The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) in /r/Fantasy Discussion Group

Mar 05, 2017 Olivia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

4.5 Stars, most likely. Though not far from a full 5 Stars. The Fifth Season is unlike anything I've read in a long time. A perfect blend of science fiction and fantasy with a fascinating world.

The prose is very pretty, the world building interesting and the characters enticing. It's been a while since I've read a book where I liked everything. All POV characters (three female protagonists), the setting, the story and the prose.

It took me a few pages to get into Jemisin's style, especially the c ...more

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Jun 24, 2025 Vicky N. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, ps-reading-challenge-2025, favorites-of-2025, rfantasy-bingo-2025

My mouth is still hanging open from shock after reading this book. I loved this so much. Genuinely one of the best, if not the best fantasy book I have ever read.
A must-read for speculative fiction fans.

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Apr 09, 2016 Pearl rated it it was amazing

What a perfect book! I took my time getting through this but couldn't put it down the further i got and had to re-read the last two chapters so that i could try to rationalise what i had been reading from the beginning. N.K Jemisin has proper skills *bows*.
10/10 would recommend this! Now let me go look for any theories about that ending all over the internet. ...more

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Feb 25, 2018 Naomi rated it really liked it

On reread: Wow there were some brutal details about this book that I entirely forgot about. I reread this because the rest of the series has been mocking me from my shelf for months and I finally got around to it. This book is just so good. The characters feel so real and the world is straight up terrifying. Read this book.

So, I now have a mission to read everything N.K. Jemisin has written, which might take a while because she has written a lot. And I am so glad she has. This was so unexpected ...more

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May 21, 2020 Lauren rated it really liked it

I wasn't sure I would like this book, dystopian really isn't my thing usually.
Then this book came along and I realised that dystopian can be good when you really like the characters and its not too heavily focused on the end of the world - starvation etc (maybe The Road has got a lot to answer for in my opinions).
In this (view spoiler) ...more

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Aug 01, 2017 David Martin rated it liked it

Shelves: sf

I decided to add this book to my reading list based on the fact it won a Hugo Award in 2016 and its sequel; The Obelisk Gate was ~~nominated~~ won for the same award in 2017.

The story is well written. The world and atmosphere were interesting.

Why am I giving a 3-star rating?

I never became fully invested in the characters. Overall the story was morose, and it didn't have a satisfying ending.

Did I enjoy the book enough to read the sequel? Maybe.
...more

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Jan 01, 2021 tobes rated it it was amazing

Shelves: comes-out-aug-2015

I’ve had this audiobook for like five years but could never get into the first chapter. I decided to pull the trigger a few days ago and tore through this while playing Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. It was great. Listening to the sequel now lol

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