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* ParentalSubstitute: Guardians often become this to orogenes, because they alone are not scared of them, so as long as the orogene isn't about to kill someone, they're safer with the Guardians than they are anywhere else. Unfortunately, that still [[AbusiveParents isn't very safe]].
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* ParentalSubstitute: Guardians often become this to orogenes, because they alone are not scared of them, so as them. As long as the an orogene isn't about to kill someone, they're safer with the Guardians than they are anywhere else. Unfortunately, that still [[AbusiveParents isn't very safe]].
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* AbusiveParents: Damaya's parents lock her in a barn in winter without a blanket, and were perfectly happy to hand her over to a man they thought would kill her. [[spoiler: And Schaffa, once he becomes her ParentalSubstitute, ''breaks her hand'' to teach her a lesson. He does love her, but it's incredibly twisted and he would kill her in a heartbeat. ]]
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* AbusiveParents: Damaya's parents lock her in a barn in winter without a blanket, and were perfectly happy to hand her over to a man they thought would kill her. [[spoiler: And Schaffa, once he becomes her ParentalSubstitute, ''breaks her hand'' to teach her a lesson. He does love her, but it's incredibly In a twisted and moment, he would tells her that he will kill her in a heartbeat.if he deems it necessary because he loves her. ]]
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* BrickJoke: Early in the novel, Alabaster tells Syenite that turning an orogene's power against them will have unpleasant results, but doesn't elaborate further. Near the end, we see [[spoiler: what this does to Innon, and it's not pretty]].
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* ChekhovsGun: The floating obelisks.
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* ChekhovsGun: ChekhovsGun:
** The floatingobelisks.obelisks, which [[spoiler:grant additional powers to rare orogenes who are attuned to them.]]
** Early in the novel, Alabaster tells Syenite that turning an orogene's power against them will have unpleasant results, but doesn't elaborate further. Near the end, we see [[spoiler: what this does to Innon, and it's not pretty]].
** The floating
** Early in the novel, Alabaster tells Syenite that turning an orogene's power against them will have unpleasant results, but doesn't elaborate further. Near the end, we see [[spoiler: what this does to Innon, and it's not pretty]].
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* FantasticSlurs: "Rogga" for orogenes.
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* FantasticSlurs: "Rogga" for orogenes. Ykka aims to make it an AppropriatedAppellation [[spoiler:in her orogene-friendly community]] and adopts it as a use-caste name, effectively treating the term as if it were a profession rather than an insult.
* IncompatibleOrientation: In a bit of dark irony, Alabaster, whom the Fulcrum continually assigns Syenite and other female orogenes to mate with in hopes of passing on his powers, turns out to be StraightGay. They [[LieBackAndThinkOfEngland do their duty]] anyway, but not happily.
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* OffingTheOffspring: Essun's husband to her son; [[spoiler: Syenite to her son Corundum, in order to keep him from being captured and mutilated]].
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* OffingTheOffspring: Essun's husband to her son; son, when he realized that the son was an orogene; [[spoiler: Syenite to her son Corundum, in order to keep him from being captured and mutilated]].
* PowerIncontinence: Orogeny, in two ways. On the one hand, orogenes instinctively stabilize earthquakes near them, even as young children. On the other, their fight-or-flight response also triggers their powers, so they need to discipline themselves not to cause a quake or freeze their surroundings solid when they're in stressful situations. Discussed when Schaffa explains that those instincts are rubbish at gauging the ''magnitude'' of a threat, which causes problems when you're a PersonOfMassDestruction.
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* TheThreeFacesOfEve: The protagonists: Damaya, the child; Syenite, the seductress - [[spoiler: in that it is her job to have sex with Alabaster to produce an orogene]]; and the quiet Essun, known merely as Jija's wife. [[spoiler: Subverted in that they are all the same person, at different stages of her life]]
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* SuperpowerfulGenetics: Zig-zagged and discussed. The Fulcrum breeds orogenes with each other, especially the more powerful ones, in hopes of producing more orogenes [[spoiler:or [[MuggleBornOfMages Guardians]]]], which works to an extent, but orogenes are also born at random in the general population. It annoys the Fulcrum to end, since it means that orogeny will never be within their complete control.
