An interview with Brandon Sanderson peaked my interest in Jemisin. He said something to the effect that she is trying to move Fantasy into a new direction. At the time I read it, I had finished the Malazan Book of the Fallen, which in itself is a large departure from High Fantasy, and was in search of something other than a loosely-defined magic system that gets protagonists out of every tough situation.

Jemisin provided what I was looking for: second-person narratives, magic systems that are defined and have (loose) roots in science, plot twists, and great character development. It's also chock full of moral ambiguity. Her books are also short. After reading MBotF, I felt like I ran a reading marathon with books general being 1000+ pages. I wanted someone who could say more with less.

Jemisin listed Octavia Butler as a strong influence. So, I read the Parable books and am now reading Fledgling. The influence is clear. Butler's books are brilliant and so different for their time. Her name is really not mentioned enough.

I have to mention Joe Abercrombie as another author who is moving Fantasy away from magic-driven plots. Brilliant author.

[EDIT: first-person should have been second-person]