paperback, 512 pages
English language
Published Sept. 7, 2016 by Orbit.
This is the way the world ends. Again.
Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze — the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization’s bedrock for a thousand years — collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman’s vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.
Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Without sunlight, clean water, or arable land, and with limited stockpiles of supplies, there will be war all across the Stillness: a battle …
This is the way the world ends. Again.
Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze — the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization’s bedrock for a thousand years — collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman’s vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.
Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Without sunlight, clean water, or arable land, and with limited stockpiles of supplies, there will be war all across the Stillness: a battle royale of nations not for power or territory, but simply for the basic resources necessary to get through the long dark night. Essun does not care if the world falls apart around her. She’ll break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.
Quite the trip. Took me a bit to get into it, but it helps my attention all the way through. The world building in it is complete, but not so confusing that one can't follow it. Looking forward to the next book.
Excellent world building, compelling and complicated characters, and all too reflective of real world issues. The only complaint I have is that the pacing of the reveals at the end of the book don't quite jive with the information provided earlier(some of the twists are revealed earlier, but the pacing towards the end behaves more like they're last-minute revelations), and the tone is probably a bit bleak for some readers.
DNF. Had some trouble getting into it. May revisit later.
4.25
Superb fantasy book. I enjoyed the world and characters in the book. I also like the fact that the book has a non-cliffhanger end.
I regret not having picked up Jemisin sooner.
What a book. Such good world building. And good writing to boot.
Best book I've read all year, no contest.
I normally don't read fantasy, preferring science fiction for my escapist literature. But, I will make an exception for a series that manages to win Hugos for all three entries, while also having a subtle underpinning of science under the fantasy. The narrative structure of the stories regarding the three women in The Fifth Season could be a little confusing at the very beginning, but as I got carried along in the stories, and as each section illuminated another, it all became clear. Well, the parts that are meant to be clear became clear anyway. The other mysteries, one assumes, will be revealed in the next books.
Highly recommended, great dialog, and great world-building.
One of my favorite books, maybe ever. Jemisin is a master of her craft. Her characters are loving and lovable, jumping off the page, and the world she creates is breathtaking. Can't wait to read more.
Believe the hype. This book is amazing.
This book won the 2016 Hugo Award, and is the first in a trilogy (all now published, if you dislike cliffhangers - although the endings aren't really nail-biting cliffhangers, just lots of unresolved questions and stories).
This first book starts out telling three different stories: Essun, a middle aged woman who has just discovered her son has been murdered and her daughter is missing; Damaya, a young girl whose parents have locked her in a barn and are selling her to someone she thinks may be a child slaver; and Syenite, a young woman studying to be an Orogene and about to go on her first official mission. All three have in common the ability of Orogeny, which is the main form of magic in this world: the ability some people have to manipulate heat and life force into geological activity. Untrained orogenes can cause earthquakes and worse when hurt …
This book won the 2016 Hugo Award, and is the first in a trilogy (all now published, if you dislike cliffhangers - although the endings aren't really nail-biting cliffhangers, just lots of unresolved questions and stories).
This first book starts out telling three different stories: Essun, a middle aged woman who has just discovered her son has been murdered and her daughter is missing; Damaya, a young girl whose parents have locked her in a barn and are selling her to someone she thinks may be a child slaver; and Syenite, a young woman studying to be an Orogene and about to go on her first official mission. All three have in common the ability of Orogeny, which is the main form of magic in this world: the ability some people have to manipulate heat and life force into geological activity. Untrained orogenes can cause earthquakes and worse when hurt or angry, and are feared by non-orogenes.
The world itself is racked by natural disasters, and regularly suffers from "Seasons", lengthy periods of time (years long) where natural disasters make survival a challenge for all life forms and violent cataclysms may reshape the world. Tsunamis likely wipe out all coastal cities during Seasons, many people starve or turn to cannibalism to survive, wildlife hibernates or adopts other odd defense mechanisms, etc. This is not a friendly world, and the people's relationship with the world reflects this. They talk about how father earth is angry with them, though he once loved them, but exactly why it changed is lost in myth. In fact, the world clearly could once have been something very similar to our earth before human influence triggered climate change and natural disasters - hence the series title I assume (I haven't read the end of the trilogy yet, so I don't know if any more details about the history will be revealed).
Anyway, interesting setting, great characters, and although they start entirely separately, over time you slowly begin to piece together how they are related to each other until you finally start to see the bigger picture by the end of this book. I enjoyed the characters a lot, and the world is very unique and well described. However, I had a really hard time getting into the book at first. I can't put my finger on why but I just didn't find her writing gripping my attention the way some other authors do. Maybe just the complexity of the world and characters? At any rate it was still a good book and I picked up the sequel and plan to finish the trilogy for sure.
Best thing I've read in a while - reminds me of nothing else, structured and paced perfectly, beautifully imagined and fully realized. Almost makes me think series fiction is worthwhile.
If Goodreads allowed half stars, I'd give this book 3.5. The characters and situations were all interesting to read about, but I've got two issues with the book that keep it from a higher rating.
1. Too much of the book feels like setup for future books, making this one feel a bit unfinished.
2. The book hops around in the timeline but never tells you that what's happening.
Mind. Blown.
You like your fiction post-apocalyptic? How about post-MULTIPLE-apocalypses? Jemisin crafts an emotionally intense read, and a thoroughly detailed and believable fantasy world filled with complicated and relatable characters. Reads a bit like a focused memoir, and a bit like an over-arching look at humanities' cruelty and resilience.
And, excitingly for Jemisin fans, it looks like this might be her first series that continues some of the same characters from one book to the next? Just a guess based on the ending: it will be fascinating to see what comes next!
