What do you think?
Rate this book
Tensorate #1
The Black Tides of Heaven
The Black Tides of Heaven is one of a pair of standalone introductions to Neon Yang's Tensorate Series. For more of the story you can read its twin novella The Red Threads of Fortune
Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as children. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While his sister received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What's more, he saw the sickness at the heart of his mother's Protectorate.
A rebellion is growing. The Machinists discover new levers to move the world every day, while the Tensors fight to put them down and preserve the power of the state. Unwilling to continue to play a pawn in his mother's twisted schemes, Akeha leaves the Tensorate behind and falls in with the rebels. But every step Akeha takes towards the Machinists is a step away from his sister Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond he shares with his twin sister?
Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as children. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While his sister received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What's more, he saw the sickness at the heart of his mother's Protectorate.
A rebellion is growing. The Machinists discover new levers to move the world every day, while the Tensors fight to put them down and preserve the power of the state. Unwilling to continue to play a pawn in his mother's twisted schemes, Akeha leaves the Tensorate behind and falls in with the rebels. But every step Akeha takes towards the Machinists is a step away from his sister Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond he shares with his twin sister?
236 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 2017
About the author
Neon Yang
14 books554 followersNeon Yang, formerly J.Y. Yang, is a Singaporean writer of English-language speculative fiction. Yang is non-binary and queer, and uses they/them pronouns.
Yang has written a series of "silkpunk" novellas, and has published short fiction since 2012. Their novella The Black Tides of Heaven was nominated for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella, the 2018 Kitschies Golden Tentacle and the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
Yang's work revolves around "the human body as a vessel for storytelling", and is based on their background as a molecular biologist, journalist and science communicator.
Yang has written a series of "silkpunk" novellas, and has published short fiction since 2012. Their novella The Black Tides of Heaven was nominated for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella, the 2018 Kitschies Golden Tentacle and the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
Yang's work revolves around "the human body as a vessel for storytelling", and is based on their background as a molecular biologist, journalist and science communicator.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,322 reviews
April 30, 2018
2.5ish stars.
Innovative and compelling but also sort of claustrophobic and manic. There's some really cool world-building in the tiny bits and pieces it's detailed, but it's basically half the length of a novel, and there's only half the amount of world-building there needs to be in order to provide the bare minimum amount of context.
All the cool bits are casually breezed through in order to focus on the actual events, which end up being rushed and always unresolved. Again, in half a novel there are two POV characters and 35 years worth of ground to cover. Every chapter jumps ahead years at a time and gives a snippet of each character's personality and a snippet of what's going on during the given time period, so the big picture never seems like much more than a snippet. And I didn't even think it was a very interesting snippet.
I got a good sense of the relationship between the siblings, but not the relationships between them and their significant others, so it came off as insta-love. I found the unique representation of gender fascinating and hoped it would be a greater focus when I picked the book up. Maybe it wouldn't need to be if the rest of the book had enough to focus on.
But wow these covers are 😍😍😍.
Posted in Mr. Philip's Library
Innovative and compelling but also sort of claustrophobic and manic. There's some really cool world-building in the tiny bits and pieces it's detailed, but it's basically half the length of a novel, and there's only half the amount of world-building there needs to be in order to provide the bare minimum amount of context.
All the cool bits are casually breezed through in order to focus on the actual events, which end up being rushed and always unresolved. Again, in half a novel there are two POV characters and 35 years worth of ground to cover. Every chapter jumps ahead years at a time and gives a snippet of each character's personality and a snippet of what's going on during the given time period, so the big picture never seems like much more than a snippet. And I didn't even think it was a very interesting snippet.
I got a good sense of the relationship between the siblings, but not the relationships between them and their significant others, so it came off as insta-love. I found the unique representation of gender fascinating and hoped it would be a greater focus when I picked the book up. Maybe it wouldn't need to be if the rest of the book had enough to focus on.
But wow these covers are 😍😍😍.
