The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth Trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin (2015)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I must begin this review by saying— what an outstanding read. Without embellishment, this might be the best book I've read this year. In layman's terms, I've been describing it to people as 'persecuted earth-benders take on the multi-cataclysmic end of the world', but honestly, that description is significantly lacking for something so special.

Let's start with the obvious accolade: N.K. Jemisin is the first and only author to win the Hugo Award for best sci-fi three consecutive years in a row. Those three books make up her Broken Earth Trilogy: The Fifth Season (2015), The Obelisk Gate (2016), and The Stone Sky (2017). Given that the Hugo Award was initiated in 1953, this is a pretty incredible feat of writing. It's also worth noting that white men have historically dominated the sci-fi genre. As a Black woman, N.K. Jemisin has discussed how she wanted to break through that barrier and pave the way for others to follow. Given what she accomplished with this series, I'd say she knocked that goal out of the park.

I will tell you this trilogy is rightly celebrated for a multitude of reasons. Let's start with the world-building- it was subtle, it was enthralling, it was a masterclass. Jemisin peels back the layers of her world and magic system slowly, introducing you to it as one would a new country; you learn a little at a time until you're completely immersed. The characters were rich and flawed and complicated in the most humanizing way. Her background in psychology is evident in their psyches throughout. Finally, this is a perfect split between sci-fi and fantasy, in my opinion, and it walks that line beautifully. Everything to love about both genres is here. Not to mention Jemisin tackles heavy-hitting, real-world themes throughout to include prejudice, persecution, oppression, identity, freedom, power and control, the fallacy of history, and hope.

This book is not for the faint of heart—it's dark and gritty at times. It also doesn't shy away from the horrors of the human race trying to survive multiple apocalypses...or just the horrors of the human race in general. It's a serious book, but the sarcastic tone of the narrator often adds a perfect amount of levity that doesn't make it feel too heavy. I never felt dragged down reading; in fact, I found myself deeply invested in the characters and their fight.

Given its multitudinous awards and my glowing review, I'm sure it goes without saying that I highly recommend this whole series. The ending scene of the third book was by far the most epic conclusion I've read in a long time. With all that being said, read on for further analysis with spoilers!

[SPOILERS BELOW THE PHOTO!]

[WARNING! MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW]

Narrator, Tone, and POV:

Talk about a killer introduction. In two sentences, Jemisin does quite a bit: she's set the stage for her entire trilogy, introduced the immediate, long-looming problem, and presented the reader with a unique, sarcastic tone to consider. It's a juxtaposition, really— the tragic catastrophe of the apocalypse and the unexpected, cavalier snark that jars the reader into wondering if there are even worse things these characters will encounter. (There are.) But after throwing flowery introductions to the wind, Jemisin then does something even more outlandish: she writes in second-person-present tense- the darkest, most forbidden art of any author. There's a reason you rarely ever see anything written in second person; it's notoriously difficult to pull off successfully. But Jemisin does it effortlessly. You're pulled into the story immediately, partly because of this mythical second-person narration, and partly because Jemisin commands you to:

This unique POV choice creates a sense of immediacy: your son is dead, and the world is ending. So, now what?

This is where we begin The Fifth Season, kneeling in front of Essun's (our) son's dead body. And his father killed him for what he is. For what she is too- an orogene, someone who possesses the dangerous ability to move mountains (or really, any other form of rock) with their mind. The use of second person here is deliberate; Essun seems to be disassociating. Her grief is so powerful, it's easier to remove the "I" from her situation, and instead refer to herself as "you", watching her own actions from a faraway, safer mental place. We (much) later find out Hoa is telling her the story of her life, but for now, the second person really works for her emotional state too. Essun finds her young son dead, realizes her husband killed him and ran away with their daughter, and sets out on a quest to kill him and save her. Despite the fresh launch of the latest apocalypse.

Rest assured, the entire novel isn't written in second person. We follow three characters, two of which are written in the usual third-person omniscient, on their converging stories of Damaya the child, Syenite the young woman, and Essun the middle-aged mother who (spoiler!) are all the same person. This was a fantastic twist I didn't see coming. There were hints that Damaya becomes Syenite, but I didn't see Essun coming until the latter half of the book.

Let's circle back to the tone. I've never see such a fantastically sarcastic narrator in all my years of reading books. This almost-comic element adds such levity to a somber plot line and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It also adds so much characterization to Essun and Syenite. We really get to see not only a colorful facet of their personality, but also their coping mechanism for the transitory, dangerously tragic world they live in.

