The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1)

English language

Published Nov. 7, 2015

ISBN:
978-0-316-22929-6
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4 stars (45 reviews)

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 and a missing daughter.

IT STARTS WITH BETRAYAL and long-dormant wounds rising up to fester.

This is the Stillness, a land familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.

This description comes from the publisher.

12 editions

reviewed The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #1)

Slightly disappointing Hugo Winner

No rating

Warning: Extremely Vague Spoilers

It’s clear to see why The Fifth Season won a Hugo award and became immensely popular. Jemisin is an amazing world-builder and extremely good at plotting. She knows exactly at what pace to reveal the mysteries of her world to make her readers desperate to find out what happens next. The culture and history of her world are shaped by the titular “fifth seasons” years-long periods of environmental disasters, which is a great concept, and her orogenes are a really cool half-magic, half-science twist on typical elemental magics. She also manages to do something that was once thought impossible: create fantasy-cursing that sounds both thematic and natural.

Jemisin wants to do more than just write an exciting book though, she has a message, a two-fold one at that. She’s clearly both inspired by climate disasters in our world, as well as (racial) oppression. I say racial, …

reviewed The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #1)

Cool page turner

5 stars

I came upon a list of queer books and thought I'd give a try to the Fifth season. I haven't Heroic fantasy for more than a decad (apart from a book by Damasio). The book is good : well written, the way the narration is built is brilliant. In terms of representations it is very good as well, compared from what I read in the past. I enjoyed the female characters and the fact that heterosexuality or being cis isn't the norm. Yet the book is definitely speciesist : eating other animals or exploiting them is not questionned. A total page turner. I read it in four sittings, which means I spent a lot of time reading in bed haha. Personnally, I'm both grateful for this page turning effect and uneasy. For me it's totally addictive, I have no motivation to do anything else than reading what comes next. This …

reviewed Zerrissene Erde by N. K. Jemisin (Die große Stille)

Dystopischer Fantasy-Epos

5 stars

Die Welt ist zu einem einzigen Superkontinent - die Stille - zusammengefallen. Tektonische Spannungen sorgen kontinuierlich für Erdbeben oder Vulkanausbrüche. Besonders heftige Ausbrüche können eine Fünftzeit auslösen - eine mehrjährige Periode aus Asche- und Schwefelregen mit wenig Sonnenlicht und geringen Überlebenschancen für die Bewohner:innen des Kontinents. In dieser Zeit zerfallen Reiche, Gemeinschaften ("Gems)" kämpfen um ihr Überleben und ganze Zivilisationen gehen unter. Allerdings ist die Menschheit der Wut von "Vater Erde" nicht völlig machtlos ausgliefert. Einige Menschen können mittels der Gabe der Orogenie durch Beeinflussung von Wärme und Bewegungsenergie sogar Erdbeben aufhalten und Vulkane abkühlen. Aufgrund Ihrer potentiellen Macht werden die Orogenen gejagt und ermordert. Im günstigsten Fall entdeckt ein:e Wächter:in ein orogen begabtes Kind und nimmt es zur Ausbildung mit ins Fulcrum - dort werden die Orogenen zur bedingungslosen Unterwerfung unter die Wächter erzogen.

Auf verschiedenen Zeitebenen wird die Geschichte der Orogenen Essun erzählt, die als Kind von einem …

reviewed The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #1)

Review of 'The Fifth Season' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Took me a bit to get into it, and the changing of character names over time confused me a bit, but once I got past those two issues, it was a really fun read. Looking forward to the next two books to see what happens on Earth in a possible distant future where earth magic is common and nothing is stable.

reviewed The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #1)

Review of 'The Fifth Season' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I can see why this won a Hugo.

The word that kept coming to mind while reading this was "dense". There is so much going on here, the book really does reward paying close attention -- and this is very easy to do given the strength of the writing, the strength of the characterisations and the sheer originality of the story.

NK Jemsin takes some familiar fantasy tropes (far future, dying Earth) and twists them into something utterly unique.

Now I must rush out and get The Obelisk Gate.

reviewed The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #1)

Review of 'The Fifth Season' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

This was an excellent read. Hard to put down, with a very interesting world and even a few unexpected character connections. Skillfully sewn together subplots that give the reader some very satisfying moments when they converge. Even though it features environmental disaster, it is not an excuse to be trite and preachy, as I half dreaded it might have been. This is when I am happy to find a book after the sequels have already been published! Definitely reading more of this author!

reviewed The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #1)

Review of 'The Fifth Season' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

It took me two tries to get into this book, because the first chapter wasn't originally captivating. However, once I got to the second chapter, I could barely put it down. (And the first chapter is needed for world building).
What a world! This is just such a beautiful, deep, powerful book. It builds up slowly and then just comes tumbling over you. Really worth reading.

reviewed The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #1)

Review of 'The Fifth Season' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Wow, what a great read! There's a reason this book won a Hugo, it's sequel also won a Hugo, and the 3rd of the trilogy is nominated.

Without spoilers, this book tells the story of three specially talented women on an alternate Earth. This Earth (sarcastically called the Stillness) is ravaged by earthquakes, volcanoes, and other forms of seismic activity, and these women have the mutant power to either quell or enhance that activity at will. This power, however, marks them as outcasts from society, and it is this that draws them (and others like them) together. The relationship between the three women is unique, and the nature of that relationship is revealed masterfully. The author wraps up the plot with a tidy bow, connecting the opening chapter to the last with skill, while still leaving a cliffhanger and plenty of meat for a great next installment.

Stylistically, I compare …

reviewed The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #1)

Review of 'The Fifth Season' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is an amazing Science Fiction series set in a far distant future. A unique thing about this book is that one Point of View character is all in the second person. This is one of the most pedestrian things I can say about this amazing and unusual book. I recommend this book to anyone who can stomach the adult themes of A Game of Thrones and loves to visit new world with characters you will care about.