History Literature / TheStoneSky

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Essun dies, but she lives on in the stone eater Hoa creates from her and continues to want to make the world better. The Seasons are stopped forever and the Fulcrum and Guardians are gone, but there's no guarantee that the next empire won't be built on systemic oppression. Nassun lives, but she loses an arm and most of her orogeny, and with Schaffa and Essun's deaths, she is left without any parents; it's uncertain what will happen to her, Essun's friends and Ykka's comm.]]

* CastFullOfCrazy: Who ''doesn’t'' show symptoms of PTSD?
* ColonyDrop: Nassun plans to end all the suffering in the world by, well, ending the world. [[spoiler: However, she ultimately catches the moon, rather than smash the planet with it, because she finally realized her mother loved her and chose to do what Essun would have wanted]]. This was also "burndown", the ultimate cause of the Shattering--half the obelisks hit the planet.

* TheEndingChangesEverything: The final chapter reveals that [[spoiler:the reason that the trilogy is written in the second person is because Hoa is narrating the events of the trilogy to the stone eater he made from Essun in the hopes that it will help that stone eater to become Essun.]]

* GenerationXerox: Essun realizes that due a combination of how she raised her daughter, and all that's happened during the Season, Nassun basically ''is'' her now. But stronger and better, to the point that [[spoiler: she can ''hack the Obelisk Gate''.]]
* GeniusLoci: Confirmed. Father Earth is alive. And he’s ''pissed''.

* HistoryRepeats: [[spoiler:Hoa, having realized that the empire of Syl Anagist needs the systemic oppression of his people to survive, brings about the end of human civilization. 40,000 years later, Alabaster, having realized that Sanze Empire requires the systemic oppression of his people to survive, brings about the end of human civilization. And, as Nassun and Hoa discuss in the ending, it's entirely possible that this cycle will repeat itself anew.]]
* HumanResources: [[spoiler:Syl Anagist turns out to be fueled by the Thniess, an oppressed people that Syl Anagist turned into a power source.]]
* ImAHumanitarian: “You don’t think about the meat.”

* Really700YearsOld: The Guardians and the stone eaters. The average Guardian can last for three to four thousand years before the fragment of Evil Earth wears them down and corrupts them, and Scahffa is ''much'' older than that. [[spoiler:The original stone eaters such as Hoa/Houwha, Antimony/Gaewha and Steel/Raewha are ''forty thousand years old.'']]
* TheReveal: The stone eaters’ backstory. [[spoiler:They were tuners, artificially created from the Thniess, a persecuted people, in order to tap into the wellspring of the Earth's magical power and harness it for the use of Syl Anagist. Once they learned the truth about themselves they attempted to sabotage the project, but the Earth usurped it, setting the stage for the Seasons and transforming the tuners as punishment.]]
* ScienceFantasy: There's orogeny and magic! [[spoiler:Using both together is called "tuning". Nassun can do it.]]

Meanwhile, Essun's daughter Nassun has also discovered how to use the Obelisk Gate, but she has come to the conclusion that the only way to ensure that orogenes will never be oppressed again is the ensure the end of the world.

''The Stone Sky'' is a 2017 fantasy novel written by Creator/NKJemisin. It is the conclusion of Literature/TheBrokenEarthTrilogy, following [[Literature/TheFifthSeason The Fifth Season]] and [[Literature/TheObeliskGate The Obelisk Gate]].

* SolarPunk: The aesthetic of Syl Anagist is described as this, with plenty of organic components, plants growing absolutely everywhere and 'vehimals', genetic engineering that creates a mesh between animal and vehicle. [[spoiler:But it falls very far short of the genre's defining aspects, since it's built on the exploitation of the Thniess and other minorities, with the eventual aim of exploiting the Earth itself.]]

* BrotherSisterIncest: Kelenli and Galat believed they were siblings until Kelenli was fifteen, and Galat is incredibly protective and possessive of her; [[spoiler:it's possible that he's the father of her unborn child.]]

* SolarPunk: The aesthetic of Syl Anagist is described as this, with plenty of organic components, [[spoiler:but it falls far short of the genre's defining aspects by being built on the exploitation of the Thniess and other minorities, and the eventual aim of exploiting the Earth itself.]]

* ColonyDrop: Averted; Nassun chooses to [[spoiler: catch the moon, rather than smash the planet with it]]. This was also "burndown", the ultimate cause of the Shattering.

* GenerationXerox: Essun realizes that due a combination of how she raised her daughter, and all that's happened during the Season, Nassun basically ''is'' her now. But stronger and better.

* NoImmortalInertia: Guardians are immortal with their corestones, not so much without them. [[spoiler: Schaffa dies scant weeks after his corestone is removed.]]

* NoImmortalityInertia: Guardians are immortal with their corestones, not so much without them. [[spoiler: Schaffa dies scant weeks after his corestone is removed.]]

* FantasticRacism: In the stone eaters’ backstory, [[spoiler: we get Sylanagists committing genocide against the Thniess for the simple reason that they couldn't understand their magic.]]
* GenerationXerox: Essun observes how like her orogeny Nassun’s is.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Hoa sought to [[spoiler:destroy Syl Anagist to end the oppression of his people and the Niess. Unfortunately, Father Earth had the same idea and highjacked Hoa's plan, bringing about the fall of all human civilization and the beginning of the Seasons.]]

* ParentalSubstitute: Schaffa for Nassun, even more explicitly than in the previous book.

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Steel wants to destroy the world because he is tired of life after living 40,000 years.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Nassun loses [[spoiler:Schaffa, one hand, and her ability to perform orogeny. Essun dies. But there will be no more Seasons, and the stone eater that How creates from the remains of Essun appears to have her memories and the desire to make the world better.]]

