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The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth) Paperback – August 4, 2015

by N. K. Jemisin (Author)

620 customer reviews

Book 1 of 3 in the Broken Earth Series

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"Intricate and extraordinary." - New York Times on The Fifth Season (A New York Times Notable Book of 2015)

WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 2016

This is the way the world ends...for the last time.

A season of endings has begun.

It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun.

It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter.

It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.

This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.

For more from N. K. Jemisin, check out:

The Inheritance Trilogy
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
The Broken Kingdoms
The Kingdom of Gods

The Inheritance Trilogy (omnibus edition)
Shades in Shadow: An Inheritance Triptych (e-only short fiction)
The Awakened Kingdom (e-only novella)

Dreamblood Duology
The Killing Moon
The Shadowed Sun

The Broken Earth

The Fifth Season

The Obelisk Gate

The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Intricate and extraordinary."―The New York Times

"[The Fifth Season is] an ambitious book, with a shifting point of view, and a protagonist whose full complexity doesn't become apparent till toward the end of the novel. ... Jemisin's work itself is part of a slow but definite change in sci-fi and fantasy."―Guardian

"Astounding... Jemisin maintains a gripping voice and an emotional core that not only carries the story through its complicated setting, but sets things up for even more staggering revelations to come."―NPR Books

"Jemisin's graceful prose and gritty setting provide the perfect backdrop for this fascinating tale of determined characters fighting to save a doomed world."―Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"A must-buy...breaks uncharted ground."―Library Journal (starred review)

"Jemisin might just be the best world builder out there right now.... [She] is a master at what she does."―RT Book Reviews (Top Pick!)

"The Fifth Season is a powerful, epic novel of discovery, pain, and heartbreak.... It is a novel that demands much of its readers; it rewards them aplenty and is one of those novels that becomes more powerful after deep consideration and subsequent readings."―SFF World

"This is an intense, exciting novel, where survival is always on the line, set in a fascinating, original and dangerous world with an intriguing mystery at the heart of it. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!"―Martha Wells

"Brilliant...gorgeous writing and unexpected plot twists."―Washington Post

"[A]ngrily, beautifully apocalyptic."―B&N.com

"Heartbreaking, wholly unexpected, and technically virtuosic, The Fifth Season is a tour-de-force. I felt every shock--and the book is packed with them--in my marrow. It's no exaggeration to say that Jemisin expands the range of what great fantasy can be."―Brian Staveley, author of The Emperor's Blades

"With every new work, Jemisin's ability to build worlds and break hearts only grows."―Kirkus (starred review)

About the Author

N. K. Jemisin is a Brooklyn author who won Hugo Awards for Best Novel for both The Obelisk Gate and The Fifth Season, which was also a New York Times Notable Book of 2015. She previously won the Locus Award for her first novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and her short fiction and novels have been nominated multiple times for Hugo, World Fantasy, Nebula, and RT Reviewers' Choice awards, and shortlisted for the Crawford and the James Tiptree, Jr. awards. She is a science fiction and fantasy reviewer for the New York Times, and you can find her online at nkjemisin.com.

Series: The Broken Earth (Book 1)
Paperback: 512 pages
Publisher: Orbit (August 4, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316229296
ISBN-13: 978-0316229296
Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.2 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 620 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #111 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Mothers & Children
- #7 in Books > Literature & Fiction > African American
- #16 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Dystopian

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Top customer reviews

A new high point for Jemisin's already-impressive career.

ByS. Addisonon August 5, 2015

Format: Paperback

I've enjoyed all of Jemisin's books thus far, but I often avoid starting series books until the whole series is complete because I hate being left hanging, waiting for the next installment. But "The Fifth Season" was totally worth the suspense. The world of The Stillness - an ironically-named super-continent that suffers frequent, massive environmental catastrophes thanks to its unstable geology - is a captivating setting for the story's three narrators, each of whom is forced to journey across the dangerous, shifting land. In conceiving a society able to do what it takes to survive across multiple devastating periods of disaster and climate change, Jemisin creates a world order that each of her main characters sees through different eyes: one hoping it will offer her refuge, one furious about its demands on her, and one hoping to just avoid its gaze altogether.

Even though I enjoy a good Tolkein-esque fantasy, it's so refreshing to read Jemisin's writing, which always takes a fresh departure from the pseudo-medevial-Europe settings so common in the genre. Rather than elves and orcs and plundering armies, Jemisin gives us orogenes (those gifted with the ability to control geological forces), stone-eaters (non-humans who can move through solid rock with their own, mysterious agenda), and a continent that is a greater threat to its people than any army. Whether the strict, caste-driven, xenophobic society that has evolved in response to the environment is a necessary evil or a regime to be overthrown is an argument that will likely span the entire trilogy.

"The Fifth Season" could be considered part of the vein of SF/F that addresses environmental and climate change issues (e.g. Nicola Griffith's "Slow River," Paolo Bacigalupe's "The Windup Girl") but in this trilogy, change is inevitable and largely beyond human control. The book builds toward several narrative twists slowly revealed in its final third; I had picked up on enough very subtle hints to suspect some of them, but they still came into focus with a satisfying emotional "click" that made me glad I waited and didn't stumble across any spoilers. I was so captivated by the narrative that I literally woke up in the night wanting to read more (thanks, insomnia! thanks, book light!). Waiting for the next two chapters leaves me feeling as unsettled as the world of The Stillness itself.

