I am left with a lot of questions after finishing Neon Yang’s The Genesis of Misery. The primary one being, “so what?” Described as a combination of Neon Genesis Evangelion meets retelling of Joan of Arc, I would say that Misery lives up to its promises. Yet, while I think this is an imaginative and strange novel that combines different stories in interesting ways, after finishing I can’t help but wonder what the point of all of it was.

Misery Nomaki is a nobody from a nowhere mining planet who possesses the rare stone-working powers of a saint (someone who can interact with the magical gemlike stones that litter the universe). With almost no preamble, we are thrown into Misery’s head mid-shenanigan and expected to hit the ground running. In almost no time flat, we find Misery at a secret government facility in a mech piloting school and in the cockpit of an otherworldly mecha and fighting a strange mysterious race of telepathic enemies. To top it all off, Misery seems to be possessed by a demon and falling into the role of crusade figurehead for a space church. So there is a lot going on, and not a lot of direction.

The word vomit that is the above description of Misery’s plot nicely encapsulates my biggest issues with the book. This novel feels more like Yang just threw a lot of cool worldbuilding elements into a pile and said “here you go.” Very few of the numerous plot elements introduced in this book are resolved. In fact, after the metric ton of them introduced at the start, we just keep getting more as the book progresses, almost all of which go unsolved. I can’t figure out if this is the start of a series (I pray it is), because if this is standalone please subtract 2 points from my final rating. I feel like I learned nothing while reading this book and instead just read a list of things that happened with no relation.

Flipping to the positives, we do have a few things going for Misery. The titular main character is great, even if her/their story is a bit insular. For about half the book, the only character that’s developed is Misery. For this first section, the supporting cast simply exists as background scenery to make Misery more cool and mysterious. This surprisingly works, and Misery is really cool. Even more surprisingly, the back 50% of the novel then rapidly develops several other bench-warming side chars to be reasonably interesting in their own right. This results in some truly strange pacing choices, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say the pacing is bad.

Misery’s greatest strength is in its worldbuilding, which kept my interest while other elements of the story flailed about. There is a sect of magic users in this world called Saints that can interact with tens of kinds of holy stones that all do different interesting things. The mechs that the crews pilot are eldritch in description and unnerving in a very fun way. Yang’s penchant for making cool locations for the pilots to fight is also very fun and I enjoyed the action set pieces a lot as well.

Flipping back to some negatives, the language/prose of the story had some real ups and downs. Yang is really good at building tension in dialogue and making scenes have a great atmosphere, but they picked some really weird naming conventions I did not enjoy. There are some really cool badass quotes and mixing of genre tropes, and some truly terrible analogies and metaphors. The descriptions are very evocative and helped me picture scenes perfectly, and there are some absolutely immersion-shattering colloquialisms thrown in randomly from time to time. In sum, a mixed bag.

While it has a number of positives in its corner, I really struggled to understand the underlying story and argument being presented in The Genesis of Misery. There are cool mechs, badass space rocks, and a protagonist with a holy mission that make it a good time. Yet the book failed to make me care about its story which is a burning problem that eclipses a lot of the good.

Rating: The Genesis of Misery – 4.5/10
-Andrew

The Genesis of Misery takes place in a world where religion and technology are at war with each other, and Misery finds themselves right in the middle of it as they go from believing they are sick to believing they can end the war for the side of the Faithful. Their journey is a very interesting character study in embracing the belief of a divine destiny which Yang makes clear as Misery’s personality and the way they think evolves with each new revelation. At the end of the book they were far from where they began in one of the most marking character arcs I’ve come across recently.

The rest of the cast of characters were equally interesting. Being an excellent reader of people, Misery gives us more insight into them and thus their journey than we would have otherwise. The most important sides characters are Ruin and Lightning, who become Misery’s companions in this journey. While first being perceived as a delusion, Ruin is central to moving along the plot by guiding Misery, whereas Lightning is there because she believes that Misery can fix the decadence festering at the heart of the Empire. Even more minor characters have moments of character development, though they all center around Misery.

The world of The Genesis of Misery is as fascinating as it is complicated. Yang creates an expansive civilisation with a religion that dominates every part of it, and one that is at war with a group of Heretics that believes everything comes down to technology. Though parts of it confused me, I was immediately sucked in and by the end had a decent grasp on how everything was set up, especially as later revelations give a much more complete picture than the black and white narrative the Church tries to present.

Neon Yang’s writing is another feature that stood out in the book. Having a Joan of Arc reimagining set in a space opera is fascinating enough, but then they go on to do interesting things with gender and sexual identity with just about every character. Though a religious society, the Empire doesn’t supress the expression of gender with characters being introduced by their name and pronouns, and the use of several neo-pronouns. It’s especially interesting when it comes to Misery who initially goes by she/they pronouns and later embraces a third type in certain situations. Yang paints a world of acceptance that explains certain subtleties while leaving others up to the reader to understand, and it’s something I’ve rarely come across.

