The Fulcrum arranges for her to be taken away. When her parents realize she is an orogene, they have the leader of their community contact the Fulcrum. The heroine’s story begins when she is a child, named Damaya. At the same time, he is attempting to bring the world to an end, Essun has discovered that her husband has murdered their young son because he is an orogene. The novel begins with Alabaster’s act of splitting the continent and the chaos that follows. The three lives are interspersed so that the reader does not realize at first that these three personalities belong to the same woman at different points in her life. The author uses present tense to share the details of the lives of Damaya, Essun, and Syen. His intention is to destroy the world, and he asks Essun to help him succeed. Alabaster sets off an earthquake that almost splits the continent. At the end of the novel, the heroine is reunited with Alabaster, her orogene mentor. Essun believes the curse of orogeny comes to destroy her life when her husband kills one of her children because he has determined that the child has orogenic abilities. As Essun, she is married and the mother of two children. After learning just how cruel a life in the service of the Fulcrum can be, Syen imagines herself as Essun. The Fulcrum is a place where orogenes live and train. She gives herself the orogene name of Syenite (Syen) after she passes her first ring test in the Fulcrum. Knowing her past makes Damaya determined to become a stronger person. These powers instill fear and hatred in the people of Stillness toward the Orogenes.ĭamaya's family gives her away when she is a young child. Orogenes have the ability to stop shakes (earthquakes) and blows (volcanos). Jemisin, Damaya's search for acceptance is recorded through the three different lives she makes for herself as an orogene. The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Jemisin, N.

The fifth season novel