The Fifth Season takes place in a future world where environmental catastrophic events (seasons) have forced society to a constant state of preparedness. People live in communities (comms), work to amass a community stash of food and other necessities (cache), and follow ancient laws preserved by oral historians (lorists) in order to survive.

Interspersed among the people are oregenes- people with special powers of connection to the earth and the ability to effect temperature, weather, and plate tectonics. But these special powers are feared and hated rather than revered. Seen as violent and dangerous, Oregenes are identified as young as possible and shipped off to live in the Fulcrum where they are controlled by Guardians and taught to control their powers. The Orogenes have no rights as citizens- they are even forced by the Guardians to breed to optimize their powerful lineage.

All of this is backdrop to the main story of Nessun, who comes home from work to find that her husband has killed her son after discovering his Oregenic powers, and run away with their older child. While grieving over the body of her son, Nessun senses an earth-shattering event and knows a new Season has begun. She uses her powers to protect her Comm from the quake, but this act also reveals her powers. Nessun is expelled, and treks off after her husband and daughter.

The Fifth Season is a reconfiguration of otherness and race. In the land of The Stillness, nappy hair and dark skin are positive traits for durability and protection in the extreme weather conditions of the Seasons. Otherness comes from the powers within rather than the appearance without.

I’ve read this book a few times, but never during a pandemic. The collective trauma of living through disaster and trying to navigate the rapidly changing and unpredictable world of natural disasters is not unlike the experience of navigating the new normal of COVID-19. The struggle to survive leads to shifting priorities and new affinity groups with unexpected alignments.

Jemisin has created a dense vision of a new world and trying to summarize does not do it justice. I give The Fifth Season 4.5 👍 out of 5 👍.