capriceum

It took about 50 pages for the author's voice to grow on me. Once the story got rolling and I understood the vocabulary more clearly it was a captivating read.

We get a very nice range and scope of perspectives: a gay, disenchanted master orogene and the student assigned to make a baby with him; a secret orogene looking for her child; a trans geologist who helps her; a young girl studying at the center of education for orogenes; a young stone-eater. Plus so many other great supporting characters who populate this environmentally unstable future Earth.

I liked the different settings shown here, too: there's a small rural town in the middle of nowhere, a big city with unique architecture, an island community where orogenes thrive and rule themselves as pirates, an underground city inside a colossal geode. This book is an adventure through so many great scenes, with wonderful imagery of the dangerous yet beautiful Earth Jemisin has created.

The speculative history/lore of human civilization and how it changed because of humanity's treatment of the Earth was fascinating and so well done. It seamlessly and intelligently blended science fiction and fantasy in a completely new and unique way. Can't wait to read the sequel!