They are discussing the career of a certain Misery Nomaki, a woman who has just finished playing a consequential part in big galactic affairs.

We start with a framing sequence that involves two mysterious posthuman or nonhuman interlocutors on a barren world. But it goes back at least to Heinlein’s Citizen of the Galaxy (1957), and has been employed recently by Rich Larson in Ymir (review here) and by Olivia Chadha in Rise of the Red Hand (review here). But I would also overlay a less specific template, and that trope would be “child of the gutters makes good in a larger, more consequential sphere.” I used that template myself, in one of my first stories, “Stone Lives” (my Mirrorshades contribution). That’s a strong narrative engine, for sure. As the book’s early promoters have observed, the core template of the tale is the legend of Joan of Arc: simple country girl is tagged as a messiah to lead her people into battle.

I have been lamentably unhip to Neon Yang’s previous books and short fiction, but was delighted to make their acquaintance with their latest, a rousing postmodern space opera that has flavors of Frank Herbert, Cordwainer Smith, and Orson Scott Card, all blended into a uniquely tasty dish. What if this, all of it, is real?Ī reimagining of Joan of Arc's story given a space opera, giant robot twist, the Nullvoid Chronicles is a story about the nature of truth, the power of belief, and the interplay of both in the stories we tell ourselves.Ī Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.The Genesis of Misery, Neon Yang ( Tor 978-1250788979, hardcover, 432pp, $27.99) September 2022. The deeper they get into their charade, however, the more they start to doubt their convictions.

Yet their survival banks on mastering the holy mech they are supposedly destined for, and convincing the Emperor of the Faithful that they are the real deal. Their angel is a delusion, brought on by hereditary space exposure. Raised on a remote moon colony, they don't believe in any kind of god. It's an old, familiar story: a young person hears the voice of an angel saying they have been chosen as a warrior to lead their people to victory in a holy war.īut Misery Nomaki (she/they) knows they are a fraud. An immersive, electrifying space-fantasy, Neon Yang's debut novel The Genesis of Misery is full of high-tech space battles and political machinations, starring a queer and diverse array of pilots, princesses, and prophetic heirs.

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang