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The Fifth Season

(The Broken Earth #1)

N.K. Jemisin (Goodreads Author)

4.30 · Rating details · 109,628 ratings · 13,431 reviews

Original cover edition here

THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS. AGAIN.

Three terrible things happen in a single day.

Essun, masquerading as an ordinary schoolteacher in a quiet small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Mighty Sanze, the empire whose innovations have been civilization's bedrock for a thousand ...more

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Paperback, 471 pages

Published September 2016 by Orbit (first published August 4th 2015)

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Mar 16, 2014 Cezara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Yes, 5 full stars for this one because it's everything I want in a fantasy book. I will explain.

I don't read fantasy and sci-fi because I like magic or space ships or laser swords or what have you. I read fantasy and sci-fi because I want to see something new, and there's no other genre that allows this much freedom of imagination, this much flexibility and bending of reality and this much room for "what ifs". The genres are ripe with tropes and cliches even so, and I'm at that point where it Yes, 5 full stars for this one because it's everything I want in a fantasy book. I will explain.

I don't read fantasy and sci-fi because I like magic or space ships or laser swords or what have you. I read fantasy and sci-fi because I want to see something new, and there's no other genre that allows this much freedom of imagination, this much flexibility and bending of reality and this much room for "what ifs". The genres are ripe with tropes and cliches even so, and I'm at that point where it pains me to have to read again through a story about the noble hearted what's-his-face who saves the land of medieval-Europe-plus-elves-and-dragons with the help of the wise mentor and the pretty princess. Show me something else, something truly weird, I say! And N. K. Jemisin delivered.

Let there be a world wracked by earthquakes and volcano eruptions, she says, restless and hostile. Let there be apocalypse-level events every hundred years or so. Let this world be inhabited by people who believe the Earth hates them, who value survival above all else, and have organized their society around making sure some of them will make it through the years of darkness, and famine, and poisonous air and water that follow such geologic disasters. Let there be among them those who have the power to control the earthquakes, to start and stop them at will, and let that society hate them, while doing their best to exploit them at the same time. Let there be another sentient species, strange creatures of stone whose motivations are unknown, who share this world with humans.

Then come the the details. The mysterious ruins of the many civilizations that came before this one, some considerably more advanced. Their artifacts endure to this day, their purpose unknown and maybe unknowable now that their makers have been dead for thousands of years. The harshness and ruthlessness of a society living on the brink of extinction, where value is based on usefulness and where, come Seasonal Law, those deemed useless are left to die in the wastelands. The purely utilitarian approach to building in a world where a balcony is unquestionable proof of foolishness or privilege, where decorations are a waste of time and resources since they'll be wiped out in a few years without fail. The surprisingly advanced science, focused - unsurprisingly - on geology, chemistry and physics. The hatred and exploitation of the orogenes, those who have power over the earth itself, by a society that both fears them and desperately needs them if it is to survive. The secrets and the lies and the rewriting of history and the suppression of lore by those who want to keep the orogenes willing slaves. The horrifying abuse, and the inescapable brainwashing, but the training and education too. A system meant to make them more powerful and more powerless at the same time so that it may better make use of them.

And then Jemisin pushes further. She goes so far out of the medieval Europe setting that she ends up on the Equator. She makes the other sentient race truly alien, as a different sentience should be, lest you end up with just stranger looking humans. She makes the humans different races, and *gasp* doesn't put the paler one in charge. Just as the characters span the gradients and combinations of human races, they span human sexuality too, from straight to gay with blurry boundaries all over the place. There's love and family and sex, but they're not the kind of relationships you're used to. Why should they be? This is not our world with some magic, mythical creatures, and sword fighting mixed in. This is something else. Something new.

And yet, as you read, you get the feeling that this could be our world with some magic and some mythical creatures mixed in. You get the feeling that it was this sort of world at some point, and then something maybe went wrong, and everything had to change, to adapt, and this is the inevitable result. The world is strange, but it's not strangeness for strangeness's sake. It all makes sense, everything fits together, and while you can see that some things could be different, you understand perfectly well why they're not. It's like a gnarled and twisted tree growing on a rocky windswept mountain top. It's not like other trees, but not because someone decided to take an ax to it and make it as different looking as possible. No, once the seed was planted, there simply was no other way it could grow.

