“Intricate and extraordinary.” – New York Times on The Fifth Season (A New York Times Notable Book of 2015) WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 2016This is the way the world ends…for the last time. A season of endings has begun. It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world’s sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son … sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun.
It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter.
It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.
This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.
For more from N. K. Jemisin, check out:
The Inheritance Trilogy
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
The Broken Kingdoms
The Kingdom of Gods
The Inheritance Trilogy (omnibus edition)
Shades in Shadow: An Inheritance Triptych (e-only short fiction)
The Awakened Kingdom (e-only novella)
Dreamblood Duology
The Killing Moon
The Shadowed Sun
The Broken EarthThe Fifth SeasonThe Obelisk Gatemore
This was the most awe-inspiring book I read this year, by far. It is far to rare for me to find a book that has incredible world-building while still getting me very invested in the characters. I love how the story had epic world-wide scale, but was primarily focused on a small handful of characters. The author paced it really well with big moments through the book. I highly recommend this book to anybody who enjoys Science Fiction or Fantasy!
PS: I found this book on Buzz – thanks to @sonja for the great recommendation https://www.bookbub.com/buzz/348660012!
Fabulous book with fascinating world-building and character development. N.K. Jemisin offers a a beautiful and often heart-wrenching reflection on humanity, most notably regarding our relationship with the Earth and our surroundings, our response to catastrophe (both global and personal), and our treatment of those we consider “other”. I still have so many questions about this world, so I will definitely be picking up book two!
I’ve been disappointed by a few fantasy books recently. The Fifth Season ended that drought and reminded me why I love the genre. What a great book! Excellent world-building and vivid characters whose paths intertwine in mind-blowing ways. The world and system of magic are unlike anything I’ve read before, featuring science, geology, and multiple apocalypses, while weaving in portrayals of race, class, sexuality, gender, and power. And it’s all seamless and gorgeously written. Thanks to all the reviewers here on BookBub who convinced me to buy this book!
Oh. My God. Just finished The Fifth Season and I’m still reeling. It’s an epic fantasy that truly deserves the adjective epic. The world N.K. Jemisin creates is so unique: a rigorous thought experiment about what life would be like on a planet with such unstable tectonics that its civilizations are constantly under threat of collapse. Some people in it can wield a form of geological magic which has an oddly believable basis in science, making it even more beautiful to read about.
It’s definitely a dark book: it starts with worlds ending, both on a personal and global scale, and it doesn’t let up all that much from there. That made me unsure I’d like it at first. But I was pulled in by the main characters, three women who are broken but strong. The way their narratives are woven together truly works and really pays off near the book’s end. Through them the book delves into individual agency, societal prejudice, and apocalyptic politics in fascinating and powerful ways.
I’m really excited to read the sequel to this, and I can only hope it’ll be as great as the first. No wonder this won the Hugo for best novel! So well deserved.
Such great world-building in this adult fantasy novel. And the writing is so fabulous. I never felt lost and was invested in all the characters. I don’t generally read a lot of fantasy, but this book has me hooked and I intend to read more by the author.
Didn’t get this from other recommendations, but for a book club I’m part of. Wow! Really great. I’m aching to read the sequels.
The world building is fantastic. I also love that you are shown more often than told and just enough. A decent amount of the book is in 2nd person. I found it strange at first, but then fell into fine. If that voice really bothers you, it might not be the book for you.
The magic system is great. If only because its hinted to be build on science, but no one knows why or where it really comes from. Jemison managed to introduce you to the accepted way the magic works, but then show how under-utilized and not understood that magic is. A powerful character does some things that shouldn’t be possible – unless you understand things a bit deeper. (Vague, but read! Find out!)
The contrast various hierarchies are interesting. This part becomes an interesting exploration of what kind of trade offs there can be when you are essentially colonized. Jemison’s portrayal is full of nuance. I didn’t feel the same kind of hammering I did from Lillith’s Brood. I found myself wanting the characters to have the best of both worlds.
I’m not a frequent fantasy or sci-fi reader, but after reading glowing reviews by @thegreatape, @adam, @sonja, and @carlyn (also reading some excellent N. K. Jemisin columns in The New York Times Book Review) I had to give The Fifth Season a try.
What an engrossing, thoughtful, original book! Although the end fizzled a bit for me, the story until then sucked me in and steadily revealed a finely crafted world that was a ton of fun to explore. The remarkable part was how N. K. Jemisin wove perspectives on race, class, sexuality, and power into this fantastic story. You’d think that would be far too ambitious a project, but she pulled it all together elegantly.
Wow. Best book of 2016 so far! Also my only book of 2016 so far. But still, holy cow this was good.
This is a difficult, beautiful, gut-wrenching and utterly stunning fantasy unlike anything I’ve ever read. I wasn’t sure what to expect in the first few pages, but this book quickly sweeps you up and turns you inside out – the world building is remarkable and the characters so deeply human it often hurts to read. I never knew second person narration could be so compelling. This is a story that will echo long after it’s finished, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Brilliant. Just absolutely brilliant read. Everything speculative fiction should be. You’ll fly through this and then pick up the sequels too.
