The Fifth Season cover art

The Fifth Season

The Broken Earth, Book 1

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The Fifth Season

By: N. K. Jemisin
Narrated by: Robin Miles
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About this listen

Winner of the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novel
Book 1 in the double Hugo-Award-winning trilogy
A New York Times Notable Book
Shortlisted for the World Fantasy, Nebula, Kitschies, Audie and Locus Awards
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, 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.

The Broken Earth trilogy is complete - beginning with The Fifth Season, continuing in The Obelisk Gate (Winner of the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel) and concluding with The Stone Sky (Shortlisted for the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novel).

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2015 N. K. Jemisin (P)2015 Hachette Audio
Fantasy Fiction

Critic Reviews

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)

What listeners say about The Fifth Season

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Incredible

Absurdly incredible. I'm speechless. And the narrator was a dream. Best book. All the reviews are true and it's so worth it.

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18 people found this helpful

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Not for me sadly!

I chose this because it had excellent reviews but I just could not get into this book. I really tried my hardest and it does have potential, but I feel that this is best actually read rather than listened to as it is a whole new world with all these different names for different species which are hard to keep track of when listening to. I felt like I needed to keep flicking back a page so I could understand what was going on. Perhaps good for binge listening, but I found it too hard to follow.

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13 people found this helpful

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Wonderful. Alien but just within grasp.

The Fifth Season was everything. As beautiful as it is sorrowful.
Thanks N. K. Jemisin.

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6 people found this helpful

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awesomeness

great book I hated when the dinosaur died though broke my heart. two thumbs up

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Engaging book

Thoroughly enjoyed this story with its twists and turns. Well read with a pleasant voice

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Believe the other reviews

Really enjoyable, well written, fantastic characters and an immersive and complex world. The reader is absolutely first class too.

You will not regret adding this one.

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Bloody Fantastic!

This story is superb. I am very pleased this is only book1. Narration is beautiful.

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awesome

this is a fantastic story that requires attention and it draws you in and you will find it hard to pause

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Vivid and enchanting

This novel is way outside my genre comfort zone of psychological thrillers, crime, mystery and historical fiction. I've never been a fan of fantasy, well sign me up! - I was blown away by the fifth season. So imaginative, well paced and brilliantly narrated. I enjoyed every minute. Can't wait to get stuck into the second book, I'm off to download now!

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Got into it eventually & loved it

I had this in hard copy & had perhaps 4 false starts, then two on audible. So glad I persevered! The writing style is quite unique and that takes a little adjustment. The narration by Robin Miles completely solved this for me, she excellently distinguished the different characters and was a delight to listen to. The glossary pdf was integral as the initial chapters challenge you with a baffling array of new language & world building; but once you're in you get swept along. I have since read the following two novels and feel this is a very well rounded series that takes it's time to unfold it's mysteries.

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