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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Gay robots fight in space.
Excellent new sci fi. Interesting non-US take on language play, naming. Loved the explicit pronouns. Down from 5 stars only because I wasn't aware it had intended sequels and was hoping for a clearer end.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was all over the place.
Pros:
-Gender, sexuality, and gender identity were all here on a beautiful, un-contested spectrum.
-Giant robots (kaiju?)!
-Thrilling chase/fight scenes.
-Interesting worldbuilding.
Cons:
-Weird stuff about faith and the one "true" god, who apparently is totally ok with lots and lots and LOTS of murder.
-The bad guys (Heretics) never got much backstory or POV. Like, are they worse than the Faithful? Are the Heretics actually ill, or are they not? Very confusing.
-The author LOVES her GRE vocabulary, which is fine, but it takes a little getting used to while reading. Also, the author likes to take English words from "today" and give those words entirely new meanings in the future scenes of this story. Also okay, but jarring and took some getting used-to while reading.
Over all, I liked the book, but didn't love it. Is there a sequel coming? Because the ending was vague. Or did I just not get it? Dunno. Not gonna worry.
Pros:
-Gender, sexuality, and gender identity were all here on a beautiful, un-contested spectrum.
-Giant robots (kaiju?)!
-Thrilling chase/fight scenes.
-Interesting worldbuilding.
Cons:
-Weird stuff about faith and the one "true" god, who apparently is totally ok with lots and lots and LOTS of murder.
-The bad guys (Heretics) never got much backstory or POV. Like, are they worse than the Faithful? Are the Heretics actually ill, or are they not? Very confusing.
-The author LOVES her GRE vocabulary, which is fine, but it takes a little getting used to while reading. Also, the author likes to take English words from "today" and give those words entirely new meanings in the future scenes of this story. Also okay, but jarring and took some getting used-to while reading.
Over all, I liked the book, but didn't love it. Is there a sequel coming? Because the ending was vague. Or did I just not get it? Dunno. Not gonna worry.
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
HOLY CRAP. What a book.
Proper review coming later.
Read courtesy of NetGalley.
WHAT DID I JUST READ AND WHERE CAN I GET MORE OF IT?
... actually, I'm pretty sure there's nothing else quite like this. (Dare I hope to add 'yet'?)
This was just... so much. So great and so complex and so enthralling. So fast-paced and so intricate. So many genders and so many alliances and betrayals and things-aren't-as-they-seem; so many space battles. Also angels and messiahs and heretics and possibly divine intervention. Also an irritable and foul-mouthed protagonist who is out for the main chance and whom some people think might just be the path to salvation. Of some sort.
Where do I even begin? The story starts with one person (probably human) asking another (not human, taking many different shapes throughout the conversation) for 'the story of Misery Nomaki' - and what follows is that story, with all the narrator's caveats about truth and consequence and revelation all being problematic. At the start of that story, Misery (she/they) is having a bad time, trying to make her way through a very large space station; she's able to manipulate any holystone she comes across, which is useful, but that doesn't necessarily help when you're stuck in a warren of tunnels and don't know where you're going. Her delusion, Ruin, isn't being of any help, and there are weird all-white, maybe-cloned saints that are freaking her out.
... and it just gets more quirky, and more clever, and more intricate, from there. Fighting princesses, treachery, giant battle mechs. Zero clear explanation of 'holystone' - holy obsidian, holy jasper, and so on - but some very tantalising hints; no real explanation of how saints actually happen, except that somehow they can live on starlight alone? Sometimes an author's expectation that you'll just go along with whatever whacky things they've created for their new world is overwhelming or irritating or enough to make a book Too Much Work. Not so here: there's just enough explanation to make everything hang together - surely you don't need saints _explained_, this is what they're doing! - and the writing is so gripping, and Misery so enticing, that explanations can wait; I need to know what's happening next RIGHT NOW.
Everything about this book worked for me.
Finally, something I've seen a couple of people mention that to me, at least, is a bit of a spoiler (in an odd way), but may be just what someone else needs in order to read this... it's an historical thing that the story seems to be inspired by (I haven't read confirmation of that, but it does make sense)... only read on if you're now intrigued!
...
...
Joan of Arc.
If you know about her, you can probably start to make some guesses about how this story might unfold.
Proper review coming later.
Read courtesy of NetGalley.
WHAT DID I JUST READ AND WHERE CAN I GET MORE OF IT?
... actually, I'm pretty sure there's nothing else quite like this. (Dare I hope to add 'yet'?)
This was just... so much. So great and so complex and so enthralling. So fast-paced and so intricate. So many genders and so many alliances and betrayals and things-aren't-as-they-seem; so many space battles. Also angels and messiahs and heretics and possibly divine intervention. Also an irritable and foul-mouthed protagonist who is out for the main chance and whom some people think might just be the path to salvation. Of some sort.
Where do I even begin? The story starts with one person (probably human) asking another (not human, taking many different shapes throughout the conversation) for 'the story of Misery Nomaki' - and what follows is that story, with all the narrator's caveats about truth and consequence and revelation all being problematic. At the start of that story, Misery (she/they) is having a bad time, trying to make her way through a very large space station; she's able to manipulate any holystone she comes across, which is useful, but that doesn't necessarily help when you're stuck in a warren of tunnels and don't know where you're going. Her delusion, Ruin, isn't being of any help, and there are weird all-white, maybe-cloned saints that are freaking her out.
... and it just gets more quirky, and more clever, and more intricate, from there. Fighting princesses, treachery, giant battle mechs. Zero clear explanation of 'holystone' - holy obsidian, holy jasper, and so on - but some very tantalising hints; no real explanation of how saints actually happen, except that somehow they can live on starlight alone? Sometimes an author's expectation that you'll just go along with whatever whacky things they've created for their new world is overwhelming or irritating or enough to make a book Too Much Work. Not so here: there's just enough explanation to make everything hang together - surely you don't need saints _explained_, this is what they're doing! - and the writing is so gripping, and Misery so enticing, that explanations can wait; I need to know what's happening next RIGHT NOW.
Everything about this book worked for me.
Finally, something I've seen a couple of people mention that to me, at least, is a bit of a spoiler (in an odd way), but may be just what someone else needs in order to read this... it's an historical thing that the story seems to be inspired by (I haven't read confirmation of that, but it does make sense)... only read on if you're now intrigued!
...
...
Spoiler
Joan of Arc.
If you know about her, you can probably start to make some guesses about how this story might unfold.
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
It started out okay, but everyone knows how Jeanne d'Arc's story ends and this was a steam train heading straight for that very predictable ending
I enjoyed Neon Yang's Tensorate series and was looking forward to "Genesis of Misery", a loose Joan of Arc sci-fi reimagination. The book was fun but parts of it were a bit much. I finished the book in bed two days ago and honestly...I don't remember the ending. Not sure what's up but I just remember that things escalated...a lot. Which is quite the statement given the book already kicks of with a lot of oomph. 4 Stars and I'm looking forward to the sequels!