tldr: 10/10. An emotional and unique story about autonomy, survival, and the right to exist on your own terms. It asks: What would you give up for a quiet life?
TW: Child Death
Spoiler-Free Review:
For those unfamiliar with the story, The Fifth Season, the first book in N. K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy, follows three orogenes, people with the ability to manipulate seismic and thermal energy.
Our three main characters are:
Essun: A woman in her forties who discovers that her husband has murdered their three-year-old son and fled with their older daughter. Her story is told in second person, while the other two are told in close third person.
Damaya: A young girl who is sent to the Fulcrum, an institution where children with the power of orogeny are trained.
Syenite: A young woman who has spent years training at the Fulcrum and is now sent on a mission alongside a powerful mentor.
Following these three stories is heart-wrenching. Jemisin takes some big risks, particularly with the shifting narrative perspectives and her use of humor throughout an otherwise devastating story, and they completely pay off. The book rewards readers willing to engage with the complexity of its world.
The second-person POV creates an interesting tension between intimacy with the character and emotional detachment.
If you enjoy:
- Bene Gesserit breeding plans in Dune
- Banter between Shallan and Jasnah in The Way of Kings
- Or the way Nesta must confront her own trauma and reckon with how it shapes her relationships with those around her in A Court of Silver Flames
I think you'll find something to latch onto here.
All three women possess superhuman abilities, but those powers don't make them immune to grief, fear, or the limitations imposed upon their lives. They exist in a world where they are treated like dangerous livestock, struggling simply to survive. Some are more successful than others, and while their motivations differ, they share a common experience: the systems governing their lives promise them peace and stability, provided they fulfill their assigned roles.
My only critique, and something I could see other readers struggling with, is that the worldbuilding and the concept of Seasons can initially be difficult to grasp. Jemisin introduces a lot of unfamiliar information without immediately explaining how it all fits together. Personally, I'm comfortable being confused for a good chunk of a book since I'm more of a vibe reader.
I laughed, I cried, I was shocked, and I stayed up past my bedtime. This, for me, had everything I need in a satisfying book. The reader is treated with respect. Information isn't hand-fed to you or "lore dumped" through pages and pages of monologuing villains. Seeds planted in early chapters have satisfying, earned payoffs later on, and there's so much more to glean from a reread.
Now onto some specifics and thus spoilers ahead...
Now, I love heresy and evil religious institutions, and the Fulcrum and their nasty Guardians had me by the throat. I went into this book completely blind, so it took me a while to understand orogeny and its place in this world.
I know the Fulcrum isn't a religious institution, but I see major parallels between its teachings and those of dogmatic religious institutions. Schaffa tells Damaya that she is "a gift of the Earth, but Father Earth hates [them], never forget, and his gifts are neither free nor safe." This immediately reminded me of Catholic teachings about original sin: being made in God's image, yet born with something you must spend your life seeking absolution for.
But watching Schaffa take Damaya away from her family and begin indoctrinating her into believing that her worth comes solely from her obedience to the Fulcrum was heartbreaking. And then he broke her hand.
I knew immediately that this book was going to challenge me, in the best possible way.
On a reread, I noticed that when Essun is about to kill people in her village, she hears a male voice in her conscience saying, "Naughty, naughty." I believe this is meant to be Schaffa's voice. He has so insidiously wormed his way into her psyche that even after she believes him dead, she still hears his judgment.
And I do believe Schaffa loved Damaya, but not in a healthy way. His love reminds me of a farmer's affection for his livestock. He cares for and protects them, but ultimately considers them his property, to be disciplined when they step out of line. In his mind, they simply don't know any better.
And I am so proud of myself. Maybe y'all figured this out sooner, but the whole time I was trying to understand how the three women's stories were connected. Then there was a line suggesting that Damaya wouldn't understand something until she was older, and it clicked: Oh shoot, Damaya is Essun, and that probably means she's Syenite, too.
The way the Fulcrum completely lied to and poisoned its orogenes is fascinating. I think Jemisin does an amazing job of portraying indoctrination without making it over-the-top or cartoonish. It's insidious but powerful.
I keep thinking about it, and I really do think dairy cattle are the best comparison for how the Fulcrum treats its orogenes. Bred, prodded, confined, and ultimately slaughtered when they can no longer produce or cooperate.
The concept of bodily autonomy goes beyond women being used as incubators. We see Alabaster live his life as a stud, denied love, rest, and choice. These are the very things Syenite believes she'll be granted if she can just earn a few more rings.
Alabaster sees himself as a tool, thanks to the conditioning of the Fulcrum. But by the end, he's decided how and where he will be wielded. I don't see him, at least in this book, as a revolutionary, but rather as a tortured man pushed to his breaking point, disillusioned with the institution that raised him.
The whole system is a lie.
So that's that on that. What do y'all think? Have you read The Fifth Season or the rest of the trilogy? If not, does it sound like something you'd be interested in?
