{"id":5238,"date":"2020-07-24T05:00:44","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T12:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=5238"},"modified":"2020-07-13T10:56:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-13T17:56:13","slug":"mark-reads-the-broken-earth-chapter-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2020\/07\/mark-reads-the-broken-earth-chapter-20\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Broken Earth’: Chapter 20"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twentieth chapter of The Fifth Season<\/i>, Syenite asks for a change. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Broken Earth.<\/i><\/p>\n

Holy shit, THE TIME JUMP AT THE OPENING OF THIS CHAPTER. As I said in the Notes below, it really contextualized the Interlude. Two years<\/i>. Over two years have passed, allowing Syenite and Alabaster years<\/i> without the Fulcrum. Without Guardians. Without rules and missions and disrespect and hatred\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 years of relative peace. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to wrap my mind around that because life in the Stillness for orogenes is so wrought with conflict, as we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen, and here, on Meov, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not. At all! I wonder if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the reason why Syenite is so restless. Not that I disagree with her assessment; obviously, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bored, and she feels a bit trapped on this island. But she was also raised in a highly dysfunctional environment where she was expected<\/i> to constantly do things for other people as an orogene. Is there a part of her that craves that? Is she having a hard time adapting to freedom because she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so unused to it?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Just a thought. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually something that has any evidence in the text. So, instead, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll take this at face value: After years of taking care of her son, Corundum and becoming part of life on Meov, Syenite itches for more action. Thus, her only way out is piracy, and I am so thrilled that I get to type that sentence, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. PIRATES. There are pirates in this book, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d almost forgotten that. Lest you think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all joy, though, Jemisin doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore the risks present in how the Meovites survive. If anything, I almost felt like this was more<\/i> dangerous because of Syenite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence?<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting ahead of myself, though. Having read the whole chapter, I have a different grasp on Alabaster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reaction to Innon allowing Syen to go along with her. Hell, even the scene where Syen tries to convince Innon to take her on a raid feels different once I read it all through a different lens: These three people are in love. They absolutely are. And that makes me so happy, first of all, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a relationship structure that is so rare in fiction. I hesitate to label it as polyam because I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that this is exactly accurate. (It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an affection dihedron!) Rather, it is simply unlike the usual monogamous relationships we see in the world and in books. And considering that, Innon was trying to warn Syen, wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he? He loves her. He cares about her deeply. Yet there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a certain ruthlessness on the sea that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t leave much room for love and affection. In fact, the ending of this chapter wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have happened if there wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t love between Innon and Syenite, you know?<\/p>\n

That love has a different manifestation and meaning between Syenite and Alabaster, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s there, too. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why he asks what he does:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Will you come back?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From Alabaster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s point of view, Syen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s accomplished everything she needed: she has her freedom. She gave birth to their child, which they can leave with the people of Meov. And what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unspoken here? I think Alabaster developed a love for Syen that he was convinced was not reciprocal. I really do! Particularly because of this part:<\/p>\n

And now he turns to glare at her full-on, and it actually bothers her, the hurt and loneliness that lurk beneath the veneer of anger on his face. It bothers her more that this bothers her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I also don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to ignore that he angrily snaps at Syen, saying he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll remain behind for Coru. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an important part of this, too. He loves that child, clearly, so perhaps some of this tension is due to his desire to have Syen be a mother to Coru. He also knows he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to miss her, and right under the surface is a very real fear: He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to lose her. And he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want that! What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even more fascinating to me is that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read Alabaster as the more \u00e2\u20ac\u0153radical\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of the two of them, in terms of how willing he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been to challenge institutional knowledge, myth, and what Syenite insists is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153true\u00e2\u20ac\u009d about the world. But look at their conversation around their mutual apologies: Syenite knows deep down that what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s looking for is a way to change the world. Alabaster, on the other hand, wants to accept Meov as the best the world has to offer.<\/p>\n

