The Fifth Season

Description

“The Fifth Season” is the first novel of The Broken Earth trilogy, written by N.K. Jemisin, and has long been a highly touted 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novel winner. Here is a brief summary:
This epic tale takes place on a vast world called the Stillness, which is nothing more than a single supercontinent permanently plagued by intense seismic activity. The planet faces apocalyptic events that result in disasters like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other catastrophes that destroy civilization. These events have been labeled “seasons.”

The story consists of three interwoven plotlines of women who possess the power over seismic activity called “orogeny.” These orogenes are feared and exploited by society.

In one of the world’s parts described as cataclysmic, three women carry individual journeys. There is Essun, a woman in her middle age, searching to find her daughter after her husband brutally murders her son and goes missing in the middle of nowhere. Another one is Damaya, a young girl, discovered to have orogenic abilities; she is brought to the Fulcrum- an institution that trains orogenes how to control their powers but also monitors and controls.
Syenite, a talented orogene, is assigned to a dangerous mission with their superior orogene Alabaster, but they discover themselves within dark realities of their world and society.
As the stories progress, Jemisin addresses oppression, survival, and environmental disaster through the novel. Deeply entrenched in this novel is complex characterization and the way this novel broaches concerns such as power, inequality, and social justice.
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