Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming book releases that I’m looking forward to. My WOW postings won’t be weekly, but they’ll come on Wednesdays when my blogging schedule is open and when I add a yet-to-be-published book to my wishlist. 

This Wednesday, I’m waiting on The Fifth Season, the upcoming new novel by fantasy writer N.K. Jemisin. Like Aliette de Bodard two weeks ago, I haven’t read any of Jemisin’s previous stories. But I’ve sorely been meaning to. Half a dozen fantasy readers have recommended her work over the past year, and now might be a good time, thanks to The Fifth Season.

What makes this a special WoW pick is that Jemisin is teaching a world-building class at this year’s Writer’s Digest Conference. I was already planning on attending the conference when her session was announced – and my jaw dropped when I saw the announcement. It feels weird to be ecstatic about attending a writing workshop by a fantasy writer I’ve never read before… But I can’t miss this!! And I know from past experience that session instructors often have their books on sale during conferences where they’re teaching. Maybe The Fifth Season might be available that weekend, along with Jemisin’s other books. 😉

The Fifth Season (The Broken Stone, Book #1)
N.K. Jemisin
Fantasy
Publication Date: August 4, 2015
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository / Goodreads

Synopsis:

This is the way the world ends. Again.

Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze — the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization’s bedrock for a thousand years — collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman’s vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.

Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Without sunlight, clean water, or arable land, and with limited stockpiles of supplies, there will be war all across the Stillness: a battle royale of nations not for power or territory, but simply for the basic resources necessary to get through the long dark night. Essun does not care if the world falls apart around her. She’ll break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.

What book(s) are you waiting on this Wednesday? Are you also looking forward to The Fifth Season?