, I will review works across various genres written by and/or depicting experiences of members of the LGBTQIA+ community. My second selection for Pride Month 2025 is The Obelisk Gate, the second book in The Broken Earth series by N.K. Jemisin.

The book review portion of this post consists of two parts: a spoiler-free plot summary and my thoughts on the story. In the second part, I give my personal rating and break down the setting and worldbuilding, storytelling, cast of characters, and themes. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinions of the book and maybe encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.

Click on the tags at the bottom of this post to see all reviews with the same tags in the Fantasy bookshelf.

Spoiler-Free Plot Summary of The Obelisk Gate

Nassun and her father are on the run. In a sudden outburst of rage, her father brutally killed Nassun’s younger brother after discovering that he was an Orogene. Realizing that she too is an Orogene, he decided to take her and flee to a place promising a “cure” for the affliction of Orogene. All while the Stillness is violently split in two, marking the start of a horrifying Fifth Season. But Nassun cannot help but see her father through different eyes after the seeing the effects of his violence on her little brother’s lifeless body.

Still searching for her daughter Nassun, Essun gathers herself in the comm of Castrima. Lead by an older Orogene named Ykka, Castrima appears to be a safe haven for Orogenes and non-Orogenic people (known as Stills). But nothing and no one are ever as they appear to be in the Stillness, especially after the onset of the Fifth Season. And tensions rise within Castrima as the rival comm of Rennanis threatens to overtake the population.

Important Trigger Warning for The Obelisk Gate

The Obelisk Gate depicts discrimination, child abuse, and child murder. These scenes and themes are essential to the plot. Always prioritize your mental health before engaging with any work of fiction or non-fiction. If these scenes and themes would cause you distress or discomfort in any way, then please make sure to take necessary steps to prepare and protect yourself before and after reading this book.

My Thoughts on The Obelisk Gate: 5 stars

While The Fifth Season took readers on a broad tour to many times and places in the Stillness, The Obelisk Gate focuses on Essun’s experience in Castrima and Nassun’s journey south to find the Guardians with her father. I was definitely able to appreciate the setting and worldbuilding more in this second installment of the series. N.K. Jemisin continues worldbuilding in The Obelisk Gate while giving the individual

The Obelisk Gate continues the style of narrative shifting from Essun’s first-person perspective to a third-person perspective following another character; the other character being Essun’s daughter Nassun in this book. Several characters throughout the Broken Earth Series are coded as being queer, transgender, or other member of the LGBTQIA+ community. I appreciate the way in which N.K. Jemisin presents the identities of these characters. They are not made caricatures of the LGBTQIA+ community but are instead another aspect of their lived experiences in the challenging world that is the Stillness.

The Obelisk Gate expands on many of the themes explored in The Fifth Season. The oppression, enslavement, and systemic bias and violence against Orogenes—people born with the ability to psychically or magically manipulate the earth through their emotions—is viewed through the eyes of an adult who has been through such formal and social systems (Essun) and a child who is newly confronted with and forced to face such systems (Nassun). In this second installment of the Broken Earth series, The Obelisk Gate explores how trauma can inform and change relationships more deeply than The Fifth Season. Before the events of either book, Nassun’s relationship with her mother Essun was greatly harmed by Essun’s approach to being Nassun’s mother. But, from Essun’s perspective, she was doing the best she could with the information and experiences she had, recognizing Nassun as an Orogene and preparing her daughter for a world that would only want to harm her.

My rating for N.K. Jemisin’s The Obelisk Gate is 5 out of 5 stars. I chose The Obelisk Gate as my second selection for Pride Month due to the prevalence of characters either identified or coded as being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Once again, N.K. Jemisin’s worldbuilding, prose, character development, and storytelling are earth shattering. Pun intended. I was able to truly appreciate and immerse myself in the worldbuilding in this second installment of the series due to the meticulous foundation N.K. Jemisin laid in the previous book. The way in which N.K. Jemisin explores themes in The Obelisk Gate I highly recommend The Broken Earth series to fans of fantasy and science fiction who welcome diffictult topics.

Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of The Obelisk Gate, the second book in The Broken Earth series by N.K. Jemisin.

Rating Cheat Sheet

  • 4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)

  • 4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!

  • 3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.

  • 2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.

  • 0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.

Post Date: 18 June 2025

Published: 16 August 2016

Publisher: Orbit

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Book Review: “The Fifth Season” by N.K. Jemisin

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Book Review: “Wolfsong” by T.J. Klune