Book Review: THE CITY WE BECAME by N. K. Jemisin

THE CITY WE BECAME by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit Books, March 2020) Hardcover, 437 pages. Book One of The Great Cities trilogy. Goodreds Choice Award Nominee for Fantasy 2020. 

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

Five New Yorkers must come together in order to defend their city in the first book of a stunning new series by Hugo award-winning and NYT bestselling author N. K. Jemisin.

Every city has a soul. Some are as ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York City? She's got five.

But every city also has a dark side. A roiling, ancient evil stirs beneath the earth, threatening to destroy the city and her five protectors unless they can come together and stop it once and for all. 

 

My Four-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

     There’s a lot to like about THE CITY WE BECAME, but there are two things that make it a stand-out reading experience for me.

1) Jemisin is remarkably inventive, taking aspects of one of the most well-known cities in the world (New York City) and transforming and altering those into something of incredible fantasy. As odd as it seems, this lends everything an air of authenticity that shouldn't be there considering the weird things that are happening. The imagery is vivid and cinematic. 

2) Without overlong exposition or elaboration, Jemisin develops and defines her cast of characters in a story-telling fashion that makes readers feel like they truly know them. She reminds me of the same way that Stephen King and Neil Gaiman manage to evoke that feeling of small town familiarity regardless of the setting, situation, or unusual quirks of the characters. I felt myself being pulled into and immersed in the activities of these characters in the same way that King and Gaiman have that effect on me. 

     I've been meaning to read some of Jemisin's work since learning of her three consecutive Hugo awards. THE CITY WE BECAME is Book One of a fantasy trilogy, and I'm glad I jumped in at the beginning. 

     Not only does New York City have a heart, it's a living being that manifests through a primary resident and several avatars. New York City has one primary mover (disabled, and left in a semi-conscious state after a battle with the enemy) and five avatars, representing each of the five boroughs. 

     As each avatar awakens and learns of her/his abilities, they must find each other and revive the primary before the dark forces prevail. Each of them is a unique character, whose background reflects the neighborhoods and values in which they reside. The enemy lurks underground, sending tendrils of hate to control its' mostly unaware recruits in endeavors to suppress the city and supplant it with a darker overlay/city from a different universe/reality. 

     The threat here is very Lovecraftian in nature, with worms, tentacles, giant devouring mouths and mention of ancient ones culminating in the prime catalyst for the forces of darkness, The Woman In White. 

     THE CITY WE BECOME is both Jemisin's homage to the city where she lives, as well as an allegory of the dehumanization of cities through the rise of white supremacy and the gentrification of neighborhoods which strip communities of their cultural heritage and uniqueness. Lovecraft was an equally inventive dark fantasy/science-fiction writer, but also known for his bigotry and racism. It only seems appropriate that his mythos would be utilized to tell this story. 

     I'm looking forward to future installments.