I've read a lot of science fiction and fantasy novels over the years, too many to go through in one post. So I'm going to start with the most recent one I really enjoyed, and go back from there.

The Broken Earth trilogy starts with The Fifth Season, by N. K. Jemisin. All three books in the trilogy won the Hugo Award (the highest honor in science fiction literature, for those of you who don't know) for best novel for their respective years of publication, and for me, at least, those awards were well deserved.

The raw emotions in the series are incredibly intense, and I have to say, these books are not for the faint of heart. A lot of terrible things happen to the main characters, so if you're looking for a cheery set of books, look elsewhere.

However, if you're looking for a good set of books, pick these up. The worldbuilding alone is excellent, and so is everything else.

The trilogy takes place on an earth-like planet called The Stillness, in which for thousands of years, major earthquakes have distrupted the progress of civilization, causing what is known as a Fifth Season every few decades. These seasons are devastating, wiping out whole communities and making survival difficult at best - not unlike the classic example of a nuclear winter, except caused by earthquake-induced ash clouds and acid rain instead.

One of the only reasons humanity has survived for so long in this kind of situation is the existance of people called orogenes. Orogenes have the ability to draw in ambient energy to control the earth. In doing so, they create a torus, an area around them which usually becomes very cold, very fast due to the sudden lack of heat. They're universally hated by most people, mainly because they can just as easily cause an earthquake as stop one.

In order to keep the peace, orogenes are rounded up and taken to The Fulcrum, where they act as what could be considered well-treated slaves who are sent out to try and prevent Fifth Seasons, and to stop any other earth-related problems around the Stillness.

There's much more to the plot than that, and there's a lot I can't cover, including about the main character, due to spoilers.

The writing in these books is sublime, but also surprisingly unique. The books take place in the present tense, which is rare enough as it is, but they also employ the first, second, and third person voices at various points. This is something I've almost never seen before, and yet Jemisin does it masterfully. It's a breath of fresh air from the regular style of writing you often see in fantasy.

Anyway, that's my book review for today. I hope you enjoyed it, and see you next time!

Edit: Corrected on 08/21/2018 - This post previously stated that only the first book in the trilogy recieved the Hugo award for best novel; in fact, all three novels in the trilogy won best novel for their respective years of publication.