I can't say more, especially about the characters and the story line, without spoilers, even though I feel I could rant about this book for days on end. Go read it. I can't begin to imagine the level of skill required to create a world so different, and then make it feel so real. N.K. Jemisin deserves your attention. ...more

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Nov 26, 2015 Rick Riordan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I picked this one up because I greatly enjoyed Jemisin's Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but this novel was even better. Jemisin blew me away with her world-building and beautiful writing. It's the tale of an alternate earth called the Stillness, which is plagued by constant seismic activity. This leads to frequent near-extinction events called "Fifth Seasons" that keep humans on their toes. The evidence of past civilizations litters the planet -- ruined cities, incomplete 'stonelore' handed down I picked this one up because I greatly enjoyed Jemisin's Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but this novel was even better. Jemisin blew me away with her world-building and beautiful writing. It's the tale of an alternate earth called the Stillness, which is plagued by constant seismic activity. This leads to frequent near-extinction events called "Fifth Seasons" that keep humans on their toes. The evidence of past civilizations litters the planet -- ruined cities, incomplete 'stonelore' handed down from earlier generations, and strange obelisks that float through the atmosphere like low-altitude satellites and serve no apparent purpose. The civilization that we meet in this book, the Sanze Empire, has survived for centuries by harnessing the power of orogenes -- people born with an innate ability to control their environment. The orogenes can stop earthquakes or start them. They can save cities, or draw power from living creatures and "ice" them. Their powers are terrifying yet essential, so the empire develops a caste of Guardians who have the power to neutralize the orogenes when necessary. The orogenes are held in contempt and called "roggas" by ordinary humans. Despite all their power, they cannot control their own lives. They are either hunted down and destroyed or sent to the Fulcrum to be trained and used by the empire. Imagine Hogwarts, if Hogwarts treated its students like chattel. The world Jemisin creates is as horrific as it is brilliant.

My advice is to give the book at least fifty pages before passing judgment, because it takes a while to understand what is going on. There is a lot of terminology to get used to, and the book is told in three intertwining narratives that at first don't seem to match up, but once you get into the world and into the story, it is a fantastically rewarding read. I can't say much about the plot without giving away some of the wonderful surprises, but if you want to read about a truly dystopian world that holds a mirror to the darkest of human motivations, this novel will haunt you long after you finish it. ...more

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Sep 28, 2018 Emily (Books with Emily Fox) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

O.M.G.

Post-apocalyptic mixed with Fantasy? My two favorite genre? Hell yes! This was such a good read!

The writing does take some time to get used to (one section the narration is told at the second person for example!) but I didn't find it slow and found myself immersed into it very quickly but more time was clearly put into it than the average Fantasy so it might be why it can take a bit more time to get used to it!

Totally recommend it and I'm planning on reading the whole trilogy pretty much ...more

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Jun 25, 2017 Melanie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbtqiap, own-voices, buddy-reads, sci-fi, dystopian, fantasy, read-in-2017, favorites

This book is beautiful, this book is smart, this book is oh so heartbreaking, and this book is a masterpiece. This is one of those books that make you feel absolutely guilty for giving out five stars to other books. This book is unlike anything I've ever read, but it felt so seamlessly woven. This book mirrors the society we live in today and makes you think about all those uncomfortable topics you'd rather ignore and pretend do not exist. This book has the best representation I've ever read in ...more

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Feb 11, 2018 Elise (TheBookishActress) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Elise by: Melanie

Shelves: 5-star, that-disability-representation, z-read-in-2018, favorite-characters, genre-experiments, that-lgbtq-rep-tho, favorite-friendships, z-faves-of-2018, elise-recs-list, gay-genre-fiction

—for all those who have to fight for the respect others are given without question.

I'm re-reviewing this because I accidentally used up a full page of my last essay ranting about it and now I really desperately want to reread. (It's September 8th, why are all of my books still in California.)

The fact that this series won the Hugo award three years running should very quickly establish its degree of quality but I'm going to quickly point out the things that Wowed Me anyway. The writing of ...more

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Jul 07, 2017 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-all, paperback, unhauled

Deleted my old 4 star review. I didn’t like it so much this time. Not rereading the rest. Unhauling.
The end!

Mel ...more

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Aug 09, 2017 Petrik rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Mix of high fantasy & Sci fi fans

Shelves: owned-physical-books

4.5/5 Stars

I will not start my review for this book with some praises. Don’t get me wrong, this is an amazing book (oh shit I just did), but I’d like to start this review instead by saying patience is virtue is apt here.

