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The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1)

N.K. Jemisin

Start date: February 1, 2022

Finish date: February 28, 2022

Discussion: 2022 Fantasy Tournament

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2022 Fantasy Tournament

* 2022 Fantasy Tournament Schedule
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FINAL ROUND: The Fifth Season vs. Circe vs. The Curse of Chalion
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What Members Thought

Sep 15, 2021 Henk rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

My combined review of the trilogy can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Survival doesn’t mean you are right
Survival is not the same as living
The detached, ironic, omnipresent and slightly snarky narration in the prologue is quite something, and gives the whole book a distinct feel. Also the mother of the dead boy, Essun, is narrated in a you voice, quite something to get to used to.
Then we have Damaya, the powerful girl who was locked away because of an incident, and is psyc My combined review of the trilogy can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Survival doesn’t mean you are right
Survival is not the same as living
The detached, ironic, omnipresent and slightly snarky narration in the prologue is quite something, and gives the whole book a distinct feel. Also the mother of the dead boy, Essun, is narrated in a you voice, quite something to get to used to.
Then we have Damaya, the powerful girl who was locked away because of an incident, and is psychologically manipulated in a terrible way to control her, Stockholm syndrome like.
The viper pit of school she end up into is fascinatingly sketched by N.K. Jemisin.
And finally imperial Syenite, who works as part of the order, who is subjected to a The Handmaid's Tale like treatment.

The book starts off with super filmic scenes, and is truly gripping to read. The world of The Fifth Season is slowly revealed, with tectonics in overdrive, people who can contain these powers, non-human observants coming from an egg and floating obelisks (Laputa Castle In The Sky like) that give a glimpse of an advance precursor civilization. There is slavery, an unified continent through nodes of tectonic manipulation, utility casts, comms that are short for communities who band together and prepare themselves for cataclysmic events called Fifth Seasons (also known as Death).
Exploitation and power, and the fragility of power only based on destruction. It is an incredible mix expertly written to keep you hooked and flipping the pages.

The effortless LGBTQ incorporation is also nicely done, although how they are in love/impressed after meeting someone during a week, and the island society section, was a bit too sudden for me.
Also this society to me seems to be an inverse of the slavery of orogenics (the earth tectonic controlling people who are widely discriminated against), I mean all the leaders have this power, nice if you are a “normal” person that you have new earth-bending overlords, almost X-Men Magneto style.

The end results is unpredictable and keeps on your feet, while also being beautifully parsimonious. Very well done! ...more

91 likes · Like · see review

Jan 08, 2016 Viv JM rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2016, author-female

The Fifth Season is a fascinating and intelligent fantasy novel, with exquisite world-building and such interesting characters. Highly recommended.

25 likes · Like · see review

Jan 12, 2018 Genia Lukin rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

This is a good book, really. My only problem with it are the - somewhat... I don't know, overly artsy or try-hard second person narrations. I really don't see why they were necessary or helpful, and they give the book the sort of feel one gets when a somewhat amateurish writer is trying too hard to show off how they're post-modern and want to involve the reader in the narrative.

Or choose your own adventure books. You know, either one.

I'm also not a fan of the tack the writer takes with the oppre ...more

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Feb 21, 2022 Petra rated it liked it

This kept me involved throughout. The story is deep, interesting, and dark. The world building was well done and the levels of society and tyranny kept the people separated and isolated, each in their own way.
This is the first of a trilogy and it leaves many unanswered questions and possible outcomes. I look forward to continuing this series to find out what happens.
Very well told and written. Keeps you guessing.

6 likes · Like · see review

Feb 02, 2022 Christopher rated it liked it

Shelves: 21st-century, fiction, american, fantasy, apocalypse, dystopia

I had a rocky start with this book, but by the end I was pretty hooked by the plot. I did not connect with the style of writing at all; it felt like Jemisin was trying to imitate Neil Gaiman via Margaret Atwood and it just didn't work. There's a mix of casual delivery and breaking the fourth wall that I just don't think fits with the pitch black tone of the story.

The worldbuilding is vague; I've read more than 400 pages and I still don't have a good mental picture of what the world looks like or I had a rocky start with this book, but by the end I was pretty hooked by the plot. I did not connect with the style of writing at all; it felt like Jemisin was trying to imitate Neil Gaiman via Margaret Atwood and it just didn't work. There's a mix of casual delivery and breaking the fourth wall that I just don't think fits with the pitch black tone of the story.

The worldbuilding is vague; I've read more than 400 pages and I still don't have a good mental picture of what the world looks like or how the average person would live. I think it's the same Earth that we live on, but in the far future. People ride horses (there doesn't seem to be any automated machines), but there are paved roads, tall buildings and some pretty sophisticated engineering. It's a strange mix of modern and archaic.