* TechnicallyASmile: When Stone Eaters bare their teeth, it's done as a threat display. Enhanced by the fact that the teeth are made of diamond.
* TheThreeFacesOfEve: The protagonists: Damaya, the child; Syenite, the seductress - [[spoiler: in that it is her job to have sex with Alabaster to produce an orogene]]; and the quiet Essun, known merely as Jija's wife. [[spoiler: Subverted in that they are all the same person, at different stages of herlife]]life.]]
* TrainingTheGiftOfMagic: Among orogenes, a child can start an earthquake, but it takes a master to throw a boulder. They train to use their abilities and senses in more precise ways, as well as to increase their overall power.
* TechnicallyASmile: When Stone Eaters bare their teeth, it's done as a threat display. Enhanced by the fact that the teeth are made of diamond.
* TheThreeFacesOfEve: The protagonists: Damaya, the child; Syenite, the seductress - [[spoiler: in that it is her job to have sex with Alabaster to produce an orogene]]; and the quiet Essun, known merely as Jija's wife. [[spoiler: Subverted in that they are all the same person, at different stages of her
* TrainingTheGiftOfMagic: Among orogenes, a child can start an earthquake, but it takes a master to throw a boulder. They train to use their abilities and senses in more precise ways, as well as to increase their overall power.
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add a few
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* BrickJoke: Early in the novel, Alabaster tells Syenite that turning an orogene's power against them will have unpleasant results, but doesn't elaborate further. Near the end, we see [[spoiler: what this does to Innon, and it's not pretty]].
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* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Subverted. We don't see what happens to Jija until the second book.
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Continued in Literature/TheObeliskGate.
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Continued in Literature/TheObeliskGate.
''Literature/TheObeliskGate''.
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* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: The node maintainers, who are orogenes that live in constant agony thanks to surgical meddling with their sessapinae.]]
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* EatDirtCheap: The Stone Eaters, as you might guess.
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* CreatorInJoke: [[Literature/InheritanceTrilogy Once again]], the snobby imperialists have a history of [[spoiler: cannibalism]].
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* TheThreeFacesOfEve: The protagonists: Damaya, the child; Syenite, the seductress - [[spoiler: in that it is her job to have sex with Alabaster to produce an orogene]]; and the quiet Essun, known merely as Jija's wife. [[spoiler: Subverted in that they are all the same person, at different stages of her life]]
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* TheNightThatNeverEnds: The continent-shattering earthquake at the beginning of the book opens a volcanic rift continually pouring out enough ash to blot out the sun for thousands of years, kicking off an EndlessWinter.
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* TheThreeFacesOfEve: The protagonists: Damaya, the child; Syenite, the seductress - [[spoiler: in that it is her job to have sex with Alabaster to produce an orogene]]; and the quiet Essun, known merely as Jija's wife. [[spoiler: Subverted in that they are all the same person, at different stages of her life]]
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* Really700YearsOld: [[spoiler: Hoa]] is at least twenty-seven centuries old, but looks about eight.
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* UngratefulBastard: The people of Little Tirimo to Essun. They survived a literal world-ending earthquake with their homes and food supplies mostly intact because of her...and they try to kill her anyway because she's a "rogga".
* Really700YearsOld: [[spoiler: Hoa]] is at least twenty-seven centuries old, but looks about eight.
* Really700YearsOld: [[spoiler: Hoa]] is at least twenty-seven centuries old, but looks about eight.
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* UngratefulBastard: The people of Little Tirimo to Essun. They survived a literal world-ending earthquake with their homes and food supplies mostly intact because of her... and they try to kill her anyway because she's a "rogga".
