The World We Make - N.K.Jemisin

Before I create a false impression I first have to say I would happily recommend this book, and its prequel "The City We Became", to anyone who enjoys science fantasy. Why do I need to say that? - because I have to admit that this book took a long time to get through, frequently being paused before being restarted because the idioms in the interchanges between characters could be very heavy to process at times. Hopefully the explanation below will explain why I persisted and would recommend

I first read one of Jemisin's books when laid up on a camp site with a bad knee and so had trusted Fran to "get me a book". She returned from a charity shop with the fantasy story "Killing Moon" and it was enough to make me seek out more N.K.Jemisin books. In fact I would say the N.K.Jemisin is one of the best fantasy authors currently writing. She seems able to constantly create new settings and write in different voices, so each series is always fresh and different. I would say that someone not knowing her work, could be given anonymous samples from each of her book series and they would not recognise that the samples all came from the same author.

The "The World We Make", the sequel to the excellent "The City We Became", is her first series set in a known setting, modern day New York. The setting is New York, a very detailed New York in all aspects; geography, language, social groups, and vibes. In the "The City We Became" the book include thanks to several editors and then an additional thanks to a British editor for "...helping make this story more comprehensible to people unfamiliar with NYC". Well the first drafts must have been very very NYC, as the final books remain extremely NYC. But the extra work is still worth it though I found myself having to take pauses and then mental run-ups to complete a few more chapters.

We are in our real world but one where a sufficient concentration of people in the same place feeling the same, thinking the same, and living the same can create an energy that brings the city to life. That life is channeled through individuals who becomes the avatar of that place; able to feel and sense the events in the lives of all there and to shape things. In this case, each of the the boroughs of New York has gained its own avatar, and they have found an avatar for the whole city. But there other forces who don't want cities to come to life and are seeking to disrupt the process and kill any avatars.