Themes:

Oppression and Prejudice:

N.K. Jemisin has said in interviews that she really wanted to explore and highlight the wrongs of human oppression and prejudice that occurs against individuals simply for who they are. In this world, Orogenes are people with an in-born ability to mentally manipulate kinetic energy to move anything from a pebble to tectonic plates, skill-level dependent. They are also deemed an existential threat, killed on sight when discovered, and called derogatory terms like "roggas" in a societal effort to dehumanize them. In fact, their written-in-stone history texts categorize these people as "inhuman". What's truly telling, is the subtle, systematic dehumanization that the characters themselves internalize. They are institutionalized to believe that they are less-than, and we see them automatically think of themselves as such on numerous occasions. I believe Jemisin is highlighting the internal pain so many people face when society constructs a hateful diatribe against individuals simply for how they are born. In this world, people's characteristics and race don't relate specifically to any one group of people in the real world so we're able to see the effects of this oppression even more clearly with our unconscious biases stripped away. Her example within this book is a powerful one, one we should all take incredibly seriously if we hope to build a better world.

Power and Control:

Orogenes are a powerful group of people- some with the ability to end the world, all with the deadly power to syphon the kinetic energy from living beings. Despite their immense abilities, this society has created the Fulcrum, an institution designed to impose complete control over orogenes under the guise of 'structure.' The result is enslavement in various horrifying degrees depending on the individual's level of control over their own orogeny. The Fulcrum's system relies on a paradox— they teach mastery and autonomy over one's orogeny but demand to retain control over the individual under the constant threat of mortal peril. Jemisin explores power over a society, power over one's own life, and power over others through these paradoxes to demonstrate how control is often the true ultimate form of power.

Knowledge and History:

The old adage "history is written by the victors" is questioned throughout the book as well. True knowledge is often hidden from common knowledge, history is written in stone to give the illusion of perpetuity, and the structures of forgotten societies are disregarded as space junk with no purpose. Yet, there are little mentions here and there that suggest we should be paying attention to what's not discussed. And that maybe history isn't as complete as everyone thinks. I think Jemisin is exploring the fallacy of a history with one point of view, that no one questions, and one that is accepted as fact without much supporting evidence.

Freedom and Hope:

There's another juxtaposition between Alabaster and Syenite's worldviews. Alabaster is the revolutionist; he wants to tear down the old world order and build something better. Syenite believes this is really a futile effort and, often comically, doesn't see the point of his ramblings. They don't understand each other because their perspectives on freedom and hope clash. Alabaster was completely content to build a life on an isolated island, his definition of freedom satisfied. Syenite, however, is often the pessimist, resolved to believe that as long as the fulcrum and Guardians exists, she will never be free. Taking it to the extreme, when the Guardians come for her child, she quietly suffocates him rather than let him be taken into the cloaked form of slavery that would await him at the Fulcrum. This idea echoes back to Toni Morrison's Beloved where a woman kills her infant than let her be taken back into slavery. Jemisin seems to be highlighting how one's sense of freedom is a matter of what reality they choose to accept.

Worldbuilding and Magic System:

The worldbuilding is incredible in these books. Something that will immediately turn me off to a fantasy/sci-fi is unabashed info-dumping. There's nothing worse than diving into a new book and getting overloaded in the first few chapters with so much superfluous worldbuilding information you feel there's nothing left to discover. Jemisin does the opposite: she leaves little tidbits and breadcrumbs of information that leave you hungry for more. You infer while reading that this is intentional and you're placated by the narrator's subtle promises of more to be revealed in time. Overall, the worldbuilding is wonderful- you're given enough to follow along, but not enough to see the whole picture right away. It kept me interested, engaged, and wondering about the possibilities.

The magic system is rich, original, and truly unique. How does one describe the act of pulling kinetic energy from the earth to shift rock below the sea floor? How would you explain how to quell seismic activity by reading its energy waves? The magic system is highly conceptual but Jemisin crafts it in a way that makes so much sense. She expertly built both endless possibilities and costly consequences into the art of Orogeny which I would say qualifies it as an excellent magic system.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I think there's a lot to love about this book. It's award winning, poignant, and highly entertaining. I will be finishing the rest of the trilogy and likely her other books as well. Her writing is a breath of fresh air and her worldbuilding is masterful. Truly, a 10/10 read that enriched my life.

*An addition after finishing the series*

Overall the series is 100% worth your time. I loved living in this world and observing the slow gathering of forces that build to the climax of the third book. The first book is still my favorite after reading them all. The second felt like a bit of a bridge to get us to the third book but there was still a ton of necessary development that had to happen. The third book is much better, we learn a lot more of the lore and history of this world with flashbacks to Hoa's time and memories of characters.

The last thing I should mention is the ending. It truly was this incredibly epic showdown between Essun and Nassun, two of the strongest orogenes on opposite sides of an ancient war, both locked in a battle of wills for the end of the world. You completely understand the position of each and how they got there. And you completely understand why Essun finally surrenders, allowing her daughter to choose the fate of the world. Incredibly, Nassun realizes she was wrong and makes the right call (if you aren't a nihilist) to finally complete her mother's goal of saving the world in beautiful symmetry. I didn't fully expect this series to have a happy ending but it really did end well. It ended on hope. And I think that's really where Jemisin wanted us to linger when it's all said and done.