The other question I have is the nature of the enemy.

While it could be taken as a cop-hating story, I'm going more with the thought that, as the avatar becomes the city more and more, the cops notice him less and less because they are becoming part of him as well. I understand the angle being taken, and I understand the why, but cops *should* be a part of the system and a help, not the form the enemy takes when trying to snuff out the new life. The bad: And that's the bad, because it hurts that cops are the parasites. A person who lives the city and is the city in every sense. A person born in the city is the avatar and midwife, a person who will live or die if the city lives or dies.

The concept itself is fairly awe-inspiring - cities are born and live and die, and some fail while other become shells of their former selves (The use of New Orleans as a city that failed makes for an interesting counterpoint and drives home the sense of urgency for the story). The language really sets the scene and pushes the concept nicely for the reader, and the action, although limited, gives everything a sense of New York that's pretty much required for this to work at all. Births are messy and traumatic and sometimes don't go as planned, and the birth of a city wouldn't be an exception. The good: A confusing story that describes a confusing event. In the case of this story, it's used to set up the situation and the personality of the characters, and it works. I try not to be a prude, but language is important to me and a lot of use of the f-word can turn me off, even if it's proper in context and used realistically. Jemisin is about how a city grows up and comes into its own.

The City Born Great by N.K. Jemisin