This is my fifth book by N. K. Jemisin, and at this point I'm convinced she can do no wrong. 
 I feel like I'm straining my reviewer credibility here by fangirling instead of writing an actual review, but there aren't that many different ways to say "this is awesome and I require more of it in my life, please and thank you." The characters? A+. The beautiful language? A+. All the traditional fantasy elements I love, reworked for a non-Western setting and explicitly, gloriously feminist? A+. The setting? A+++++. 
 I loved everything about it. There was no part of it that I didn't love. Sometimes, a book is so good that even those of use who review books as part of our jobs are at a loss for words. I am one of those people, and this is one of those times. Read the Dreamblood series now-- you won't regret it.