* Really700YearsOld: [[spoiler: Hoa]] is at least twenty-seven centuries old, but looks about eight."rogga".
* Really700YearsOld: [[spoiler: Hoa]] is at least twenty-seven centuries old, but looks about eight.
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* OffingTheOffspring: Essun's husband to her son; [[spoiler: Syenite to her son Corundum, in order to keep him from being captured and mutilated]].
* OhMyGods: People swear by "Evil Earth".
* OhMyGods: People swear by "Evil Earth".
* PrecisionFStrike: [[spoiler:When Schaffa reminds Syenite that she is not allowed to say "no" to him, she responds with "fucking no!"]]
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* OffingTheOffspring: Essun's husband to her son; [[spoiler: Syenite to her son Corundum, in order to keep him from being captured and mutilated]].
* OhMyGods: People swear by "Evil Earth".
* OhMyGods: People swear by "Evil Earth".
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* MuggleBornOfMages: [[spoiler:Children of orogenes who don't have orogeny themselves become Guardians]].
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* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Jemisin acknowledges that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Garner Margaret Garner]], who [[TearJerker killed her own daughter rather that have her live as a slave]], inspired the novel.
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Continued in Literature/TheObeliskGate.
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* TheThreeFacesOfEve: The protagonists: Damaya, the child; Syenite, the seductress - [[spoiler: in that it is her job to have sex with Alabaster to produce an orogene]]; and the quiet Essun, known merely as Jija's wife. [[spoiler: Subverted in that they are all the same person, at different stages of her life]]
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* OhMyGods: People swear by "evil Earth".
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* OhMyGods: People swear by "evil "Evil Earth".
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----
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----
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Typos, and the people of Sanze are called Sanzeds, not Sanzites.
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''The Fifth Season'' is a 2015 novel by Creator/NKJemisin. In a world plagued by terrible earthquakes, the survival-obsessed Sanzite Empire rules, maintaining stability with the Fulcrum, an army of enslaved orogenes. These orogenes are born with staggering power, but are widely feared and hated, considered agents of the bitter, humanity-hating Father Earth.
For ten years, Essun has been living a peaceful life in a small town with her husband and two children--but all that changes when a massive earthquake cracks the continent down the center. Such disasters have happened before, but this one is the worst yet. After they unconsciously shield the town from the worst of the shake, Essun and her children are revealed as orogenes. Her husband beats her son to death and kidnaps their daughter, and Essun, with nothing else left to live for, chases him down in pursuit of revenge. But even that isn't simple. She is joined by a strange inhuman child, and it soon becomes clear that the past she's been hiding from isn't as dead she'd hoped...
For ten years, Essun has been living a peaceful life in a small town with her husband and two children--but all that changes when a massive earthquake cracks the continent down the center. Such disasters have happened before, but this one is the worst yet. After they unconsciously shield the town from the worst of the shake, Essun and her children are revealed as orogenes. Her husband beats her son to death and kidnaps their daughter, and Essun, with nothing else left to live for, chases him down in pursuit of revenge. But even that isn't simple. She is joined by a strange inhuman child, and it soon becomes clear that the past she's been hiding from isn't as dead she'd hoped...
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''The Fifth Season'' is a 2015 novel by Creator/NKJemisin. In a world plagued by terrible earthquakes, the survival-obsessed Sanzite Sanze Empire rules, maintaining stability with the Fulcrum, an army of enslaved orogenes. These orogenes are born with staggering power, but are widely feared and hated, considered agents of the bitter, humanity-hating Father Earth.
For ten years, Essun has been living a peaceful life in a small town with her husband and two children--but all that changes when a massive earthquake cracks the continent down the center. Such disasters have happened before, but this one is the worst yet. After they unconsciously shield the town from the worst of the shake, Essun and her children are revealed as orogenes. Her husband beats her son to death and kidnaps their daughter, and Essun, with nothing else left to live for, chases him down in pursuit of revenge. But even that isn't simple. She is joined by a strange inhumanchild, child and a mysterious homeless woman, and it soon becomes clear that the past she's been hiding from isn't as dead she'd hoped...
