TW: incest via rape; child abuse

I enjoyed this installment more than the first. It was interesting to see the long term political effects of book one, as this book happens 10 years after and mostly follows the political machinations of the characters. It also features new main characters, with some of the main characters of book one present as side characters. I did connect to these characters more, although not as much as in Broken Earth. Jemisin doesn’t pull her punches when it comes to trauma that characters experience, which doesn’t always make her books “enjoyable” to read per say. But I did find the magical plot line of this book to be more interesting than the one in the first. I’m looking forward to continuing reading series by NK Jemisin. 85 s carol.1,642 8,974

Jemisin's talent continues to impress. Epic in scope--the retaking of a city--and intimate in focus--faith and self doubt--The Shadowed Sun was a satisfying read. The second in the Dreamblood series, it starts some ten years after The Killing Moon and while three or four characters return, I would think it would work as a standalone book.

A quick sum-up isn't easy. It is at heart three stories: love between an unly pair, an internal values conflict, and a tale about retaking a city built on peace. Loosely based on Egyptian culture, the setting shifts between the city of Gujaareh and the desert cliffs of the semi-nomadic Banbarra tribe. Gujaareh has been made a protectorate of the Kausi people after the previous king was deposed by the priest-sect. Hanani is a farm-caste woman who was given to the priests, the Hetawa, and became the first woman Sharer, or healer. Prince Wanahomen has been exiled after his mad father was removed from the throne by the Hetawa, and he longs to retake the city. In a show of faith, Hanani and her mentor are given as hostages to the Prince and his allies, the Banbarra, as they plot to retake the city. Threading through these plots is the realm of dreams, and the strange dream that seems to transfer from one sleeper to the next, leaving the sleeper in pain until they die, lost in the dream.

Narrative shifts around between Hanani, the young female healer; the Prince; Sunandi, the Ambassador-become-governor; and a merchant woman, Tiaanet, whose father is attempting to play his own role in the city's politics. Narrative shifts done well enough to convey the many-layered plots of politics, and is especially useful when it can demonstrate opposing plans, and how conflict is created from different working assumptions and perspectives. Jemisin does interesting parallels between chapters, having her characters experience challenges at the same time.

Jemisin is an impressive writer and takes a number of interesting character risks. The Prince is a ruthless and an ass more than once, but she gives enough perspective that he doesn't become the man you love to hate. And while the word "love" is uttered, it is not in devotion, or the middle of passion, but as part of a discussion about comfort. There is a rape and incest. Then she raises questions of what it means to be a woman, from the priest-sect, to the nomadic tribes, to the city women, and it all means something different. Its woven into the story in a very harmonious way, and avoids moralizing or preaching.

I enjoy Jemisin's writing. Engrossing and detailed, I enjoy her wordsmithing and vision. It was exceedingly readable, with occasionally beautiful turns of phrase:

"In the wake of that, Sunandi could do nothing but allow a moment of proper Gujaareen silence. There was something to the custom, she had decided some years ago, of letting a brief passage of time cleanse the air, after dangerous words and thoughts had tainted it."

Challenges for me came from a need for a little more world-building, and a desire for a little more creativity. Though it hadn't been long since I read the first book in the series, I would have benefited from a little more context in the beginning, especially during narrative shifts. The narrative streamlines towards the middle, and it becomes much easier to read. wise, the denouncement at the end is not as satisfying, because the representatives of the Protectorate are minimally characterized and contextualized.

While I absolutely loved the first book in the series, the Killing Moon (review here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...), I confess that this did not amaze me quite as deeply with its creativity. The plot of a challenge to personal faith is quite similar, so while the new angle was interesting, I felt Jemisin was capable of more. A second plot involves a rather standard opposites-attract romance; again, although she did it well, I wanted something more than her little twist at the end and her musings on womanhood. The last major plot line was the retaking of the city, and while it was interesting... I don't know. It reminded me of the occupation of the Dwarven city in one of the Shannara books. Stop! I know--it wasn't that bad. I'm just saying it wasn't remarkable. How not remarkable? On the second read, I was reminded more than a little of Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword. Lonely young woman--check. Desert--check. Occupiers--check. Young woman forced to join band of desert nomads--check. Impresses nomads while learning to appreciate their culture--check. However, the twist of the contagious dream was wonderful.

Overall, it's enjoyable, a cut above the average fantasy, and has enough sophistication that a reread was satisfying.

"There was no peace in continuing to do what had already proven unworkable. Sometimes tradition itself disrupted peace, and only newness could smooth the way."

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...epic-fantasy fantasy female-lead ...more49 s BradleyAuthor 5 books4,448

The second book in the Dreamblood duo continues on in a tradition of immersive Egyptian- settings, although the culture is still uniquely Jemisin's: a city built on the idea of peace, magic users that harvest and gift dreams, a plague of dreams harming so many people, and a war in the desert.

There's a lot to love, and surprisingly, at least to me, was the strong continuation of the romance from the first, so much so that it practically dominates the entire tale. I might even go so far as to say it's a lot more important and interesting than the actual battle... but not quite as interesting as the dreamplague. That trumps everything. :)

I really enjoyed the romance even though it felt it snuck up on me, and perhaps I enjoyed it for that precisely that reason. I was mostly being asked to focus on cultural differences, whether regarding the prejudices between two cultures with their magic, the sexual divergences, or the personal revelations, so when the romance finally took center stage, I was kinda wowed.

Unfortunately, some aspects of the novel, no matter how rich in world building or depth of characterizations, still let me down, but only slightly. I'll admit that I'm a much bigger fan of Jemisin's later works.

But still, I appreciate what is accomplished here. :)2017-shelf fantasy romance ...more54 s Becca & The Books333 7,727 Read

Leaving this without a rating as I didn't it but I also wouldn't have continued with the series if it wasn't for a book club.
While I don't think this series is necessarily bad, I identified a few key elements that I just generally don't love in Fantasy, while reading the Shadowed Sun
-It has a soft magic system - reflecting the intangible and illogical nature of dreams
-It's plot driven - While I can enjoy a plot driven story, I need to at least root for characters or a cause and I feel there is a very ambivalent approach to the characters in this series. Combine that with how the politics flip-flop between books and I just didn't really care about anything that happened.
-The world building supports the plot points - meaning interesting elements are introduced that I would love to see explored further are introduced only to reinforce an aspect of the plot and then are never mentioned again

This series was just really not for me52 s CC113 159

I haven't expected this to be such an emotional read.

It's been almost two years since I read the first book in the duology, The Killing Moon, but the dream world has aged well. The magic, the politics, the religion and culture all came back to me immediately after I started the first chapter, which says something about Jemisin's powerful worldbuilding. The same goes for the characters. It was quite nostalgic to see all the major and supporting characters from The Killing Moon show up again in this story, but of course, that only added to the emotional punch along the way.