Another thing that stood out to me was how Yang used their sex scenes. While most fade to black, the ones that do appear on page are focused primarily on the character development they bring on, with the act being a secondary thought. While there aren’t many, they are poignant and left an impression.

The writing itself was also different to what I’m used to as it also followed Misery’s character arc. What started out as fast paced, almost gritty sentences that reflected Misery’s state of mind started taking on a more sermonising tone as the religious element became more and more prominent. It was easy enough to follow, getting lyrical at times though without being overly tiresome.

As for the plot, The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang embraces the space opera genre and marries it with the history surrounding Joan of Arc, giving a fast paced yet wholly satisfying novel. The first scene is an escape scene and that sets the tone for the rest of the novel as winning the war against the Heretics becomes, in Misery’s view, something that can finally be achieved and must be done fast.

Overall I enjoyed The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang, first for its creative character studies and interesting writing conventions and second for the plot. Yang gives us a world where the diversity of gender and sexuality are simply a part of life rather than being a contentious point, while the backdrop of a centuries’ old war sucks the reader in from the beginning. I look forward to seeing where this series goes, especially in light of the last quarter of the novel.

It doesn’t take much more than ‘morally grey queer folks with mechs in space’ to get me to read a book, and true to form, I waited with bated breath for The Genesis of Misery. This trilogy opener packs a punch with its baked-in religious zealotry, delusions (or are they?) of grandeur, and a protagonist who defies easy labeling of any sort.

Fans of Gideon the Ninth—the first book specifically, not necessarily The Locked Tomb trilogy as a whole—will find a lot to enjoy in this one. A sci-fantasy setting, dogmatic religious institutions as government, a narrative voice that borrows from popular internet slang (yeet, f**k around and find out, etc), and a protagonist whose impulsive behavior is all about reaching heaven through violence all contribute to an adventurous, sometimes brutal ride.

Misery themself was, as you may guess from the title, the star of the show and easily the most developed character. I have a fondness for grifters and charlatans, and Misery is certainly that at her introduction. They are mean, ambitious, opportunistic, headstrong, and ultimately captivating; I was compelled by her journey. The character arc across the course of the novel was intriguing and believably executed and I am curious to see where it will go next.

The enemies to lovers romance was great and took some surprising turns I definitely wasn’t expecting. Lady Alodia Lightning is the definition of a hot mean princess, and while I freely admit to my weakness for that particular archetype, she had enough development to make her more robust and intriguing than a simple trope.

The Genesis of Misery also presents a seamlessly queernorm world, and in particular, goes out of its way to normalize multiple subsets of nonbinary identities. I found this refreshing, as well as the normalizing of introducing a character by their pronouns in the narration. This seemed to be a sticking point for other reviewers, but to me, it really isn’t much different than taking the time to introduce oneself in the real world and including your pronouns.

There were a few critiques I had of this novel. I really wish we’d gotten worldbuilding that was a bit more fleshed out, but from my understanding, this is the first book in a series, so there is likely more to come. Additionally, I wish characters aside from Misery were more developed. They’re one of the only characters who I got a true sense of personality and motivation from—in addition to her delusion, Ruin, oddly enough. The story-within-a-story format also felt more like a vehicle to be able to ‘tell’ away some of the time gaps instead of showing them and felt a little clumsy besides. Also, I wanted more mechs, but because of [spoilers redacted] I am reserving judgment on that front.

Fun, fast-paced, and at many points dark and harrowing, The Genesis of Misery was an entertaining ride from start to finish. Fans of queer space opera with intentionally and delightfully problematic characters will likely find a lot to enjoy in this novel.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

Born on a small planet about as far from the Capital as possible to a voidmad mother, Misery Nomaki is convinced she was born void sick as well. What else could explain her odd gift with holystone, her ability to read everyone around her, and the hallucination of a holy angel who showed up just as she came of age? Listening to that delusion has unfortunately landed her in the thick of it - escorted by her territory's Duke to the heart of empire to be tested for Messiah-hood. Misery isn't about to have her fraud found out, but running will only get her so far and that's only the beginning of her troubles.

<i>The Genesis of Misery</i> is a queer sci-fi epic interrogating religious themes wrapped up with a mecha space fight bow. Yang does a fantastic job of developing a unique world with a complex history and nuanced politics (even if the lead character bulldozes right through them all). One of the neatest things I personally enjoyed was Yang's use of introductory pronouns as standard when Misery met new characters. While Yang's centering character's pronouns in their introductions stood out at first, it quickly won me over. No doubting if I misread the author's intent or skipped a descriptor on accident!