For ten years, Essun has been living a peaceful life in a small town with her husband and two children--but all that changes when a massive earthquake cracks the continent down the center. Such disasters have happened before, but this one is the worst yet. After they unconsciously shield the town from the worst of the shake, Essun and her children are revealed as orogenes. Her husband beats her son to death and kidnaps their daughter, and Essun, with nothing else left to live for, chases him down in pursuit of revenge. But even that isn't simple. She is joined by a strange inhuman
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* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Stone eaters take humanoid form in order to make interacting with their chosen orogenes easier. They are varying levels of good at it.
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* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Stone eaters take humanoid form in order to make interacting with their chosen orogenes easier. They There are varying levels of good at it.
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** More mundanely, Sanzites look down on other ethnicities, because Sanzite racial traits (hair that filters ash easily, wide hips, etc) are considered better for surviving apocalypses.
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** More mundanely, Sanzites Sanzeds look down on other ethnicities, because Sanzite Sanzed racial traits (hair that filters ash easily, wide hips, etc) are considered better for surviving apocalypses.
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* ImAHumanitarian: As it turns out, [[spoiler: the Sanzites]] were this during a particularly bad Season.
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* ImAHumanitarian: As it turns out, [[spoiler: the Sanzites]] Sanzeds]] were this during a particularly bad Season.
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That scene gives away characterization
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* AbusiveParents: Damaya's parents lock her in a barn in winter without a blanket, and were perfectly happy to hand her over to a man they thought would kill her. And Schaffa, once he becomes her ParentalSubstitute, ''breaks her hand'' to teach her a lesson. He does love her, but it's incredibly twisted and he would kill her in a heartbeat.
-->Schaffa: I will break every bone in your hand, every bone in your ''body'', if I deem it necessary to make the world safe from you.
-->Schaffa: I will break every bone in your hand, every bone in your ''body'', if I deem it necessary to make the world safe from you.
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* AbusiveParents: Damaya's parents lock her in a barn in winter without a blanket, and were perfectly happy to hand her over to a man they thought would kill her. [[spoiler: And Schaffa, once he becomes her ParentalSubstitute, ''breaks her hand'' to teach her a lesson. He does love her, but it's incredibly twisted and he would kill her in a heartbeat. \n-->Schaffa: ]]
-->[[spoiler:Schaffa: I will break every bone in your hand, every bone in your ''body'', if I deem it necessary to make the world safe from you.]]
-->[[spoiler:Schaffa: I will break every bone in your hand, every bone in your ''body'', if I deem it necessary to make the world safe from you.]]
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The name changes are spoilers. Any mention of someone changing their name should be labeled as such.
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* MeaningfulRename: Damaya takes the name "Syenite" when she passes her first ring test and becomes an active Fulcrum operative. Syenite is a stone that becomes stronger under heat and pressure, rather than breaking.
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* MeaningfulRename: [[spoiler: Damaya takes the name "Syenite" when she passes her first ring test and becomes an active Fulcrum operative. Syenite is a stone that becomes stronger under heat and pressure, rather than breaking.]]
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''The Fifth Season'' is a 2015 novel by N.K. Jemisin. In a world plagued by terrible earthquakes, the survival-obsessed Sanzite Empire rules, maintaining stability with the Fulcrum, an army of enslaved orogenes. These orogenes are born with staggering power, but are widely feared and hated, considered agents of the bitter, humanity-hating Father Earth.
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''The Fifth Season'' is a 2015 novel by N.K. Jemisin.Creator/NKJemisin. In a world plagued by terrible earthquakes, the survival-obsessed Sanzite Empire rules, maintaining stability with the Fulcrum, an army of enslaved orogenes. These orogenes are born with staggering power, but are widely feared and hated, considered agents of the bitter, humanity-hating Father Earth.
