I can’t say too much about the novel’s structure because it would lessen its impact, but it’s a delicate work of art that unfolds in ways you never quite saw coming.

Wild, untamed orogenes present a huge danger to everybody around them and are often killed immediately when their power manifests, even though they are usually children when it does. The orogenes are organized into a group called the Fulcrum. The orogenes are vital for the world’s safety yet are ruthlessly controlled by “Guardians,” who find orogenes at a young age and terrorize them into compliance.

This sets in place the novel’s first spoke. They hold a huge and destructive power and are both feared and revered. Against that backdrop are a group of people, essentially wizards, who can “manipulate thermal, kinetic, and related forms of energy to address seismic events.” In a world where manipulating seismic events is a matter of life and death, these “orogenes” potentially wield immense power. It’s a volatile landscape where huge seismic shifts can cause devastation at any time. The world of “The Stillness” is riven by earthquakes. It’s Literally Groundbreaking.ĭeliberate metaphor? Maybe. Well now I have, and whilst I might be one of the last fantasy fans on Earth to do so, I’m here to recommend five reasons why you should too. I’d even picked up the second volume, The Obelisk Gate, as part of a special offer somewhere along the line, but I just had gotten around to picking up The Fifth Season. Fortunately for me, in celebration of Jemisin’s third Hugo win, her UK publisher was offering review copies of The Fifth Season for book reviewers who were still living in those dark times where they hadn’t read a Broken Earth book. The books have been acclaimed just about everywhere I’ve looked. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy has been on my radar for a long time, not least because each book in the series has won the Hugo Award. Which is why I’ve only just come to read N.K. There just isn’t time to read everything. This despite having bookshelves stuffed full and overflowing. On this visit, time and concentration restraints restricted our attention to only the children’s floor, but nevertheless, I found half a dozen or more books I desperately wanted to read. On a family trip to London, we popped into Waterstones’ (pretty much the UK’s only remaining chain of bookstores) flagship store on Picadilly. I was reminded this week that there are too many good books in the world.

The fifth season series order