----------------------------
Spoiler Alert: the rest of this review contains very minor spoilers for this book (mostly regarding character personalities) that are unhidden, as well as major spoilers for The Killing Moon.
----------------------------

Set ten years after the ending of the first book, The Shadowed Sun is a story about Gujaareh's quest to seek freedom from the Kisuati occupation that was the result of the last war. The two main POV characters are Hanani, a Sharer from the Hetawa, and Wanahomen, the surviving son of the mad Prince who was slain. Given that one of my main complaints with The Killing Moon was the characters, I was quite relieved to find that I thoroughly enjoyed Wanahomen's character development. When his father sent him away on the scene of the final battle in the previous book, I was thinking "oh no, that kid is going to grow up and become the villain of the next book!" Fortunately, that wasn't the case. Wanahomen's hatred of the Hetawa ran deep, but he was also a man of reason, of courage, and surprisingly, of faith. His understanding and acceptance of his father's sins were slow in the coming, but it all happened naturally and realistically, which made his character feel so human and actually likable.

Hanani, on the other hand, was a bit harder to relate to for me. I always have trouble appreciating characters who go out of their way to be "kind", even to their enemies. Hanani is not the worst when it comes to that, but her effort to seek peace, in the form of constantly going out of her way to help people who had only the intention to harm her, and feeling guilty over the fact that she killed her rapist in self-defense, got on my nerves a few too many times. I also find many of her choices hard to understand in general, especially when it came to the romance. But in the end, she grew as well and I managed to her more for the complex character she was.

Though aside from these two, it was actually the supporting characters that got my attention -- and wrenched my heart. Despite the biased belief of the Hetawa, I've always found their priests overwhelmingly likable, for their shrewdness if not for their unwavering loyalty and sense of justice. Even after two years, I still remembered Sonta-i's soul-piercing gaze and Mni-inh's outspoken protectiveness over Ehiru in the first book. The deaths of these two caught me off guard and hurt more than I expected. Especially Mni-inh. With his unconditional love for Hanani and the fierce ways he's shown it, I could all but feel Hanini's grief at the loss of him. This, combined with Ehiru's ending previously, makes me wonder if I'm emotionally strong enough to pick up another Jemisin book in the future.

Of course, that is in no way a negative thing to say about her storytelling skills. Especially given how much the pacing and characters have improved in this book compared to the last, I'm sure Jemisin's newer works would only surpass my expectations.

[Update: after rereading the first book, this duology has become one of my all-time favorites. I've written a separate review explaining why.]epic fantasy intrigue23 s Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany)2,506 4,151

4.5 stars rounded up

This was a RIDE! Set 10 years after the events of book 1, The Shadowed Sun follows a new cast of characters navigating a complicated blend of politics and religion as an outbreak of deadly nightmares breaks out. I don't want to say too much about this but it was an emotionally intense, brilliantly crafted story that comes with some major content warnings.

Content warnings include: domestic abuse, sexual assault, child abuse, incest, violence, deathaudible-library black-authors21 s Beth1,153 175

This second, and last, volume of The Dreamblood series starts ten years after the end of the previous volume, The Killing Moon. (Coincidentally, about the same amount of time that has passed since I read the first book!) Gujaareh--its capital specifically--is now under occupation by the Kisuati. Sunandi, who was a minor character in book 1, is now a Protector: the Kisuati representative in the occupational government.

Wanahomen is a Gujaareen prince in exile, presently living with the Banbarra, a partially nomadic tribe of traders. Along with Nijiri, who remains in the city as a Gatherer, he plans to retake Gujaareh and restore his dynasty. Sharer-apprentice Hanani and her mentor, Mni-inh, are called upon by Nijiri to accompany Wanahomen's merged army of Banbarra and Gujaareen warriors as healers. In the city, Tiaanet, a noble sunha daughter, harbors a terrible secret that could lay the city to waste before any of this can be accomplished.

So far, so epic, eh? This story obviously relies on a lot of epic fantasy expectations. But the single big battle is handled quickly and without much detail, and the supernatural threat is overcome in a theater of the mind/spirit rather than with earth-shattering blasts of wizardly might. There's a lot more emphasis on how societal change--and smaller, more personal disruptions such as love and death--affect the lives of the characters.

As the first woman Sharer in Gujaareh, Hanani's under a fair amount of pressure to succeed at Nijiri's assignment, since she symbolizes a change in the Hetawa temple's workings that comes directly as a result of Kisuati influence. She goes through a number of losses and crises of conscience as the story goes along, especially when she (CW + spoiler) kills a man spontaneously as he tries to rape her, and later when Mni-inh dies of the the dream plague.

Tiaanet's part of the story entirely focuses on how her family life, and the dream plague, have made her unable to live as an ordinary noble. There is next to nothing positive for her to cling to--most or all of what we see through her point of view has a raft of content warnings associated with it. Her trials were the main reason I quit reading this book twice. In the long run, it wasn't as unrelenting as I'd feared it might be, but as a warning to a potential reader, there are a small handful of scenes that show very ugly aspects of humanity.

In comparison, Wanahomen's trials feel fairly trivial, in my opinion. He's a major motivator of the epic part of the plot, but there isn't much to his character arc.

Actually, I didn't feel the characterization in this novel was particularly strong. Usually I get bored when characterization isn't vivid, but there was so much else interesting going on that it didn't bother me all that much here. Themes power and powerlessness in relationships and society, grief, mentorship and friendships founded on respect and support rather than blood or lust, religion, loss of faith, complicity, etc., came across much stronger. The society and cultural detail for the Banbarra camp was cool, too... though I'd have d to see more about their food.

There were some powerful scenes, particularly when it came to Hanani's grief, but there wasn't quite enough there to make this a personal classic for me. Prose that went beyond SFF standard, or deeper characterization, might have helped. I did how the characters' futures were left open to the reader's imagination. (Sunandi and Anzi must have gone home, but the Kisuatis' retreat from Gujaareh was handled very sparsely and they aren't even mentioned in that part of the story, for example.) Kate Elliott's Spiritwalker trilogy had a similar open-ended conclusion, and I d that, too.

This was the first series of Jemisin's that I started reading, and now it's the first that I've finished. Next up is Inheritance, with The Kingdom of Gods and the follow-up novella, "The Awakened Kingdom." :)2010s-sff-by-women fantasy-by-women20 s Silvana1,202 1,194

There is a reason why I dis romance in books that are not in the romance genre. Especially in SFF. This book just reconfirmed it. Really, every time I come across a story with that oldest trope ever - boy meets girl, fall in love, happy ever after - most ly I will refrain from reading it. So, when I read this book's first two chapters, when I met the two POVs, one boy and one girl, approximately at the same age (teens or early 20s), I thought, oh dear, not again. However, another voice in my head said, C'mon dude, you really d first book The Killing Moon, so this one could not be that bad? And it's NK Jemisin. Granted that you also disd her The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms but at least she is fantastic worldbuilder and you enjoyed the ancient Egyptian homage , right??

Suffice to say I relented and continued to read. I probably should have listened to my first instinct. Yes, the magic is still great (this is from another branch of the Hetawa, the Sharers). There were my favorite Hetawa squad, Nijiri, Rabbaneh, and so on.

BUT, reading about ANGST for 500 pages is just too much. So, basically the two main POV characters (a handsome prince and a shy, virgin-priestess) met in a very angsty way, they fought a lot but secretly admiring each other, the boy nearly got the girl raped because of his selfishness, but the girl obviously still had the hots for him so she forgave him, some tears were shed, they hugged, and they fought again, but oh they wanted each other so bad, but they could not because of ...stuff, and it went on and on and on.....