For my tastes it was a little too heavy handed on the obviously Catholic inspired religion. While the overall novel was a meta narrative on religious zealotry, spending so much time in Misery's POV as she bought further and further into her prophetically ordained Messiah status made the book a sometimes tedious read for this never been Catholic reader.

Overall this novel was a solid read that I would recommend to sci-fi fans who like difficult, sometimes unlikeable lead characters and interrogations of religious fanaticism. This wasn't quite my thing but I'll definitely be checking out Neon Yang's work in the future.

Misery Nomaki (she/they) hears the voice of God, but thinks it's a hallucination brought on by hereditary space exposure. Survival depends on mastering the holy mech they are supposedly destined for, and convincing the Emperor of the Faithful that they are the real deal. While Misery thinks this is a con, is it really? What if they really do hear God?

Neon Yang wrote this reimagining of Joan of Arc’s story as a space opera, using giant robots to explore the nature of truth, belief, and reality. With a broad array of sexualities and genders, Neon's writing is now at novel length. They were shortlisted for many sci-fi awards, with short fiction published in many of the sci-fi and fantasy markets. If their name sounds familiar, that's why.

As a space opera at heart, there will be terms and names that make your brain sputter in confusion. Just go with it, the meaning will soon be clear enough. We open with someone asking an angel for Misery's story, to make sense of things, which explains the omniscient narration and the interludes that explain some of the backstory of humanity going into space, how the Church of the Faithful was created and how the Heretics split off. The holy war between them is officially at a truce, and there are stones that can be manipulated by those considered saints or are holy parts of the Church. There are also those infected with the Void, the emptiness and mutated aspects of space. It gets into the mind first, creating hallucinations and then personality changes before completely obliterating the human form with mutations and violence. From the start, Misery is aware of the void sickness inside her, as she has a hallucination following her and running commentary or telling her what to do; this sickness had also killed her mother years ago. But she is able to manipulate the holy stones, changing their shapes or moving through their doors, so everyone believes she is the next Messiah that was prophesied. She must train to use the mechs in combat against remaining Heretic forces while not really believing in her own hype. Her goal is survival, and if the rest of humanity survives too, that's a bonus.

The complexity of the characters really drew me in, even when I had very little idea what was going on at first. Misery had such fire and emotion in the beginning, and the relationship they had with Ruin, the principal hallucination, was fascinating. Then the interactions with the others, the clear parallels with Catholic doctrine, and the mechas in battle were fun to read. The mechas are seraphs, in keeping with the theme of holiness and piety, and I had the Neon Genesis Evangelion angels in mind as I was reading. It's definitely an influence as much as Joan of Arc's story. At the height of Misery's arc in the book, she begins to believe she's the Messiah, that she carries the message from the Forge and is of true belief. The transformation in her and others around her is interesting to see, even as the betrayals are, too; no space opera is without them, and this one is no different. A galactic Empire doesn't want to be thwarted, and that's all Misery plans to do in her belief that she answers to a higher authority. Overall, it's a great and satisfying sci-fi story, also leaving you with more questions at the end of it.

While this book had an interesting world and jaw droppingly gorgeous cover, it really felt like it should have been a novella. After looking into the author's other works this is their first novel after writing only novellas, so it kind of makes sense. The last third of the book was gripping, but everything before that was exceedingly boring.

I was lucky enough to get and advance copy of "The Genesis of Misery". Set in the far future after humankind has left Earth, there is a holy civil war between the ordained of the Forge and the Heretics.
Humans, after a devastating attack by the AI on their colony ship, find a new god in the stars who shows them the ways of the Holy Stone that allows them to replace their technology and save themselves with tech built from stone imbued with different properties. After a schism in the faith, there has been a decades long war with a tenuous truce. Into this barely held peace Misery Nomacki burst forth to destroy a brigade of enemy ships with a ship they stole at the bidding of their "illusion" Ruin.
Thus begins her journey of Misery from street rat to potential messiah ordained by prophesy.
I really enjoyed this book and the interplay of religion and monarchy set against the backdrop of an interstellar war with mechs and ships fighting. Plenty of political maneuvering and also a good dose of military SciFi built in. A very fun read and was definitely something that kept .y interest once I got started.

I'm very sad, I thought this book was going to be amazing and it just… kind of falls short.

Misery was such a fun MC at the start of the book, everything I loved. She was snarky, she took no shit, she was full of chaotic goblin energy, and GODS she would rock your shit. It was so much fun to follow someone who hated the destiny they were being thrown into, who would've been a Messiah of circumstance! But then, Misery gets subdued and then changed entirely. The MC I fell in love with turns into something a little robotic and it's rather eerie. It feels sudden, all of that Misery that drew me in suddenly gone. It was a rather slow change, but the whole time I was hoping she would've pulled herself back, had a little bit of that chaotic energy. I can see where it comes into play for the book, that fanaticism makes you lose who you are, but it's just difficult when it happens to the biggest thing meant to tie you into the book.

