History Literature / TheBrokenEarthTrilogy

* PowerLevels: The Fulcrum established one for orogenes; with unranked 'grits' at the bottom and ten ranks above them, denoted by the number of rings worn on the fingers. Position on the rank scale was set by completing standardized tests and completing assignments for the Fulcrum.

* TheEmpire: The Sanzed Equatorial Affiliation, previously the Sanze Empire, conquered the entire Stillness before the series began and successfully imposed its culture and governmental structure upon the entire continent. The prologue ends with its capital and other major cities getting obliterated by the opening of the Rift, so it plays no further role in the plot (apart from a pseudo-[[TheRemnant remnant]] faction made up of ethno-nationalists that appears in the second book).

* AnIcePerson: As a side-effect of their powers needing to conserve energy, orogenes can freeze the area around them, killing any living things there.
* LifeEnergy: Magic works like this, and thus can be used for things like healing or killing someone by draining it. However, it can be also found in anything that once was alive, however long ago, such as rock like limestone that originated as living organisms. [[spoiler: It's also in the Earth, which is actually alive and sentient.]]

* NonHeteronormativeSociety: Characters who are variously gay, lesbian, and bi are featured and are not discriminated against for their orientation by itself in the Sanzed society or the island society of Meov pre-Rifting or in the fragmented comms post-Rifting. However, the Fulcrum forced orogenes to have sex with designated partners without regard for desire as part of its SuperBreedingProgram.

* NoodleIncident: At the end of the trilogy, with so many other questions answered, [[spoiler:how Hoa ended up trapped inside an obelisk and buried under the sea never gets revealed. All he ever says about it is that he "pissed off the wrong rogga".]]

** Invoked directly in "The Obelisk Gate" by Tonkee when she does a mathematical modeling of Castrima's food supply.

** Done literally in "The Obelisk Gate" via equations and mathematical modeling of the food supply by Tonkee and the other Innovators.

* CreatorInJoke: [[Literature/InheritanceTrilogy Once again]], the snobby imperialists have a history of [[spoiler: cannibalism]].

* EatDirtCheap: The Stone Eaters, as you might guess.

* MultipleNarrativeModes: In ''Literature/TheBrokenEarthTrilogy'', the sections focusing on Essun are written in second person while the sections focusing on other characters are in third person. This turns out to be because [[spoiler:Hoa is narrating the story to Essun to remind her of her past self after becoming a stone eater, while also telling her about what other characters were up to at the same time.]]

* GaiasVengeance: Folklore says that Father Earth hates humanity because they stole his only child. Evidence suggests that the Stillness' tectonic instability was caused by the planet losing its [[spoiler: moon]]. Whether it's an angry GeniusLoci or simple physics causing the Seasons, this trope applies.

* ViciousCycle: The catastrophic Seasons happen every few hundred years [[spoiler: and would happen far more often than that if it wasn't for orogenes.]]. It turns out [[spoiler: it was not always like that, but the seasons were caused by GaiasVengeance over the loss of the moon, and once the moon is brought back the seasons end.]]

* GenderIsNoObject: Both men and women are allowed to have any job in their comms, from physical laborers to soldiers, generals and leaders of empires, and there's no discrimination or distinction between them made (although, with regards to [[spoiler:Binof/Tonkee]], the wealthy elites of Yumenes are shown to be dissatisfied with having transgender children.)

* {{Mythopoeia}}: Folklore says that Father Earth hates humanity because they stole his only child. Folklore diverges on what that child actually was; sometimes it's not even a child, but a prized possession or a lover.

* BizarreSeasons: Every few centuries, tectonic activity kicks off what they call a "Fifth Season." It's what we'd call a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_winter "volcanic winter"]] -- think the eruption of Mount Tambora and "the year without summer."

The story is set on a massive continent called [[NonIndicativeName the Stillness]], on a planet much more geologically active than the one we're accustomed to. Every few centuries tectonic activity kicks off what they call a "Fifth Season" (what we'd call "volcanic winter"--think the eruption of Mount Tambora and "the year without summer"). The survival-obsessed population scrapes by living in disaster-prepared city-states called "comms" and following the survival tips of the ancients known as "stonelore".

* BizarreSeasons: Every few centuries, tectonic activity kicks off a volcanic winter, what they call a "Fifth Season".

* TheEpic: The tale of a woman's quest through a post-apocalyptic world to find her daughter, and becoming enmeshed in a war between immortal beings, with her actions on the DayOfReckoning having the power to destroy the world for good or stop the ViciousCycle of apocalyptic events from ever happening again, leading her into a life-or-death conflict with that same daughter.

* TheStateless: As part of everyone being ProperlyParanoid survivalists, being a member of a comm, or community, is an essential characteristic of one's identity. During a Season, comms seal their gates to outsiders and focus completely on their own survival. To be commless during a Season means being forced to live in wilderness that's grows increasingly barren and dangerous by the day. Commless often form bands of raiders preying on other commless or poorly-defended comms.