N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season begins with the end of the world. In the Stillness (this story’s version of Earth) the world regularly becomes extremely hostile for centuries at a time, wreaking havoc on humanity. These are called Seasons, and this is the worst yet. But Essun has more pressing matters in mind when she learns that her husband Jija has killed their son Uche and kidnapped their daughter Nassun for being magic users. After her secret is revealed Essun is run out of her town of Tirimo and sets off to find her living child.
The story focuses mainly on the journey of Essun to save Nassun, but is shown through three different perspectives. Alongside Essun we’re shown the lives of Damaya and Syenite, characters who are revealed to be Essun in her younger years. The story shows us Essun’s past, focusing on her greatest moments of loss. As Damaya she was taken from her parents, and as Syenite she lost the two loves of her life and her only child. Now, as Essun, she’s once again lost everything. The use of different character perspectives is a refreshing way of presenting a character’s backstory and emphasizes the change that Essun has gone through. The three characters are so distinct that I didn’t realize Essun and Damaya were the same person until learning that Essun first met Tonkee (by far my favorite character and possibly the best trans representation I’ve seen) when she was still a child. Her growth feels very realistic when you see the pain and hardships she’s faced and how they made her restart her life.
Pain and hardships are somewhat of a theme throughout the series. The world doesn’t get better. Seasons are times of death and misery. Food and water are scarce, ashen skies make the world colder by the day, and people are desperate for any advantages they can get. But the world isn’t without kindness, at least not for Essun. Damaya’s story shows very little kindness. Her childhood is cruel, filled with abuse and misery due to her ability to use magic. Syenite is much the same for most of her story. Alabaster himself may not be cruel, but he teaches her the cruelty of the world towards their kind. The children of strong magic users are effectively lobotomized, with only their basic needs for survival met. They’re kept this way so as to instinctively stop earthquakes, and the description of their treatment is only made worse when it’s revealed that our example is one of Alabaster’s children. We see a glimmer of kindness once Syenite creates a family but it’s a type of shallow utopia that is quickly destroyed when all but Syenite are killed. Kindness is shown some in Essun’s story, but it’s a weary kindness. She’s slow to trust and quick to fight back, and in later books it’s shown as a habit she needs to unlearn. The book makes a point of showing that it’s okay to feel mistreated and angry, but cruelty doesn’t help solve your issues. The book deals with incredibly dark issues ranging from child abuse to mistreatment of minority classes and even forced childbearing. Syenite’s original mission with Alabaster is to have a child who would be a strong magic user. But the world isn’t completely devoid of compassion, and eventually Essun finds a new home in Castrima, a comm where magic users manage to live in peace with the rest of the population.
The Fifth Season is an amazing story, as is the greater trilogy. I’d easily recommend any of Jemisin’s work and The Fifth Season stands out as one of the best fantasy stories I’ve ever read. The bleak setting gives an air of hopelessness which is beautifully contrasted by the very human moments of kindness we see, never making it feel like people are quite ready to give up. The setting is a wonderful mix of fantasy and sci-fi and uses a magic system that feels more like science than true magic throughout the first book. I truly can’t give the novel enough praise and would definitely recommend any fantasy fan give it a try.
Luca's Roost 