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* ApocalypseNow:
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* ApocalypseNow: ApocalypseHow:
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* BullyingADragon: How the people of the Stillness generally treat orogenes, even though they can control earthquakes and suck the heat and energy out of whatever is around them. The people of Tirimo, in fact, turn on Essun as soon as they realize what she is. It goes about as well of them as you'd expect. Alabaster actually lampshades this when the deputy governor of Allia fails to show him and Syenite any basic hospitality or politeness.
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* BullyingADragon: How the people of the Stillness generally treat orogenes, even though they can control earthquakes and suck the heat and energy out of whatever is around them. The people of Tirimo, in fact, turn on Essun as soon as they realize what she is. It is; it goes about as well of them as you'd expect. Alabaster actually lampshades this when the deputy governor of Allia fails to show him and Syenite any basic hospitality or politeness.
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-->'Alabaster': "We are merely here to wield powers greater than she can comprehend in order to save her region's economy, while she's-- She is a pedantic minor bureaucrat. But I'm sure she's a very important pedantic minor bureaucrat."
to:
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* BullyingADragon: How the people of the Stillness general treat orogenes, even though they can control earthquakes and suck the heat and energy out of whatever is around them. The people of Tirimo, in fact, turn on Essun as soon as they realize what she is. It goes about as well of them as you'd expect.
to:
* BullyingADragon: How the people of the Stillness general generally treat orogenes, even though they can control earthquakes and suck the heat and energy out of whatever is around them. The people of Tirimo, in fact, turn on Essun as soon as they realize what she is. It goes about as well of them as you'd expect. Alabaster actually lampshades this when the deputy governor of Allia fails to show him and Syenite any basic hospitality or politeness.
-->'Alabaster': "We are merely here to wield powers greater than she can comprehend in order to save her region's economy, while she's-- She is a pedantic minor bureaucrat. But I'm sure she's a very important pedantic minor bureaucrat."
-->'Alabaster': "We are merely here to wield powers greater than she can comprehend in order to save her region's economy, while she's-- She is a pedantic minor bureaucrat. But I'm sure she's a very important pedantic minor bureaucrat."
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* BullyingADragon: How the people of the Stillness general treat orogenes, even though they can control earthquakes and suck the heat and energy out of whatever is around them. The people of Tirimo, in fact, turn on Essun as soon as they realize what she is. It goes about as well of them as you'd expect.
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* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: Alabaster.]] Yes, causing the massive earthquake killed thousands if not millions of people and is going to kill even more. But it also destroyed the corrupt Empire and horrifically abusive Fulcrum, [[EndsJustifyTheMeans which was the point]].
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* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: Alabaster.]] Yes, causing the massive earthquake killed thousands if not millions of people and is going to kill even more. But it also destroyed the corrupt Empire and horrifically abusive Fulcrum, [[EndsJustifyTheMeans which was the point]].point.
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* TheParagonAlwaysRebels: Alabaster is the very best orogene the Fulcrum has ever trained. He also hates them, did ''something'' to his Guardian to get her out of the way (nobody knows what), gets the hell out the first chance he gets, and [[spoiler: causes the end of the world because he thinks it's the only way to break the Empire's power and destroy the Fulcrum for good]].
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* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: Alabaster.]] Yes, causing the massive earthquake killed thousands if not millions of people and is going to kill even more. But it also destroyed the corrupt Empire and horrifically abusive Fulcrum, [[EndsJustifyTheMeans which was the point]].