It got boring.

I loved the world in this book, so rich and so intriguing. The null void, void sickness, the forge, even that little bit about how this "society" in space was formed was all so cool! The little bit of horrific elements surrounding Misery's mother's demise made me widen my eyes and shudder. I had to take a moment and reread that beautiful and haunting language because it was just so good. The void sickness was probably some of my favorite lore in the entire story, obviously making the Doctor one of my favorite characters. Something creepy is something so intriguing in a religious setting.

Where this book lost me though was when the characters, other than Misery, became more of props for her to react to instead of fleshed out characters she could have truly interacted with. Misery has a team and you see all of them arguing, no way in hell they're going to get along, and that's usually exciting because it makes room for the found family trope, it makes room for that intensive, character building moments I love in a story. But then an Interlude is inserted, I'm told weeks pass, and suddenly everyone on the team is buddy-buddy? Nope. Not for me. All that growth and group building that could've been done was blinked away and it really, really lost me. I wanted to experience it with them, not just nod my head along and accept it.

And it's not like that's the only time it happens. Lines like: Together they've endured so much since the violence of their first meeting…" rings hollow because all of that enduring went on behind the scenes. All I got to see was the characters being angry with one another. Timeskips and forcing me to believe friendships have grown when there wasn't a solid base level to begin with just doesn't work.

I loved the pronouns thrown in, that this society was so queernorm was phenomenal, especially in sci-fi where authors claim progressiveness in their story but you can see they don't really care. It took a minute to get used to but from the start I appreciated it (ideal world!). The writing was a little bit clunky, though. It took a while to get used to and while I did like the Interludes at first, these beautiful breaks of lore dumping that made me engrossed in the world, I came to dread them because it meant time lost with the characters.

The ending… oh boy. The ending. Don't I feel stupid. It felt like everything that happened between the beginning and the end was all pointless. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't like it when books treat the reader like they're stupid. Sure, it was poetic to have it end where it began, that was honestly a really good part and I enjoyed it thoroughly, but my god. The journey to get there? A whole bunch of nothing happened.

All in all, this book was a disappointment for me. It had so much potential but seemed to lose itself along the way. Some of the rushed character development was really frustrating and almost had me quit the book because it's why I'm reading, to get those small moments that never came or were brushed aside.

The Genesis of Misery is not a queer retelling of Joan of Arc in space, but it also kind of is (…innn sppaaaaace). Let’s review a few things about the Patron Saint of France: during the 100 Years War (1337 – 1453), Joan was a peasant teen-aged girl who had visions and heard voices which she believed were divine. She led the French to victories against the English. But after some losses, she was captured by the English, tried for heresy, and executed by being burned at the stake. Her class and gender made her an improbable military leader, and also made her easy to abandon by her allies. I probably missed ways in which The Genesis of Misery uses elements of the Joan of Arc story, and how it differs.

We know as soon as we meet Misery Nomaki (she/they) that everything we are about to read has already happened. The bulk of the story is told from Misery’s perspective via an omniscient narrator. We get Misery’s unfiltered truth, but the framing allows us to know from the outset that there is more than what Misery knows happening. Yang is playing with a lot of things, most notably – the chosen one. We know Misery is the chosen one and she is guided by something only she can see and hear. Misery struggles with that idea and assumes it is a delusion at first. They are torn between skepticism and faith. What’s unclear is what exactly has chosen Misery and for what purpose. Misery is the chosen one and the protagonist, but not a hero.

I don’t want to reveal too much, so I will say Misery is a fascinating character – profane and calculating, a grifter who becomes a fanatic. For all the the narrator kept me at a certain distance, the story is engrossing and heartbreaking. One of the things that occurs to me as I write this – I never gave a single thought to whether or not Misery is likable while I read. I don’t think their likability is ever supposed to be considered.

Rebecca Roanhorse compared this to Gideon the Ninth, and I think that’s a good comparison. This is a world that unfolds over the book so that even at the last page I was still putting pieces together. The explosive mix of politics and religion is central to the story. There are machinations happening inside of machinations and the people who think they are the chess grandmasters are really pawns. It’s also bananapants and full of mecha space battles, star crossed lovers, a space princess (the luminous Lady Alodia Lightning), conspiracy and betrayal.

I think this is the start of a trilogy (please). Like [redacted], I am left with more questions than answers. And I want more time in and with this universe.

CW: war, battles, mass murder, injury, body horror, imprisonment, religion, death of parent, illness, grief.

