“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
Just an amazing book in an amazing series. Any reader of fantasy – or fiction for that matter is doing themselves a disservice by not reading this book.
This is the first book of N. K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy. Recently the third book in this series, The Stone Sky, won the Hugo award for best novel, making it the third book in the series to win that award. That’s right, every book in this series has won the Hugo award for best novel, three years in a row. No author has ever done that before. So yeah, my expectations were pretty much through the roof on this one.
I’m delighted to report that all the hype was all fully deserved because this was one of the best books I’ve ever read. In fact, it was so good that I immediately went ahead and got the next one immediately afterward and started on it right away. That’s probably the greatest praise I can bestow upon it because I almost never read the other books in series right away. I think the last time that happened was when I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy back when I was a teenager.
The performance by narrator Robin Miles on the audiobook version was absolutely amazing, highly recommend.
A few weeks ago, I finished How Long ‘Til Black Future Month, by NK Jemisin, a short story collection I highly recommend. Even though I actually owned The Fifth Season prior to owning Future Month, I purposely read Jemisin’s short story collection first before diving into The Fifth Season. I made the right choice—reading her short works made me even more excited to dive into The Fifth Season.
And wow, did this fantasy novel not disappoint. I’d recommend every fantasy author or reader of fantasy read The Fifth Season; as an author myself, I’ll speak to why EVERY fantasy author should read this book.
Simply put, The Fifth Season illustrates all the right ways to break genre trends, writing rules, and narrative norms. If you’re an author at the beginning of their career, The Fifth Season is a textbook in what is possible with the written word once you’ve mastered the craft.
Every possible “rule” taught to authors in creative writing class, Jemisin breaks with ease. And the beauty of it all? Every time she does it, it makes sense. It works. It’s perfect. She uses parentheses, missing punctuation, broken paragraphs, every tool possible to blend voice and tense and perspective and character into the narrative.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The narrative itself is told through three distinct point-of-views which merge and intersect with superb skill. Even when you think you know what’s coming, little curve balls throw you off course and into a new paradigm for approaching the story.
When you finish The Fifth Season, you’re left with more questions than answers . . . but they’re all the right questions, and it leaves you aching for the sequel.
Writing: 10/10. I think I illustrated above why the writing is spectacular. Even when creating her own vernacular, it merges with the narrative with such ease that I never questioned what a word meant.
Character: 10/10. Every character has depth unparalleled in modern fantasy.
Setting: 10/10. The world has more depth packed into its 450 pages than exists within most 700 – 1000 page tomes. And this was just book 1!
Plot: 10/10. When you think you know the truth about The Fifth Season, it’s turned on its head. Again. and Again. and
Again.
Yet it all makes sense, weaving the beginning of a tapestry I can’t wait to reveal when I read the next two books.
Overall: 10/10. Seriously, Jemisin, stop destroying my conception of what’s possible when writing fiction.
You.
(Everyone.)
You must read this book.
So brilliant it’s mind-blowing. Not an easy read though.
The most brilliant series I’ve read in years.
I loved this book and how author N.K. Jemisin created such a believable world that was about to end–for the last time. It contained all the great elements of speculative ficition–real characters trying to make sense of and survive in a world in peril, a world in chaos.
Jemisin’s “The Fifth Season” is a story about power, fear and oppression. The world building is first rate. I thought relationship between the “roggas” (people with instinctive power to move energy around and shake the earth — and kill people) and society was clever and interesting. Though powerful, roggas are a feared and persecuted minority. This is partly because as young children they tend to inadvertently kill people. But they also play a vital role in protecting communities from earthquakes, etc. The terrible ways society has evolved to cope with its fear of and need for roggas is at the core of the story. Jemisin weaves different timelines or threads that all come together in the end though I admit I was occasionally confused during the middle sections of the book. Recommended, however, it is a big book, the first of a trilogy and it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.
Jemison creates a whole new world in this book, and it’s so easy to sink into it. I flew through this whole trilogy in about a week and a half — I couldn’t put the books down!
The Fifth Season is truly one of the most unique books I’ve ever read. It is truly a masterpiece in character development and world she created feels incredibly real, yet so different from most fantasy or sci fi worlds. The story is captivating, you feel the characters’ journeys and it always keeps you wondering. One of the best.
I can’t begin to praise this book enough. Both very human and very alien. Breathtaking in its scope and audacity.
Slow, 2nd person takes some getting used to, but well written
Absolutely amazing concept and characters. Read it.
One of a kind, rich world, fascinating characters, moves fast, apocalyptic fantasy focusing on family and holding onto what you believe in. Recommend to everyone.
I read a lot of sci/funny or fantasy and many series seem to follow a pattern — this book is very different. The writer has a great imagination
I have never read a more tragic book that I enjoyed more. Like, I should not have wanted to read this (or the sequels), but I couldn’t stop. They’re just too good. And strangely satisfying. So good, so deserving of all the praise and hype.
Thought provoking about what could happen to the environment we live in.
This is part of one of the best scifi/fantasy trilogies written in the past decade. Its mix of magic and technology is just perfect and its focus on strong female characters makes it a stand out IMHO.
This is a story that takes place in a world called “The Stillness” which is a world that has suffered many different seasons and catastrophes. The story is told by three different narrators who are known as orogenes – people who have power to move the earth. Orogenes are not well admired or liked. Most of them have to be trained to control their powers, and some are in hiding pretending to be something different than they are. The story starts with Essun – whose husband has just murdered their son and run off with their daughter. She starts on a journey to find her husband and daughter during a time when a seismic activity has just happened and a new Season begins. Her story is told along side Syenite a young orogene who is becoming more powerful and is on a journey with the most power orogene alive, and Damaya who is a child orogene who was just discovered and brought to the Fulcrum to begin her training. Over the course of the book, their stories converge but not in the way you were expecting.
I liked this book. Didn’t love it. I have a hard time with authors who make up words for the sake of making them up. It is like they are trying too hard to develop a world. The stories of the three narrators jumps around quite a bit as well. Especially for Syenite’s character. We find out she is pregnant, and the next thing – it is two years later. She jumps forward quite a bit for two of the narrators, but not so much with the third. The story gets bogged down with her crazy words and technical speak. I really wanted to like it – I am usually a fan of post-apocolyptic fantasies. But this one just didn’t work.
One of the best fantasy books I’ve read in years. Can’t believe it took me so long to discover it.
I loved this original and innovative Fantasy novel and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I found it very compelling.