REVIEW: The Genesis of Change by Livia J. Elliot
If you’re feeling mentally dialled in and keen for a complex magic system based on learning and the philosophy of cognitive bias, then Livia J. Elliot’s The Genesis of Change is very likely going to hit your dark fantasy sweet spot. In a universe where the select few get to evolve to treat humanity as lab rats, this novella has some interesting and thought-provoking themes delivered by some fascinating non/post-human characters.
In The Genesis of Change an order of alchemists (magicians / wizard-style characters who transcend humanity) led by the god-like Rector are attempting to further their understanding of their philosophy-based magic system by teaching pupils and studying humans. The Rector engages Elan and Verve, two alchemists, as it is a time for change for the alchemists and The Orders their magic is built upon. Elan’s charge is to teach a human novice named Aurea, and with one mind link she finds a young person looking for revenge. Verve goes to find Iurdan, a healer at a clinic with an odd way of thinking, who the Rector thinks is the key to change.
The writing style for me was a bit hard to get in to at first. It’s an odd but enjoyable mix of whimsical and scientific in nature as you are brought into this world by an eternal being, have the magic system explained to you by two alchemists who are markedly non-human—a crow and a smoke being thousands of years old—with Aurea’s teachings happening in the past, now, and future, and Verve’s observations of Iurdan occurring across years. I quite liked the style, the more I got into it.
With a cognitive-bias based magic system that is quite complex to wrap your head around, you definitely also need your thinking cap on for this one. The author delves into some relatively deep philosophical questions of the self which are interesting reading—some of which I have to admit I was not of the intellectual level required to realise during the reading, and only understood during the author’s note at the very end.
What will appeal to a grimdark fan is an interesting question with this book. The way it reads, it shouldn’t really appeal at all. It’s somewhat lyrical and high fantasy in taste. But when you break down the flavours within, the way the alchemists treat people as little lab rats to train and mentally break and rebuild Aurea and to push Iurdan to unknowingly reveal his secrets is quite brutal. Through the scope of the alchemists’ points of view it makes sense, and only to us, the human reader, is the horror of what’s happening obvious.
Having said that, I think The Genesis of Change suffers from the prequel short-form curse, in that it doesn’t work tremendously well as a stand alone piece of writing that the casual book buyer could pick up and read without knowledge of the rest of the work and get a complete experience. The two story arcs never really find their way back together to create a climax that I understood. It felt like this needed to be a short novel to allow for a climax to create a clean break and a conclusion for the reader. I imagine The Genesis of Change would create an enjoyable segue into the interactive book Mien (which is just a cool AF method of storytelling) if you were to jump straight from one to the other, or if you had already read and experienced Mien and were coming back to this novella. For me, I just wanted that clear ending to round out my reading experience.
The Genesis of Change by Livia J. Elliot is an enjoyable short read that is really going to get your grey matter churning. If you’re ready to be challenged–and ready to jump straight into the following novel so it becomes one cohesive reading experience–then I’d grab this one and give it a go.
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