
N. K. Jemisin’s Dream Worlds - apollinaire
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/27/nk-jemisins-dream-worlds
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jaster
Be warned: the article contains some (imho) significant spoilers for "The
Fifth Season", the first book of the "Broken Earth" trilogy.

I read the Broken Earth books and thoroughly enjoyed them (especially the
first). I found Jemisin's worldbuilding and protagonists writing to be very
compelling.

I strongly recommend to read at least the Fifth Season to see if her writings
are to your taste.

The fact that some would object that she is a Sci-fi writer seems... rather
reductive to me at the least. Sure Jemisin does not write "hard" SF, and the
Broken Earth has some strong fantasy tropes. But so did Frank Herbert and
Ursula Le Guin, two among the most revered writers of the genre.

[EDIT] I should not even say that she does not write hard SF, since I did not
read her other books (yet). I should have kept it at "The Broken Earth trilogy
is not hard SF"

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cageface
Reading a whole book written in second person narrative got really annoying
after a while and I couldn't finish it even though I thought there were some
interesting ideas there.

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tinco
It's not actually the whole book, she uses it as a literary device and
explaining it fully would spoil some pretty cool things. The narrative form
switches throughout the book, and I agree it's annoying a little bit, but the
dissociated feeling it gives you is actually her intention.

The fifth season definitely is a series that makes you feel uncomfortable, but
I suppose not all stories can (or should) be comfortable.

~~~
disqard
Second this. It's not done merely as a superficial narrative gimmick.

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Amorymeltzer
A while ago, she was on The Ezra Klein Show (a podcast) to basically play
through live a world building example. Pretty fun!

Overcast: [https://overcast.fm/+QLhXLnUOw](https://overcast.fm/+QLhXLnUOw)

Apple podcasts:
[https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1081584611?ct=podlink&m...](https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1081584611?ct=podlink&mt=2&i=1000418571825)

Youtube:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6xyFQhbsjQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6xyFQhbsjQ)

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nl
It's worth noting that all three of her _Broken Earth_ trilogy won Hugo
awards.

It's not uncommon for series to win like that (getting a Hugo award for the
first book means people will start the series, and since the awards are
popular voting having people read your book is half the struggle).

I think the first two books (The Fifth Season and the Stone Sky) were great,
but I didn't love the final book. I think Ann Leckie's _Provenance_ should
have won that year - it's in the (Hugo award winning!) Ancillary Justice
universe, and deals with lots of issues around AI that I think many at HN
would enjoy.

And as for the dead comments complaining that her winning is some kind of
conspiracy because it's not hard SF: Fantasy has long won Hugo awards.

Also: (a) go read it - it's got a system of magic that is as hard as any
magical faster than light technology in a space opera, and (b) Gaiman won with
_American Gods_ and _The Graveyard Book_. _The Yiddish Policemen’s Union_ won
in 2008. _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_ won.

~~~
officemonkey
I thought Provenance was a lot weaker than the rest of the Ancillary series.
It was still good though.

The 2018 Hugo novel field was REALLY good. There wasn't a klunker in the
group. My favorite was Kim Stanley Robinson's "New York 2140" but it was a
very hard call.

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chrisweekly
+1 for KSR "NY 2140", everyone should read that book

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bpyne
An interview with Brandon Sanderson peaked my interest in Jemisin. He said
something to the effect that she is trying to move Fantasy into a new
direction. At the time I read it, I had finished the Malazan Book of the
Fallen, which in itself is a large departure from High Fantasy, and was in
search of something other than a loosely-defined magic system that gets
protagonists out of every tough situation.

Jemisin provided what I was looking for: second-person narratives, magic
systems that are defined and have (loose) roots in science, plot twists, and
great character development. It's also chock full of moral ambiguity. Her
books are also short. After reading MBotF, I felt like I ran a reading
marathon with books general being 1000+ pages. I wanted someone who could say
more with less.

Jemisin listed Octavia Butler as a strong influence. So, I read the Parable
books and am now reading Fledgling. The influence is clear. Butler's books are
brilliant and so different for their time. Her name is really not mentioned
enough.

I have to mention Joe Abercrombie as another author who is moving Fantasy away
from magic-driven plots. Brilliant author.

[EDIT: first-person should have been second-person]

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ubermonkey
I was super happy to see this article when it ran. An author profile in the
New Yorker is a big damn deal in literary circles, and it's something that
doesn't happen super often for folks working in SF or fantasy -- especially if
the work hasn't transitioned to a screen.

I will also shared this, since it's the sort of thing I like to hear (when
it's true) about writers and artists: She's super nice in person. My wife and
I got to meet her on the JoCo Cruise several years ago.

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TinkersW
I read the Broken Earth trilogy a few years ago-- didn't remember it had won
the Hugo award for all 3 books, and don't really understand why it would have
won, unless that was a particularly weak couple of year?

It is a moderately decent fantasy series, but the writing is kind of clunky.

Looking at the 2017 Hugo, I'd say Cixian Liu's "Death's End" was a much better
novel than "The Obelisk Gate", and would have given it to that book.

For the 2016 Hugo I've read 3 of the finalist("Fifth Season", "Ancillary
Mercy", "Seveneves"), but I don't think any of them were all that great...
guess just a weak year.

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janvdberg
Here’s a podcast where she does a bit of worldbuilding:
[https://overcast.fm/+QLhVvI_Pw](https://overcast.fm/+QLhVvI_Pw)

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dirtyid
Broken Earth was a great Trilogy. I appreciate how fast she writes. No
patience for waiting years between books anymore. She was recommended to me
since I was a fan of Butler and Bioware games. There's a lot of overlapping
Dragon Age feels in the series and I think she wrote a Mass Effect novel. Her
twitch is accessible if you want to ask her questions. At least a few years
ago.

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AndrewLiptak
I absolutely love Jemisin's books. The City We Became is really fantastic.

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Theizestooke
I tried the first book in the Broken Earth series, but eventually put it down
because the language was - imo - a bit too preachy and self-indulgent.

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ReptileMan
Too melodramatic for my taste. Couldn't connect with anyone of her
protagonists - so I stopped reading her after The Shadowed sun

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hinkley
It appears from her twitter account that she has done a few charity fundraiser
tiltify streams. Including one yesterday. I don’t know what the right amount
is for such a thing but it seems a bit low to me.

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celticninja
How much did you raise when you did it?

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hinkley
The point I was trying to make was clearly lost, as not a single person
donated in the time since this was posted.

Although a bunch of people clearly feel they won some moral victory by
downvoting me. Bravo, HN. Just stellar.

As to your... tone.

I did quite a bit of volunteer work for a nonprofit for five years. I gave
them, as it turned out when I did the math later, about 10% of my free time,
worked with thousands of other people in that time (pretty good for an
introvert). We raised around a quarter million, not counting the value of
public resources and tens of thousands of volunteer hours we relied upon.

I’m fine walking through the gate you just erected. How ‘bout you?

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celticninja
Perhaps a call to action would be better communication then, rather than your
clumsy attempt to raise awareness. You came across as condescending and
critical. So well done you in your volunteer work, but perhaps work on your
communication style if you were actually looking to promote donating to the
cause instead of criticising someone else's achievement.