I received this as an advance reader copy from Tor Books and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

The Genesis of Misery was certainly a unique story, no question! (Also, can we please take a minute to stare at the cover? It is kind of perfect.) I enjoyed the story quite a bit, though I would have liked a bit more from the worldbuilding. Let's break it down!

What I Liked:

►Misery!Misery felt like such a wonderfully morally gray character, and you know those are my faves. For awhile, neither Misery nor the reader knows whether they are experiencing madness or sanctity, which makes for quite a ride.

►I also enjoyed the relationship between Misery and Alodia. Misery seemed so... alone before they met the others, especially Lady Alodia. So it was wonderful to see them connect, because it just felt like Misery absolutely needed something else to fight for, someone else to care about- since Misery wasn't so sure that their own life was worth saving even.

►It is definitely high stakes and high octane. I loved that there was such a good amount of action to this book, and things did not seem to be going great in this world. Everyone was at war, and Misery doesn't have any confidence she will make it out alive- and frankly, neither does the reader! I love that it isn't a guarantee, not by a long shot, that the characters will be victorious.

►I loved the way the story was told! Not by Misery or her counterparts, but by some unknown entity, though it is also told as Misery's story, from her own thoughts. I thought it was quite unique, to have both the thoughts of the main character, but this outside knowledge too. Clever, really. And I loved that there were bits of humor infused throughout, too.

What I Had Trouble With:

►The world... I just did not have a good grasp on it. Like I mentioned, I just didn't get the full picture of the world. There seems to be a pretty significant fantasy element at play, though I wasn't totally sure about it, either. There is clearly a lot of political and religious machinations at play too, which at times made the world as a whole feel overwhelming.

►I probably would have felt more invested if characters other than Misery and Alodia had been more developed. See, when someone is trying to save a society, I kind of need to care about said society? I don't really know who we're hoping to save, except for Misery and Alodia (who I certainly wanted to be saved, don't misunderstand!) and I think a deeper connection to more characters would have been helpful here.

Bottom Line: I liked the characters, the style of narration, and that it was a high stakes space adventure. But I have no idea what the world is, not really.

Perfect for Gay Space Opera fans.

Neon Yang throws you head first into the story of Misery Nomaki and their rebellion against the Capital. She is a nobody from an outer rim planet but she has the powers of a saint. It isn’t quite the blessing it seems, these powers come with mental deterioration, or voidmadness. An angel, or a convincing delusion, lead Misery into the heart of the empire. They join a group of outlaws and outcasts to put the nefarious work of the Capital’s nobility to an end.

Plot: 4.5/5
God I love me some space opera. We are dropped right into the action and conflict. The plot moves at a pretty steady pace but I felt that there was a bit of a lag in the latter first half. Things really picked up by the end.
The concept is brilliant and well executed. There’s a strong religious presence but not in a way that triggered any catholic centered religious trauma for me. Reading from the perspective of a Messiah who doubts herself is fascinating and it makes me at the read question what is going on basically the entire time.


Characters: 4.5/5
Misery Nomaki has the spunk and fighting savvy of my dear Gideon Nav. Her inner monologue, as told by the storyteller, is so engaging. She has a classic case of foot in mouth syndrome that gets her into trouble.

The Lady Lee Alodia Lightning has an RBF that would rival one Harrowhark Nonagesimus and I fell for her on sight. The connection between them was very much dislike to lovers but I think it was a very sudden switch.

The side characters are strong and well developed, we see glimpses of their lives progressing unrelated to Misery’s journey. And we also see how their pasts have affected who they are.

Writing: 5/5
The personality that comes through Yang’s writing is unreal! I am fascinated with their style and I am so eager to read more of their work.

Everyone had Zie/Hir pronouns until proven otherwise and I think every neo pronoun ever imagined was included in the book. Which was admittedly a little overwhelming at first cause there was already an entire new dictionary of words and facts I was trying to keep track of. But once I got into the book, the pronouns weren’t distracting in anyway and it added a layer of depth that just makes sense in a science fiction book.


Worldbuilding: 4.5/5
For a fantasy book, the world building is not overbearing. Its set up like someone is telling the story and already has an understanding of the world they live in. Did this leave me a little confused by some terms and concepts? Yes. Did it take away from the story? Not at all. The universe is complex and well developed over the course of the book.


Overall: 4.5/5

So so much of this book reminds me of the iconic Gideon the Ninth. They’re different in so many ways and the comparison lies really just in the personalities of the main characters and the heavy religious themes. Because while it reminds me of other books in ways, Genesis of Misery is unlike anything I’ve ever read.