* BiTheWay: Ykka has a stable of rotating lovers, both male and female.

* UnreliableNarrator: Lampshaded by Hoa when he is giving the stone eaters' backstory, saying that his memory works a lot like a human’s, meaning that it is imperfect. For example, he describes Kelenli and Galat's physical appearance in terms that pretty much match Essun and Schaffa respectively - but he quickly clarifies that the resemblance is just artistic licence, since he doesn't actually remember what they looked like, and he likes Kelenli/Essun and doesn't like Galat/Schaffa.

* UnreliableNarrator: Lampshaded by Hoa when he is giving the stone eaters' backstory, saying that his memory works a lot like a human’s, meaning that it is imperfect.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Essun dies, but she lives on in the stone eater Hoa creates from her. The Seasons are stopped forever and the Fulcrum and Guardians are gone, but there's no guarantee that the next empire won't be built on systemic oppression. Nassun lives, but she loses an arm and most of her orogeny, and with Schaffa and Essun's deaths, she is left without any parents.]]
* BiTheWay: Ykka.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Nassun loses [[spoiler:Schaffa, one hand, and her ability to do orogeny. Essun dies. But there will be no more Seasons.]]

* FantasticRacism: In the stone eaters’ backstory, we get Sylanagists committing genocide against the Thniess.

* LawOfInverseFertility: [[spoiler: It’s the end of the world and Essun is forty-four. She still gets pregnant.]]

* OlderThanTheyLook: In [[Literature/TheObeliskGate The Obelisk Gate]], we found out that the Guardians are hundreds of years old, but in this book, we find out that Schaffa is ''thousands'' of years old.

* Really700YearsOld: The Guardians and the stone eaters.
* TheReveal: The stone eaters’ backstory.

* SolarPunk: The aesthetic of Syl Anagist is described as this, [[spoiler:but it falls far short of the genre's defining aspects by being built on the exploitation of the Thniess and other minorities, and the eventual aim of exploiting the Earth itself.]]

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Steel wants to destroy the world because he is tired of life after living 40,000 years.

''The Stone Sky'' is a 2017 fantasy novel written by Creator/NKJemisin. It is the conclusion of Literature/TheBrokenEarthTrilogy, following [[TheFifthSeason The Fifth Season]] and [[TheObeliskGate The Obelisk Gate]].

* OlderThanTheyLook: In [[TheObeliskGate ''The Obelisk Gate'']], we found out that the Guardians are hundreds of years old, but in this book, we find out that Schaffa is ''thousands'' of years old.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Tonkee’s hormone replacement therapy. Mentioned in [[TheFifthSeason The Fifth Season]] and ignored in both [[TheObeliskGate The Obelisk Gate]] and this book. Presumably she couldn’t get any more due to the whole apocalypse thing, but unlike in ''The Fifth Season'', there’s no mention of Tonkee’s facial hair growing back.

''The Stone Sky'' is a 2017 fantasy novel written by Creator/NKJemisin. It is the conclusion of Literature/TheBrokenEarthTrilogy, following [[TheFifthSeason ''The Fifth Season'']] and [[TheObeliskGate ''The Obelisk Gate'']].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Tonkee’s hormone replacement therapy. Mentioned in [[TheFifthSeason The Fifth Season]] and ignored in both [[TheObeliskGate ''The Obelisk Gate'']] and this book. Presumably she couldn’t get any more due to the whole apocalypse thing, but unlike in ''The Fifth Season'', there’s no mention of Tonkee’s facial hair growing back.

''The Stone Sky'' is a 2017 fantasy novel written by Creator/NKJemisin. It is the conclusion of Literature/TheBrokenEarthTrilogy.

* OhMyGods!: In addition to people in the Stillness swearing by “Evil Earth”, we get Sylanagists swearing by “Evil Death”.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse?: Tonkee’s hormone replacement therapy. Mentioned in [[TheFifthSeason The Fifth Season]] and ignored in both [[TheObeliskGate ''The Obelisk Gate'']] and this book. Presumably she couldn’t get any more due to the whole apocalypse thing, but unlike in ''The Fifth Season'', there’s no mention of Tonkee’s facial hair growing back.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Essun dies, but she lives on in the stone eater Hoa creates from her. The Seasons are stopped forever and the Fulcrum and Guardians are gone, but there's no guarantee that the next empire won't be built on systemic oppression. Nasusun lives, but she loses an arm and most of her orogeny, and with Schaffa and Essun's deaths, she is left without any parents.]]

* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler:Hoa/Hoawha]] acts sinister at many points in the trilogy, but he ultimately turns out to be working to ensure the survival of humanity.

* ShoutOut: An incredibly dark one. The place where [[spoiler:the Thniess and the stone eaters that made waves are used as [[HumanResources living batteries]]]] is called [[SongOfTheSouth "the briar patch"]].

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Steel, to a degree. He does want to end the suffering of both the stone eaters and the origenes.

After defeating the invading army of Rennanis, Essun finds her self torn between helping the refugees of Castrima find a new home and completing her mission of using the Obelisk Gate to catch the Moon and end the Seasons forever.

* HumanResources: [[spoiler:Syl Anagist turns out to be fueled by the Niess, an oppressed people that Syl Anagist turned into a power source.]]
* SolarPunk: The aesthetic of Syl Anagist is described as this, [[spoiler:but it falls far short of the genre's defining aspects by being built on the exploitation of the Niess and other minorities, and the eventual aim of exploiting the Earth itself.]]

Meanwhile, Essun's daughter Nassun has also discovered how to use the Obelisk Gate, but she seeks to use it for a darker purpose.