Wk2 Assignment: Writing in the Future-Past

This week’s assignment required that I collaborate with a future and/or past self on a piece of writing. I chose to do this with a review of my favorite book, The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin. Find my original book review here.

Throughout this assignment, my revisions and commentary will be denoted in brown, italicized text. 

I took this assignment as an opportunity to update a book review I wrote on one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors.

An Aspiring Author’s Thoughts on The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

N. K. Jemisin is an intricately talented writer. After reading this book for the second time, I believe that The Fifth Season is a book about humanity, disguised as a book about the end of the world, disguised as an epic tragedy, disguised as an epic fantasy. I use the word disguise, because of Jemisin’s ability to seamlessly weave the themes of her story into the magical details of her world and characters.

The book’s chapters are divided between three points of view (POVs). One is the POV of a child, taken from her home because of her powers, and trained to be used as a weapon. The other, a young woman who hates the world because of the role she must play in it to survive. The third, a mother whose children have been taken away from her at the beginning of the end of the world. Each POV is of the same character at different times in her story. Using this narration tool, Jemisin shows us readers the complexities of this world’s society throughout the lifetime of a person living in it. 

How do systems of oppression impact a person’s perception of themselves? Jemisin shares her answer to this question in Damaya’s journey to becoming Syenite, and Syenite’s journey to becoming Essun, and Essun’s journey to saving the world, finding her daughter, and avenging the death of her son. As our protagonist changes, so does her perception of herself and the world she lives in.

Each time Damaya, Syenite and Essun are forced to choose a new name, find a new home, and start a new life, it is because of tragedy. Her rebirths are mirrored in the seasons of this story’s world. Each time the world ends, humanity must start over. Each time the world ends, each time our protagonist is forced to start over, people die, fight, and form new communities. In an attempt to learn from it all before it happens again (because it will happen again, and then again), – the end of the world, tragedy, change – humanity, Damaya, Syenite, Essun become more fearful. Which, of course, begets more fear and then violence. This is the cycle our protagonist is challenged to break. At the nth end of the world, at the 3rd or 4th or 5th great tragedy of her life, will she overcome her fear of even more loss to find her daughter and vindicate the death of her son? Will she go so far as to save the world that enslaved her?  

I’m not sure how to smoothly transition from my old writing to this new discovery, but let this sentence serve as transition. Other narration tools Jemisin uses throughout this book include the second person and interludes. The second person is used to tell the story of Essun, the mother whose children were taken away from her. Her perspective is told by a narrator who is revealed to be another character in the story. The chapters with this second person voice have titles like “you’re on the trail,” and “you’re among friends,” and have the effect of making us readers feel as if we are being told Essun’s story along with her. After our second week of class, the metalepsis and metatextuality concepts that were discussed reminded me of Jemisin’s use of the second person. Reading this book for the second time, these chapters set a tone that suggests an imminent context about our protagonist which us readers must read on to discover. Adding to this tone, Jemisin uses interlude chapters, as well as quotes from literature of the world she’s built as asides / footnotes at the end of most chapters, to confirm the readers’ suspicions about the protagonist’s circumstances. She does this by stepping out of the protagonist’s story to give additional context about the state of the world and its history.

If the questions posed throughout this review intrigue you, I implore you to not only read The Fifth Season, but to read the entire Broken Earth trilogy! Jemisin is one of my favorite authors because she is capable of creating characters and building worlds that feel cinematic in their detail. As a writer and aspiring author, reading Jemisin’s stories provokes self reflection and creativity.  

I’m happy with this review because I was able to unpack the readerly and writerly reasons for The Fifth Season being one of my favorite books. I post my book reviews to this writing blog because, even if I’m the only person to read them, I enjoy the process of reflecting on the things I did and did not enjoy about a story. And surely, this process will contribute my becoming a better writer. At the very least, it has helped me become a more engaged reader.