Review: The Fifth Season
The Fifth Season is a sci-fi/fantasy novel (one of the occasional ones that forces me to list both genres, although I generally don’t like lumping them together) written by N.K. Jemisin, a widely acclaimed novelist and three-times consecutive winner of the Hugo Award - the first author in history to ever hold that title. In addition to The Fifth Season (and the complete Broken Earth Trilogy), she has received great praise for her debut Inheritance Series.
Jemisin has taught a master class on worldbuilding, which I took as part of my grad program at Augsburg University.
This review follows the typical format that I cultivated in grad school: a spoiler-free synopsis focusing on themes of the story, followed by observed strengths and weaknesses in the author’s craft, my takeaways from reading the work, and any final thoughts.
(I will give one spoiler, though: I love The Fifth Season and strongly encourage you to read it!)
Jemisin has taught a master class on worldbuilding, which I took as part of my grad program at Augsburg University.
This review follows the typical format that I cultivated in grad school: a spoiler-free synopsis focusing on themes of the story, followed by observed strengths and weaknesses in the author’s craft, my takeaways from reading the work, and any final thoughts.
(I will give one spoiler, though: I love The Fifth Season and strongly encourage you to read it!)
Synopsis
The Fifth Season follows three narrators in formative moments of their lives. The story takes place in a fictional world referred to as the Stillness; an ironic name, given that the Stillness is prone to extremely frequent and violent geothermic and tectonic activity.
Essun, a middle-aged mother, struggles to survive in the midst of history’s worst “Fifth Season.” A Fifth Season in the Stillness is a cataclysmic event touched off by tectonic or geothermal activity, or by other phenomena in the world. Seasons can last dozens of years and bring with them all manner of challenges that wipe out huge swathes of humanity. In the events immediately following the beginning of the Season, one of Essun’s children is killed, and the other kidnapped. Essun’s all-encompassing goal is to rescue her remaining child, and on the road she adopts a strange, secretive orphan who becomes her traveling companion.
Damaya is a young girl and an Orogene - someone capable of tapping into the geological powers of the world and directing them to shape the physical world around them. It is a hard magic system and a quite destructive one. Damaya’s family is fearful of what she will grow up to be, so when a Guardian comes to their village, her parents readily hand Damaya over for the Guardian to take back to the Fulcrum. Guardians are some of the only people on the world that can actually pose a threat to Orogenes, and Guardians keep them in line through brutal suppression. At the Fulcrum, in the capital of the Stillness, Orogenes train to heighten - but more importantly, to control - their powers, all under the watchful eye of the Guardians.
Lastly, Syenite is a young woman who has recently graduated from the Fulcrum and is now a state-approved Orogene. Because she shows promise, she is assigned the task of copulating with Alabaster, an exceptionally powerful Orogene, as part of the Fulcrum’s and the Guardians’ selective breeding program to produce helpful Orogenes. Syenite and Alabaster hate one another, but have to do as the Fulcrum bids. They go on a mission together at the Fulcrum’s ordinance, touching off a series of disastrous events.
Essun, a middle-aged mother, struggles to survive in the midst of history’s worst “Fifth Season.” A Fifth Season in the Stillness is a cataclysmic event touched off by tectonic or geothermal activity, or by other phenomena in the world. Seasons can last dozens of years and bring with them all manner of challenges that wipe out huge swathes of humanity. In the events immediately following the beginning of the Season, one of Essun’s children is killed, and the other kidnapped. Essun’s all-encompassing goal is to rescue her remaining child, and on the road she adopts a strange, secretive orphan who becomes her traveling companion.
Damaya is a young girl and an Orogene - someone capable of tapping into the geological powers of the world and directing them to shape the physical world around them. It is a hard magic system and a quite destructive one. Damaya’s family is fearful of what she will grow up to be, so when a Guardian comes to their village, her parents readily hand Damaya over for the Guardian to take back to the Fulcrum. Guardians are some of the only people on the world that can actually pose a threat to Orogenes, and Guardians keep them in line through brutal suppression. At the Fulcrum, in the capital of the Stillness, Orogenes train to heighten - but more importantly, to control - their powers, all under the watchful eye of the Guardians.
