The City We Became
First novel in the Great Cities trilogy.
The City We Became, an urban fantasy novel from 2020, was written by American author N. K. Jemisin. It originated from her earlier short story "The City Born Great," which appeared in her collection *How Long 'til Black Future Month?* This book is the first installment in her Great Cities trilogy and marks her first novel after finishing the Broken Earth series.
In the story, New York City exists in a world where major cities gain sentience through human avatars. When the city's primary avatar falls into a supernatural coma and disappears, five new avatars—each representing one of the five boroughs—unite to confront a shared adversary.
A homeless Black graffiti artist who lives on rooftops learns from São Paulo, the avatar of that Brazilian city, that he is the avatar of New York City. São Paulo warns him that avatars face a powerful enemy. The artist is pursued through the streets by shape-shifting creatures trying to seize the city; he defeats them but is wounded and, in the process, destroys the Pulaski Bridge.
A gay Black graduate student new to the city steps off a train and loses his memory. Realizing he is the avatar of Manhattan, he calls himself Manny. He encounters white tendrils on the FDR Drive and destroys them by harnessing the city's power. Later, in a park, he meets and defeats the Woman in White, aided by Brooklyn Thomas, a Black woman who is the avatar of Brooklyn. They sense another borough's avatar manifesting and head to Queens to find it.
On Staten Island, the borough's avatar, Aislyn, a white librarian in her thirties, is approached by the Woman in White, who offers protection from the New York City avatar; they bond over racist humor. Bronca Siwanoy, a Lenape woman and the avatar of the Bronx, is threatened by the Woman in White, who vanishes during their confrontation. As the oldest borough, Bronca receives the historical knowledge of living cities and their enemy. Manny and Brooklyn search online and detect the avatars of the Bronx and Queens, the latter being Padmini, an Indian PhD student.
At the Bronx Art Center, Bronca examines a painting titled *Dangerous Mental Machines*—a term for Asian New Yorkers coined by H. P. Lovecraft in a racist letter—created by the "Alt Artistes," an alt-right group controlled by the Woman in White. The painting is actually an interdimensional portal, and the Center's staff expel the Arti
- series
- Great Cities trilogy
Quick Facts
- Author
- N. K. Jemisin
- Language
- English
- Country
- United States
- Genre
- Urban fantasy
- Series
- Great Cities
- Pub Date
- March 24, 2020
- Publisher
- Orbit Books
- Media Type
- Print, e-book, audio book
- Pages
- 488
- Followed By
- The World We Make
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The novel takes place in New York City, in a world where major cities become sentient through human avatars. After the avatar of New York falls into a supernatural coma and vanishes, five new avatars, representing the city's five boroughs, come together to fight their common enemy. The avatars include a homeless Black graffiti artist (the Primary), a gay Black graduate student named Manny (Manhattan), a Black former rapper and city councilwoman named Brooklyn Thomas (Brooklyn), a Lenape woman named Bronca Siwanoy (the Bronx), a Tamil immigrant graduate student named Padmini Prakash (Queens), and a white librarian named Aislyn Houlihan (Staten Island). The enemy is R'lyeh, a hostile, sentient city from another dimension that seeks to consume other cities, appearing as the Woman in White, among other forms.
Reader's Guide
The City We Became is significant as the first novel in N. K. Jemisin's Great Cities duology and her first work after completing the Broken Earth series. The novel uses the conceit of living cities with human avatars to explore themes of gentrification, racism, and unity. In an interview with Time, Jemisin noted that the antagonistic forces in the book are often metaphors for gentrification. The novel received positive reviews, with Amal El-Mohtar in The New York Times praising its stand on sanctuary, family, and love, and Steve Mullis on NPR calling it a love letter and expression of hope. The work explicitly reverses H. P. Lovecraft's racist mythos, casting gentrification, police brutality, and white supremacy as the evil Enemy.
Did You Know?
- The novel was developed from Jemisin's short story 'The City Born Great,' first published in her collection How Long 'til Black Future Month?
- The avatar of Staten Island, Aislyn Houlihan, can become invisible.
- Bronca Siwanoy, the avatar of the Bronx, is a lesbian Lenape woman in her 60s who holds the city's lexicon of knowledge.
- The Woman in White is revealed to be R'lyeh, a city from another dimension.
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