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For ten years, Essun has been living a peaceful life in a small town with her husband and two children--but all that changes when a massive earthquake cracks the continent down the center. Such disasters have happened before, but this one is the worst yet. After they unconsciously shield the town from the worst of the shake, Essun and her children are revealed as orogenes. Her husband beats her son to death and kidnaps their daughter, and Essun, with nothing else left to live for, chases him down in pursuit of revenge. But even that isn't simple. She is joined by a strange inhuman child, and it soon becomes clear that her past as Syenite, slave of the Fulcrum, is not as dead as she'd hoped...
to:
For ten years, Essun has been living a peaceful life in a small town with her husband and two children--but all that changes when a massive earthquake cracks the continent down the center. Such disasters have happened before, but this one is the worst yet. After they unconsciously shield the town from the worst of the shake, Essun and her children are revealed as orogenes. Her husband beats her son to death and kidnaps their daughter, and Essun, with nothing else left to live for, chases him down in pursuit of revenge. But even that isn't simple. She is joined by a strange inhuman child, and it soon becomes clear that her the past as Syenite, slave of the Fulcrum, is not she's been hiding from isn't as dead as she'd hoped...
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* OffingTheOffspring: Essun's husband to her son; [[spoiler: Syenite to her son Corundum, in order to keep him from being captured and mutilated]].
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* Really700YearsOld: [[spoiler: Hoa]] is at least twenty-seven centuries old, but looks about eight.
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-->But this is the way the world ends.
-->This is the way the world ends.
-->''This is the way the world ends.''
-->For the last time.
''The Fifth Season'' is a 2015 novel by N.K. Jemisin. In a world plagued by terrible earthquakes, the survival-obsessed Sanzite Empire rules, maintaining stability with the Fulcrum, an army of enslaved orogenes. These orogenes are born with staggering power, but are widely feared and hated, considered agents of the bitter, humanity-hating Father Earth.
For ten years, Essun has been living a peaceful life in a small town with her husband and two children--but all that changes when a massive earthquake cracks the continent down the center. Such disasters have happened before, but this one is the worst yet. After they unconsciously shield the town from the worst of the shake, Essun and her children are revealed as orogenes. Her husband beats her son to death and kidnaps their daughter, and Essun, with nothing else left to live for, chases him down in pursuit of revenge. But even that isn't simple. She is joined by a strange inhuman child, and it soon becomes clear that her past as Syenite, slave of the Fulcrum, is not as dead as she'd hoped...
----
!! ''The Fifth Season'' contains examples of:
* AbusiveParents: Damaya's parents lock her in a barn in winter without a blanket, and were perfectly happy to hand her over to a man they thought would kill her. And Schaffa, once he becomes her ParentalSubstitute, ''breaks her hand'' to teach her a lesson. He does love her, but it's incredibly twisted and he would kill her in a heartbeat.
-->Schaffa: I will break every bone in your hand, every bone in your ''body'', if I deem it necessary to make the world safe from you.
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Stone eaters take humanoid form in order to make interacting with their chosen orogenes easier. They are varying levels of good at it.
* AntiMagic: Guardians become Guardians because they're capable of doing this. An orogene can't even sense their footsteps.
* ApocalypseNow:
** Class 2: Humanity has already survived multiple iterations of the planetary/societal collapse, to the point that society is built around it. Everyone thinks they'll get through this one, too, except...
** Class 4: Unbeknownst to them, the artificial winter is going to last a whole lot longer and the world's not going to get back to normal for several thousand years.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Essun is an unobtrusive, unassuming woman whom most people in her village know as "Jija's wife". When they figure out she's an orogene and try to kill her, she snaps, kills her attackers and everyone else who was too close to her, and destroys half the town.
* BlessedWithSuck: In a world that is always seismically unstable, you'd think being able to control earthquakes would be great, but orogenes who don't know how to control their power can accidentally murder people by instinctively sucking the heat energy out of them to use as power, and they are widely hated and feared.
* BrokenAce: Alabaster is a ten-ringer, making him the Fulcrum's very best operative. But, since he works for the Fulcrum, he's been horribly abused for years, and he is cynical and self-hating. Oh, [[spoiler: and he's the one who caused the world-ending earthquake.]]
* ChekhovsGun: The floating obelisks.
