19.41: A Close Reading on Structure: An Overview and Why Fifth Season

Writing Excuses

Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler

Fiction, Business, Careers

4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2024

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Just a reminder that we will be talking about a lot of spoilers, so if you haven’t read The Fifth Season, go and do so now! As we dive into N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season, we wanted to tell you why we chose this work to examine the importance of structure. The structure of the book is the device through which we are understanding this world, in a way that feels radical in relation to what we normally see in fiction. We chose this novel because the structure is visible and active in a way that many other works aren’t. Jemisin’s structurally audacious novel is punctuated by perspective shifts, parallelism, and innovative approaches to the forward movement inherent in stories. How does the structure affect the way we take in narrative, and what can you learn from this?

P.S. Do you want a signed special edition copy of The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin? Preorder The Orbit Gold Edition set before November 19th to get 20% off! Visit orbitgoldeditions.com to order.

Thing of the Week: Rest In Pieces

Homework: Look at the Table of Contents of The Fifth Season and, without opening the book again, write down the one important thing you remember from that chapter. As we talk through things, refer back to this list and see what you need to add.

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Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi friends, let me tell you about this very cool special edition of one of our close reads books for this season.
0:06.0	It's the orbit gold edition of the Broken Earth trilogy by N K Jimison.
0:11.0	This is so beautiful. The set includes, get this, an exclusive box illustrated
0:18.0	by Justin Cherry Nephilimancer, a signed copy of the fifth season, fabric-bound hardcover editions of the trilogy, gilded
0:27.2	silver edges, color-end paper art, oh my god, brand new foil stamped covers, a ribbon bookmark, and an exclusive bonus scene from the fifth season.
0:37.0	The bonus scene, I want it.
0:40.0	Just pre-order before November 19th to get 20% off and you can lock in your signed copy,
0:46.0	again I say, your signed copy of the fifth season.
0:50.0	Visit orbitgoldeded.com to order.
0:54.0	This episode of writing excuses has been brought to you by our listeners, patrons, and friends.
1:00.0	If you would like to learn how to support this podcast, visit
1:03.2	W.W. dot Patreon.com slash writing excuses.
1:09.7	Season 19, episode 41. This is writing excuses. A close reading on structure, an overview
1:19.2	and why the fifth season. 15 minutes long because you're in a hurry.
1:23.7	And we're not that smart.
1:24.7	I'm Mary Robinette.
1:25.7	I'm Don't Gunn.
1:26.7	I'm Aaron.
1:27.7	And I'm Howard.
1:29.2	And we are going to be reading and talking about the fifth season. I need to let you know that we are going to be
1:38.0	spoiling this up and down and sideways. You need to have read this book before you go into it unless you're
1:46.6	okay with spoilers in which case fair game have fun. But this is your warning all of
	...

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