It’s been a couple of months since I read this fantasy doorstopper. I remember enjoying the book especially for the setting, a world where every few hundered years there is a climate catastrophe that destorys nearly everything. There are folk with psychic powers who can stop (or start) earthquakes and there is a dominant status quo power that oppresses the psychics and uses them for their own ends. Also there were obilisks, giant floating spaceships, relics from a previous failed civilisation floating around that may or may not play a role in contemporary affairs. Themes of harrassment and racial oppression abound, as I recall, but nothing is on the nose.
The writing was snappy and although, long, the three protagonists’ tales all come together in a satisfying payoff at the end. I knew I would like it so bought the other two books in the Broken Earth trilogy but at around 500 pages each, haven’t girded my loins to read them, but probably will.
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No. 10 of 50 books I intend to read and review in 2022.
I’m Patrick Sherriff, an Englishman who survived 13 years working for newspapers in the US, UK and Japan. Between teaching English lessons at my conversation school in Abiko, Japan, I write and illustrate textbooks for non-native speakers of English, release Hana Walker mystery novels, short stories, paint, sketch and write essays and a monthly newsletter highlighting good writing in English, often about about Japan, art, crime fiction and teaching.
Patrick Sherriff 