Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by sergek94
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin
3.0
This was the September 2021 pick for The Fantasy Guild book club!
“Suffering is part of life,' she said. 'All the parts of life are jumbled up together; you can't separate out just the one thing.' She parred his hand again, kindly. 'I could let you kill me now, lovely man, and have peace and good dreams forever. But who knows what I get instead, if I stay? Maybe time to see a new grandchild. Maybe a good joke that sets me laughing for days. Maybe another handsome young fellow flirting with me.' She grinned toothlessly, then let loose another horrible, racking cough. Ehiru steadies her with shaking hands. 'I want every moment of my life, pretty man, the painful and the sweet alike. Until the very end. If these are all the memories I get for eternity, I want to take as many of them with me as I can.”
In the city-state of Gujaareh, there's a complex relationship between the religious order of the city and its ruling class. The goddess Hananja is revered and worshiped by the denizens of the city, and a special sect, called The Gatherers, carry out her justice and mercy with unflinching devotion, by entering people's dreams and guiding their souls to the afterlife by giving them peace and eternity in paradise, and collecting "dreamblood" while doing so. Their dedication to their cause leaves no room for doubt regarding the benevolence of their acts, however, certain events that will begin to unfold might test the limits of their blind faith, showing them that all is not as pure as it seems. We follow two Gatherers, Ehiru and his apprentice Nijiri, as they navigate this complex environment which ultimately leads them to a lot of painful introspection that will leave them forever altered.
This was the first book I read by N.K. Jemisin, and despite my lukewarm feelings about this particular book, I must say she has gained my appreciation as an author. Her writing style quickly grew on me, since her prose is challenging to read, with her sophisticated usage of complex writing styles and vocabulary. The writing in this book was not straightforward, and this is the type of book you will appreciate if you enjoy being confused for most of the time. This was initially an irritation point for me throughout the book, since I was several chapters in and still wasn't sure what the hell was going on... but it all eventually comes together like a big jigsaw puzzle, so if you're going to read this book, you should be willing to be confused for a while and trust the process of the story unveiling itself, and by the end, most of it will make sense.
Despite the good writing, the plot suffered from slow pacing. Nothing much really happens for a good 90% of the book, and much like the theme of deep dreaming present throughout the story, we feel as though we are in a hazy dream and nothing is quite clear, and we don't understand the purpose of what's going on. That's why, if you're looking for something action packed, this isn't really it, since the payoff will be at the very end, when the story has concluded and you understand what was going on. Even then, you might not really end up liking the whole thing and it might not be enough, so I think it's subjective, since a lot of people seemed to give this book a 4 stars while others gave ratings that were way lower.
The characterization here wasn't really strong, and the characters felt bland and not that interesting. I definitely didn't want to turn the pages of the book for the sake of the characters, and I doubt anyone of them will stick in my mind in the long term. The atmosphere and writing style were what kept me going, while the characters didn't do much to make me care for them in any capacity. I didn't love or hate anyone, so even the worst villains of the story couldn't stir any form of rage within me.
The world building felt very limited, and besides the clear desert environment and the vague mentions of distant icy lands, we don't get much vivid world immersion even though there was a lot of potential for that.
If I were to specify what actually drove this story, the answer would be the themes the story was conveying. Blind and naive devotion to one's faith, and the ways this devotion could lead the person to be manipulated by their superiors who use this faith to drive sinister political agendas, was a strong theme here. The purpose of life, and whether it is best to spend our limited time in this world basking in a state of peace brought by emotional repression, or embrace all the ups and downs with all the emotional pains they bring, is also present in the story. Self-deception, denial, and intense erotic love and the pain it brings when it's unrequited are all touched upon. I would definitely say this story was theme driven, more so than character or plot driven, since both of those were quite lacking in my opinion.
In conclusion, I felt bored while reading this story, waiting for something to happen, and I did have to wait very long. The characterization and world building weren't enough to keep me hooked, however, the writing style and the themes this story carried somehow partially made up for all of those. Yes, I do want to read more from [a:N.K. Jemisin|2917917|N.K. Jemisin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1438215930p2/2917917.jpg], and I will be reading the second book of this duology and her other works. Having been acquainted with the author's writing style, I am hopeful that her other works would captivate me more, since this one, despite it not being a memorable one for me, left me with a longing to read more by her.
Since ratings are sometimes too rigid to describe feelings I get from a book, I will give this a 2.75 stars and round it up to 3. I hope that the other works I read by this author will hit all the right spots this work showed the potential of touching, without really doing so fully.
