N.K. Jemisin General Discussion Thread (author of The Fifth Season and other works)

I'm currently reading The Fifth Season for the first time, but it apparently isn't her best work (that would go to that fantasy series with all the kingdoms). Currently at chap. 4 and so far I find it intriguing, though the terms are getting to me. I sometimes wish it would just explain the terms, though this is early on in the book, so maybe I'm not being patient enough. Other than that, it's alright so far.

I don't know what else to say about it except that it's good so far and I do actually like the writing style, though I imagine that it may not be everyone's cup-of-tea.

No spoilers, please!

The version that I’ve got has a glossary in the back for a lot of the common terms (as well as one describing the past Seasons).

I enjoyed it - I’ve never read a book written (substantially) in the second-person before, and she manages that style of narration very well.

Edited by Galadriel on Jun 24th 2020 at 2:24:18 PM

@Galadriel, I definitely agree that the writing style is unique and superb, though I've only read the first three chapters and the prologue, so I don't know how much more I can comment on this stuff. I'll make sure to read more later today. Thanks for your input.

Anyone read The City We Became?

Finished her The Fifth Season just the other day and I f*cking loved it, planning on reading the rest of the trilogy soon.

Anyone read "The City We Became"? What did you think of it?

I just read the whole Broken Earth trilogy and wow. WOW. Best horror I’ve ever read, the grasp of personal/systemic agony and atrocity is astonishing. The banal depravity and dehumanization… whew.

Speaking to the first book, Essun, Hoa, and Alabastar grabbed me by the throat, and the minor characters were solid; Nassun grabbed me in second book hard.

Also, I despise Schaffa down to my bones. The Guardians as a whole are fucking batshit scary

I just finished the Broken Earth trilogy last week, and I loved reading them. They're a fascinating exploration of societies that oppress and despise the very people they depend of for their relative safety and luxury. And how the victims of that abuse repeat it with their own children, because it's all they know.

Essun is such a great protagonist, and a rather unique voice in fantasy.

How do you feel about Schaffa in the second and third books? He does appear to really be trying better with Nassun, but that doesn't mean that the relationship is healthy or that he is a good person. As Steel points out, Schaffa does love her, but he needs her to maintain his grip on his sanity, and I think that means he is too dependent on her to ever be a good father. And he never really tries to raise Nassun: he just offers unconditional love, but when she becomes convinced that she is a monster, he doesn't convince her otherwise. He just tells her she is his monster.

He also remains violent and relatively sadistic. Unlike Ykka, who is tying to form a comm where orogene and stills can live peacefully with mutual aid, the only thing Schaffa can imagine to tell the Found Moon children is to violently force their way into a comm using torture. Maybe he is right, and that these kids cannot find a comm like Castrima, but it will still be a society founded on violence.

Edited by SilentColossus on Oct 22nd 2022 at 11:14:31 AM

God, Ykka yelling at Essun and Essun finally becoming part of Castrima was great, totally agree. Going from total survival selfishness to being part of a comm…

I appreciate the added complexity Schaffa gets in books 2-3, and he plays a crucial role in Nassun’s survival… but I still loathe him. He would have killed all the other Found Moon kids, if Nassun hadn’t asked him not to! He did kill the Antarctic Fulcrum survivors (well, he started the killing, Nassun finished it)

Edited by wisewillow on Oct 22nd 2022 at 9:46:57 AM

Exactly. I particularly loved when Essun encounters Maxixe and his group of commless. They're all sick and disabled, exactly the kind of people any other comm would outcast, by Ykka takes them anyway. Granted, they give food and supplies, but the group is so weak they could rob them, but she accepts them anyway. Ykka has real vision, a society where orogone and stills come together and form world where your usefulness and status as an orogone don't matter. She has to... make do, unfortunately. There is a Season, and sometimes she has to make sacrifices, but Ykka despairs at one point and says there should be more to people than them being useful. I like to imagine Castrima works out and finds a better way of doing things. And I hope Nassun, Hjarka, and Tonkee find their way home.

Edited by SilentColossus on Oct 22nd 2022 at 1:36:02 PM

I'm with you on Schaffa - I really like the portrayal of a loathsome person trying to do better and not just becoming a hero. I was also weirdly relieved when he killed everyone in the house that took him in. I was like, "uh oh, is this the start of a standard redemption arc? Oh! It isn't! Okay, then."