Posted in Mr. Philip's Library
February 22, 2021
¿Qué puedo decir de este libro? Simplemente que supuso un total soplo de aire fresco, que me mostró otro tipo de fantasía, la que llevaba mucho tiempo buscando. Una original y fascinante pero por encima de todo entretenida, de esas que te atrapan y no te sueltan, con un worldbuilding genial, personajes inolvidables y todo eso acompañado de un tono reflexivo e íntimo que consigue deja huella en el lector.
Akeha siempre.
Sanao Hekate MEJOR PERSONAJE EVER
Akeha siempre.
Sanao Hekate MEJOR PERSONAJE EVER
May 4, 2018
Actual Rating: 3.5
The Black Tides of Heaven centers around a pair of twins, Mokoya & Akeha, as they navigate a complicated political landscape & constantly dodge the schemes set forth by their mother, the Protector.
It always excites me when I get the opportunity to read a fantasy story with nontraditional setting. Though this is only a novella, author J.Y. Yang manages to pack in rich cultural aspects, along with a magic system that reads like a more complex & spiritually oriented version of the system utilized by Avatar: The Last Airbender, (which is a huge favorite of mine!)
The story rushes out of the gate, immediately establishing an extensive territory under the rule of a ruthless Protector & placing our main characters in an uncomfortable opposition to the many different levels of expectation in their lives.
I appreciate the combination of a solid magic system, technology, religious influences, and a uniquely relevant take on gender. In this world, each person decides the gender they will identify as when they are ready. Until the decision is made, a person identifies by singular "they."
Even though my inner English scholar has to consciously rewrite her conditioning that the word "they" cannot be singular, I'm so thrilled to see this pronoun used. Especially in a Fantasy setting.
Our language is slowly evolving to encompass how others wish to be identified, and its the use of these words in mainstream writing that leads to education & normalization. But it isn't too often you find novels in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre address LGBT+ issues, and I'm blessed to add this one to the stack of those I've recently read.
I did struggle a bit with the pacing of this novella, as I feel the first half weighs a lot more than the second half, if that makes sense? We spend a lot time with the twins as children, learning the ins & outs of their relationship with each other & to those around them. There is much less time devoted to understanding them once they become adults, and that affected my ability to relate to them.
Though it's clear from the beginning that Akeha is meant to draw more of the focus, I couldn't help feeling that Mokoya is a bit slighted in how she is allowed to connect to the reader. Now, this could very well be the point of novella, as I remember seeing that The Black Tides of Heaven & The Red Threads of Fortune can be read in either order.
Because there is a large time leap around the halfway point, I got the feeling of missing out on a lot of Akeha's development. The story continues to skip forward here & there, ultimately covering quite a large span of years from start to finish.
I could have done with a bit more development of both the characters, and the political situation that arises during the second half of the story.
Whereas the introduction takes a slower approach to revealing the characters & their connections, the following pieces feel a bit slapdash in terms of organization.
I'm definitely interested in seeing how The Red Threads of Fortune ties into this novella & expands the story because the groundwork laid in this installment is a perfect mix of enticing & uncommon.
P.S. These covers are S I C K & gorgeous to look at on the shelf just in case anyone was wondering!
The Black Tides of Heaven centers around a pair of twins, Mokoya & Akeha, as they navigate a complicated political landscape & constantly dodge the schemes set forth by their mother, the Protector.
It always excites me when I get the opportunity to read a fantasy story with nontraditional setting. Though this is only a novella, author J.Y. Yang manages to pack in rich cultural aspects, along with a magic system that reads like a more complex & spiritually oriented version of the system utilized by Avatar: The Last Airbender, (which is a huge favorite of mine!)
The story rushes out of the gate, immediately establishing an extensive territory under the rule of a ruthless Protector & placing our main characters in an uncomfortable opposition to the many different levels of expectation in their lives.
I appreciate the combination of a solid magic system, technology, religious influences, and a uniquely relevant take on gender. In this world, each person decides the gender they will identify as when they are ready. Until the decision is made, a person identifies by singular "they."
Even though my inner English scholar has to consciously rewrite her conditioning that the word "they" cannot be singular, I'm so thrilled to see this pronoun used. Especially in a Fantasy setting.