“For all those that have to fight for the respect that everyone else is given without question.”

This book and my review will be dedicated to all of you.

The Fifth Season, the first book in the Broken Earth trilogy is, in my opinion, a book that will truly require some patience ...more

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Aug 16, 2018 Chaima ✨ شيماء rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2018, fiction, own-voices, favorites, lgbtqia-rep, boys-love-boys, poc-rep

I can literally use the word “fuck” to display every emotion I have about this book. Like, I swear if I were a thousand years old and had already seen everything there is to see seven times over, the plot twists in this book would still have been about the last goddamn thing I’d have ever expected.

Absolutely brilliant.

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Aug 31, 2015 Bradley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: transhumanism, reality-bending, fanboy-goes-squee, dystopia-yes-pls, top-one-hundred, fantasy, sci-fi, worldbuilding-sf, 2016-shelf

Edit, 10:52 pm, tonight. :) N.K. Jemisin is the WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) Was there any doubt?

Old Review (from a few hours ago):

Re-Read 8/20/16, the day the Hugo Awards Ceremony is to take place for the novel I voted for. :) Coincidentally, I'll be reading the sequel tomorrow. :)

So was it as good as I remember? Actually, better. But that's mostly because I'm in on the trick and the secret of the MC is is laid bare and the whole novel then becomes a character exploration for me as ...more

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Mar 29, 2017 Lyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Really good.

N. K. Jemison’s 2016 Hugo Award winner’s world building is as good as Frank Herbert or Ursula LeGuin and with magic rules as well thought out as Brandon Sanderson and with an intimate talent for complex characterization as good as Octavia Butler.

All comparisons aside, Jemisin’s work is wildly original and she has created a far future fantasy that provokes thought and entertains. Evoking Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth, this is far, far in the future (if it is even Earth) where some ...more

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Sep 14, 2019 jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

this book started off a bit rocky and slow, but i am so relieved that it eventually grew on me. i didnt love it as much as i wanted to (mainly because i misread the synopsis, so this was completely different than i thought it would be) but there is still much that i enjoyed about it.

- this story blends both sci-fi AND fantasy. i know many books are lumped into the SFF genre, but this is the first story where both elements are present and coexist seamlessly.

- the representation in this is ...more

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Aug 21, 2016 Twerking To Beethoven rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: load-of-wank

New updated review.

I'm told N.K. Jemisin won YET another ((probably) deserved) Hugo Award this year. Her third in a row.

As some of yaz are probably well aware of, I'm not fond of her writing style nor of her ~~bullshit~~ books. What can I do? I just don't like her stuff. Anyways, where was I? Oh yes, when I tried to read the first installment of "The Broken Earth", I just failed to finish it and ended up throwing the bastard on the barbie along with some shrimps and prawns... ruining both the ...more

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Feb 03, 2016 Nnedi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A beautiful haunting tale told in the way that I love, with little regard for the linear illusion of time. And the voices, oh the three voices.

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Aug 19, 2015 Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: unexpected-but-awesome, my-kindle-challenges-me, scifi, 2016-reads, fantasy, reread

4.5 stars. What you know for sure is that you're not a child. You don't want to know what would happen if you were (this world is nasty). But you walk. Restlessly, you walk. At this point you're not sure it means something. You go on, though, because you're intrigued. Orogene, guardian, pirate, commless, you're part of the humanity anyway (they don't think you are). You're no stranger to rules (death awaits if you are) yet life destroys them at times (this is the way the world ends, again). ...more

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Feb 27, 2017 ✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2018, my-friends-corrupted-my-soul, cure-for-insomnia, diversity-is-slightly-scrumptious, let-s-bail-snail, br-2018, machalo-tbr-cleaning-challenge-2018, i-don-t-give-a-fishing-damn, dnf-graveyard

DNF at 38%. Please someone give me a medal.

The gif is strong is this one. Consider your little barnacled selves warned.

This was such a delightful read.

Just kidding. Bloody stinking fish, this was painful as shrimp.

99,99999% of you People of Despicable Book Taste (PoDBT) thought this was deliriously mind-blowing and scrumptiously original and fantabuliciously well written and all that crap, which can mean only one thing: ~~you~~ I read the book terribly wrong. Strange. That has rarely ever ...more

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Aug 30, 2019 Merphy Napier rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, adult, five-stars

Full video review here https://youtu.be/04wHHH-IBdQ

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Aug 15, 2015 Althea Ann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

OK, I'm going to have to shell out for my WorldCon membership just so I can nominate this book for a Hugo.
____

I recently noticed that Nora Jemisin's Goodreads profile lists her "influences" as Tanith Lee & Ursula K. Le Guin. I'm not sure if she put that in there or someone else did - but those just happen to be two of my most favorite authors; and yes, I can see the 'influence' on this book.

