{"id":5300,"date":"2020-11-04T05:00:26","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T13:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=5300"},"modified":"2020-10-27T09:06:49","modified_gmt":"2020-10-27T16:06:49","slug":"mark-reads-the-stone-sky-chapter-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2020\/11\/mark-reads-the-stone-sky-chapter-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Stone Sky’: Chapter 12"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twelfth chapter of The Stone Sky<\/i>, Nassun arrives in Corepoint, where she learns more than she expected. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Broken Earth<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>This book really is going hard as hell in the end, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n

Nassun<\/b><\/p>\n

It almost feels trite to try and analyze this in any way because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been trying to put my finger on it, and it took sitting with this chapter for an hour or so, just laying about and letting it marinate in my brain. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m realizing how much this feels like something I shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be seeing, in the sense that this is such a deeply personal, intimate, and shattering moment for Nassun. I almost feel like a voyeur, witnessing Nassun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s epiphany about herself, about the fate of Schaffa, about the true intent for much of Corepoint.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because Jemisin does not let us ever forget that Nassun is a child. She may be experiencing awful things; she might very well be more mature than most of the adults around her. But she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s had these things thrust upon her, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more obvious than ever that this world never allowed her to simply have a childhood. Here she is, on the literal other side of the Earth, learning just how much these people exploited and drained magic from the core. All for what? Some fancy technology? For an existence that caters to every possible comfort? (Well, comfort for those who were allowed access to these very devices and tools.)\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And then, on top of it all: the stone eaters.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re an eerie presence throughout this, and I love that they remain so. Even when they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re being supportive in their own way, they still act as an unnerving force. But even as I type that, I have to admit that EVERYTHING here is unnerving: the buildings. The stone eaters. The way magic is used for literally everything. Schaffa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s state. THE CASUAL REVEAL THAT ALL THE UNDERGROUND FACILITIES IS WHERE WARRANT IS LOCATED. Oh my god??? And we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even get to that yet, though Hoa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s narration promises we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll come back to it. Instead, Nassun despairs. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s her state for most of this chapter. Schaffa is clearly dying, and after some time in Corepoint, he begins to show the telltale signs that his corestone is no longer operating. Throughout it all, Nassun does what she can, though I found it heartbreaking that she felt guilt<\/i> that she couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do more. But it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a surprising reaction. Her relationship with Schaffa is intense, co-dependent in some ways, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only thing she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really clinging to on Earth. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s given up on her parents, literally and figuratively. She has no friends, especially not after leaving the other orogene children behind. (And even then, as we saw earlier in this book, they never felt all that close to Nassun anyway.) What did she have left?<\/p>\n

More on that at the end. Because I did want to talk about how Jemisin does a phenomenal job giving us a slice of the life in Corepoint, and it also<\/i> links very wonderfully with what Steel says to Nassun later. As Nassun explores Corepoint, she observes the stone eaters, which is all she can<\/i> do, since none of them speak her language (or choose not to) and none of them stick around whenever she approaches them. But what does<\/i> she see? Behaviors that only<\/i> make sense when you accept that stone eaters have a much different experience with time than literally every other living beings on the Stillness. If time has no end for them\u00e2\u20ac\u201das long as they still have the Earth, that is\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthen what do they do<\/i> with that time?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jemisin gives us snippets, these glimpses of what it is that the stone eaters do<\/i>. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the one who holds up a tree branch so it will grow in a particular direction; another catches a fish and then waits for a blind ocean mammal to arrive and eat it. The obvious reason for this is to help us understand the sheer scope of time as the stone eaters see it. Helping a tree grow in a particular direction is not something a human would ever consider doing in this way, but for someone who can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever die? Why not<\/i> stand in one spot, holding up a branch? Their time isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wasted,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d since time is immaterial to them. But it also speaks to their view of their place within the world, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? They care<\/i>. Why else would a tree branch matter? Why feed a blind animal? Why do any of this?<\/p>\n

It fascinates me because I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to dehumanize stone eaters in the sense of denying them emotions or feelings simply because they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t express them like other characters do. It would be easy to think of Hoa as an exception, but now, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thinking that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the case at all. The stone eaters are deeply emotional, and they express themselves in ways that aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily easy to notice. But caring for that blind creature? Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, that is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 whew. My HEART. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so heavy thinking about what other things the stone eaters do, especially at Corepoint.<\/p>\n

That leads me to the Moon, Schaffa, and Nassun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s choice. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d argue that as harsh as Steel is regarding Schaffa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mortality, he is this way because it is also<\/i> a demonstration of how much he cares. Well, cares in his own way, I suppose. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interesting to compare the conversation on the creation of a stone eater with what Hoa says in the previous chapter. He spoke about how Alabaster has to choose<\/i> to come to Essun, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear choice matters so much here. That makes me think that Alabaster chose to become a stone eater via Antimony. As it stands, Schaffa can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t consent to this himself, can he? He is barely able to interact with Nassun throughout this chapter.<\/p>\n

So what does Steel ask of Nassun? To consider the weight of what she is going to do. Why?<\/p>\n

