"The Fifth Season" is the 1st in "The Broken Earth" trilogy. All 3 books have won a Hugo Award, considered the premiere award in science fiction and fantasy. This book/audiobook/ebook was first published in 2015, but even in 2022 the audiobook is still rated on Amazon as #1 in Magical Realism Fiction, #1 in Black & African American Fantasy Fiction (Books and Ebooks), and #2 in African American Literature. The audiobook is 15 hours and 27 minutes and the book is 512 pages.

This dystopian future follows several female characters with the power to move mountains--literally, as one searches for her child and is hunted by the Fulcrum who seeks to bring her back under their control, another is growing up within the Fulcrum, learning to wield her power, and a third is hiding from the Fulcrum, just trying to live her life in peace. By the end of this first novel, their lives collide in an unexpected way.

Full of action and adventure, this intricate epic draws you into the story, but also gives subliminal lessons about climate change, oppression, and the distribution of wealth and power in ways that don't detract from the surface story, but which offer a wealth of discussion material for those interested in digging deeper.

Those who like layers to their stories, who like intricate plotlines, and those who enjoy something quite different from the typical world-building.

I especially liked the creativity of this story.

While the creativity was a draw, this story isn't one I found easy to mindlessly listen to. I had to pay attention because the plot wasn't basic and the world wasn't typical. I enjoy books with a lot of action and adventure, but the plot following the lives of 3 people, plus the fantastic elements of this novel don't make it something I could enjoy without paying attention.

Continue on to see what will happen in the next Hugo Award winning novel in this series.

While I wouldn't say this book is the best I've ever listened to or read, it was definitely good. I have even higher hopes for the next two books as this one was rated 4.4 stars on Audible, but the next two are rated 4.8 and 4.6 stars, so they should be even better.

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Created Jun 19, 2022 at 9:00am • Submit your own review...