Our language is slowly evolving to encompass how others wish to be identified, and its the use of these words in mainstream writing that leads to education & normalization. But it isn't too often you find novels in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre address LGBT+ issues, and I'm blessed to add this one to the stack of those I've recently read.
I did struggle a bit with the pacing of this novella, as I feel the first half weighs a lot more than the second half, if that makes sense? We spend a lot time with the twins as children, learning the ins & outs of their relationship with each other & to those around them. There is much less time devoted to understanding them once they become adults, and that affected my ability to relate to them.
Though it's clear from the beginning that Akeha is meant to draw more of the focus, I couldn't help feeling that Mokoya is a bit slighted in how she is allowed to connect to the reader. Now, this could very well be the point of novella, as I remember seeing that The Black Tides of Heaven & The Red Threads of Fortune can be read in either order.
Because there is a large time leap around the halfway point, I got the feeling of missing out on a lot of Akeha's development. The story continues to skip forward here & there, ultimately covering quite a large span of years from start to finish.
I could have done with a bit more development of both the characters, and the political situation that arises during the second half of the story.
Whereas the introduction takes a slower approach to revealing the characters & their connections, the following pieces feel a bit slapdash in terms of organization.
I'm definitely interested in seeing how The Red Threads of Fortune ties into this novella & expands the story because the groundwork laid in this installment is a perfect mix of enticing & uncommon.
P.S. These covers are S I C K & gorgeous to look at on the shelf just in case anyone was wondering!
June 19, 2022
“The saying goes, ‘The black tides of heaven direct the courses of human lives.’ To which a wise teacher said, ‘But as with all waters, one can swim against the tide.”
Solid world-building, character development and political intrigue in JY Yang's The Black Tides of Heaven. We follow the twin children of the Protector, Mokoya and Akeha, both referred to as 'they,' until they decide their gender. There was a fair bit of focus on their time as children. However, there were a number of big jumps and that was jarring, I think, because these jumps made me feel like I'd missed out on some important development. That said, the writing was good and there were some interesting concepts. 3.5 stars
Solid world-building, character development and political intrigue in JY Yang's The Black Tides of Heaven. We follow the twin children of the Protector, Mokoya and Akeha, both referred to as 'they,' until they decide their gender. There was a fair bit of focus on their time as children. However, there were a number of big jumps and that was jarring, I think, because these jumps made me feel like I'd missed out on some important development. That said, the writing was good and there were some interesting concepts. 3.5 stars
Read
September 30, 2017Tremendous and highly original fantasy novella, one of a pair starting a series.
You know how loads of fantasy is set in a sort of not-Europe-but-really? This is set in a not-Asia, with Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese echoes rather than the standard German, Italian, Ruritanian. Beautifully delineated world, lovely social, political and magical development.
And the gender! Kids are all 'they' until they pick a gender, which they can do aged three or sixteen or never. A default they for everyone. What a lovely idea, and makes for some really powerful writing in this book, where one of the twins is assumed to want to follow the family tradition (in this case of becoming female). And so many powerful women, while we're at it.
This is a great read, a hugely compelling fantasy story spanning years, with great characters, a lovely understated romance and a wild imagination. The number of "givens" it chucks away (gender, eurocentrism, patriarchy) is just the cherry on top. Properly original. I one clicked the next book.
You know how loads of fantasy is set in a sort of not-Europe-but-really? This is set in a not-Asia, with Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese echoes rather than the standard German, Italian, Ruritanian. Beautifully delineated world, lovely social, political and magical development.
And the gender! Kids are all 'they' until they pick a gender, which they can do aged three or sixteen or never. A default they for everyone. What a lovely idea, and makes for some really powerful writing in this book, where one of the twins is assumed to want to follow the family tradition (in this case of becoming female). And so many powerful women, while we're at it.
This is a great read, a hugely compelling fantasy story spanning years, with great characters, a lovely understated romance and a wild imagination. The number of "givens" it chucks away (gender, eurocentrism, patriarchy) is just the cherry on top. Properly original. I one clicked the next book.