The Obelisk Gate doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do small things. Just as Nassun feels, sesses, knows<\/i> that the Gate makes her temporarily omnipotent, she knows, too, that she cannot use it to transform just one man. If she makes Schaffa into a stone eater\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 every human being on the planet will change in the same manner. Every comm, every commless band, every starving wanderer: Then thousand still-life cities, instead of just one. All the world will become like Corepoint.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which inspires this question in Nassun:<\/p>\n

But is that really so terrible a thing? If everyone is a stone eater, there will be no more orogenes and stills. No more children to die, no more fathers to murder them. The Seasons could come and go, and they wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter. No one would ever starve to death ever again. To make the whole world as peaceful as Corepoint\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 would that not be a kindness?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, first of all: She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrong, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t she? Didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Hoa just admit that younger stone eaters are often weaker and require sustenance in a way the older stone eaters don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a logistical issue, though, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bigger problem: This wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t solve anything, would it? I think Nassun sees things as relatively<\/i> peaceful. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comparing Corepoint to the rest of the world, and she thinks this place is ideal. But is<\/i> it? Corepoint is constructed around the greatest act of violence against the Earth, and turning all humans to stone eaters doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t solve that<\/i>. I mean\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t this the same thing Earth once did??? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where the stone eaters came from. And what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to happen once all these humans realize they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re stone eaters? Does she think all strife will simply disappear?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Steel makes this personal, though. He has to. Because the thing Nassun cannot understand about this decision is time. She has no way to grasp the concept of immortality. As long as the Earth exists, stone eaters will, too. And this is how Steel makes his grand argument: To doom people to a life of immortality is lonely. He knows it because he has lived it, unable to make connects with any humans he meets because he knows that he will always<\/i> outlast them. It also seems clear that the stone eaters don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any need or desire to pair off or group up with one another. Yet even this argument is one that Steel personalizes. He makes it clear to Nassun that Schaffa, against the impossible odds, kept loneliness away, which is why he is so damn old, which is why he was able to stay human<\/i> and not decay as quickly as the other Guardians. And what will happen when Nassun opens the Obelisk Gate, catches the Moon, and chooses to save Schaffa?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She will die.<\/p>\n

Just like her mother is.<\/p>\n

And what life will Schaffa have without her? God, this whole part was SO MUCH:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So here is my theory: I believe your Schaffa survived by loving his charges. You, and others like you, soothed his loneliness. He truly does love you; never doubt that about him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nassun swallows back a dull ache. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But he also needs you. You keep him happy. You keep him human<\/i>, where otherwise time would have long since transformed him into something else.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an astonishing thing to read, especially since it sheds a new light on the events of The Fifth Season<\/i>. I enjoy that nowhere in this is an exoneration<\/i> for the pain and trauma that Schaffa caused, nor does it justify his participation in an oppressive system. Rather, it adds a layer to the interactions we saw between Schaffa and Damaya in that book. It was love. His version of love, his version of pain, his version of a warped fatherhood, but\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 love.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is left to her, then?<\/p>\n

The world burns. Right? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the plan that Steel pushed Nassun towards, only now, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an odd sense of mercy to it all. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t destroy the Earth out of spite, but rather, do it for this reason:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You achieve nothing by keeping any of us alive,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153except cruelty. Put us broken monsters out of our misery, Nassun. The Earth, Schaffa, me, you\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 all of us.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fuck.<\/p>\n

I think she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gonna do it, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I think this might very well be the endgame of this series: to put all these monsters out of their misery.<\/p>\n

Alabaster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Entries<\/b><\/p>\n

I just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 HI. HELLO. I love that I never expected this. I thought we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d gotten all we were going to get from Alabaster about what happened after Antimony took him to Corepoint. First of all: his entries made me miss him. FIERCELY. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so damn funny, and I wonder: Will his stone eater self be anything like that? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. Maybe? There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very real chance that we won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find out, or maybe Nassun will succeed and it won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But holy shit. These entries provided necessary context, not just for the world of Corepoint, but as a means of understand what it was like for Alabaster to be there for so very long. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s crushing, of course, since he was aware of Essun and what she was doing, yet he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see her. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much grief in these entries, like how Alabaster worries he won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remember Innon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scent the more the wind blows on Corepoint. Or all the times he thinks of Corundun. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also Alabaster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s horror as he discovers more and more about the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153crime scene\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that is Corepoint. It works as an interesting parallel with Nassun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s discovery, too! Like that moment where Alabaster correctly guesses what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in the massive hole, which Nassun learned about in the most horrifying way possible. OR ALABASTER\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S WARNING ABOUT BEING BURIED, WHICH NASSUN ALSO UNDERSTANDS NOW, TOO.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the big parallel:<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve decided.<\/i><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrong. Everything\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrong. Some things are so broken that they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be fixed. You just have to finish them off, sweep away the rubble, and start over. Antimony agrees. Some of the other SEs do, too. Some don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Except Nassun sees many of the same problem and has come up with a different solution: Finishing the world off, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s it. <\/i>There will be no sweeping away of the rubble, no starting over. She thinks that wiping the slate clean of everything<\/i> is the most effective answer, whereas Alabaster just broke the world further, hoping that Essun could fix<\/i> it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But can you fix a broken Earth? Is there anything left to repair, or will it remain shattered forever?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

NOTES<\/b><\/p>\n