just because I wanted to. Not from the poster, not from the bedside books pile, but a trilogy that I got into and couldn't stop reading until I finished. That feeling of 'Don't interrupt me, I'm reading something compelling' doesn't come to me nearly as often as it used to, but I had it in spades with this.
This is The Broken Earth trilogy. It's not fantasy and it's not hard sci-fi, in fact it's difficult to classify but I suppose soft sci-fi is as close as it gets. The books are set on a planet like Earth, and which could indeed be a very future Earth. or just an alternative one, which periodically undergoes long, widespread and vicious periods of seismic instability. When these are particularly bad it leads to the declaration of what is called a 'Fifth Season', some of which have historically lasted for decades.
The books are ingenious, well written and have a compelling story line, but underneath they're about human folly and hubris, prejudice, and cycles of violence and hatred. They're also about ingenuity, adaptability and ultimately hope.
Highly recommended.
In another part of the forest I'm a long way through both a bedside book and a book from the poster but boy! are they both hard work.
I recognise that feeling - it’s something I feel less and less these days! I’ve heard good things about this writer, and if you enjoyed them, then I’ll give them a go 😁
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