I tried to like this book. I loved the Tensorate books, I really thought this one would be great too because of how good those were. I slogged through 48%. It was boring. It was slow. I’ve got too many good books to read. Sometimes I get this far in a book and can say oh, it’s not for me but if you like a, b, c you might like this book. I can’t think of the right reader for this book… I know this is going to be just right for some people so I’m going to just delete this title from my Goodreads page. I’ll try the next series this author writes. The Tensorate books were so good…. I’ll try this author again with their next series because of how good those were.
This is the second ARC I just haven’t been able to force myself to finish out of nearly 300 between NetGalley and Edelweiss.

I adore Neon Yang's work and I'm so grateful to the author, publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this early.

The story follows Misery on a journey from her oppressive, out of the way home world to the capital and beyond. A strong willed character, she comes to an understanding of her place in this world ruled by religion, monarchy and propaganda that takes her into wild space mech battles and the heights of the war against the heretics.

I love the lushness of this world and the magical system where stones have different powers that can be manipulated by those chosen. It's a complex and fascinating magical system that may well be scifi? I like the ambiguity. This book has a strain of mystery that kept me intrigued and interested.

Bold writing and a twisted plot. Highly recommended

[Review also posted on Goodreads, Instagram post to come closer to release date]

- THE GENESIS OF MISERY is a space opera retelling of the story of Joan of Arc, and I was totally gripped by it. The book is quite slow paced, but Yang's writing style is so gorgeous and the universe so compelling that I couldn't stop.
- Misery is such an intriguing protagonist. I don't want to give away too much plot, but following her character arc had me riveted.
- I adored the baked-in queerness of this universe. Dual pronouns, neopronouns, a variety of sexualities and genders, and even a bit of polyamory.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I haven’t read Neon Yang before, but I’ve been interested in their work for a while. The premise of The Genesis of Misery immediately caught my eye, promising a Joan of Arc retelling, but as a space opera. Some reviewers have also drawn comparisons to Gideon the Ninth, and while I struggled to get into that book at the time I attempted to read it, I recognize the similarities while also enjoying this book on its own merit.

It’s a very character-focused story, which doesn’t always work for SFF, and I did sometimes feel a bit mixed about it here. There were times where I did wish there was more development to the world building, it’s still quite fun to explore things from a more insular perspective, instead of having a whole bunch of concepts and people thrown at you all at once. There are some narrative choices that you need to figure out as the story goes on, but I liked them overall.

One thing the story does incredibly well for its cast is allowing for its inclusivity, including letting that be a rare feature of the world culture that does stand out. The blurb establishes Misery’s non-binary identity, but I love how casually each character within the book is about the nature of identity and pronouns within the narrative. And while Misery is very much the focus, there is some development for the supporting cast, like Misery’s romantic interest, Lady Alodia Lightning.

Misery is a pretty cool character to follow. They can be messy at times, blaming others for their mistakes (even the more fatal ones), and can be very selfish. This is juxtaposed well against their growing awareness of their powers, which makes Misery a compelling, flawed hero to follow on this journey.

This is a solid read, and I’m excited to hear this is the start of a trilogy. If you enjoy queer SFF with a somewhat more introspective feel, I recommend checking this out!

As a huge fan of Neon Yang’s Tensorate novellas, I’ve been very eagerly awaiting this first novel from them and The Genesis of Misery does not disappoint, pulling together a whole bunch of worldbuilding elements that combine seamlessly into an outstanding action-y space read. There’s the Catholic religious vibes (the one liner for the novel is “Joan of Arc in space”); the ritualistic, authoritarian trappings of empire around that which call to mind Yoon Ha Lee’s Hexarchate or Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch; and the giant sacred space robots and the battles between the Empire’s space robots and the forces of the rebel Heretics – smaller in number but able to engage in more novel formations thanks to said heresy. Add to that the plucky squad of variously damaged folks brought together around the promise of a bold new strategy – with a special shout-out to the haughty but hot space princess, initially out for her own political gain, forced to undergo a crash course in humility – and then, into the middle of it all, throw one (1) absolute mess of a human called Misery Nomaki. It’s a lot, but we’re in very safe hands with Yang’s storytelling, and the combination of Misery’s narrative voice and the regular interludes by a third party narrator make for a powerful prose combo.

There’s a lot of things I could pull out to talk about (and would, if this were a full length review), but what I love most about The Genesis of Misery is Misery themself. Misery’s journey has a lot of familiar storytelling beats, and yet the setting and their choices combine to make something that feels quite fresh, from the moment we meet them, on the run and apparently suffering from beginning of the same illness (voidmadness, aka another fantastic concept) which killed their mother, to their co-optation by elites within the empire who compel them to play the part of a prophet even when they are convinced they are a fraud, to the actual awakening of their powers and the impact this has on their religious beliefs and their role within the system that’s trying to use them. (As a side note, Misery uses she/they pronouns, with the book sticking mostly to having Misery call themself “she” in narration and everyone else use “they”. This definitely isn’t how all non binary folk use multiple pronouns, but it’s the first time I’ve seen a character depicted using more than one pronoun by choice at all, and that’s a long overdue thing). Misery’s journey in this first book of a trilogy doesn’t end up where I expected it to from the tropes at play here, but that makes me even more intrigued about what comes next, and I’m excited to see more of this world.

