Odyssey Book BloG

Spoiler free review

Themes: motherhood as strength, oppression and rebellion, environmental apocalypse, unconventional love, black voices- black characters

“Let’s start with the end of the world, why don’t we? Get it over with and move onto more interesting things.”

This story (clearly) takes place at the end of the world as we know it. It unfolds through multiple perspectives, and multiple POV types which is confusing initially but eventually converges in a really satisfying way at the end of the series. Light spoiler- the story is actually being told from ONE perspective the entire time 😎

In this world, the Earth has turned against humanity and there’s a reason why. Civilization is periodically plunged into a “Fifth Season,” which is a time of extreme environmental upheaval that wipes out a fraction of humanity every time. The Earth is sentient here, an angry, vengeful “father” responding to something that is to be revealed as the series progresses.

There are three kinds of humans here; stills (ordinary people), orogenes (those who have some control over seismic and geological forces), and stone eaters. How these three groups came to be and how they’re connected uncovers itself beautifully later.

Naturally, humanity fears what it doesn’t understand, so orogenes are violently exploited and oppressed, drawing stark and triggering parallels to real-world reality. This journey follows one orogene in particular, and her character is very compelling (to me). I’ve seen many critiques calling the FMC unlikeable, but I disagree. She’s sharp, blunt, dry-humored, and strong. All character traits that make a FMC “controversial.”

The writing here is honestly like no other. Jemisin created a world so fully realized and strange that it resists comparison. The story is just so unique that as a reader, you can’t try too hard to understand everything as you go. Everything will click exactly when she means it to, and the ending is magnificent. Jemisin pulls at the same knot of questions throughout the trilogy, loosening it along the way, and everything unravels perfectly (and strikingly) in the final moments.

I’ll wrap up by going through my three favorite things about this series:

Originality

It’s always great to discover something that’s truly original. Jemisin’s voice is wholly her own. And although this makes for slow comprehension occasionally, there’s nothing derivative here which is stunning. It’s truly its own.

Characters

These characters definitely stayed with me. They aren’t archetypes or moral binaries. Essun’s blunt wit, Alabaster’s imperfect and cranky personality, Tonkee’s intelligent charm, Innon’s boldness. I loved them all for their human-ness and I think any reader could see a piece of themselves in at least one character.

Unconventional POV

Like I mentioned before, this story is told through multiple perspectives that are actually just one. It’s brilliant and I’ve never read anything like it. If you know, you know, and if you don’t, you’ll find out what I mean at the end of book 3 😜