Previously, I've only read Jemisin's Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - her first book. It was good enough ...more

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Mar 21, 2014 Mogsy (MMOGC) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: review-copy, arcs-and-galleys, fantasy

4.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/07/20/b...

This book had the distinction of being on both my most anticipated SFF lists for 2014 and 2015, due to the publisher’s decision to push its release date back a year in order to give N.K. Jemisin more time to work on the sequels. So it was with no small amount of excitement when an advance copy finally made it into my hands. Proof that it was really happening.

And oh boy, was it TOTALLY worth the wait.

Initially though, my 4.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/07/20/b...

This book had the distinction of being on both my most anticipated SFF lists for 2014 and 2015, due to the publisher’s decision to push its release date back a year in order to give N.K. Jemisin more time to work on the sequels. So it was with no small amount of excitement when an advance copy finally made it into my hands. Proof that it was really happening.

And oh boy, was it TOTALLY worth the wait.

Initially though, my feelings were mixed after the first few chapters. There was that cryptic prologue, with its smattering of information about the world (then right away saying that none of these places or people I just read about actually matter – wait, what?) as well as the curious narrative style, including one character whose chapters were written entirely in the second person. That choice eventually makes sense, by the way, but at first I really wasn’t sure what to make of the book.

But then gradually, everything started to come together. I watched as connections were made, questions were answered, and blank spaces were filled in. The final result was this unique and wholly imaginative novel that delighting me to no end. The world-building elements which so confounded me at the beginning of the book eventually became clear, and I came to recognize the sheer ingenuity behind it.

The Fifth Season takes place on a continent known as The Stillness, ironically named given the instability of its geology and tectonics. The world would have fallen to pieces many times over if not for the Orogenes, a group of people with the powers to manipulate earth energies and shape the land. In reality though, The Stillness has actually gone through multiple apocalyptic events called “Seasons”, each one characterized by its specific end-of-the-world effects. It’s the norm for this world, but Orogenes do what they can to make it better, preventing many earthquakes or volcanic eruptions by catching anomalies in time before they can cause widespread destruction.

Yet for all that they do for humanity, Orogenes are feared, shunned and subjected to hostility and violent treatment. Their powers can be as unstable and catastrophic as the disasters they try to prevent, especially if the individual cannot learn control. Orogeny is also unpredictable. There’s a genetic predisposition for it, though theoretically anyone can be born an Orogene, so children discovered with the trait are immediately taken away for harsh and rigid training. However, there are also the unfortunate ones that don’t even make it that far before they’re murdered by their scared or panicky neighbors – or even by their own parents.

Essun experienced this in the worst way possible, coming home one day to find the lifeless body of her young son, beaten to death by her husband. An Orogene in hiding, Essun realizes with grief and horror what must have caused the father to kill the boy. Now Essun fears for the life of her daughter whom her husband has kidnapped, and she is determined to go after them. This is her story, a heartbreaking and beautifully written narrative of a woman’s journey taken upon for love and revenge. Jemisin may have created a world here full of mind-blowingly fantastical elements, but she hasn’t left us wanting in the character department either, giving us an emotionally raw, very human tale.

I have to say the characters are truly wonderful. The Fifth Season follows three perspectives: Essun, a rogue Orogene whose only quest now is to get her daughter back; little Damaya, taken away by an Orogene handler called a Guardian to Yumenes where she will be trained to control her powers; and Syenite, a young woman paired with a more experienced mentor in order to learn from him and breed with him, ensuring that the next generation will have talented Orogenes to keep The Stillness safe. All three threads are so engaging and poignantly detailed, each one giving the reader a distinct reason to care about these strong yet conflicted characters. It was also wonderful to see the bigger picture they formed in the end.

Finally, I have a confession to make. While this is my first Jemisin novel, years ago I actually started to read A Hundred Thousand Kingdoms around the time it came out, but for whatever reason I put it down and didn’t get a chance to pick it up again. I have every intention of going back to the book one of these days, but for obvious reasons I didn’t count it as being “read”. I did, however, feel like I got enough to get a feel for her writing, and now reading The Fifth Season in 2015, I can see how far her skill has come since her debut. With such rich world-building, relatable characters and compelling storytelling, I just knew I had to see all that through to the end, and the conclusion was a real surprise, both marvelous and disquieting.

