A revolt is brewing. The occupation of Kisua has turned into something closer to enslavement, and the cultural rift between Gujaareh and Kisua makes the coexistence expensive. The soldiers from Kusia abuse their powers a bit too much and the locals use every opportunity to disobey.

In the middle of it all is our new hero Hanani, an apprentice healer, and Wanahomen, the heir fighting to reclaim what was unfairly taken (according to him). As they find allies and fragile trust, a quiet front opens. A dream-plague slips through the dark and kills innocent people’s souls in their dreams. Hanani is good but this plague kills far more talented healers. Can she stop it while also organizing a war?

If this were a Joe Abercrombie tale, there would be a bloody final battle where the disinterested and the clever slip through the cracks while the idealists and the fools die. But here the clash is inward. The battlefield is the hearts, minds, and dreams.

5/5. A long book, somewhat unusual, and also a bit romantic. I liked it very much but can’t really say why. Had some unpleasant scenes of cruel violence and abuse, but was otherwise good.

The world N.K. Jemisin builds in The Killing Moon is both incredible and deeply disturbing. It’s an Ancient-Egypt-like planet, where magic is drawn from dreams and death by a small group of Gatherers. Human souls are sacred but also sources of magical energy, harvested and consumed by the priests for healing and other purposes.

Only a chosen few, the Gatherers, are trained to collect this dream-magic. They’re moving through the city like thieves, stealing their tax rather than getting it voluntarily. The power of magic gives them a constant urge to take too much, to cross the line between service and corruption. Once that line is crossed, the Gatherer becomes a Reaper, a dangerous, soulless creature, that can end all life.

The concept reminded me of the Cosmere novels by Brandon Sanderson where all magic comes down to soul units, or The Runelords: The Sum of All Men by David Farlang where magic is forcefully extracted from humans at a great cost. Jemisin’s take is equally disturbing, closer to Farlang’s magical system than Sanderson’s. It’s disturbing and unpleasant but this alien world, where human life and honor are worth nothing to the powerful, is not supposed to be nice.

It’s not a comforting kind of fantasy, kind of the opposite of books like Legends & Lattes, and even worse than the Broken Earth series I recently featured here. Despite that, N.K. Jemisin is at the top of her game. Her writing is rich, her world-building precise, and her imagination is uncompromising. 5*/5