Series Review: Dreamblood - N. K. Jemisin

SERIES RATING: FOUR STARS

The city of Gujaareh knows true peace. No thieves or murderers walk its streets at night; diseases and injuries are the sufferings of outsiders, the fools and heretics who choose to dwell beyond its walls. Only inner peace matters and the denizens of Gujaareh have devoted their whole lives to the goddess Hananja's teachings.

Hananja's narcomancers are the source of the city's peace. Priests and priestesses, they heal injuries, cure diseases and use dream magic to keep the city's inhabitants bodies whole and souls pure. They stand against corruption in all of its forms and the Gatherers, elite warrior-priests, serve to find and route out any would would threaten the peace of the common people. Their powers are unmatched and all fear to go to sleep if its rumoured Gatherers are near. It's said Gatherers can enter a person's dreams and carry their soul into the afterlife . . .

Yet corruption is beginning to take route in Gujaareh and the Gatherers are wary, cautious of the city's shifting politics and the influences of unseen people. People are beginning to die at night, their bodies found in grotesque spasms of agony, and people are beginning to suspect a Reaper - a Gatherer that has lost his mind to insanity and kills without reason. Ehiru knows he must find the source of the corruption if he is to purify it, but his path will not be easy and he will learn that living in ignorance is sometimes better than facing the horrifying truth . . .

Book 1: The Killing Moon

Book 2: The Shadowed Sun

I really enjoyed Dreamblood, which N. K. Jemisin wrote with a very energetic style of prose. This meant both books were exciting, moved quite fast and I found each of them to be real page-turners. I also loved her ideas of narcomancers (the priests who use dream magic), since few authors have touched on this in the books I've read previously. Jemisin put her own spin on her magic further, making it dangerous and sensual, so I really had no idea what her characters were capable of until the end of the series!

Dreamblood is also set in a civilisation that is very similar to that of the Ancient Egyptians, which was extremely interesting to read about. Too many fantasy books are set in feudal Europe and it was refreshing to read something based on another culture for once! There were no knights, armoured men with swords and even the daily life of the people in Gujaareh was completely different to what I was accustomed to.

Jemisin's characterisation was pretty good as well and I could almost imagine some of the characters as people, doing the best they can without all the information they need while having to make choices that go against their very beliefs! Some of her storylines were actually quite tragic and Jemisin definitely had no problem in twisting events so not everything went the protagonists way.

Yet for all its positives, I did have a few issues with Dreamblood. Firstly, Jemisin had an annoying tendancy to cut down the 'plot events' in favour of long conversations that added nothing other than novelty to the story. This meant that she didn't explore and develop her story as much as she could and, in places, she even went as far as having the protagonists miss the plot events altogether. Hearing about what happened second-hand from another character in the book was extremely bizarre to say the least!

Lastly, the two books didn't really follow on from each other. The Shadowed Sun is set a decade after the events of The Killing Moon and has a completely different story. Some of the first book's characters reappear in the second, but there is little continuity and the duology seems more like two books based in the same world than a series to me.

Unfortunately these negatives did slightly spoil Dreamblood for me, but, that being said, I still thoroughly enjoyed the series and recommend that you give it a go. It's well rounded, imaginative and is quite different from most other works of fantasy that are out there!

The Shadowed Sun - N. K. Jemisin

RATING: THREE STARS

Gujaareh, the city of dreams, is suffering. It has been ten long years since the events of The Killing Moon; ten years in which the once great city has now been occupied by Kisua – a people that know nothing of peace and worship false gods. The result of this is a decadence of the likes Gujaareh has never known: there are starving homeless on the streets, crime has risen and the great anger of violence is beginning to take root in the hearts of its people. In short, the peace of their daily lives – peace which is valued above all else as the basis of their religion – is beginning to shatter.

Worse still, a strange plague is spreading through the city that kills those infected in the sleep. Its victims die alone and in agony, too distressed to ever find their way into the eternal peace of Hananja’s afterlife. The narcomancers that serve Hananja – devout priests that follow her teachings in their dream magic – are at a loss and grow ever more concerned as the plague resists every attempt they make to cure it.

