Do yourself a favor and get the audio version. Robin Miles BLEW me away! ( )

The World We Make is the second book in the Great Cities duology, which follows The City We Became. The basic idea behind the series is genius. There is no disputing that. What's the idea? When a city becomes so well defined and has special enough characteristics, has a personality if you will, it comes to life. In The World We Make it means that a human (or more than one, depending on the city) becomes an avatar for the city. In the first book, The City We Became, New York City actually wakes up and immediately has to fight for its life against a Lovecraftian avatar called the Woman in White, herself an avatar of an interdimensional city. The battle in The City We Became was only a partial battle - and The Woman in White creates a foothold in Staten Island. In The World We Make she tries to erode New York City through a mayoral candidate that is eerily like a certain recent president. And our heroes quickly realize that it isn't only New York that is threatened but in fact the whole world. The World We Make really explores how interconnected our world is. On a small scale, what happens in Queens affects what happens in Brooklyn and they both affect New York City as a whole. So the avatars of New York City have to reach out the other great cities such as London, Paris, Hong Kong in order to team up Avengers style to take on The Woman in White who turns out to be the avatar of R'lyeh, which is a sunken city (in the Lovecraftian mythos) in the South Pacific that is the prison of the entity called Cthulhu.

As in the previous book, this is a fantasy inspired by the very real division in our society and very real politics. The politics and the way they are referenced seem a bit heavy handed and on the nose. This struck me as lazy. But, also, as someone who shares similar views to Jemisin, I too may just worn out by our newscycles about these issues and figures that are referenced.

The writing, for the most part, is quite engaging, fierce, and musical. I think Jemisin captures the personality of New York City and its boroughs well through her descriptive, energetic writing.

I feel that Jemisin ends the Duology well enough (I will not spoil it!). I appreciate the hopeful message of the story and find it cathartic.. However, for all the strengths of this book - it's creativity, it's voice - it ultimately isn't as satisfying as the first book. For me, I think the overt political references bogged down my enjoyment (a weird complaint because I recognize that this series is inherently political). I also feel that some of the characters felt slightly underdeveloped. Jemisin herself acknowledges that this book wasn't easy to write and one can't help but wonder if Jemisin just felt an obligation to get the book and project finished. It feels a bit rushed in my opinion.

Still, Jemisin has a wonderful imagination - and even a weak novel from her is still a reason to rejoice. Because a weak Jemisin novel is still 10 times better than what most authors produce.
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Almost a 5. The duology was one of the best series I have ever read. This book is more New York than an actual big apple. I really wish it could have been a trilogy, as many of the characters get short-shifted, but it was a treat from beginning to end. ( )

Second in The Great Cities duology, after The City We Became. I didn’t like this one as much as the earlier book; it’s a little too preachy, the villains and heroes are too stereotyped (to be fair, they’re supposed to be avatars, not real people). And I was a little puzzled by what constituted the “Great Cities” – no Jerusalem, no Moscow, no Damascus, no Rome, no Cairo (although there’s a Faiyum). The book feels like it was put together in a rush. Still, the basic idea is still enthralling and the book is worth a read. ( )

The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin is the end of the Great Cities duology. While I loved the first book, I was less impressed with this one. With its focus on the individual avatars instead of the city as a whole, it felt more like a series of vignettes rather than a cohesive story. The choppiness of the plot made the reading experience less enjoyable.

The World We Make was a bit of a letdown for me. The series resolution was too simple after all the buildup over two books. It wasn't the ending I expected, but it was all a little too pat and not satisfying.

What was satisfying was Robin Miles' performance. Once again, she kills it with the different personas she adopts for each avatar. Even a Midwesterner like me can easily recognize the different identifying accents of the boroughs. These distinct personalities are the high points of the novel, and I would gladly read something narrated by Ms. Miles again.

I didn't enjoy The World We Make as much as I expected. I waited for the action to pick up, for the avatars to come together for another big battle. Instead, I had to wade through each avatar's personal crisis to get to an ending that felt too easy. This is the third book by Ms. Jemisin I've read, and I've had mixed feelings about two of them. I want to keep trying to find that one Jemisin novel that will make me a fan, but I'm beginning to fear that her writing style is not for me. ( )