The World We Make

Voice actor Robin Miles provides a masterful narration of Jemisin’s sequel to The City We Became. As New York’s boroughs—mostly unified after the first book’s events—realize that the extradimensional threat to the multiverse isn’t over, they try to convince other cities’ avatars to join the battle. This means that in addition to giving voice to New York’s accents and cultures, Miles must also narrate voices from other countries. She does so with aplomb. Miles’s vocal range is staggering; she fully inhabits each character, channeling their emotions as they face sexism, racism, and all other manner of prejudices that the otherworldly threat can leverage. Miles communicates the complexity of Jemisin’s characters, allowing their contradictions and struggles to come through. For instance, while it would be easy to make the xenophobic Staten Island into a mockery, Miles taps into the nuances of Jemisin’s words, making Staten Island into someone who can be understood, if not condoned.