Review: The Genesis of Change by Livia J. Elliot
Blurb:
Élan; the chaos-tamer, the record-breaker. Verve; the one behind the rise and fall of thousands of civilisations. Two alchemists, each sent on a mission by the leader of The Orders—The Rector.
Élan must shatter their mentee’s humanity to train her as an alchemist, while Verve must define the unexplainable existing within a respected healer. When their missions reveal clues that could reformulate alchemy, they’ll edge closer to fathom The Rector’s goal while facing an endless conundrum—to remain as is, or to learn and adapt.
The genesis of change is near.
Review:
The Genesis of Change by Livia J Elliot is one of the most unique and intellectually-charged fantasy books I’ve ever read. It combines the prosaic beauty of authors like Neil Gaiman and Patrick Rothfuss with the high-concept worldbuilding and plotwork that can only be attributed to SFF heavyweights such as NK Jemisin or Jenn Lyons. And though the book may at first present as something with a narrower appeal, I beg to differ: I think this is one of the most important pieces of intellectual SFF I’ve ever read.
The Genesis of Change follows two alchemists, Élan and Verve, on their journey to what is known as the fifth transfiguration, a transcendental state whereby the creationary controls of all alchemical roles are combined into one. Though I found the characters of the alchemists themselves deeply fascinating, I definitely felt this was more of a plot-driven and idea-centric story, rather than a character-focused one. The main ideas here, however, are stark and challenging, and for any of you philosophy buffs, you’ll love this book.
The concept of Stoicism finds itself thoroughly explored by the character of Verve, one of the central alchemists we follow in the story. They are investigating the way that a human doctor, Iurden, responds to his patients. Their discoveries uncover the finer details of stoic philosophy in a way that not only engages the logic necessary to study it, but also pulls on your heartstrings. Several scenes from Verve’s point-of-view were especially gut-wrenching, and not in the way you might think. On the other hand, Élan’s story follows them as they teach a human named Áurea about alchemy, allowing Áurea to transfigure. This storyline is predominantly Elliot’s way of analysing transcendental idealism, and I even caught a hint of Platonic Form in the story too, which piqued my interest quite a bit.
Ultimately, it’s really hard to explain why I loved this book as much as I did without going into significant spoilers, but if any of that conceptual stuff has you asking more about the book, I’d say it’ll be a winner for you. Themes of trauma and identity reminded me of other fantasy books such as Prince of Nothing by R Scott Bakker, for example, though the worldbuilding, and the alchemists in general were nothing short of unique. And if annotating or recording quotes from books is part of your reading process (it certainly is for mine), then The Genesis of Change has the most quotability for the length that it is. This might be a novella, but it’s meaty, fraught with existential debate, and highly intellectual. I could see this being a barrier to some readers, but if you’re willing to persist with the story and its overarching themes and philosophies, I think you’ll remember this story as a diamond in the rough for years to come.
Lastly, the author has written an impressive set of notes at the back of the book that only serve to deepen and enrich the rest of the story. I say this simply to encourage readers not to skip that part!
Overall, The Genesis of Change is a thought-provoking, challenging, and beautifully written story set in a wholly unique world. I cannot recommend it enough, and am excited to leap into its interactive companion novel, Mien sometime later this year, which you can download for free as part of the Unearthed Stories app on iOS and Android. Right now, Livia J Elliot is one to watch.