I started reading the Tensorate series earlier this year and I loved the first book. I was super excited when I saw that Neon Yang was coming out with a novel this year. I was lucky enough to receive and ARC and that is partially what makes this entire review so painful for me to write. I could hardly get through any of it. It falls victim to one of my largest pet peeves.

One of the largest pet peeves of mine: I hate third person present. Third person past, fine. First person present, readable. Third person present makes me want to yeet whatever I’m reading off a mountain. I hate it so much. However, because we have an unreliable narrator because we’re unsure at the beginning if Misery is a saint or voidmad, there is a purpose. I just wish that my brain didn’t keep trying to rewrite the whole thing in the past tense. For me, it’s really distracting. Also, it makes the whole thing come off as telling and not showing. We’re being told what Misery is doing and what is happening to them as it happens. There are some short interludes told in past tense, but the bulk of the book is told in present. That disclaimer aside, there are a lot of interesting things going on here that many readers will greatly enjoy and I probably would have if I hadn’t found it virtually unreadable.

The world is queer-normative is in the best way. Everything is accepted, normal and never vilified. There is so much great representation ranging from non-binary, pansexual, sapphic, neopronouns… you want it, it is somewhere in here. The cast of characters is vast and I feel like they’re supposed to be colorful, but the writing makes me feel quite removed from them. I never really felt attached to them and Misery’s ability to “know” things about characters never made me feel closer. It just made me feel told about them. Speaking of Misery, I think they are going to be a point on contention among readers.

Misery often comes off as selfish, arrogant, and manipulative. I understand that she is just trying to survive this whole ordeal, but I know that people who have to have a likable main character are going to have some issues with her. She is fun to watch, but feels a little larger than life and unrealistic to a point with me. She’s interesting to read about, but I would probably want to murder her in real life.

When I first read about this book, giant robots/mecha were mentioned and I knew immediately that I had to read about it. Books with giant mech are something that I want so much more of than I am getting in life and I grew up on Gundam and Evangelion. This gave me those large and expansive mech battle vibes and action sequences, but still somehow left me craving more. However, I think these action sequences were some of the stronger parts of the book. I almost forgot the tense it was written in while I was reading it.

Overall, this is easy for me to recommend to fans of chosen one/messiah characters, giant mechs, religion heavy world-building, and unreliable narrators. If you love third person present, or at least don’t loathe it like me, this could also be a very successful read for you. Also, a queer-normative world on the grand scale of a space opera is going to be worth a look for many readers. I’m still going to finish the Tensorate series, but I’ll be a little more watchful when it comes to tenses for my future reads from Neon Yang.

Okay, wow, where do I start? Yang's writing style is absolutely beautiful; almost romantic in how they describe things, without being over the top or over done. The repetition of certain thoughts is appropriate for the change in Misery throughout the book, in how she accepts and contextualizes things. I fully bought into her development and rationalizations - and those that I didn't, I understood how Misery got there and why. Yang writes an absolutely killer protagonist, and holy hell. I don't have the words for how much I liked this. The world building was so amazing, I loved the use of holy stones, and I crave more of this story, or even just this world.

HIGHLIGHTS
~angelic mecha suits
~magic gemstones
~what’s the difference between hallucinations and visions?

I feel like I should have enjoyed this much more than I did. Broken down to its constituent parts, I love everything that makes up Genesis: the religious themes and imagery; the jagged-edged nonbinary MC who is utterly convinced she’s not the Messiah; mysterious gemstones with all kinds of otherworldly properties.

And yet.

I think part of the problem is that, in this kind of set-up, we all know the Empire is – best-case scenario – mistaken in its take on Life, The Universe, And Everything; worst-case scenario, they’re deliberately lying about everything, and most especially The Enemy. We all know that The Enemy is either misunderstood or misrepresented; that they are far more likely to know The Truth than the protagonist’s side are. And while it’s a very cool change of pace to have our MC go from unbeliever to fanatic rather than the other way around, it still meant I was impatiently waiting for the Twist Reveal the whole time I was reading…which undercut basically all of the tension.

Also, while I can’t talk about it in any detail at all, the epilogue massively pissed me off. It rendered the entire rest of the book pointless. The whole thing from start to finish was a massive waste of everybody’s time. What on earth was {spoiler}’s goal then??? If {spoiler} wanted {spoiler} then there were much, MUCH simpler ways of making it happen than the entire plot of the book. What even.

Argh.

