The Fifth Season, Prologue-Ch.6

    The intrigue which the prologue sets up followed by the steady flow of information and character decisions have most definitely given me an entirely new sci-fi series to read and get to know. From the very beginning, the manner in which Jemisin crafts the story beckons you forth along the path she lays out for you. From explaining the tectonically active continent known as the Stillness to the reader witnessing a cataclysm that will come to shape the fates of nearly all the main characters and what seems to be an entirely alien yet human looking creature emerge as a result; the prologue immediately introduces the world and the bigger mysteries it has to offer. For next six chapters we follow three different women, all of whom are members of a powerful race called Orogenes, humans who can control temperature and tectonic energy. The inhabitants of the Stillness despise them because of their potentiality for mass destruction and natural disaster; so any orogenes, otherwise noted by the slur rogga, are hunted by comm (village) mobs and killed. Essun presents this reality through the discovery of her own son, murdered by her husband and the reasoning is implied to be because of his powers. Essun's own powers are used to stop a quake from affecting her home comm, and are further used to take revenge on the comm for their ignorance and brutality towards her kind. Her display of power destroys the comm's water supply, a death sentence for the people, and continues to the south of the Stillness in search of her husband and her daughter. Another perspective on the orogenes is seen through the eyes of Damaya, who is collected from captivity of her parents by a Guardian, a member of a faction responsible for the oversight and control of orogenes in the Stillness. Guardians not only train and watch over the orogenes, they train themselves and learn the weaknesses of orogenes as a contingency in the event of a wildcat orogene episode. Damaya's guardian, Schaffa, tells her as much via a history lesson about an orogene that nearly slaughtered and crippled the Sanzed Empire who was defeated by the progenitor of all guardians. The collection of orogenes, known as the Fulcrum, is shown through the eyes of a third woman named Syenite. Her chapters give the reader a glimpse at the world of the Fulcrum, where all the collected orogenes and their guardians reside. The Fulcrum orogenes are ranked by rings, Syenite is a fourth ring orogene, and she is given the task of bearing the child of the highest ranking orogrene named Alabaster. As a tenth ring orogene, bearing his child would allow her to advance to fifth ring; such a rank grants orogenes greater autonomy through things such as private quarters and so on.

This book has grabbed my interest more than I first thought it would, the world is so intriguing and well-fleshed out. The way in which Jemisin allows the reader to recontexualize scenes upon learning the rules of the various orogene powers or the ways in which orogenes are oppressed allows for the book to feel like your always learning something new about the world.

What could be the meaning or commentary behind the catalystic powers of orogenes, and the fact that the central orogene of the story is a woman?