* ChekhovsGunman: Binof Leadership Yumenes turns up later [[spoiler: as Tonkee]]
* DishingOutDirt: Orogenes, of course.
* FantasticRacism: Orogenes are widely viewed as subhuman monsters who'll go nuts and kill everyone around them at the drop of a hat. In fact, they were legally ruled ''not'' human a few thousand years before the start of the book. The hatred of orogenes is so strong that Essun's husband ''beats his three-year-old son to death'' because he thinks he is one.
**More mundanely, Sanzites look down on other ethnicities, because Sanzite racial traits (hair that filters ash easily, wide hips, etc) are considered better for surviving apocalypses.
* FakingTheDead: How Essun has stayed under the Guardians' radar. They think she died when [[spoiler: she blew up Meov]].
* FantasticSlurs: "Rogga" for orogenes.
* ImAHumanitarian: As it turns out, [[spoiler: the Sanzites]] were this during a particularly bad Season.
* InfantImmortality: Averted in the first ten pages; Essun's three-year-old son Uche has been beaten to death by his own father. Also with [[spoiler: her son Corundum]].
* MamaBear: Essun. [[spoiler: She was this as Syenite, too.]]
* MeaningfulRename: Damaya takes the name "Syenite" when she passes her first ring test and becomes an active Fulcrum operative. Syenite is a stone that becomes stronger under heat and pressure, rather than breaking.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Syenite, after she accidentally [[spoiler: wakes a volcano under the city of Allia]].
* ParentalSubstitute: Guardians often become this to orogenes, because they alone are not scared of them, so as long as the orogene isn't about to kill someone, they're safer with the Guardians than they are anywhere else. Unfortunately, that still [[AbusiveParents isn't very safe]].
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler: The "node maintainers" are lobotomized orogenes.]]
* OhMyGods: People swear by "evil Earth".
* UngratefulBastard: The people of Little Tirimo to Essun. They survived a literal world-ending earthquake with their homes and food supplies mostly intact because of her...and they try to kill her anyway because she's a "rogga".
* WizardingSchool: ''Horribly'' subverted. The Fulcrum may look like a school, but it's just a place to beat and brainwash young orogenes into becoming obedient slaves of the empire. Anyone who causes too much trouble or fails too much is taken away and [[spoiler: lobotomized]].
-->The Fulcrum is not a school. Grits are not students. Orogenes are not people.
* WouldHurtAChild: The Guardians, to a one.
* [[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My Son]]: And kidnapped her daughter. This is why Essun is chasing down her husband Jija.
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-->This is the way the world ends.
-->''This is the way the world ends.''
-->For the last time.
''The Fifth Season'' is a 2015 novel by N.K. Jemisin. In a world plagued by terrible earthquakes, the survival-obsessed Sanzite Empire rules, maintaining stability with the Fulcrum, an army of enslaved orogenes. These orogenes are born with staggering power, but are widely feared and hated, considered agents of the bitter, humanity-hating Father Earth.
For ten years, Essun has been living a peaceful life in a small town with her husband and two children--but all that changes when a massive earthquake cracks the continent down the center. Such disasters have happened before, but this one is the worst yet. After they unconsciously shield the town from the worst of the shake, Essun and her children are revealed as orogenes. Her husband beats her son to death and kidnaps their daughter, and Essun, with nothing else left to live for, chases him down in pursuit of revenge. But even that isn't simple. She is joined by a strange inhuman child, and it soon becomes clear that her past as Syenite, slave of the Fulcrum, is not as dead as she'd hoped...
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!! ''The Fifth Season'' contains examples of:
* AbusiveParents: Damaya's parents lock her in a barn in winter without a blanket, and were perfectly happy to hand her over to a man they thought would kill her. And Schaffa, once he becomes her ParentalSubstitute, ''breaks her hand'' to teach her a lesson. He does love her, but it's incredibly twisted and he would kill her in a heartbeat.
