The Killing Moon

Women of Genre Fiction - Book 11

The Killing Moon – N.K. Jemisin

This was an entertaining read, enough so that I will be reading the sequel.

The world building is excellent. This culture is loosely based on Egyptian/African culture. (This was refreshing to me since I haven't read many books like it. I have noticed a lot of authors are using Middle Eastern/Arabic cultures in recent books, so maybe this isn't so unique. But I haven't read them, so I found this world very interesting.) Ehiru is a gatherer, a person of a religious sect who gathers souls, i.e. he kills people who are ready to die. He is quite devout and truly believes that what he does is right. Nijiri is his protégé. He adores his mentor, more so than he believes in his religion. Sinandi is a spy from a neighboring state whose people do not believe in assisted death. The interplay between the characters is excellent. Although they all have differing beliefs, they genuinely respect each other.

Gatherers are sometimes tasked with taking the souls of those not ready to die, but whose death would be politically advantageous. Ehiru does this for the peace of the world. Sinandi does not believe this is right. Ehiru is tasked with taking the soul of Sinandi and the resulting political intrigue results in a great battle and a new order.

This story is one of political intrigue, one of how power can corrupt, one that questions the right for people to choose their manner of death and a coming of age novel for Nijiri. Overall, a good read.