The Killing Moon

This was really excellent. It was soothing and easy to read despite being emotionally powerful, as well as having a captivating story.

I haven't read high fantasy since I was maybe 13. It's not that I don't like it, but I think having to concentrate on absorbing an entirely new world keeps me from getting fully emotionally invested, which I did feel here. In this first couple of chapters I was so overwhelmed I was worried I had bitten off more than I could chew. Once I got into the swing of things though it was easy.

These are the kinds of relationships and people I like to read about, but don't get to very often. Most main characters nowadays are deepened through internal monologues of “what if, do I, should I” and so on. Ehiru and Nijiri, while conflicted and faced with confusing and daunting dilemmas, are ultimately pure of heart. They struggle, but they don't wobble, not from their mission and not from their devotion to each other (which was a happy surprise, I keep accidentally picking up books with the gay love snuck in, clearly I have good taste). I'm not a person of conviction, so I admire people who have minds like missiles. They were also very emotionally unabashed, so that even though the previously mention romantic feelings are actually mostly one-sided, there's a lot of physical affection between them, and it just makes me really happy when male characters touch each other, and I swear I don't mean that in a pervy way.

Moral ambiguity is the focal point of this story, and Jemisin does it beautifully. The prose and story masterfully carry the weight of a faith system that is both beautiful and spiritual, as well as dangerous and potentially vile. There is the holy man who even when he becomes a monster always acts from his humanity and his purity, without swinging around the word justice like the proverbial big stick, and the villain who despite his ruthlessness and nefarious plots to take over the world, makes a hell of a lot of sense most of the time. I should've known when he started going on about peace and treating people with respect that he was about to do something awful, and oh man he did. There's a whole road-to-hell and ends-fits-the-means thing happening here, that corruption is a part of us no matter what we do or what we believe.

The Killing Moon is a little hard to talk about, because as good as it is, its rather nondescript about it. Maybe that's the whole emotional investment problem I mentioned. I ached for Ehiru, I did, but I always had one foot out. Which might be a good thing, because otherwise this book might've broke me.

There was also the politics, which to be honest I didn't really care about. It was necessary of course for setting up the conflict but that contributed a lot to my “Oh god, what have I gotten myself into” thoughts. Fortunately, the second half of the book keeps it at a very personal level, so there's not too much bland talk of military strategy or anything. I also wish there was more Sunandi. She was interesting at first, but towards the end she started to feel a little pointless, which is unfortunate considering she's the most prominent female character.

So I highly recommend this, particularly to those who are used to handling world-building as well as plot, as they'll probably get more into than I did.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I have read many fantasy books and yet I've never read anything quite like this. This book feels very modern, and by that I mean it focuses on some very modern issues even though it is set in what is supposed to be an ancient world.

First thing, I really like how the magic works in this. Magic is created by the citizens of Gujaareh in their dreams. This magic is taken to the Hetawa which is the main temple of the Hananjan faith (the religion in this book) where it is used to heal the sick. However the Hetawa have to uphold Hananja's Law, the principal tenant of which is peace. This means they are able to judge whether a person is corrupt and if so send out a Gatherer who will take the person's Dreamblood (magic) and send them on to Ina-Karekh (heaven, basically). A Gatherer is also able to do this to a person if they are so sick that they are unable to recover, in a sense giving them a good death. However this now raises a moral question, should the Hetawa be allowed to kill anyone they choose for the sake of all who live in the city.

I loved the characters, they feel like real people struggling with their ethics, history and sexuality among other things. Not only that but we have this very interesting affection between the two main male characters Nijiri and Ehiru. This isn't a sexual thing more of a mentor/mentee relationship, but you get to see how the affection changes and grows throughout the course of the book. We also get to see some fantastically strong female characters and though it is only mentioned in passing (read the sequel for more) we have a very interesting way that women are viewed in this world. In that they are seen as goddesses and don't need a Gatherer's help to get to Ina-Karekh and yet are treated as subservient to men.

One thing I did have a problem with is that Jemisin jumps straight into the plot, no info-dumps or exposition. However this means that you really need to concentrate and possibly even re-read the first 100 pages, this is the unfortunate problem with having a fantasy setting with very foreign names and places. There is a glossary at the back of the book but that only helps to an extent.

Another thing is that we know this setting is based loosely on Egypt, I would have liked a map so I could better understand where everything is, however after checking the author's blog it seems that she has a problem with maps in fantasy books. In fact it seems she thinks that if she didn't need a map while writing the book, the reader won't need a map either. Now I personally think this is a little arrogant considering the author created the world and is expecting the reader to see it the same way she does in her head. But that's just me.

I cannot recommend this book enough, seriously if you enjoy fantasy read this. This is in fact one of the only books where I have been disappointed with a sequel because it did not lead on directly from where the first book finished. I had an epic book hangover after this that even reading all of N. K. Jemisin's other published works did not fix. I enjoyed this book so much that it is very possible I will name is as my favourite book of 2015 (even though I technically read it in 2014).