{"id":5223,"date":"2020-06-29T05:00:19","date_gmt":"2020-06-29T12:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=5223"},"modified":"2020-06-22T16:05:37","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T23:05:37","slug":"mark-reads-the-fifth-season-chapter-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2020\/06\/mark-reads-the-fifth-season-chapter-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Fifth Season’: Chapter 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the ninth chapter of The Fifth Season<\/i>, Alabaster and Syenite finally reach their destination, and I WAS NOT READY AGAIN. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Broken Earth<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For talk of consent<\/b><\/p>\n

This book, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s start with some worldbuilding stuff. I love that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting to see so very much of the Stillness in a short span of time. In particular, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad to get to see a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Coaster comm.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d How do they work? Is their community devised in a way that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vastly different from inland comms? Jemisin shows us that this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the only factor that can affect a comm; it also matters who is running<\/i> it. Of course, all of this is also filtered through Syenite, which adds another layer: we cannot ignore the extreme anti-orogene bias that she and Alabaster experience. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s everywhere! I was reminded (and wonder if this was an intentional thing) of sundown towns when that young man follows them out of one of the distant parts of Allia. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absolutely meant as a threatening thing, too; he was keeping an eye on them while<\/i> trying to intimidate.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We see more of this bias pop up at the lodging-house. As you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see in the notes below, I thought it tragically interesting that the Fulcrum is aware that the orogene are so hated that they provide extra money to those on missions so they can BRIBE people to get basic needs. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just built into their system!!! Does the Fulcrum ever work to break stereotypes or fight bias and discrimination? Of course not. This system works in their favor. As long as orogenes are hated\u00e2\u20ac\u201das long as it is deeply unsafe for them to be out in the world\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to come work with the only organization that will provide for them. (Somewhat, of course. Unless you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the upper rings, you still have limited \u00e2\u20ac\u0153freedoms.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d)<\/p>\n

Look also at the comm itself\u00e2\u20ac\u201dAllia\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand the interaction with Asael. It does feel significant that this comm seems to be run by new money\/wealth, that there is not a consultation with lorists in terms of construction and bureaucratic organization. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a beauty here that is aggressively arrogant. That sole balcony! The fact that there are six deputy governors! So, when you combine this with Asael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s place in a discriminatory society, you get the treatment that Alabaster immediately calls out. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fascinating scene because I can tell we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re seeing how radicalized Alabaster has become; he has very different ideas of what role orogenes should play in society. But that radicalism comes from the contrast with Syenite. Syenite is often scandalized by Alabaster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behavior; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never seen someone act as he does. He is bold in calling out Asael, and he seems unafraid to do so. Syenite, on the other hand, is used to a different existence, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t she? She could never have the power to do what Alabaster does.<\/p>\n

And I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see him as misusing his power for self-serving reasons. I mean\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 yes, he is being selfish. He wants better treatment, but that also includes Syenite. He also desires acknowledgment: this comm would fail without the work of orogenes, and thus, the orogenes should have a more elevated response, rather than the base level of dehumanization and exploitation they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re always met with. This whole exchange was incredible:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I would\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve thought you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like being treated like a human being for a change.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I do. But what difference does it make? Even if you pull rank now, it won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t change how they feel about us\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153No, it won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care how they feel. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to rusting like us. What matters is what they do<\/i>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Syenite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s response to this is important as well:<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all well and good for him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And I appreciated that acknowledgment. It is<\/i> entertaining to see Alabaster take people down, to demand respect or power or accommodation from people who would sooner kill an orogene rather than treat them kindly. But as a ten-ringer, Alabaster can get away with things Syenite cannot.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Well\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 alone. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m now piecing that together, too. What is possible changes once you shift your mind, and by the end of this chapter, something very dangerous, very new, and very frightening is now possible. The basis for it was laid before; we saw it in the previous chapter. But here, Alabaster takes the theory of parallel scaling and applies it in a way that is mind-blowing. Like, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even get what had happened until it was spelled out for me.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I should note, that for all my talk of what Alabaster could get away with, he still got poisoned. His power did not matter to the person who did it; to them, he was still just an orogene, right? I am assuming that Syenite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s theory is correct, that someone on the waitstaff did this, most likely furious because an orogene got their way and is staying there. Yet the attempt fails because of the way in which Alabaster uses his power in conjunction with hers to LITERALLY expel the poison from his body. The process is confusing, visceral, and it has to be. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like Alabaster gets Syenite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s consent; he latches on to her power while she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sleeping, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what jerks her awake. Hell, the whole process is intensely jarring, especially that moment where it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 viewing the world through her eyes?<\/p>\n

It should all be impossible, right? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what the text has established. Except it just happened. Alabaster is alive<\/i> because it definitely happened. And he also doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to tell her the truth out of fear that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll try it herself. Parallel scaling\u00e2\u20ac\u201da synchronization of orogene powers\u00e2\u20ac\u201dis fucking possible. Holy shit, do y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all realize what this means for this world? What happens when multiple orogenes learn that level of control? What can do they do? What change can they enact? This is like a fantastical metaphor for collective power, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? Is he going to teach her that level of control???<\/p>\n

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE OBELISKS?????<\/p>\n

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