I don't know really anything about the story of Joan of Arc. Presumably this is a retelling (or re-envisioning) of that story in an alternate future. The future is post nuclear apocalypse on earth, and the resulting moving of humanity (or some wealthy portion of humanity) to space based living. In this space environment, humans are post gender, and basically post biology. They have no biological features that are unnecessary (hair, skin pigment, sex organs, etc.). In this world, personal expression exists in the form of skin grafts added in layers to various parts of the body. And these layered grafts come with burned scar tissue in text patterns to tell stories. If this short description of the world does not fascinate you, go no further. On earth (where Joan is) it gets a bit cheesey along the lines of the Loric energy infusing earth of the Lorian Legacies series. But overall, an interesting tale.
I must also say that Yuknavitch nailed the dialogue/discussions around justice and violence. For example
I don't care which careful slice of history you choose to cling to, there is not part of being human that does not include the death spectacle: the resort to killing, through war or "justice" or revenge.strikes me as particularly aware of the role and effectiveness of violence through history. Did I ever tell you I love books that make me think.
3 stars (out of 4)
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