There are three main characters and three main plotlines: a young girl with magical powers is taken from her family to a school where she can tame her powers; a young woman with magical powers travels the world on a mission with a temperamental mentor; and a mother mourns the death of one child while searching for her other. There's very little characterization. The main characters have minimal personality except what their plotlines require. The little girl who is taken from her family is traumatized and scared; those are her main qualities. The mother is traumatized and desperate; those are her main qualities. There's not much dialogue in the book, so we don't even get a lot of distinction between characters because of the way they talk.

Despite all these complaints, by about halfway through I felt pretty excited by the plot. Arcane magic and mysteries abound. There are these floating translucent obelisks in the sky; what are they for?! There are Guardians hunting our magical characters. There are strange humanoid creatures called stone eaters who can travel through stone as if they're flying. There's a big twist about 2/3 in that I saw coming from a million miles away, but it was satisfying nonetheless, and it ties the whole book together.

This book reminds me a lot of the tv show LOST. This is the type of story that whether or not it's successful is going to depend a lot on if the creator can follow through and provide meaningful explanations for all the mysteries it's set up. I'm not sure if I'll finish the trilogy to find out. There are so many things about this book that frustrated me, that felt underdeveloped, yet I'm still intrigued enough that I don't know if I'll be able to keep myself from picking up the next book. ...more

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Jul 19, 2021 Irene rated it it was ok

I am not a fan of fantasy fiction, but read this because it was a book group pick. I am sure this deserved its awards, but it did not make me a convert. The dialogue between characters and with the reader had the feel of a young adult novel, but the sex scenes, including the threesomes, were not young adult material. This is part of a series, so the cliff-hanger was not a satisfying ending.

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 28, 2019 Nadine in California rated it really liked it

I started this book with trepidation - I wanted to jump on the Jemisin love train, but I DNF'ed The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms several years ago for being too YA-ish for me (fair or not). Happily, by page 2 I knew this book was going to be what I want but so rarely find in fantasy - a unique world and characters and plot with depth and complexity. And a story that can't be cos-played ;) ...more

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Feb 05, 2022 Rosana rated it liked it

Shelves: book-club, 2022, fantasy

3.5 stars

This book won me over slowly. I am not a big fantasy book reader and I probably started it with an overly critical eye. I listened to it on audio too, and the first few chapters felt overly poetic, but it however came at the cost of my understating of what was being explained – the world building necessary as a background for a fantasy story to develop. I also disliked the use of the second-person narrator in parts of the story. Second-person narrators make my teeth grind. But I must ha 3.5 stars

This book won me over slowly. I am not a big fantasy book reader and I probably started it with an overly critical eye. I listened to it on audio too, and the first few chapters felt overly poetic, but it however came at the cost of my understating of what was being explained – the world building necessary as a background for a fantasy story to develop. I also disliked the use of the second-person narrator in parts of the story. Second-person narrators make my teeth grind. But I must have gotten used to it at some point in the narrative, as it started to bother me less.

Maybe I started to be less judgmental of N.K.Jemisin’s writing when I felt she was more in control of it than I first perceived. The poetic language seemed to be her natural style, and the use of the second-person narrator less gimmick when (view spoiler). The whole narrative begins feeling more purposeful. Jemisin knew where she was going from the beginning. What makes my teeth grind much more than second-person narrators are authors the meander through a plot without really knowing what they are going to write in the next chapter.

However, what really won me was the vaguely but surely commentary on social and gender norms. The world Jemisin creates is divided by castes and a social structure that allows the more privileged to take control of the less privileged castes. This control is fueled by prejudice and racism. Although the racism in The Fifth Season is not one of colour – human types appear to be present in every caste – but a racism perceived on the ability some humans have to control geological phenomena. It is racism in its most primal layer, one built on fear of the other.

Then on gender and sexuality, Jemisin is able to present us with characters who are quite assured of their own sexuality, even when it is being exploited by the system. I think what surfaces here is that the author is not herself uncomfortable with the subject, which we instantly perceive from an author that treats it awkwardly. We have characters that are heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and in happy polyamorous relationships with it never constraining or overwhelming the plot.

In a last note, there is also a very subtle warning on environmental issues. Unfortunately, I didn’t mark the place in the narrative, and because I listened to it, it feels too difficult to find the exact reference, but somewhere there is the harm that past generations had caused to the planet, triggering the geological instability that others had to suffer for thousands of years. A warning to those that are paying attention, even if vague.

I think I have to read the rest of the series now.
...more

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Jan 26, 2022 Dawn rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: series-abandoned, audiobook, fantasy

I do not usually like to just say the story was boring, but I don't have any other comments. There is no specific item that I didn't like. Just that the whole story did not appeal to me, the characters were uninspiring, the world uninteresting. ...more

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Feb 23, 2022 Lori rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, roundtable, zy-text, rt-book-read, z-read-2022, series

Enjoyable first book in a series. It ends in a cliffhanger, but the cliff doesn't appear until the last few pages of the book.

Noteworthy for the varied sexualities of the characters without making this a major part of the plot. Interesting points about racism stuck in unobtrusively.

Book two is in my TBR pile.
3 stars - very good for a genre book ...more

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