Seriously, if they just got laid in the first 50 pages we (well, I) might be spared from reading angsty inner thoughts and streams of consciousness for the next 450 pages. I might even get more of the Kickass Magical Action that the previous book has in abundance. This book has some political intrigues and warfare, but they were overshadowed by the totally unappealing overstretched romance.

And did I mention rape? There was not just one attempted rape, but there was a particularly violent one. So basically another POV character - whose already got a demon child from her own father who impregnated her when she was a child herself and regularly came to her - was sodomized (probably again) - yes by the vile father. And it was just laid out bare, from the start till the end. What happened to insinuation? The repeated use of sexual violence to women as plot device (or even shock factor) is a big no no for me.

I was also confused with the worldbuilding. Here, we got another kingdom/tribe in more details they seemed to be matriarchal but their (the female leaders) punishment for female spies was to send her to the men's camp for them to have their way with her. I can imagine Tywin Lannister doing it (because he did), but not WOMEN themselves. , really?

All in all, despite the positive sides, the enthralling, poetic dreamscape scenes (which stopped me from giving this book a spot in my Hall of Shitty Books), I still feel I need to read something less upsetting after this.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full reviewdisappointing female-nonbinary-authors fyeahfantasy ...more18 s Charlotte KerstenAuthor 4 books519 Read

CW for SA, physical abuse and the death of a child.

"There was no peace in continuing to do what had already proven unworkable. Sometimes tradition itself disrupted peace, and only newness could smooth the way.”

So What’s It About?

Gujaareh, the city of dreams, suffers under the imperial rule of the Kisuati Protectorate. A city where the only law was peace now knows violence and oppression. A mysterious and deadly plague now haunts the citizens of Gujaareh, dooming the infected to die screaming in their sleep. Someone must show them the way.

What I Thought

I thought the world-building was amazing in the previous book in this duology, The Dreaming Moon, but I felt a great deal of distance from all of the characters. Reflecting on my previous experiences with her books and adding The Shadowed Sun to the mix, I think this might be a recurring problem I have with N.K. Jemisin’s books. The Broken Earth trilogy was unique and fascinating enough to keep me sucked in despite that fact, but I’ve definitely felt it the most with this duology.

There are a few POVs that just didn’t do much other than convey plot points- Sunandi has never interested me, and while Tiaanet’s story is quite emotionally charged, her POV basically just consists of her getting beaten and raped and overhearing noble politicking that we need to know about. There is very little insight into what is going on in her mind, justified in text by the fact that she’s simply become numb and blocked out all of her emotions. We do get a little more insight into her character when Tantufi becomes a more prominent part of the story. There’s also one single section from the perspective of a Gatherer who promptly gets murdered during that scene.

All that being said, I do think that Hanani is probably my favorite of Jemisin’s main characters that I’ve read so far. She starts out naive and earnest; in many ways she’s quite hopeful and soft for the world that she exists in, but she proves to be filled with integrity and determination as well. I that she doesn’t love Wanahomen the way that he wants her to and sees him purely as a friend with benefits at first, and I also enjoyed her relationships with her mentor and Yanassa, who was generally quite feisty and fun.

I think the world-building is also strong in this one, especially when it considers gender and sexuality in different cultures. In Gujaareh, for instance, all sexual assault is illegal, while with the Banbarra, assault is prohibited except when the victims are slaves or women from enemy tribes. This difference leads to a big conflict for Hanani and Yanassa, and I thought it was really interesting. There are differences in the sex trade (doesn’t really exist as such in Gujaareh) and etiquette for initiating sex and even just the normality of physical touch, and I thought all of these details were great.

As the first woman in the Hetawa, Hanani struggles a great deal; in Gujaareh, women are considered to be goddesses, meaning that they’re conveniently prohibited/”protected” from doing the kind of work that men do until Kisua takes over and starts pushing their gender norms instead. At first Hanani feels incredible pressure to be something of a model pupil, but by the end of the story she has learned how to serve the Goddess in her own way without trying to live up to impossible standards or denying parts of herself. She is able to respect the tradition she values while eschewing what is biased and irrelevant to her. Her ultimate conclusions are represented by the quote I chose to start this review with, and her journey was easily one of the strongest parts of the book.

I’m pretty mixed about the ending overall, mostly because I thought it was bleak in the extreme to kill Tantufi. There’s just something that’s incredibly difficult for me to swallow about a horrifically traumatized little girl essentially being deemed “too broken” to keep living and getting mercy-killed. That’s kind of just how it generally goes in Gujaareh, but I was kind of expecting Hanani the super amazing healer’s journey about expanding her horizons and forging away from unhelpful traditions to culminate in her finding a creative way to stop the plague. No such luck, as it turns out, and it feels quite a missed opportunity to me.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full reviewepic-fantasy female-authored-epic-fantasy poc-author ...more16 s Stuart722 303

The Shadowed Sun: Mature, intelligent, challenging, unafraid
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
The Shadowed Sun (2012) is the second book in N.K. Jemisin’s DREAMBLOOD two-book series, inspired the ancient kingdoms of Egypt and Nubia. However, rather than simply changing some names and using thinly-disguised history as her template, she introduces an entirely new religious and social system, one centered around worship of Hananja, the dream goddess represented by the moon. The story this time is set a decade after the events of the previous book, and features some of the same characters Nijiri, now a full-fledged Gatherer, and Sunandi, member of the Kisuati Protectorate now ruling Gujaareh. However, Jemisin introduces three new main characters: Hanani, a young Sharer priestess, the first female granted this position; Prince Wanahomen, son of the power-hungry King Eninket and now living in exile with barbarian tribes; and Tiaanet, daughter of a powerful Gujaareh family.

I am not generally a big fan of fantasy series, because they often tend to rehash the same events with minor variations for volume after volume, sometimes spawning multiple, superfluous trilogies of increasingly poor quality. But I know that Jemisin is not one of those authors content to churn out more of the same for a steady income stream (and apparently that is all some fans want, sadly).

As I mentioned, Jemisin has taken inspiration from ancient Egypt and Nubia, but has transformed it for her own literary purposes and to explore her favorite topics. In The Shadowed Sun she again examines crises of faith among the Hetawa priesthood, due to their dual calling to heal the sick and injured and also punish the corrupt. In addition, Hanani the female Sharer takes center stage as a woman in a male-dominated religion that, ironically, considers women to be goddesses that should be worshipped but not allowed active roles in political or religious leadership. When her test of certification goes terribly wrong, it is used by opposition elements as evidence that women don’t belong in the priesthood as Sharers.

As a result of this, Hanani is sent as a hostage to the barbarian tribes of the Banbarra, who live high up in cliff faces (apparently inspired by the Anasazi). They have strict social conventions very different from both Gujaareh and Kisua, and the exiled Prince Wanahomen has spent much of his life living among them. Through various complex political maneuvers, Hanani and Wanahomen find themselves involved in a plot to return to Gujaareh and overthrow the occupying Kisua Protectorate. Initially they dis each other, but … yes, there is a love-hate relationship which will test their beliefs about the roles of men and women in healing and the use of dream magic. If this was just a standard opposites-attract romance I would have been skipping ahead, but the role of magic in their relationship makes it bearable, even intriguing.