One wants to move forward.<\/p>\n

One wants to stay put.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one hell of a conflict in one hell of an unusual relationship. Well, maybe unusual for us; maybe unusual for orogenes; but perhaps this is not<\/i> that unusual for the people of Meov? Maybe they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t practice monogamy at all<\/i>, and this is perfectly normal for Innon. I mean, shit, he seems real good at having sex with two people at the same time LOOK I HAD TO SAY IT, OKAY. That whole scene is so\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 loving? Considerate? Complicated, yes, since Syenite realizes she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only into sex with Alabaster through<\/i> Innon, not on her own. And who needs to label that? It brought happiness to Syenite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 for the time being.<\/p>\n

Because then: PIRATES. Not just pirates, but wow, what a RUSH it was to be out on the open sea, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first time that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happened in the whole book, and this chapter made me realize just how much time is spent on the ground and talking<\/i> about the ground. Which I get; this is The Broken Earth<\/i>. But that emphasis is so intentional on Jemisin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part, and I adored that this chapter gave us a scene where Syenite experiences two wonders, one after the other. She gets to see a massive sea creature in the ocean, one that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153seems amused by Syenite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s awe.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a gorgeous sequence that reminds us again that there is a world outside the Stillness, that life exists without the Fulcrum and without such a wretched system of exploitation.<\/p>\n

Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the world above. The only time the narrative looks up is when discussing an obelisk, but here, Innon teaches Syenite what stars are. God, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also beautiful and deeply intimate, especially because the sky held no real meaning for Syen. The earth is what matters. But this is all about her shifting perspectives, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now a mother; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now in love; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lived in freedom; she has choices. Real<\/i> choices! Not ones that are coerced out of her like the were with the Fulcrum.<\/p>\n

Which does make the end result of the pirating so uncomfortable. It was amazing to get to see Innon and the crew in action. It made it obvious how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been able to keep up this system for so many years. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re skilled as hell! They know exactly what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing, and by using the element of surprise and<\/i> confusion, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear how they could keep the mystery alive, too. Who were they? Where did they come from? There was no real way for anyone to find out.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is also why Syenite misjudges one of the ships in this raid. She has no experience with pirating, so after the Clalsu<\/i> boards the cargo ship, she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t anticipate the attack ship coming after them through the fog. Instinct kicks in, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an awe-inspiriting display of her knowledge and training. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a contrast, too, between what she can do and what Innon can, since he never had the rigorous training that allowed him to finely control his orogeny. So he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impressed, maybe a little fearful of Syenite after she sends a piece of bedrock into the deck of the attack ship. He also realizes that Syen wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t subtle enough, that this outright confirms the pirates have an orogene on their side, and so he gives Syenite an order:<\/p>\n

To sink both ships.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is only a little reluctance before Syenite complies, but that time is vital. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never killed on order like this. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also never had a motivation that is her own. Yes, Innon orders her, but she quickly realizes she has a family\u00e2\u20ac\u201da very odd one\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto protect. She has a home that she wants to stay her home for the time being. So she does as she is told, only with a muted sense of guilt for what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new for her, too. The Syenite we saw even three years prior probably wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have done this without a big fight. But she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s changed. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comfortable<\/i>. And that comfort made it easier for her to rationalize the death of the people who got raided.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think it also made it so that she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think of the ramifications of visiting Allia. I am only the tiniest bit proud of myself for figuring out that the Fuclrum left Allia as it was on purpose, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m mostly just terrified of what this is going to mean. Allia was left in a nightmare state, and my guess? The Fulcrum figured that Alabaster or Syenite survived, and one of them would return to the scene to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fix\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it. And maybe it was just one or two Guardians stationed there year round. (How they survived in Allia is another question.) I suppose that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even matter, because doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t this ruin everything?<\/i> God, the irony of Innon telling Syenite that he had to assure the crew that she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to kill them, and yet\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 fuck. The Fulcrum is going to know. Meov is no longer safe, is it?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SO WORRIED.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

NOTES<\/b><\/p>\n