I’m so glad I read this. The Fifth Season is the first novel of The Broken Earth trilogy, and it’s a strong introduction to a brand new world featuring some very fascinating, very special characters. Highly recommended. It’s definitely not going to be an easy wait for the next book. ...more

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Jan 31, 2018 J.L. Sutton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

From its ominous opening, "This is the way the world ends. Again", N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season offers an original and amazingly immersive experience! Jemisin's world-building exists side by side with a world teetering on the brink of destruction. But this has happened before. Natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes have wreaked havoc on the Stillness, the super continent and only land mass of this world. Previous generations/civilizations have been unable to avoid the ...more

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Jul 14, 2017 Robin (Bridge Four) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-reads, bb-b-2017, awesome-audio, fantastic-fantasy, 4-5-stars, buddy-read, chick-i-want-to-hang-out-with

Sale Alert: Amazon Daily Deal 19Jan18 $2.99

4.5 Dystopianesk Fantasy Stars

“When we say “the world has ended,” it’s usually a lie, because the planet is just fine. But this is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. For the last time.”

This was pretty different. It there is such a thing as dystopian fantasy then this is that. Not only are you on a world where there are the regular humans and lands and society. But there are also people whose ...more

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Jan 03, 2020 Hamad rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paperbacks, fantasy, book-club, adult-books, 2020-reads, rtc

This is going to be my new book club's first pick.
Baby Yoda approves so I did not have much say in it!!!

description

Also 70 readers said they are going to pick it up! That's crazy awesome!!! Thank you all so much :D

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Dec 29, 2015 Tatiana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Tatiana by: Catie

Shelves: 2016, hugo, nebula, fantasy, locus

Updated 8/23/16 Even better second time around. I think it deserves a bump up to 5 stars.

It took me a few chapters to get into the story, but once I did, it was a smooth, fun ride. Awesome mythology. The polyamory scenario wasn't bad either.

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Sep 14, 2017 Bibi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

So clever.

I've been on a reading binge of mostly sci-fi/fantasy fusion and let me tell you, this book will rock your world.

Hats off to Ms Jemisin. In all honesty I can't fathom how the idea and execution for this series could have originated from someone's brain.

A must read for lovers of sci-fi fantasy!

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Dec 07, 2017 Riley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, lgbtq-fantasy

This is by far the best book I've read all year. I don't even have words right now

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Apr 08, 2019 Markus rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: put-some-brakes-on-the-hype-train, fantasy

"Every time the earth moves, you will hear its call."

The Fifth Season is another interesting experiment by N. K. Jemisin. And while I would argue that it has been tremendously overrated, it is still overall a pretty good book with a lot of qualities. It reads more like an unpolished, interesting debut novel than an award-winning piece by an experienced author, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Let’s start with the criticism, why don’t we? (That is my attempt at paraphrasing the book’s ...more

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Jun 04, 2018 ✨ jamieson ✨ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: polyam-relationship, lgbtqiap, series, completed-series, 2018-reads, adult, fantasy

this book is spectacular. smart, clever, well crafted, well timed, full of great characters and great scenes. I love fantasy but it lets me down a lot. Sometimes I feel it's the same plot rehashed, over and over. The Fifth Season is unlike anything else I have ever read. No wonder it's so popular, and N.K Jemisin won not one, not two, but THREE Hugo awards for this trilogy.

But this is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. For the last time.”

...more

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Jul 30, 2017 Scott Hitchcock rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars, dystopian, urban-fantasy

I picked this book up forever ago on a Kindle daily deal for $1.99. I started it a month or so later. About 5 pages in I thought wow I'm really not feeling this I'll come back to it later. A few months pass and I try again, 5 pages and same result. After a few months I setup a group read to get myself to commit to more than 5 pages. So I start the book and after chapter one I'm thinking Holy Crap how is this getting such a great rating?

I then read chapter two and it was so awesome. Chapter two I picked this book up forever ago on a Kindle daily deal for $1.99. I started it a month or so later. About 5 pages in I thought wow I'm really not feeling this I'll come back to it later. A few months pass and I try again, 5 pages and same result. After a few months I setup a group read to get myself to commit to more than 5 pages. So I start the book and after chapter one I'm thinking Holy Crap how is this getting such a great rating?