Meanwhile, back in Gujaareh, diplomat Sunandi is struggling to maintain the position of the Kisua Protectorate as the occupying rulers of the city. She tries very hard to minimize frictions with the local political leaders and Hetawa priests, but as inevitably happens, economic and social tensions make her position increasingly precarious. Adding to this is a mysterious dreaming plague, which leaves its victims traumatized or dead. Sunandi’s relationship with Nijiiri is also complex, as they both recognize what is needed for peace is “not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice.” But in a rapidly shifting political climate, such noble sentiments are difficult to put into practice.

As Prince Wanahomen builds an army to take back the city, forces are struggling within the city and Hanani finds herself forced to hunt down the source of the dream plague in the world of dreams, using her healer’s skills. There is a fair amount of overlap with the Reaper threat of the previous book, but I can’t fault her for wanting to re-explore this strange and original dream magic, which can as easily be used to kill as to heal.

The Shadowed Sun really pushed the gender politics agenda to the forefront, as Hanani battles against the prejudiced attitudes of the Barbarra tribe, her own Gujaareh people, and Prince Wanahomen himself. At times it detracted from the momentum of the narrative, but Jemisin is skilled enough to not let it become sermonizing. After all, if she wants to point out that womens’ positions even in fantasy societies are often restricted and inferior, then that is a legitimate axe to grind. And it’s certainly true that many religious hierarchies exclude women from the inner sanctums and mysteries.

There are several instances involving rape used as a form of punishment in the barbarian tribes, and a very telling incident in which a foreign female spy is captured and the women of the tribe demand she be raped by the men, until Hanani points out that rape within the tribe is proscribed, so why should it be acceptable against a woman who happens to be an enemy? Pointing out this hypocrisy is something we should all do when people start calling for blood-revenge as a form of “justice.” The position of the beautiful Tiaanet is also a good illustration of how a power-hungry father uses his daughter for his own purposes, and in so doing creates a disastrous situation which reverberates throughout the book.

Overall, I found the world-building of The Shadowed Sun to be as good as The Killing Moon, but the occupation plot and return of the exiled prince were a bit too familiar, as was the love-hate romance of Hanani and Wanahomen. For that reason, I gave it 4 stars rather than 5, but still emphasize that anything Jemisin writes is superior to the vast majority of derivative medieval European fantasies with dragons, elves, dwarves, and magic swords and quests that still clutter bookstore shelves (to be fair, a lot of much higher quality fantasies have been coming out in the last decade, so I support this trend whole-heartedly). The DREAMBLOOD series is mature, intelligent, and challenging fantasy that is unafraid to incorporate issues from the real world, without detracting from the quality of its writing, story or characters.dark-fantasy-gothic epic-fantasy favorites ...more15 s Gabrielle1,069 1,517

Set about ten years after the events of “The Killing Moon” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), “The Shadowed Sun” continues to explore the rich world-building created by the amazing N.K. Jemisin: Gujaareh, a city-state in a land similar enough to ancient Egypt to feel familiar, but different and strange enough to be entirely unique.

The city of Gujaareh has been under control of the Kisuate Protectorate since the mad king Eninket was killed. Life in the city had been relatively peaceful, until a strange dream-plague began spreading among the citizens of Gujaareh, and a young Sharer (a healer who works through dreams) named Hanani finds herself embroiled in the mystery of this disease, but also in a larger plot hatched by the exiled prince Wanahomen to take control of the city and eliminate the Hetawa – the cult of dreams and death that has been part of the city for so long.

While this series is less overtly political than the Broken Earth trilogy, there are still a lot of topics explored through the lens of this strange world; mainly the place of women in a society, both through the eyes of Hanani as the first ever female Sharer, Tiaanet who is publicly honored but privately used in every imaginable way by the men in her life. These women have to endure a lot of brutal things, and while their society has cultural and spiritual respect for their gender, that goes away in the day-to-day – especially if they don’t conform to the ideas the men in charge have of how women ought to behave. Hanani, who is a woman in a man’s profession, so to speak, wears men’s clothing, which she considers normal but which deeply upsets some people, for instance – which is an interesting topic I’ve never seen addressed in a fantasy novel before.

The cultural clash between the urbanized people who live in Gujaareh and the semi-nomadic tribes of the Banbarra was also very interesting: their customs are completely different, and it takes a lot for both to stop seeing the others barbarians, and I enjoy the way the characters deal with their prejudices and slowly break some barriers.

I have to say that I could smell the romance aspect of this book from the first moment the two characters meet – and considering how many curve balls Jemisin has thrown at me in her other books, I was surprised I figured it out so quickly. But to be fair, she also draws those characters very skillfully, and while the evolution of their relationship didn’t catch me off guard, the way they, as people, change through their experiences was believable and beautifully done.

The Dreamblood duology might not be quite as stunning as the Broken Earth trilogy, but it's a wonderful work of high fantasy, with a gorgeous universe I wish I could revisit. Both books are great, but I'd recommend reading the second one soon after the first, as there is really no recap of the events of the first book in "The Shadowed Sun".fantasy goodreads-made-me-do-it read-in-2020 ...more12 s Margaret137 703

Unsurprisingly, Jemisin did it again. While I went into this book with lower expectations based on my experience with book 1, it blew all of my hesitations out of the water.

The character development, romance and conversations around sexuality and femininity had me hooked. The action scenes also had me on the edge of my seat and unable to put the book down. 12 s1 comment Books with Brittany645 3,559

So much improvement from the first book.
I actually want to reread this duology already.12 s TheBookSmugglers669 1,906

Original review posted on The Book Smugglers

Warning: this review contains inevitable spoilers for book 1, The Killing Moon. Avoid if you haven’t read that book and don’t wish to be spoiled! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Trigger Warning: Rape

Ana’s Take:

To me, one of the greatest pleasures in life is to read a great book and then proceed to write a gushy review of said book. This is going to be one of those. Interestingly, the last time I wrote one of those no-holds-barred, OMG- I –LOVED- THIS- BOOK , the book in question was The Killing Moon by the very same N.K.Jemisin. Coincidence? I THINK NOT.

The Shadowed Sun is set 10 years after the events at the end of The Killing Moon took place. The great city of Gujaareh has fallen under the rule of the Kisuati protectorate and now knows oppression and misery. The Hetawa temple – the religious heart of Gujaareh – has expunged the corrupt from its folds and still holds some power but the loss of Gujaareh’s Prince has left a vacuum of leadership. But revolt is fomenting not only amongst the people but also from above and the priests of the Hetawa temple are ready to overthrown the new government as long as it done in the name of ultimate peace. So when word comes that Wanahomen, the son of the fallen Prince is not only alive but rallying allies to retake his City, the Hetawa is more than ready to parley. But the Prince has hated the Hetawa ever since Gatherers have killed his father and so Gatherer Nijiri sends Hanani, the first and only female Sharer to become his hostage until the city is taken.

