The Fifth Season

The Broken Earth, Book 1

By: N. K. Jemisin

Narrated by: Robin Miles

Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel
Book 1 in the record-breaking triple Hugo-Award-winning trilogy

***One of Time Magazine's top 100 fantasy books of all time***
***Shortlisted for the World Fantasy, Nebula, Kitschies, Audie and Locus Awards***
***A New York Times Notable Book and the inaugural Wired.com book club pick ***

THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS . . . FOR THE LAST TIME.
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.

'Astounding' NPR
'Amazing' Ann Leckie
'Breaks uncharted ground' Library Journal
'Powerful' io9
'Elegiac, complex, and intriguing' Publishers Weekly
'Intricate and extraordinary' New York Times
'Brilliant' Washington Post

The Broken Earth trilogy is complete - beginning with The Fifth Season, continuing in The Obelisk Gate (Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel) and concluding with The Stone Sky (Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel and Nebula Award).

Also by N. K. Jemisin:
The Inheritance trilogy
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
The Broken Kingdoms
The Kingdom of Gods

The Dreamblood Duology
The Killing Moon
The Shadowed Sun©2015 N. K. Jemisin

Critic reviews

Jemisin brilliantly illustrates the belief that, yes, imaginative world-building is a vital element of fantasy - but also that every character is a world unto herself

Fantasy novels often provide a degree of escapism: a good thing, for any reader who has something worth escaping. Too often, though, that escape comes through a fictional world that erases rather than solves the more complex problems of our own... In Jemisin's work, nature is not unchangeable or inevitable. The Fifth Season invites us to imagine a dismantling of the earth in both the literal and the metaphorical sense, and suggests the possibility of a richer and more fundamental escape

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)

I enjoyed Jemisin’s narrative style – which switch

I enjoyed Jemisin’s narrative style – which switches between second person and third person depending on the POV. It reminded me of Toni Morrison’s style in The Bluest Eye, which I’ve actually missed in the books I’ve read of late. Jemisin’s ability to weave story lines and arc in an engaging way is remarkable.It took a while for me to realize that the story is set in three eras. This made the geography confusing at times. I didn’t care much for the love triangle. The Fifth Season starts with the end of the world and then moves on to more interesting things. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the Stillness and its people, and Jemisin’s writing. The Fifth season is definitely making my top ten list. The Prologue was also confusing at first. However, when I finished I re-read portions of it and it made more sense.

Interested in seeing where this goes

Not an amazing amount of payof in this book but the characters are very unique and the world is interesting. Need to see how the rest of the series goes.

Dark Fantasy

A well-written, exciting and creative tale of people being monsters in an unstable, cruel world. Features some exciting magic, too!
If you loved Avatar: the last Airbender but want to read something dark and dirty, this might be it.

great book, good narrator

Really interesting story, but at times a bit hard to follow. The narrator speaks clearly an does a good job keeping me engaged in the story.

Best Read in a Long Time

This entire trilogy was such a joy to read, even if it was quite dark in theme. Was so refreshing to have a true adult, fantasy/scfi storyline that didn't shy away from heavier topics. I was completely emersed until the very end. Best books I've picked up in many years.