I found the worldbuilding really simplistic, I’ve gotta be honest – although in total fairness, the epilogue does make it clear that in fact the worldbuilding is much more complicated than we think it is. That doesn’t really change the fact that this aspect of Genesis was pretty disappointing and boring, though, since most of the book is not the epilogue. The most interesting thing was the holystones, the various materials that each have unique properties like emitting light or levitating, and how the Empire utilises them, but with basically no info on where they come from or how they work…

Basically, The Genesis of Mercy felt like it was only a sketch of the world, to be filled in later, in later books. There are brief mentions and glimpses of things that hint at interesting mysteries, but there’s no follow-through in this book, and that is both frustrating and leaves the actual story we have in front of us feeling very shallow.

(And what is up with referring to a military corps as a banquet? Which breaks down into courses, then dishes, then servings? That was incredibly bizarre and is never explained. Why would you name your military like you’re offering up your soldiers to be devoured by the enemy?)

Misery herself is easily the strongest part of the book: she comes across as narcissistic and manipulative, but only because she’s out to survive and has no one else to depend on, well aware that the systems of power she’s been caught up in could crush her at any moment. She’s spiky and smart and ruthless and irreverent, and her backwater upbringing gives Yang a way to introduce the reader to the main body of the Empire as Misery herself is introduced to it.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the gift of Misery’s insight – her ability to understand people and know exactly what they’re thinking and feeling – worked as well as a means to illuminate the rest of the cast. It becomes a whole lot of telling rather than showing – we’re effectively lectured on the inner workings of each secondary character, which backfires massively by making them read as extremely one- or two-dimensional. No one feels like a real person except Misery, and it’s possible, actually, that that was deliberate – the narrator isn’t interested in anyone but Misery, and Misery herself doesn’t seem to care much for other people either. But even if it was done intentionally, it really doesn’t read well. I was also confused that the narrative set up a literal team of characters around Misery, but then that team was pretty irrelevant; Misery doesn’t form much connection with them, and you could have replaced most of them with unnamed characters without affecting the plot.

Then Misery goes from atheist to fanatic after a Big Reveal, and while intellectually I appreciate this – usually we see characters lose faith, not gain it, over the course of their stories, so this is a nice change of pace – from a reading perspective it made her very boring and extremely unpleasant. I think the unpleasant part was deliberate – we’re not meant to like her anymore – but everything that made her an interesting character was just gone. Which left me with no drive at all to finish the book.

I did, though, but I’m not sure why I bothered. The plot is very…straightforward? Predictable? I saw another reviewer describe it as sequential, and maybe that’s the right word; things just seem to happen, with no…no driving force? No impetus? They happen because they happen. Misery goes from the capital to a military base to training to revelation to battle, and on paper that should all be very grand and dramatic, but somehow it never felt that way while I was reading. It’s just one damn thing after another, as they say.

I didn’t skim, but I really had to force my way through the last 20% or so of Genesis. There was a lot of telling, a lot of reveals the groundwork was never laid for (no clues that the reader could put together to work out the conclusion, even in hindsight), a lot that was summarised instead of shown to us. And yet, quite a bit that I was able to predict from the get-go, simply because this is how this kind of story goes, not because Yang led me to the Le Gasp! moments step by step.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the actual prose, but reading this book made me so Tired. Despite the revelations in the epilogue, I don’t think I’ll be picking up the sequel. However, I seem to be very much in the minority on this one, so if the blurb sounds interesting to you, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy it. But don’t bank on loving this just because you loved the Tensorate series; Tensorate and Genesis are very different books.

Thank you Tor/Forge for the eARC!

I was really sucked in by the premiss - Joan of Arc in space sounds so kickass. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this as much as I was anticipating.

I am going to start by echoing the sentiments from other readers that there is a lack of character development until the latter half of the book, and I didn’t really care about any of the characters on a deeper level.

The number one thing that detracted from my enjoyment of the novel was the writing style. The mix of voice was jarring…and the 3rd person narration was trying to be quick and witty, but just felt slow and cumbersome. The third person narration also made me feel really distant from the characters. It’s overly flowery and methaphoric in parts, and vulgar and blunt in others. I feel that I need a bit more explanation or a mix of action/inner thoughts. It’s kind of like the author never got into a “rhythm”, so there is no distinct voice to ground the story. I also do appreciate the emphasis on correct pronoun usage….i will say this was my first encounter with neopronouns (hir/zie) in a novel, and it was not something I use in my everyday language, so it takes some getting used to as a reader if you don’t frequently use neopronouns.

I do think this might be more enjoyable as an audiobook so we can see the inflections of the voice and the tone of the sentences so they would flow better together?

Overall, I think there is a group of readers that will really vibe with the voice and writing, but it wasn’t for me.


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4930776830