But in the meantime, the unthinkable is happening: within the walls of Gujaareh – a killing nightmare plague is attacking its citizens, all the way to the top and no one knows who this powerful dreamer is. The only thing the Hetawa knows is that it must be stopped at all costs or the mighty city of Gujaareeh might not survive long enough for Wanahomen’s return.

So now that I described what happens in terms of plot within the pages of this book, I ask you to forget all about it. Because in spite of the fact that these things do happen and the story is executed brilliantly, the beauty of The Shadowed Sun lies in the development of the world in terms of its thematic core and in the characters’ arc.

The events in The Killing Moon have basically set Gujaareh’s world upside down as deep-seated corruption have shown its ugly face from within its political and religious ranks and a place that once only cared about peace is ready to make war in the name of said peace. Now, in The Shadowed Sun, there is an attempt to set things right and return things to their rightful place. But a lot has changed since then. And what I find abso-fucking-lutely brilliant is how N. J. Jemisin has created and developed this beautiful, vast world down to very small detail only to include within its own narrative thoughtful questioning and attempts to subvert it. Not to destroy it but to make it better. It is in the treatment of servants or slaves (depending where you stem from) or the treatment of women: for the Gujaareh, women are goddesses and un men they don’t even need the help from priests to cross to the land of dream. But even if they are “goddesses” they are mollycoddled, have no freedom to choose what they wish to do, nor are they allowed to join 3 of the main religious houses of the Hetawa. If in The Killing Moon the questioning happened by comparison (when an outsider observed those rules), in The Shadowed Sun the questioning happens from within and alongside the questioning of religious/political motives and the way they are constructed historically.

As if that wasn’t enough to make me love this book already, then there come the characters. The Killing Moon’s Nijiri and Sunandi show up in secondary roles which was great but OH MY GOD, the two main characters here, Wanahomen and Hanani, blew my mind away with their respective arcs (separate and together). I felt this deep emotional connection with these two characters to the point where I felt they were real. I usually question characters’ motivations from a writing perspective and observe their arcs trying to understand what the author is attempting to do, how and why. Never once did I do this here, Wana and Hanani felt real people to me and I understood them and how they acted. I actually hated Wana to start with but he evolved into this awesomely complex character with the bad and good from someone in his position, that I ended up loving him. But Hanani’s arc was even more complex and amazing. Her arc taps into themes of female identity, of power, of belonging, of family, of ways of worshiping and ways of surviving and dealing with trauma. The relationship between the two characters also develops beautifully.

There is also an important third character who sometimes shares the narrative’s point of view. This is a really troubled character and one whose arc was difficult to read and nearly broke my heart. It is a woman who has been consistently abused by her own father and this abuse is portrayed thoughtfully and carefully. And it shows the effects it has on this character as well someone close to her and in their psyche which is so important for this world, because it impacts in the way they dream.

Every character has a role to play and every small detail is taken into consideration. The historical aspect of the order, the way the Gujaareh worship women, how peace is ensured no matter what, all ties in beautifully in the end. Because dreams are so important, you also have all sort of archetypical stuff reforming, reshaping people and the world around them in many ways. This is a world that is not static and doesn’t happen in a vacuum and in the end it has evolved just its characters. Beautifully done.

This to me, is N.K. Jemisin’s best and most emotional book to date. I can’t think of one thing to criticise. It is one of the best I read this year, it will be on my top 10 (along with The Killing Moon) and I think it deserves a 10 from me. Loved it. LOVED IT.

Thea’s Take:

Well, folks, it’s officially another love-fest over here at Book Smugglers HQ – because I, too, LOVED this book.

As Ana says, The Shadowed Sun picks up 10 years after the close of The Killing Moon, with Gujaareh a changed place. We see familiar faces from the first book in the duology, as Nijiri has become the head of the Hetawa and Kisuati ambassador Sunandi has become the political governing force in the city’s occupation. While things are not happy in Gujaareh, with the ever-present Kisuati soldiers roaming the streets, Sunandi’s watch is far less terrible than it could be – but with trouble brewing, increased raids, and rebellion stirring, tensions peak in Hananja’s City. At the heart of this unrest are three characters:

Wanahomen, son of the mad king Eninket, is the Prince that vows to retake his city and prise it free from the grips of the Hetawa and Kisuati, both groups he hates passionately.

Hanani, the first and only female member of the Hetawa as a Sharer-Apprentice, gifted with the ability to heal and to kill.

Tiaanet, a Shunha noblewoman whose beauty is beyond compare, but guards a terrible secret and endures the horrific, repeated abuse of her father.

Hanani is an amazing protagonist and easily my favorite character of the book – strong, earnest, and dedicated to her life as a Sharer, Hanani grows so much over the course of The Shadowed Sun as she realizes, fully, what she wants. And yes, as Ana says (I’m going to be doing that a lot in this review), Hanani’s character also examines female identity, of power and its uses and abuses, and she learns to reconcile her own beliefs with those of her own Gujaareen society, and those beliefs of others (particularly the Banbarra). On that note, I loved the closer look at the different tensions and societies within the world of The Killing Moon and The Shadowed Sun – while the first book laid out the delicate tensions between Gujaareh and the Kisuati, this second novel also examines the desert tribes of the Banbarra, enemies of the Gujaareen but banded together to achieve a common goal.

Then, of course, there’s Wanahomen – a character that I am not a huge personal fan of, but whose arc I can only admire because of Jemisin’s skill in creating such a fully realized, genuine person in the form of this exiled, headstrong Prince. Hanani, Wana grows and changes over the course of the book (no small part due to his interactions with Hanani and their burgeoning relationship), and I admire that it all happens organically, believably. Even though I’m a little tiny bit bummed out that the romance overall – only because it felt slightly predictable – both of these characters are standouts, and the way in which their relationship plays out is undeniably well done.

Which brings me to Tiaanet. While the main protagonists of the piece are Hanani and Wana, Tiaanet’s role in the story is pivotal and utterly heartbreaking. The horror that she has had to endure, the manner in which she withdraws from emotion, the truth of Tantufi…it is poignant stuff. Tiaanet’s life and all that she endures at the hands of her despicable father, in the hands of a less skilled writer could have been exploitative or so poorly done. As horrific as Tiaanet’s arc is, Jemisin treats her, and these very serious issues of abuse and the impact of prolonged abuse, with the utmost thought, sensitivity, and importance. Tiaanet plays an integral part of this novel, and as hard as some parts of her story are to read, hers is a story that should be read.

I don’t know what else I can say about The Shadowed Sun. This is a truly wonderful book, and closes the duology on a sweet, pitch-perfect note. While I still think that The Killing Moon is my favorite of the two books, The Shadowed Sun is without a doubt one of the finest fantasy novels I have (or ly will) read this year11 s Algernon (Darth Anyan)1,617 1,033

[9/10]
None of my reservations about this second Dreamblood installment. I was caught in the story right from the first chapter. The setting is already established: the cities of Gujaareah and Kisua, the cult of the moon goddess Hananja, the magic system based on dream gathering. Some of the actors are also returning, but in a move that proved successful in her Inheritance books, the second story is focused on a different trio of characters, and the plot is picked up ten years later, building on the events from The Killing Moon, but telling its own largely self contained story.