I then read chapter two and it was so awesome. Chapter two was a different character perspective.

I started chapter three and it's back to the character from chapter one and I realize why I hated chapter one so much. It's written from the second person present tense. So the writing would be something like "you enter the room and you see in the corner....". Trying to put you in the character's body.

I thought to myself I'm not going to make it an entire book with that perspective being half of it. It's just too distracting. Then I read the rest of the chapter and it clicks. I totally get why the author made the choice she did. That is a chapter where you have to be soulless not to bleed from the perspective of this character. Such harsh grief that it chokes the air.

You have to give this book those three chapters to make your decision and it is a bold one by the author. Not many would take a chance in the fantasy genre with a move like this. It was brilliant and compelling. At first it read like I was getting directions, you take a left and then you pull into the parking lot, but once I got over it I can only say it was brilliant.

The world itself and the magic system are so unique and bold as well. Most authors stop at the action of magic. This was so well detailed in a psychological, physical and ethereal sense that you felt it.

The author also took bold chances with sexuality and conventional relationships and love. There was a quasi love triangle, and in general I'm so bored of that angle, that redefined the scope. Again brilliant.

I'm really looking forward to reading the next two books. This has a shot at a top ten or even top five series for me, ever. ...more

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May 01, 2016 Philip rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, hugo-2016, top-5-2015, dying-earth, hugo, 2015-releases

4.5ish stars.

Wow. This book was unlike anything I've read in a long time. I know that distinction gets thrown out a lot but not by me. I love the fantasy genre but not because every book I read within it is innovative and unique. There's really a lot of the same thing, which I'm fine with because I like most of the tried-and-true tropes and reliable modus operandi. But this. I don't even know how to classify it. It's not so much fantasy as it is... whatever it is. But I like it.

I took a few 4.5ish stars.

Wow. This book was unlike anything I've read in a long time. I know that distinction gets thrown out a lot but not by me. I love the fantasy genre but not because every book I read within it is innovative and unique. There's really a lot of the same thing, which I'm fine with because I like most of the tried-and-true tropes and reliable modus operandi. But this. I don't even know how to classify it. It's not so much fantasy as it is... whatever it is. But I like it.

I took a few pages for me to be okay with Jemisin's writing style because I'm not used to book-language sounding so much like speaking-language. I eventually came to find that it made the world and the characters that much more relatable. On top of that, I don't think I've ever read a book written (at least partially) in second person present. It very likely could have NOT worked, but it DID work. And the convergence at the end was very satisfying. Each of the POVs was equally as enjoyable to read. We've all read books with multiple POVs and we groan whenever it's time again for THAT PERSON's perspective. This was not like that. Each of the characters (view spoiler) were fascinating and enjoyable to spend time with.

It also took (more than) a few pages for me to get a real sense of this world. On the surface (haha) there seemed to be a lot more in common with the-world-as-I-know-it than with many fantasy worlds but it took a while to figure out how much in common there really was. I guess just in terms of technology, culture, flora/fauna, etc. I wanted to find some sort of frame of reference. I'm still not entirely certain I found that frame of reference but there was enough explanation to satisfy me and I guess (view spoiler)

As far as the magic system, can it even really be classified as such? The way Jemisin developed and executed it, orogeny and all the rest of it was simple truth. Despite being so out there, it was actually really easy to just accept it. It's not so much fantasy and magic as much as it could be just another part of our Earth that I haven't had the chance to understand and experience yet.

I'm surprised, considering this is the first in a trilogy and ends on a can't-wait-to-read-the-next-one cliffhanger how full and complete it feels. If this doesn't overtake my previous #1 vote for the Hugo, it will be a close second.

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Apr 08, 2018 Ashley Nuckles rated it really liked it · review of another edition

School book! Honestly almost close to a 4.5 for me! I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would, and I’m even considering picking up the next one....hmmm ...more

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Dec 25, 2019 Always Pouting rated it really liked it · review of another edition

So I started reading this book in the evening before bed but I got really into and I just stayed up reading it and then I bought the other two and just spent the next day finishing them. I really enjoyed this but I think it might have blurred together with the other two and I'll try not to talk to much about the details in case I forget what happened when. I don't know how I felt about the second person point of view parts of the book, that felt less strong to me than the rest of the book. Also ...more

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