"In the near future, world wars have transformed the earth into a battleground. Fleeing the unending violence and the planet's now-radioactive surface, humans have regrouped to a mysterious platform known as CIEL, hovering over their erstwhile home. The changed world has turned evolution on its head: the surviving humans have become sexless, hairless, pale-white creatures floating in isolation, inscribing stories upon their skin. Out of the ranks of the endless wars rises Jean de Men, a charismatic and bloodthirsty cult leader who turns CIEL into a quasi-corporate police state. A group of rebels unite to dismantle his iron rule--galvanized by the heroic song of Joan, a child-warrior who possesses a mysterious force that lives within her and communes with the earth. When de Men and his armies turn Joan into a martyr, the consequences are astonishing. And no one--not the rebels, Jean de Men, or even Joan herself--can foresee the …
"In the near future, world wars have transformed the earth into a battleground. Fleeing the unending violence and the planet's now-radioactive surface, humans have regrouped to a mysterious platform known as CIEL, hovering over their erstwhile home. The changed world has turned evolution on its head: the surviving humans have become sexless, hairless, pale-white creatures floating in isolation, inscribing stories upon their skin. Out of the ranks of the endless wars rises Jean de Men, a charismatic and bloodthirsty cult leader who turns CIEL into a quasi-corporate police state. A group of rebels unite to dismantle his iron rule--galvanized by the heroic song of Joan, a child-warrior who possesses a mysterious force that lives within her and communes with the earth. When de Men and his armies turn Joan into a martyr, the consequences are astonishing. And no one--not the rebels, Jean de Men, or even Joan herself--can foresee the way her story and unique gift will forge the destiny of an entire world for generations" -- provided by publisher.
I’m not even sure what I just read there. I do know that if you can get past the first few disorienting chapters which seem to be only about various futuristic forms of body modification and branding, you find yourself in the middle of a retelling (forseeing?) of the tale of Joan of Arc at the end of the Earth. Lots to unpack here – what if humanity was “saved” by an authoritarian cult narcissist, what happens to the rest of earth when the wealthy decides to leave for a better off work life (I’m looking at you, Elon Musk). I didn’t expect it to be as compelling as it was. Definitely fascinating.
I get the feeling The Book of Joan is going to be a Marmite book, there were definitely parts I liked more than others and some things I felt I needed better knowledge to really get. If you have an interest in gender identity an body art, you'll probably get different things out of this, at times surreal, book.
I only knew the basics about Joan of Arc, although since I have read up a bit more on her, for instance her trial for heresy was based on her cross-dressing in male clothes in order to deter rape in prison. Later, when she was pardoned, the Catholic Church said that's a totally acceptable reason to cross-dress. Anyway, this fact felt relevant to the contents of this book.
The human race is dying. A geocataclysm has wiped out plant life and destroyed the reproductive organs of people, they are now effectively …
I get the feeling The Book of Joan is going to be a Marmite book, there were definitely parts I liked more than others and some things I felt I needed better knowledge to really get. If you have an interest in gender identity an body art, you'll probably get different things out of this, at times surreal, book.
I only knew the basics about Joan of Arc, although since I have read up a bit more on her, for instance her trial for heresy was based on her cross-dressing in male clothes in order to deter rape in prison. Later, when she was pardoned, the Catholic Church said that's a totally acceptable reason to cross-dress. Anyway, this fact felt relevant to the contents of this book.
The human race is dying. A geocataclysm has wiped out plant life and destroyed the reproductive organs of people, they are now effectively genderless, despite remembering what it was once like to be otherwise. Orbiting Earth is CIEL, a group of the privileged few who are permitted to live until the age of 50. Christine is one of them, a specialist in grafting, burning stories into skin. It's pretty much the only sensory experience they have left.
I was a bit thrown off by it being set in 2049. I know humanity's set on a course of destruction but it all seems a bit too quick and it wasn't necessary to state the date. It's a very short shelf-life for a science fiction novel.
Where does Joan fit in? Christine is burning her story onto her body, the Book of Joan. She was on the side against CIEL in the never-ending wars. She starting seeing visions as a girl, seeing a future where there was nothing but suffering, nothing but war. And she had the power to stop it.
Once captured, CIEL sentences Joan to burning at the stake, a symbolic exceution to send a message and make a spectacele. As the books goes on, whate appears to be a bit random and weird turns out to all be connected. Christines burns as Joan burnt.
I enjoyed the parts that followed Joan, back on Earth, a lot more. There's a lot about environmental damage but also about how life goes on. Perhaps not humans, but other life will evolve and take our place. Whilst it felt hopeless for a while, the ending isn't without hope. There are some excellent passages and themes, but sometimes it was just a bit on the weird side for me.
This is one of those books that makes me feel like an idiot because while reading it I knew it was good but it never engaged me and my mind would wander elsewhere quickly, like putting a marble on a table on a moving train. In April, New York Times review called it a "brilliant and incendiary new novel, which speaks to the reader in raw, boldly honest terms." Sounded good to me! But the language is so heightened and dense that I'd doze off for a few minutes nearly every page. The Times critic also said it had "speculative elements" in it, which is a way of saying it's science fiction without saying it's science fiction. It is science fiction. It takes place on a post apocalyptic Earth of 2049, and about half the action occurs on a huge orbiting spaceship. Don't get me wrong—I love sci-fi no matter …
This is one of those books that makes me feel like an idiot because while reading it I knew it was good but it never engaged me and my mind would wander elsewhere quickly, like putting a marble on a table on a moving train. In April, New York Times review called it a "brilliant and incendiary new novel, which speaks to the reader in raw, boldly honest terms." Sounded good to me! But the language is so heightened and dense that I'd doze off for a few minutes nearly every page. The Times critic also said it had "speculative elements" in it, which is a way of saying it's science fiction without saying it's science fiction. It is science fiction. It takes place on a post apocalyptic Earth of 2049, and about half the action occurs on a huge orbiting spaceship. Don't get me wrong—I love sci-fi no matter what you call it. I'd read more of it than I do but it always seems to be part of a series these days and I don't read enough to read any books like that without them being all I read. I need variety. If I excerpted a random paragraph here you'd find nothing wrong with it and say it was well-written and deep. You'd be right. The problem, for me, is that reading it was exhausting. If you're sneering at me now and saying, "Maybe you should just stick to the latest Dan Brown novel," I would say, "Touché."