This story is heart stopping, mind blowing and immersive. It’s not a light, easy read. There are as many intensely fraught moments as there are wondrous ones.
I think that your enjoyment of it will depend on the privileges you enjoy and whether you’re ready to face the truth of how much others have suffered In order for you to continue to enjoy it.
My heart is pounding just thinking of the profound choices Essun is forced to make. Choices none of us should face. Her bravery is awe inspiring and terrible all at once. This is a next level deep dive Into the psyche of a world order that is eerily and at times, uncomfortably familiar.
The lesson I take from this story, one that history has taught us, repeatedly, is this; When oppressed people have had enough, they will rise up to dismantle and destroy what oppresses them – even if it means destroying themselves. Because something as corrupted as the world The Guardians have built and the just one Essun once longed for are mutually exclusive. God. This book makes you think. And feel. So deeply. I’m nearly frightened to read the next book. But I’m also very very excited. I LOVED It. Highly recommend!
I love books that are both eye-opening and mind-blowing and this one is definitely all that.
I picked this up based on the reviews here (as well as a timely BookBub deal!). It was fantastic. Amazing characters that were weaved together into a well-constructed conclusion. Fantastic and detailed world-building as well. The end did slow a bit, but overall I found it engrossing. I’m looking forward to reading the sequels!
Jemison’s world building is weaved into beautiful prose. The story is continuously interesting, surprising and eloquently delivered. One of the top Fantasy authors writing today.
The most important thing to know about The Fifth Season is that it is not a complete story: it is the beginning installment of a trilogy that continues in The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky. That said, it’s a great speculative fiction saga about a world that has been irrevocably broken and the only hope for salvation comes from a hated and feared caste of “orogenes” who can move earth with their minds. Think of it as an AfroFuturist, earth-telekinesis-based fantasy story that asks how far someone would go to escape their past and hold on to their loved ones.
What I most appreciated was that N.K. Jemisin creates a fascinating and original story world that continues to surprise throughout the book. Her characters are sharply imagined and though none is truly likable–who has time for likable when the world is broken?–they are interesting and compelling and richly rendered.
There are a couple plot twists that feel almost Dickensian and elicited a “huh? okay fine” as I was reading, but they didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story.
I highly recommend this book for fantasy lovers who are tired of Tolkein-esque elfs, orcs, and trolls or who like the faded tech/wildlands vibe found in The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.
One aspect that I love about N.K. Jemison’s work is her ability to throw you into a story in the middle of it all and somehow catch you up on what’s happened while seamlessly hurling you through the current catastrophe.
Jemison’s world-building is done with such finesse that you feel intimately connected to the world, even though it’s unusual, strange and somewhat frightening. Jemison has an ability to ground the reader into these violently different landscapes through characters that are always easily relatable, despite their exceptional circumstances.
The entire Broken Earth series, starting with The Fifth Season is wonderfully different and unpredictable, and will at first feel very new to any fantasy reader who hasn’t often ventured outside of traditionally Tolkienian worlds. There’s a reason all three of these books won consecutive Hugo awards for the best fantasy novel of the year. I highly recommend them.
This is the most amazingly written and expertly told story I have ever read. N.K. Jemisin is a genius. The Fifth Season is the most brilliantly written and meticulous story I’ve had the pleasure of reading. The story just sucks you in and will have you so completely engrossed that there is no way out. The way this book is written blows my mind and how it all comes together blew my mind. As everything unfolds and puzzle pieces find its place, it will blow your mind how intricate and carefully planned and worded this story is.
The characters were all great and I was so engrossed int each of their stories and what their was in the big picture. These characters are beautifully flawed and are wonderful to follow. The story is so interesting and sucks you in from the first page. I love the mystery and the way the story unfolds bit by bit. I really just can’t say enough because I can’t find the words to properly describe this book and how amazing it truly is.
https://mistyaquavenatus.com/2018/06/29/why-you-need-to-read-the-fifth-season/
Wow. The first book of the Broken Earth series is a mind blower. I love all three, but you must start here. So, so good.
“Let’s start with the end of the world, why don’t we? Get it over with and move on to more interesting things…” So begins this first book in N. K. Jemison’s Broken Earth series, and I defy you to not read on. Jemison’s writing is so masterful – she’s playful, brutal, sophisticated, and often as lyrical as Patrick Rothfuss, which is some of the highest praise I can offer. Jemison doesn’t spell everything out or lead you by the hand – you have to pay close attention to unravel this book, which I just love. I’ve read reviews that call this an “alternate Earth” tale, but I read it as a far-future Earth – characters use shortened forms of words, like “comms” for “communities,” for example, which gives the language a futuristic feel. I’m reading the second in the series as I write this (The Obelisk Gate), and it’s just as riveting as the first. Five standing-ovation stars for this one!