Sunandi and Nijiri are back, but they have at best supporting roles for the newcomers: Hanani, Wanahomen and Tiaanet. Hanani is a Sharer, the first woman to be accepted as a dream healer in the rigid structures of the Hetawa. She faces strong opposition for her confirmation in the goddess cult, and an unfortunate double death during her exams starts a criminal investigation plot thread not dissimilar to the one used in the first Dreamblood book. This time, the danger is a sleeping sickness for which there is apparently no cure. Political powerplays in the city sends Hanani as a hostage to a warrior tribe in the desert, where she is expected to play a role in the liberation of the city (I'll come back to this).

Wanahomen is the disinherited son of the former Prince Regent of Gujaareh, burning with hate and living only for revenge against perceived wrongs done to his father by both Gatherers and Kisuati. He has the most growing up to do in the novel, and Jemisin delivers, although his story is the most conventional so far regarding fantasy tropes, especially his interaction with Hanani ( in every other rom-com flick they take an instant dis to each other, but we all know how this is ly to play out; well, it does and it doesn't: Jemisin still has a few tricks in her magic hat)

Tiaanet is the daughter of a noble Gujaareh family, the most beautiful woman in the city, but one for which beauty has brought more pain than benefits. Her family (mother, father, little sister) is the very definition of disfunctional with a dominating male, a mother who takes refuge in madness.

One of most interesting parts of the novel is the new setting of the Banbarra tribe, living a hard life perched precariously on the abrupt walls of a box canyon. According to the author, the inspiration came from a visit to the Anasazi ruins in the New Mexico desert. More than the landscape, I appreciated the complex rituals and interpersonal relations between the men and the women of the tribe, the different roles each play in the economic development, in the child rearing or in the choosing of a mate. The Shadowed Sun proves to be a lot more militant about women's role in society than the first volume, but this aspect is very well integrated into the overall story and into the character evolution, so it never reaches a preaching or grating tone for me. Beside Hanani being the first woman healer, there is Prince Wanahomen's mother who has her own status in the tribe, another Banbarra woman who shows a strong spirit of independence and self-reliance, Tiaamet with her cursed beauty and Sunandi who still has to prove herself as a capable administrator.

Coming back to the liberation of the city of Hananja: if in the first book, Jemisin demonstrated that peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice, this second volume is focused on the axiom that sometimes in order to achieve peace, you need to go to war. The Kisuati prove themselves to be unscrupulous masters of the conquered kingdom, despite Sunandi's efforts at reconciliation between the two nations, and Nijiri goes from initial support of the occupation in oder to eliminate the corruption in the city to covert opposition and negotiations with the Banbarra tribes for the planned invasion of Gujaareh. The political aspect of the novel is complex, with several more factions in the field than I presented here, and plays out to a page turning rush towards the end, with additional complications from the sleeping sickness that someone is using as a weapon in the war. The author shows a remarcable talent for keeping alot of balls in the air, and for me, she didn't drop any of them in this epic. Definitely one to watch out for in future releases.

So why only a 9? Romance is back as a major plot element, and I said, it doesn't scan very original, or really necessary to the development of the story. While Jemisin narrowly avoided the "happy ever after" ending, I felt a bit of a let down after the many "wow" moments in other parts of the book. Not a major shortcoming, due to the talent the author has for writing complex characters and making the reader care about their fate.201211 s Tammie398 651

4.5 stars

Trigger warnings: rape, incest, child abuse, sexual abuse/trauma

I wasn't sure about this when the book started, because while I feel the plot/pacing is more solid than the first book, I just wasn't as invested in our 3 main POV characters as I was with the characters from book 1. And then we hit the 50% mark and I was eating my words because I just love these characters so much. The angst in this book was supreme, and the ending killed my soul. NK Jemisin really stuck the landing here.

There was so much I loved about this book, but I think one thing that NK Jemisin does so well in this book (she does this in all of her books I've read, but this one in particular really stood out for me) is how she explores trauma, pain, and toxic relationships in a very nuanced way (though I do want to flag that there is a LOT of sexual violence in this book). Tiaanet's storyline was so heartbreaking, and while it was incredibly hard to read, I just thought it was really well executed. I also loved Hanani's character development, and that whole found family moment, and overall just felt she was a fantastic main character.

I listened to this on audio, and while I really enjoyed it, I do feel I need to reread it physically at some point in order to fully absorb everything that happened.

10/10 would recommend this duology to anyone who is a fan of high fantasy, especially those who prefer more character-focused stories.11 s Megan Baxter985 712

I haven't yet read The Fifth Season, but I was absolutely delighted when N.K. Jemisin was nominated for a Hugo this year, despite the best efforts of certain slates. I've now read four of her books, and been impressed by every single one. And seriously, I think The Shadowed Sun might go to the head of the list as my favourite, which would be a very hard choice indeed.

Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook11 s YouKneeK666 86

The Shadowed Sun is set ten years after The Killing Moon. Each story stands alone, but there’s a larger story arc that ties them together. At the end of the first book, I had felt slightly unsatisfied because things were wrapped up so quickly. It tied up the main plot but left me with a lot of questions about what the repercussions would be. This second book gave me what I had been looking for by showing me what those repercussions were, and by then going on to deal with those repercussions. I felt more satisfied with the ending of this book, particularly in terms of the larger political situation.

The Shadowed Sun focused on a different set of main characters, although some characters from the first book did make an appearance. I won’t mention any names, since that could spoil the first book. I d most of the main characters in this book, but I think I was slightly more attached to the ones in the first book. Story-wise, this book felt more fleshed out to me, probably in part because it was the longer book, and maybe partly because it had the world-building from the first book to support it. On the other hand, it became more romance-heavy than what I typically prefer toward the second half and I thought that dominated the plot a little too much.

In the end I enjoyed both books about equally, but each had different strengths. It was definitely a great series to end 2016 with, and I look forwarding to trying more of Jemisin’s work at some point in the future.completed-series fantasy10 s Nathan399 137

Fantasy Review Barn

The author has done something pretty cool here. The second book of the Dreamblood duology is set in the same world as “The Killing Moon.” It features some of the same characters. It requires all the set up that amazing first book provided to work. But it reads something completely different, going in its own unique direction. “The Killing Moon” was focused on what makes right and wrong, the price of peace, and saving the city; “The Shadowed Sun” is more focused on roles of people within the society, taking place after the city could already be lost.

While two main characters from the first book, Nijiri and Sunandi, do have prominent roles, most of the story revolves around two new characters, Hanani and Wanahomen. Hanani is the first women to be admitted to the Sharers, a sort of magical healer. Though change has been made necessary due to the occupation of Gujaareh, she is still looked upon with suspicion even from those she is meant to help. Wanahomen is the exiled son of the now dead Prince of Gujaareh, and thus heir to a city under occupation. The people of the city are not content to stay occupied, and most of the book deals with several plans to bring Wanahomen back to the throne.

So the attempt to retake the city makes up the main story, but much its predecessor this book is impossible to define by one plotline. A magical sickness is affecting people in the city indiscriminately, and curing it may shake people’s since of right and wrong. The author seems to be pushing against traditional fantasy a bit in this book; looking a little deeper at the caste society she has built, and showing people with completely different reactions to acts and threats of sexual violence. And just to keep it interesting, a rather sweet love story is built through the second half of the book.

