skybridge

lbrunner.net · @lbrunner.net@bridge.neodb.net

Rated The City We Became 8/10

I loved Jemisin's Broken Earth series and was eager to read more of her stuff so I put this on my list. Later on, I was kind of dreading reading it, as I was worried it would be some kind of contemporary urban fiction drama or something.



Boy. I was wrong.



While the story happens in our world (or one that looks very very close), it isn't some kind of boring drama about real people with real problems, it's a very interesting book about real people with real problems which are also <spoiler>living embodiments of real cities</spoiler> and that makes all the difference!



Overall the cast is pretty nice and varied, I am a bit sad that Manny's trans roommate had such a tiny appearance and in the end we don't get to learn a lot of Manny's or Padmini's <spoiler>(or even the primary's, whose name I can't even remember, if it's even provided at any point!)</spoiler> backround compared to Bronca or Brooklyn (or Aislyn for that matter).



The cast and dialogue is also very "black" and queer, I guess, which could be a problem for some people (especially as nearly every bad character is portrayed as white, who even when they are not actively evil are merely "not assholes"). This directly remind me of LeGuin's own approach in Wizard of Earthsea, which does the same thing (see, even white people do it!).



This also makes it a fairly angry book. Angry at the police, the establishment, finance, etc. I am no friend of any of those categories but it's also a bit tiring. I don't want to get involved in USA politics but do we have to get reminded that every cop is fascist every time they appear on the page? Again, I get that due to my privileges I have never had similar issues with the authorities/establishment and that this book might merely render on the page how many many people feel on a daily basis but I think it does a bit of disservice the same way Zhao's Iron Widow does for feminism (not as "bad" though). Ultimately, this is why I don't like reading "contemporary universe" fantasy.



I also find it quite ironic how the book rightly shits on Lovecraft (I mean, he is an incel racist loser after all) but then proceeds to borrow a lot of his mythos, style, etc (<spoiler>even to the point of naming the Enemy "R'lyeh"!!!</spoiler>). Like the rest of this book, it might just be a giant snipe at white people (which works TBF) but the same way some shitty directors use violence in movies under the guise of having an "anti-violence" message while knowing people will flog to their shitty movies for the violence... it just renders the book more "hypocritical".



I liked this book, I liked the ending (I was afraid nothing would get resolved but the last minute twist is pretty good to be honest) and I connected and related easily with it. I wish it would be less angry but also that the police weren't legally-ordained murderers so I guess nobody wins. Looking forward to the sequel to see how the whole situation will resolve.

#book

Published 2021-06-02 12:27 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere