A homeless kid becomes the human embodiment of New York City, when a terrifying alien force arrives to destroy it (and possibly the universe).
N.K.Jemisin is undeniably a grand dame of speculative fiction and having gotten two highly-acclaimed, sci-fi trilogies under her belt (Broken Earth and Inheritance), here she tries her hand at something new.
Set in our world, in our time, we find ourselves in a reality where cities are extra-dimensional organisms that are born and can die. In order to birth themselves, cities must chose a human avatar from among their residents, who they imbue with special powers, drawn from the essence of the city and the people who live there. It’s an entertaining premise, and one with plenty of scope for exciting world-building.
“Come, then, City That Never Sleeps. Let me show you what lurks in the empty spaces where nightmares dare not tread.” The City We Became
The book is immediately immersive; giant cosmic battles, spunky characters and the plot is always moving. There is some space given over to considering the beauty and the violence of the all-too-human (all-too-inhuman) entities that are cities, and some commentary on the divisions we carve around ourselves, even while living on top of each other. The heart of the book however, is undoubtedly the author’s love affair with New York and its boroughs.
Perhaps that is why—as a Londoner—I felt it sometimes fell short; lapsed into all too easy moralising, while taking aim at obvious crowd-pleasing targets (‘Karens’, whiny hipster boys). It seemed to want to say something about gentrification, but it couldn’t quite decide what.
I was undone by The Broken Earth Trilogy, but The City We Became simply doesn’t have its depths. However, when complaining that a book is not someone’s best work we must remember who we’re talking about. This book won the BSFA Award for Best Novel this year, and was nominated for the Nebula, and Hugo Best Novel Awards. It will also be part of a trilogy, so I will certainly be tuning in to see what the next one has to say.
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Buy on kindle £4.99
Paperback from Hachette £8.99
Follow the author on twitter @nkjemisin
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