But Guraajeh faces more problems that it knows: the heir to the city’s throne still lives – a young prince who has grown up among a barbaric race of warriors, where he has done nothing but cultivate his anger and hone his prowess for war…

The Good

Just like its predecessor, The Shadowed Sun is both imaginative and enjoyable to read. N. K. Jemisin has really gone wild while she delved into the dream magic her world uses, showing once again how devastating its power actually is. Jemisin’s rather unique form of magic is definitely interesting to read about and she’s really managed to weave it into the daily lives of her characters, adding to the plausibility of Gujareen culture.

Furthermore, Jemisin’s point of view characters have been developed well in themselves and I found that I was able to warm to them quite quickly. Jemisin has managed to create very distinctive personalities that are very evident while reading and really seem to affect the events of the story in a believable manner.

The Bad 

One of the only things I didn't like about The Shadowed Sun, is that is barely featured any of the characters from the previous book. Although these characters do appear and Jemisin has developed her new characters well (which actually fit in perfectly with story), it would have been nice for the ‘familiar faces’ to have had more of a prominent presence.

Another major issue that I had with The Shadowed Sun was in its lack of action. Although this didn't actually make the book any less interesting to read, it would have been nice to have actually read some of the battles and fights in ‘real time’, rather than reading about them post-hoc once they had finished. Admittedly, some of the action was ‘real time’, but I feel that Jemisin could have made the book much more engaging if they all were – one bit (which I won’t reveal) in-particular!

My Thoughts

Overall though, I enjoyed reading The Killing Moon and think that it’s a satisfying ending to Jemisin’s Dreamblood duology. The book is sensual, filled with stunning imagery throughout and really gives the sense of a suffering people that need to be liberated. In fact, I would go as far as saying that Dreamblood is a rare gem of a duology that you should seriously consider investing your time in – N. K. Jemisin is definitely a very talented writer that we should all look out for over the years to come!

The Killing Moon - N. K. Jemisin

RATING: FOUR STARS 

Gujaareh is a city that knows true peace. There is almost no crime, virtually any ailment or injury can be cured via dream magic, and its people flourish under a deep spiritual understanding. It is Gatherers that enforce this peace – agents of the dream goddess who root out and destroy those deemed to be corrupt.

But not all is it seems. Rumours of war are beginning to circulate and evidence of corruption in Gujaareh is mounting. But, worse still, bodies of people who have died in horrific agony are beginning to appear all around the city. Gather Ehiru knows of only one such creature that can kill in such a manner – a Reaper - and understands that it falls to him and his apprentice to slay it and restore balance to Gujaareh. What Ehiru does not know, however, is that the secretes they will uncover while hunting the monster could quickly prove to be the doom of all. 

The Good 

One of the things I particularly liked about The Killing Moon was its Ancient Egyptian setting. By basing the book’s culture on the Egyptians, rather than feudal Europe like most fantasy novels do, N. K. Jemisin has managed to give The Killing Moon a unique feel that made it very interesting to read. This, along with her vivid descriptions and superb character development, really allowed me to immerse myself in her story. 

Another thing that I liked about The Killing Moon was its simple and well explained storyline. In fact, throughout the book the events and factors that influence Ehiru’s (and the other characters) decisions are clearly laid out. This is makes it easy to follow their progress througout the story and helps the book to read lightly as a whole. This is something I found particularly refreshing since I've been focusing on reading big series’ recently that drip feed information over a few books! 

The Bad 

The only issue I had with The Killing Moon was with a series of intermissions that Jemisin spaces throughout the novel, which do little to add to the plotline. An unknown character is speaking in these intermissions, who is apparently telling a story to another unknown person. I found that these breaks became slightly annoying after a while because they had little to do with the events unfolding in book. Saying that some of them were actually quite interesting, but I thought that overall, they detracted from the story and just seemed a little pointless. 

My Thoughts 

I enjoyed The Killing Moon though, and found that it had a fresher feel to it than many of the fantasies I've read lately. The book was a good length, so didn't take too long to read, and I have to say that I’ll be finishing the duology off with its sequel (The Shadowed Sun) fairly soon. I was impressed with it guys – you should definitely give The Killing Moon a go!