11 comment 313 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

I would like to give this book a 3

Bymark seligmanon September 19, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I would like to give this book a 3.5 if I could. I got it because Jemisin won a Hugo recently, and I was trying to reconnect with science fiction. I like the hard science variant of SF. This work is more fantasy than SF. I generally don't care for fantasy because it seems too glib for me. In this book, characters are able to control earthquakes. How does that happen? Perhaps we should look at this as allegory for emotional upheavals, but I can't make that work for me. There isn't enough connection to subconscious archetypes for the events to resonate for me; I should say that fantasy stories like Baba Yaga, the Arabian Nights, and tales of Coyote do work for me. Modern writers like Cormac McCarthy also engage me.
On the positive side, it is very well written, and it engaged me enough to finish it in four days.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Confusing/Hard to Keep up

Byajulie4uon September 19, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I liked the IDEA of the book. Science fiction is one of my favorite genres. However...

I just couldn't get through it. It was hard to switch between the characters and still understand what in the world is going on. I kept with it for as long as I could handle. I WANTED to know where this writer was heading with all these characters and how are they all going to come together. Well, I made it 76% of the book and still have no idea what exactly is going on and what it all means.

The threesome sex "scenes" was my breaking point (lesbian, bisexual, etc). I wish I knew more about the content of this book before I had read it, but even getting past the sex scenes, the writing is just too jumbled to make sense. I can't believe this book won an award. And this is my first 1 star review...EVER!

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Had a tough time putting this one down!

ByAmazon Customeron August 15, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is the type of book that creates a world so different than our own, but still makes you feel a part of it. You become attached to the characters before you even realize you have. So now as the final credits are rolling on my audio book, I'm off to purchase the next installment. Can't wait!

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Highly inventive

ByAbeon June 1, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

It took me a while to get into this book, but not because it was dull. There's just a lot to grasp here. But once I got over the hump it became a richly invented world with well crafted and fully fleshed out characters. I'm looking forward to the second installment.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time

ByKimon July 16, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. N.K Jemison's world building is phenomenal. It felt a little bit slow to start and can be confusing. The first quarter or so of the book feels like you're looking at a puzzle but you're missing too many pieces to see the big picture. Once the picture started to clear a bit, I could not put it down. It's a series, so don't expect the book to tie up all loose ends. It certainly leaves you hanging at the end. I can't wait for book two to come out!

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A very intriguing and orginal dark fantasy world

ByKasper Siemonsenon January 18, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Even-though I found the plot a bit predictable in this dark fantasy/sci-fi novel: it was so in a most satisfying way! A great intro to the really original world of Stillness. If you have played the Dragon Age games from Bioware it is a somewhat similar, though warped, setting. The narrative "you" style for the protagonist also made me think I was on a personal journey and it worked very well. As a trilogy this is really just the intro book and it works a little too much like a prequeal for what I am sure is going to be the major plot: What is this world and how did it become so warped? The world is the main character and it is so very intriguing!

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Another work of art by Jemisin!

ByK. Davison February 12, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I fell in love with Jemisin after reading the Inheritance Trilogy. Those books were by far the most interesting, unpredictable stories that I had read in a long time. Now starting the The Broken Earth Trilogy I do have to say that she has found her grove in such a way that is hard to explain. The Inheritance Trilogy will forever have a place in my heart but these books have sucked me in more so than those prior. This is a fun, exciting and heartbreakingly beautiful story. If you are looking for a good fantasy read that is different than anything else out there I most definitely recommend giving Jemisin a chance. She is such a great story teller.

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Most recent customer reviews

Shot to the top of my favorite book list immediately

This is genuinely one of the best books I have ever read. After finishing it I immediately bought the second book in the series.Read more

Published 1 minute ago by Cole

Glad it was on sale, don't feel as ripped off.

If you need to get to sleep....
What can I say, It rambles on and on and on.

Published 16 hours ago by rbeavers

The was an exhilarating read!

I could not put this down. The tale is well written and I can't wait to start the second book.

Published 2 days ago by S. Britt

This trilogy is some of the best fantasy to be written in recent years

This trilogy is some of the best fantasy to be written in recent years. Her prose stands with Neil Gaiman and Patrick Rothfuss, with all the chilling suspense of Justin Cronin's...Read more

Published 3 days ago by Noel Howell

Very good slow burner

Really expertly written at a technical level which necessitates page turning in its own but he over-arching story is really slow going.Read more

Published 4 days ago by W. Herron

Stunning

I haven't been this captured by a book in a looooong time. I had been hearing so much praise for this book/series, and I had this first book (The Fifth Season) on my shelf for...Read more

Published 4 days ago by SarahSaysRead

I stopped reading after seeing this (Spoiler alert)

I bought this book out of its super hype. I expected to see a world built out grandly but logically.Read more

Published 4 days ago by jg

Holy Hell

I haven't read a book like this in a long, long time. Sorry, no more time, moving to the next book now.

Published 4 days ago by Branmuffin17

Five Stars

Excellent read.

Published 5 days ago by Stephen Pastan

I absolutely loved this novel

I absolutely loved this novel. It was my first time reading N. K. Jemisin and will not be the last. I immediately bought the 2nd book in the series. Fantastic!

Published 5 days ago by nicole chaney

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