The Not a Book Club Club discussion

Please keep all discussion to the events and speculation from this section.

No spoiler tags required. Though it would be highly appreciated if you Uncheck Add to my Update Feed to avoid accidentally spoiling this for your goodreads friends.

Please do not discuss events from later chapters. Referring back to events from a previous section/book is fine.

This section covers from 14: Syenite breaks her toys through 19: Syenite on the lookout.

Wham! There you have it. Chapter 19 and finally Syen admits that she's a slave. She hasn't even thought the word before in the narration, let alone said it. And this couple with the revelation that she might be heading back into slavery with the geode comm in the Fifth Season timeline.

Also we have confirmation that Damaya and Syenite are the same person.

I wonder what will happen to Syenite's baby, if she'll leave it with Meov or not.

One thing I always appreciate about Jemisin's novels are how sexuality is fluid and it's never remarked upon. It's an accepted fact. Alabaster and Innon have sex, NBD. Love it.

Dara wrote: "Also we have confirmation that Damaya and Syenite are the same person.

I wonder what will happen to Syenite's baby, if she'll leave it with Meov or not.

One thing I always appreciate about Jemisi..."

Right now I think she'll leave the baby in Meov since she didn't have it later with her and didn't think about it. I just hope the baby lives!

I also like Jemisin's love scenes, Dara.

This will be a 5 star read for me unless I really hate the ending! It's one of the most original fantasy books I've ever read. This is the first Jemisin books I've read, and now I want to read all her backlist. There's a great balance between plot and characters that I often find absent in fantasy books.

When I started reading the Syenite chapters, I had thought that she might be Damaya. I wound up reading a third of this book and then having to put it down for awhile because I had committed to another buddy read that I needed to take part in before I had finished this. So when I picked it back up, I had forgotten Damaya's name. Syenite sounded so much like her that I went back to look up the little girl's name from the beginning chapters because I thought her name might have been Syenite. Anyway, I quite like the structure of the book. It's told in such a way that it always keeps me guessing.

And the world building! That is by far my favorite part of this book! There's always more questions I want answered and yet she's always answering questions too so you're never frustrated. I can't wait to finish this in the next few days. I tried to research when the second book comes out but haven't had any luck. Anyone know when it might come out?

I think she's still working on it. Not for another year or two at the earliest, I'd say.

I was starting to wonder if Damaya was also Syenite just before it was revealed. I don't think it's been confirmed she's also Essun. That seems likely, but I don't think that's been confirmed, has it? We do know Essun was Fulcrum trained though. It seems like everyone else is taking this as fact though, did I miss something?

I'm really enjoying this book though. Home stretch now. I'll hopefully finish it today.

Lindsay wrote: "Wham! There you have it. Chapter 19 and finally Syen admits that she's a slave. She hasn't even thought the word before in the narration, let alone said it. And this couple with the revelation that..."

I missed this I guess. I don't get it though. You're saying when she was taken as a child, she was made a slave to the Fulcrum? I mean I guess that makes sense since their not allowed to leave on their own, etc. I don't recall slave ever being said in Chapter 19, but I'm listening so it's just likely I missed it.

It's a strange sort of slavery, but I suppose a slavery none the less. It almost comes across more like indentured servitude to me. Then again, the did seem to kill that girl Crack, and the threat of the guardians is always looming.

I am most interested about the underground Calm in Essum's story. I hadn't thought about them being turned into slaves, even when it was questioned if they'd be allowed to leave.

Kaleb wrote: "I'm pretty eager to learn more about the Stone Eaters and their agenda in this world. That hasn't been explored very much, although I'm sure we'll learn at least one thing about them before the end..."

Yeah, me too. We don't know much about them yet.

Indentured servitude is what Syenite is trying to think it is. Alabaster relieves her of that notion: you don't breed indentured servants.

And then there's this after Alabaster rubs her face in it:

“Sorry,” he says. He genuinely sounds it, so she doesn’t storm off right then. “I was just trying to make a point.”

He’s made it. Not that she hadn’t known it before: that she is a slave, that all roggas are slaves, that the security and sense of self-worth the Fulcrum offers is wrapped in the chain of her right to live, and even the right to control her own body. It’s one thing to know this, to admit it to herself, but it’s the sort of truth that none of them use against each other—not even to make a point—because doing so is cruel and unnecessary. This is why she hates Alabaster: not because he is more powerful, not even because he is crazy, but because he refuses to allow her any of the polite fictions and unspoken truths that have kept her comfortable, and safe, for years.

That's a good point about the breeding, for some reason that didn't occur to me. I guess because it didn't really occur to her either (or a least she tried to avoid thinking about it).

Thanks for the clarification/quote Lindsay.