-->Schaffa: I will break every bone in your hand, every bone in your ''body'', if I deem it necessary to make the world safe from you.
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Stone eaters take humanoid form in order to make interacting with their chosen orogenes easier. They are varying levels of good at it.
* AntiMagic: Guardians become Guardians because they're capable of doing this. An orogene can't even sense their footsteps.
* ApocalypseNow:
** Class 2: Humanity has already survived multiple iterations of the planetary/societal collapse, to the point that society is built around it. Everyone thinks they'll get through this one, too, except...
** Class 4: Unbeknownst to them, the artificial winter is going to last a whole lot longer and the world's not going to get back to normal for several thousand years.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Essun is an unobtrusive, unassuming woman whom most people in her village know as "Jija's wife". When they figure out she's an orogene and try to kill her, she snaps, kills her attackers and everyone else who was too close to her, and destroys half the town.
* BlessedWithSuck: In a world that is always seismically unstable, you'd think being able to control earthquakes would be great, but orogenes who don't know how to control their power can accidentally murder people by instinctively sucking the heat energy out of them to use as power, and they are widely hated and feared.
* BrokenAce: Alabaster is a ten-ringer, making him the Fulcrum's very best operative. But, since he works for the Fulcrum, he's been horribly abused for years, and he is cynical and self-hating. Oh, [[spoiler: and he's the one who caused the world-ending earthquake.]]
* ChekhovsGun: The floating obelisks.
* ChekhovsGunman: Binof Leadership Yumenes turns up later [[spoiler: as Tonkee]]
* DishingOutDirt: Orogenes, of course.
* FantasticRacism: Orogenes are widely viewed as subhuman monsters who'll go nuts and kill everyone around them at the drop of a hat. In fact, they were legally ruled ''not'' human a few thousand years before the start of the book. The hatred of orogenes is so strong that Essun's husband ''beats his three-year-old son to death'' because he thinks he is one.
**More mundanely, Sanzites look down on other ethnicities, because Sanzite racial traits (hair that filters ash easily, wide hips, etc) are considered better for surviving apocalypses.
* FakingTheDead: How Essun has stayed under the Guardians' radar. They think she died when [[spoiler: she blew up Meov]].
* FantasticSlurs: "Rogga" for orogenes.
* ImAHumanitarian: As it turns out, [[spoiler: the Sanzites]] were this during a particularly bad Season.
* InfantImmortality: Averted in the first ten pages; Essun's three-year-old son Uche has been beaten to death by his own father. Also with [[spoiler: her son Corundum]].
* MamaBear: Essun. [[spoiler: She was this as Syenite, too.]]
* MeaningfulRename: Damaya takes the name "Syenite" when she passes her first ring test and becomes an active Fulcrum operative. Syenite is a stone that becomes stronger under heat and pressure, rather than breaking.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Syenite, after she accidentally [[spoiler: wakes a volcano under the city of Allia]].
* ParentalSubstitute: Guardians often become this to orogenes, because they alone are not scared of them, so as long as the orogene isn't about to kill someone, they're safer with the Guardians than they are anywhere else. Unfortunately, that still [[AbusiveParents isn't very safe]].
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler: The "node maintainers" are lobotomized orogenes.]]
* OhMyGods: People swear by "evil Earth".
* UngratefulBastard: The people of Little Tirimo to Essun. They survived a literal world-ending earthquake with their homes and food supplies mostly intact because of her...and they try to kill her anyway because she's a "rogga".
* WizardingSchool: ''Horribly'' subverted. The Fulcrum may look like a school, but it's just a place to beat and brainwash young orogenes into becoming obedient slaves of the empire. Anyone who causes too much trouble or fails too much is taken away and [[spoiler: lobotomized]].
-->The Fulcrum is not a school. Grits are not students. Orogenes are not people.
* WouldHurtAChild: The Guardians, to a one.
* [[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My Son]]: And kidnapped her daughter. This is why Essun is chasing down her husband Jija.
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