------------------------------------------------
“True peace required the presence of justice, not just the absence of conflict.”
“Suffering is part of life,' she said. 'All the parts of life are jumbled up together; you can't separate out just the one thing.' She parred his hand again, kindly. 'I could let you kill me now, lovely man, and have peace and good dreams forever. But who knows what I get instead, if I stay? Maybe time to see a new grandchild. Maybe a good joke that sets me laughing for days. Maybe another handsome young fellow flirting with me.' She grinned toothlessly, then let loose another horrible, racking cough. Ehiru steadies her with shaking hands. 'I want every moment of my life, pretty man, the painful and the sweet alike. Until the very end. If these are all the memories I get for eternity, I want to take as many of them with me as I can.”
In the city-state of Gujaareh, there's a complex relationship between the religious order of the city and its ruling class. The goddess Hananja is revered and worshiped by the denizens of the city, and a special sect, called The Gatherers, carry out her justice and mercy with unflinching devotion, by entering people's dreams and guiding their souls to the afterlife by giving them peace and eternity in paradise, and collecting "dreamblood" while doing so. Their dedication to their cause leaves no room for doubt regarding the benevolence of their acts, however, certain events that will begin to unfold might test the limits of their blind faith, showing them that all is not as pure as it seems. We follow two Gatherers, Ehiru and his apprentice Nijiri, as they navigate this complex environment which ultimately leads them to a lot of painful introspection that will leave them forever altered.
This was the first book I read by N.K. Jemisin, and despite my lukewarm feelings about this particular book, I must say she has gained my appreciation as an author. Her writing style quickly grew on me, since her prose is challenging to read, with her sophisticated usage of complex writing styles and vocabulary. The writing in this book was not straightforward, and this is the type of book you will appreciate if you enjoy being confused for most of the time. This was initially an irritation point for me throughout the book, since I was several chapters in and still wasn't sure what the hell was going on... but it all eventually comes together like a big jigsaw puzzle, so if you're going to read this book, you should be willing to be confused for a while and trust the process of the story unveiling itself, and by the end, most of it will make sense.
Despite the good writing, the plot suffered from slow pacing. Nothing much really happens for a good 90% of the book, and much like the theme of deep dreaming present throughout the story, we feel as though we are in a hazy dream and nothing is quite clear, and we don't understand the purpose of what's going on. That's why, if you're looking for something action packed, this isn't really it, since the payoff will be at the very end, when the story has concluded and you understand what was going on. Even then, you might not really end up liking the whole thing and it might not be enough, so I think it's subjective, since a lot of people seemed to give this book a 4 stars while others gave ratings that were way lower.
The characterization here wasn't really strong, and the characters felt bland and not that interesting. I definitely didn't want to turn the pages of the book for the sake of the characters, and I doubt anyone of them will stick in my mind in the long term. The atmosphere and writing style were what kept me going, while the characters didn't do much to make me care for them in any capacity. I didn't love or hate anyone, so even the worst villains of the story couldn't stir any form of rage within me.
The world building felt very limited, and besides the clear desert environment and the vague mentions of distant icy lands, we don't get much vivid world immersion even though there was a lot of potential for that.
If I were to specify what actually drove this story, the answer would be the themes the story was conveying. Blind and naive devotion to one's faith, and the ways this devotion could lead the person to be manipulated by their superiors who use this faith to drive sinister political agendas, was a strong theme here. The purpose of life, and whether it is best to spend our limited time in this world basking in a state of peace brought by emotional repression, or embrace all the ups and downs with all the emotional pains they bring, is also present in the story. Self-deception, denial, and intense erotic love and the pain it brings when it's unrequited are all touched upon. I would definitely say this story was theme driven, more so than character or plot driven, since both of those were quite lacking in my opinion.
In conclusion, I felt bored while reading this story, waiting for something to happen, and I did have to wait very long. The characterization and world building weren't enough to keep me hooked, however, the writing style and the themes this story carried somehow partially made up for all of those. Yes, I do want to read more from [a:N.K. Jemisin|2917917|N.K. Jemisin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1438215930p2/2917917.jpg], and I will be reading the second book of this duology and her other works. Having been acquainted with the author's writing style, I am hopeful that her other works would captivate me more, since this one, despite it not being a memorable one for me, left me with a longing to read more by her.
Since ratings are sometimes too rigid to describe feelings I get from a book, I will give this a 2.75 stars and round it up to 3. I hope that the other works I read by this author will hit all the right spots this work showed the potential of touching, without really doing so fully.
------------------------------------------------
“True peace required the presence of justice, not just the absence of conflict.”