The novel “The City We Became” by N.K. Jemisin was published for the first time in 2020. It’s the first book of the Great Cities series. It won the Locus and BSFA Awards.
Various people discover that they are the avatars of certain boroughs of New York while an artist discovers that he’s the avatar of the entire city from the avatar of Sao Paulo. Some of them are attacked by shapeshifters and strange tendrils but manage to repel those attacks.
Manny, the avatar of Manhattan, is confronted by a mysterious woman but manages to defeat her thanks to the help of the avatar of Brooklyn. Various types of attacks follow, not always direct because in some cases, they exploit corruption and fascist groups.
Note. If you only tolerate stories with Real Men and Real Women (whatever that means), strictly straight in their sexual preferences, preferably white, this novel is not for you. Don’t even try to read it if you don’t want to risk serious damage to your health.
N.K. Jemisin was raised partly in New York, where she returned to live as an adult. Her knowledge of the city and its various “souls” led her to write what is in some ways a celebration of at least certain parts of New York.
In her works, N.K. Jemisin often blended genres and subgenres, and “The City We Became” is no exception. It’s generally labeled as urban fantasy and in fact, the main idea of avatars of cities and New York boroughs and their powers belongs to this genre. However, the concept of the multiverse and the Lovecraftian influence add elements of science fiction and even horror.
It’s said that cities have their own personality, and in this case, that’s a literal truth that manifests itself in human avatars. The city or borough dimension is deeply intertwined with that of human individuals in a story in which the author also very explicitly exposes various types of ugliness at a social level.
The protagonists typically belong to minorities, be it race, sexual orientation, or otherwise. Their experiences are probably inspired by what N.K. Jemisin experienced directly or was told. An exception is the Houlihan family, of Irish origin, in which the life of young Aislyn is marked by the heavy presence of a father who has a fascist attitude.
In my opinion, the author’s choice constitutes both the strength and weakness of the novel. That’s because I found it spectacular in showing the lives and experiences of the protagonists with a lot of food for thought they offer but precisely for this reason, the portrait of New York comes out limited and with little subtlety. Perhaps an in-depth knowledge of the city and its inhabitants helps to better understand certain parts and go beyond what may seem like stereotypes.
“The City We Became” isn’t a novel you read for the plot, which is sometimes loose and sometimes functional to the development of the themes, starting with the social ones. It’s not an action story and the pace tends to be really slow. The woman who embodies the Enemy is a very dull character, with the consequence that I found the element of cosmic horror far from effective. In the end, it’s a must-read novel if you’re interested in the story of a group of characters who, in their diversity representing various souls of the city, come together to save New York. It’s available on Amazon USA, UK, and Canada.