Lastly, Syenite is a young woman who has recently graduated from the Fulcrum and is now a state-approved Orogene. Because she shows promise, she is assigned the task of copulating with Alabaster, an exceptionally powerful Orogene, as part of the Fulcrum’s and the Guardians’ selective breeding program to produce helpful Orogenes. Syenite and Alabaster hate one another, but have to do as the Fulcrum bids. They go on a mission together at the Fulcrum’s ordinance, touching off a series of disastrous events.
Strengths
N.K. Jemisin writes like a prose poet. At times, she uses prose enjambment - something that I had not seen before reading her work - and does so to great effect. She also writes in different tenses for the different narrators, including the unusual choice of second-person present tense for Essun, bringing the reader deeply and immediately into the action of Essun’s storyline.
The characterization in The Fifth Season is done very well; each character feels dynamic and evolves over time, showing reasonable growth and realistic interaction with the other characters in the story. There’s a strong focus on womanhood and the societal struggles therein, as well as the challenges posed by societal power imbalances. Each of the main characters wrestle with these questions in profound ways, and the emotional and societal turmoil is foiled by the physical strife of the Stillness.
Jemisin also does a LOT of foreshadowing. Having read through the book twice now, and seeing my scribbled predictions from my first read-through (yes I write in the margins of my fantasy novels, sue me) you can definitely guess some of Jemisin’s big plot reveals if you read attentively. I always find this an excellent practice; it’s unlikely that a single reader will catch everything on the first read through (I caught maybe half of the reveals before they came), and it rewards and enriches the experience of rereading.
The characterization in The Fifth Season is done very well; each character feels dynamic and evolves over time, showing reasonable growth and realistic interaction with the other characters in the story. There’s a strong focus on womanhood and the societal struggles therein, as well as the challenges posed by societal power imbalances. Each of the main characters wrestle with these questions in profound ways, and the emotional and societal turmoil is foiled by the physical strife of the Stillness.
Jemisin also does a LOT of foreshadowing. Having read through the book twice now, and seeing my scribbled predictions from my first read-through (yes I write in the margins of my fantasy novels, sue me) you can definitely guess some of Jemisin’s big plot reveals if you read attentively. I always find this an excellent practice; it’s unlikely that a single reader will catch everything on the first read through (I caught maybe half of the reveals before they came), and it rewards and enriches the experience of rereading.
Weaknesses
In the way of weaknesses, I would only say that the end of the book doesn’t feel complete on its own. Yes, it is book 1 of a trilogy, but in general I think that the first book of a series should stand on its own. Perhaps that’s an antiquated notion, but I was a bit disappointed as a reader when the book ended as it did. The book does set up for a sequel very well and vividly, though.
Takeaways
My biggest takeaway from The Fifth Season is another strength that I saved for here rather than mentioning above. Jemisin is a master of worldbuilding in a manner that contributes to narrative. Many novelists struggle to convey information about their world in a way that doesn’t feel like a fictional history lecture, but Jemisin has cultivated skill at expertly weaving world information into the narrative when relevant to the perspective character.
An early-chapter example is when Essun goes to wash her hands in a basin, turns the spigot on, and washes her hands for a couple seconds before the water runs red-brown, leading her to realize that there’s a broken pipe somewhere. All of this is handled in less than two sentences, but it subliminally conveys to the reader that some amount of modern-ish plumbing is the norm, but that maintenance is difficult or scarce. More importantly, all of this information is conveyed only when Essun goes to wash her hands - in other words, when it’s immediately relevant to the actions taken by a main character.
An early-chapter example is when Essun goes to wash her hands in a basin, turns the spigot on, and washes her hands for a couple seconds before the water runs red-brown, leading her to realize that there’s a broken pipe somewhere. All of this is handled in less than two sentences, but it subliminally conveys to the reader that some amount of modern-ish plumbing is the norm, but that maintenance is difficult or scarce. More importantly, all of this information is conveyed only when Essun goes to wash her hands - in other words, when it’s immediately relevant to the actions taken by a main character.
Final Thoughts
The Fifth Season is overall a fantastic book and an excellent start to a trilogy. As the only trilogy to win the Hugo award with every consecutive release, I’m not alone as a fan or as a critic in recommending this book. With excellent prose, phenomenal worldbuilding, and weighty and thoughtful themes, this book is a gorgeous exemplar of everything that a speculative novel should offer the genre.