I d most of the new characters. Wanahomen was built to be a Gujaareh prince, and as such struggled between doing right by his conscience and doing right by his people. We first meet him as a leader of desert nomads who must consistently prove he is not an outsider to them, despite eventual plans to leave them. A strong secondary character was a woman who in a typical fantasy book would have been cast as the jealous ex who makes the new girl miserable; in this book she was the woman who eventually earned the trust and confidence of Hanani.

“The Killing Moon” had some darkness to it, but most the violence took place in dreaming. Scary, but rarely was it hard to read. For the squeamish this book may be a bit harder to get through. As the peace has been shattered by the occupation there is much more bloodshed. A fathers unnatural love, a violently stopped assault, and particularly painful to read about dismemberment should drive home that this isn’t a children’s story.

I can’t say that I d the book as much as its companion. While still very good, more things bothered me this time around. The truly unique world was still present, but until the second half the story could have taken place in almost any world; it was a more generic occupation story. Also, outside of Sunandi the occupying forces seemed comically inept; at no point did it seem they had a handle on the town they controlled. In this case the “secondary” story lines were much more interesting to me than the main one.

Still, it was a great conclusion to the two book series, and I am so glad to have found the Dreamblood set. I hope lots of people read Jemisin, because I can’t wait to see what other stories she has to tell.

4 Stars
author-female high-fantasy rated-4-star ...more6 s J L's Bibliomania381 11

Some fantasy worlds feature elves and other mythological beings wandering around a pseudo-medieval Europe (think Tolkien and all those who have come around and after). There are also fantasy worlds where whole new cultures are developed from a few assumptions about how magic or psychic forces or co-existing non-humans would influence the people. While certain elements of the world of N. K. Jemisin’s The Killing Moon and The Shadowed Sun are can loosely be traced to ancient Egyptian culture, these books are firmly in the 2nd category. And what a world! With dream magic, healing magic, and death magic centered around Hananja, Goddess of the Moon in Gujaareh the City of Peace.

The Shadowed Sun, the 2nd book in the Dreamblood Chronicles, takes place 10 years after the events of The Killing Moon. While The Shadowed Sun follows new protagonists - Hanani, the first female Sharer/Dreamhealer, Prince Wanahomen, fugitive son of the old king, and Tiaanet, daughter to a scheming member of the merchant class - Jemisin makes liberal use of cameos of the main players from inThe Killing Moon to set the stage and to move the story along.

I loved The Shadowed Sun, even though parts of the story turn on difficult or troubling subjects – the misbegotten product of incest and an attempted rape take key roles in the story. I wasn’t aware of it until reading other blogger , but Ms. Jemisin talked about the conscious decision to include rape on her blog and her reasoning is worth reading. Link to blog entry

The Shadowed Sun kept me up much too late two work-nights running. I just couldn’t put it down and confirmed my status as an N.K. Jemisin fangirl. adult fantasy z-2016-reads6 s Thistle & Verse306 86

I enjoyed this more than its predecessor. I think the plot and the intrigue have more of the Jemisin luster. We get to learn more about the Banbara who were mentioned in The Killing Sun. Hanani is a compelling protagonist. She's religious and devoted to the Hetawa, but her male peer's rebuff make her question if she should find a more fulfilling path. Jemisin creates side characters who are very intriguing in their own right. The sex scenes are more muted compared to her other books (fitting, given the emphasis Hananja's emphasis on pleasure as peace) but still well written. The brutal customs of the various groups beg a deeper reading and lend themselves to themes of redemption, necessity, and order.adult-fantasy epic-fantasy set-in-africa-or-african-inspired7 s Alexa486 118

Oh, it is such a relief to return to good writing, to an opening paragraph that just pulls you in and doesn’t let you go! This was a wonderful experience, completely satisfying, well-written, engaging, thought provoking, with a plot that kept me guessing and characters I could cry over. And the way she plays with nuances of gender roles is just so delicious! This is a definite re-read!fab-156 s Wendy612 142

I was hard on the first book in this series, The Killing Moon, mainly because I had read Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms first and fallen in absolute complete and total love with it. The Dreamblood series lacks the depth of characters and relationships that sucked me into The Inheritance Trilogy.

The Killing Moon also troubled me because it spent so much time identifying people by the colour of their skin and insulting the lighter shades. As much as I wanted to read a book that moved far away from the typical pale science fiction and fantasy colour scheme, I did not enjoy constantly reading about how inferior my own skin was.

There is less of the latter in The Shadowed Sun. Instead, the prejudice is against women. There are three major cultures in question. One, the Kisuati, are the people who now rule the city of Gujaareh, after the mad king's attempts at immortality in the previous book. The Kisuati women hold equal power to men and are respected, as evidenced by Sunandi's governing position over Gujaareh. Her influence has helped install the first female Sharer within the Hetawa--but more on that later. While the Kisuati generally treat their women respectfully, whores are still whores, and even the religious Sisters lives are considered forfeit. Even when they are sexually assaulted.

Sexual assault, abuse of women, and rape are constant plot devices in the book, which is ironic since the other two cultures revere women as goddesses. In the "barbarian" Banbarra tribes, women are worth as much as they can show themselves to be worth, but only then are they respected. Rape is frowned upon, and punished, but it is also punishment for women outside the tribe. And in Gujaareh itself, women are revered, but not permitted to do much beyond look good, and their opinions are not particularly valued.

Which makes life difficult for the young Hanani, who is the first female permitted to serve the goddess Hanaja at the Hetawa, the religious centre of Gujaareh. The problems I mention above did deter me to the point of considering not reading beyond the half way point, but I do Jemisin's writing, and I most certainly love the world she has created, in spite of the racism and sexism. Let's start with the Hetawa and the magic they possess: narcomancy. Unique and well-crafted magic is always a highlight in a good fantasy book, and that certainly is the case here. Through sleep and dreams, the priests of the Hetawa can do many things, from healing, to lie detection, to granting peaceful journeys into the afterlife. They can also kill with deadly efficiency. We learned about the Gatherers previously, and now we learn about the Sharers, who use their powers to heal--but could hurt just as easily, if they make that choice. With such power, corruption is not surprisingly common, as we discovered in The Killing Moon. While the Hetawa's corruption is no longer in question here, we learn about the many other ways those with the dreaming gift can cause harm. In this case, a Wild Dreamer is causing a plague that captures people within tormented nightmares, instantly killing even the most skilled dreamer who attempts to fight it.

Meanwhile, the repercussions of the Kisuati invasion ten years earlier are still echoing through Gujaareh, with rumours of the return of its exiled prince.

The Killing Moon fell a bit short with the political machinations, and all but fizzled out on a promised war, but here, Jemisin goes deeper and gets far more intricate with the details and various parties involved, giving us insight into all of them. I particularly the intricacies of the different cultures and how they communicate with each other and with the other groups. This is most evident in the exiled prince, Wanahomen, who maintains his Gujaareen ways, but must adhere to the ways of the Banbara whom he will lead to war against the Kisuati to free his people, if he can band the tribes together.

There is a lot more emotional involvement with the characters here, something that was somewhat missing in The Killing Moon due to the subdued nature of the Gatherers. While Hanani shares this demeanour, she is unable to maintain it when she is forced to join the barbarians in the desert. The relationship that develops between Hanani and Wanahomen is bittersweet, and is what managed to get me over my consideration of not reading further. I'm glad I did, because I did where things ended up, even if I didn't enjoy some of the methods used to get there.

www.BiblioSanctum.comfantasy feminist-rage5 s Margaret1,268 64

I could only read this book in small doses.

On her blog, N.K. Jemisin says this, leading up to the release of The Shadowed Sun: "There’s only one way to get rid of rape culture: acknowledge it. Discuss it. Subvert it. Don’t stop talking about or even depicting sexual violence — just try to do these things in a way that does not at the same time perpetuate it." - See more at: http://nkjemisin.com/2012/05/sexual-v...

This is a novel that subverts rape culture, and because of that, very difficult to read.

A coworker and I had a conversation a few days ago about why we enjoy some novels with a lot of violence, and not others (say, those by James Patterson). We came to the conclusion that when the author treats the people who have had violent acts perpetrated against them (I hesitate to use the word 'victim' here, for a lot of reasons) as human beings, as deserving respect, we're fine with excessive violence. But when the author uses violence as a plot point, without respecting the characters and the result such violence would have beyond moving the plot forward, we have issues.

N.K. Jemisin treats her characters as human beings, no matter what happens to them. They still have choice, agency, and power, though they also have to deal with the repercussions of rape culture.

But the novel isn't only about subverting rape culture, not by any means. The novel switches between three main characters: Wanahomen, the exiled Prince of the mad king from The Killing Moon, who now lives with the roaming Banbarra and is trying to muster them into a force to retake Gujaareh from the Kisua; Hanani, the first woman let into the Hetawa, an apprentice-sharer who must prove herself worthy of the Hetawa all the more because she's the only woman; and Tiaanet, the daughter of an abusive Gujaareh nobleman who plots to reinstate a council to rule Gujaareh. Returning from book 1, occasional chapters are devoted to Sunandi as she tries to remain loyal to Kisua by ruling Gujaareh, even as she sees the Kisua corruption that's leading to revolt.

Much Ursula K. Le Guin's work, this is anthropological fantasy that deals with how characters adapt to cultural collisions. Power must be wrested on both the personal and the political levels. The novel also explores how people can change for the better when confronted with new ways of thinking, though I still feel much as Hanani's mentor Mni-inh when it comes to Wanahomen.

Overall, I believe I d this one better than the first. Even though it's been 3 years since I read book 1, I had no trouble following along as the events take place a decade after book 1. 2nd-world-fantasy5 s Mona529 346

This was a disappointment. I preferred the previous book in the series, The Killing Moon.

I plowed through the book, slowly, but it was
tedious and tough going.

I had a hard time investing in the characters.
Hanani, in particular, the apprentice healer/priestess
at the center of the tale, often came across as pompous and cold.

Hanani and her mentor, sharers (healers) from the urban Hetawa (Temple of the Goddess Hananja) are sent on a mission to the nomadic Bambara tribe who live in the hinterlands. The mission ends up being far more dangerous than anyone thought it would be. Plus a war starts while Hanani is with the Bambara.

The story was not terribly compelling, although it was as histrionic as a soap opera. And there were endless boring pages about details of tribal
hairstyles, etc. Yawn.

Some of the healers’ excursions into the dream world were downright confusing and repelling.

Much of the writing was overwrought.

The dialogue was stilted. For example, Wanahomen, son of the deceased mad king from the previous book, says,

“I have a son of my flesh already, and I have a woman who loves me and wants me, but they’re both half-wild. They flee into the desert whenever I try to love them back. If I were a less confident man, I might become concerned.”

Who speaks this?

And Wanahomen was one of the more relatable characters.

I loved the Broken Earth series, but so far I am not really a fan of NK Jemisin’s other work. (Though I seem to remember a few terrific short stories she wrote).

Actress Sarah Zimmerman’s audio reading didn’t help matters. She was an unsuitable reader for this book. She has an expressive voice, but there were pages and pages about Hanani in the middle of the book when Zimmerman sounded she was singing the same musical phrase over and over and over again. It was frustrating and boring to hear.
She failed to bring the text to life. It didn’t sound to me she was interested in what she was reading. Although she made fewer mistakes than many readers, she made a few bloopers, reading “cavern” as “caravan” and prouncing Canyon de Chelly (in the book’s afterword) as “Canyon de Shelly” (wrong! It’s pronounced “Canyon de Shay”). I really wish audio narrators would take their jobs more seriously. Also, I wish the people who cast audio readers would do a better job finding the right reader for a particular text.6 s Lady*M1,069 108

The Shadowed Sun isn't a direct sequel of the previous book. It happens ten years after The Killing Moon and, while some characters return, the two main characters are Hanani, the first female Sharer, and Prince Wanahomen, son of the mad ruler from the previous book.

Gujaareh is a protectorate under Kausi people. While priests and acting governor Sunandi are trying to maintain piece, various political fractions on both sides plot to either strangle the Gujaareh further or free it from the conquerors. In the midst of it all, the mysterious dream sickness spreads through the city, killing its inhabitants with nightmares.

Wanahomen is trying to unite Banbarra tribes to help him retake the city, revenge his father's death and take his rightful place on the throne. Hanani and her mentor are sent to the tribe as hostages/token of good will by Nijiri, legendary Gatherer of souls.

The Shadowed Sun is more traditional fantasy, not as inventive as the first book. That is not a bad thing - Jemisin's writing is always on point, her characters unique. I especially d different portrayals of women - from sexually liberated, enterprising Banbarra women, strong political minds Wana's mother, to victims. (Trigger warning: One of the side characters is a victim of rape and incest. Descriptions are not graphic and character's story is integral to the plot, but it needed to be said.) The comparison between different treatments of women in different cultures was truly perceptive. I enjoyed description of tribal life and customs as well as few visits to the dream world.

At the end of the book, most of the plot is resolved, though not always according to characters' wishes. There are more secrets in the past of Hetawa order, more pitfalls that could cause problems for the peaceful Gujaareh society, so I am hoping that Jemisin will revisit this world in the future. I am glad I found these books and now I have another author to watch. :)

If you want more detailed review, I recommend you Carol.'s. fantasy5 s Stefan414 170

Last month, N.K. Jemisin treated the world to The Killing Moon, a brilliant new fantasy novel set in a strikingly original world and populated by some of the most fascinating characters I’ve met in years. Now, barely a handful of weeks later, here’s the second and (for now) final novel in the Dreamblood series: The Shadowed Sun.

If you haven’t read The Killing Moon yet, you should probably stop reading this now and instead go take a look at my review of that first novel (or better still, just read the book) because the rest of this review contains spoilers for The Killing Moon. If you’re just curious whether this second novel is as good as the first one before committing, rest assured: it is. Actually, it’s even better. Just don’t read the rest of this review if you haven’t read that first book yet.

Read the entire review on my site Far Beyond Reality!

advance-reading-copy ebook fantasy ...more5 s Clarita58 46

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https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...5 s Eli ClareAuthor 7 books269

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