March 27, 2021
“The black tides of heaven direct the courses of human lives. But as with all waters, one can swim against the tide.”
What a stunner! What a beauty! I've had this series on my radar for a while because a) that cover b) I knew it was queer. So I kicked myself in the butt, bought a copy and fell in love with Mokoya and Akeha. They're royal twins with magical powers born to a ruthless and power-hungry empress. As all children in this world, they are born non-binary and eventually choose a gender when they feel ready (awesome concept, huh? Maybe we should try that sometime). I don't want to give too much away except that this book is about inequality and power and, of course, magic.
This is a short novella and therefore a quick read. Which is why I think the world-building was really well done. There's no info-dumping, most of it is showing rather than telling. Sometimes that means that unanswered questions remain but it doesn't hinder your understanding of the world. Just makes you more curious. I must say I loved the beginning more than the end. There are huge time jumps in this short story and I would have liked to see the twins' childhood and youth explore more. It also makes it difficult to relate to the characters on an emotional level because things happen too fast.
Regardless, it's a unique, original story set in a magnificent and very queer fantasy world and I so want to read more. Good thing I have three more novellas with three gorgeous covers waiting for me.
Find more of my books on Instagram
What a stunner! What a beauty! I've had this series on my radar for a while because a) that cover b) I knew it was queer. So I kicked myself in the butt, bought a copy and fell in love with Mokoya and Akeha. They're royal twins with magical powers born to a ruthless and power-hungry empress. As all children in this world, they are born non-binary and eventually choose a gender when they feel ready (awesome concept, huh? Maybe we should try that sometime). I don't want to give too much away except that this book is about inequality and power and, of course, magic.
This is a short novella and therefore a quick read. Which is why I think the world-building was really well done. There's no info-dumping, most of it is showing rather than telling. Sometimes that means that unanswered questions remain but it doesn't hinder your understanding of the world. Just makes you more curious. I must say I loved the beginning more than the end. There are huge time jumps in this short story and I would have liked to see the twins' childhood and youth explore more. It also makes it difficult to relate to the characters on an emotional level because things happen too fast.
Regardless, it's a unique, original story set in a magnificent and very queer fantasy world and I so want to read more. Good thing I have three more novellas with three gorgeous covers waiting for me.
Find more of my books on Instagram
April 16, 2018
This short little novella manages to tick a lot of my boxes: sociological worldbuilding, a focus on sibling relationships, interesting social structures, musings on gender, and a language that just transported me along.
This book focusses on Mokoya and Akeha, twin children of the ruler of their country, how they are used as pawns in their mothers power machinations but also how they find their agency in a world that does not want to give them any. While Mokoya develops rare prophetic powers their sibling Akeha is always in their shadows and will have to find their own place in the world.
Constricted by the length conventions of novellas, the worldbuilding obviously cannot be as intricately imagined as other works, but I actually thought this worked in the book’s favour. I had the impression that there was more to the world than we were shown and I loved that. The world felt lived in in the way J.Y. Yang described it and used it as their background noise to what was obviously at the core of their work: musings on gender and love and sibling relationships. These relationships were by far my favourite part of the book and I cannot wait where Mokoya and Akeha’s story goes next.
First sentence: “Head Abbot Sung of the Grand Monastery did not know it yet, but this night would change the course of all his days.”
This book focusses on Mokoya and Akeha, twin children of the ruler of their country, how they are used as pawns in their mothers power machinations but also how they find their agency in a world that does not want to give them any. While Mokoya develops rare prophetic powers their sibling Akeha is always in their shadows and will have to find their own place in the world.
Constricted by the length conventions of novellas, the worldbuilding obviously cannot be as intricately imagined as other works, but I actually thought this worked in the book’s favour. I had the impression that there was more to the world than we were shown and I loved that. The world felt lived in in the way J.Y. Yang described it and used it as their background noise to what was obviously at the core of their work: musings on gender and love and sibling relationships. These relationships were by far my favourite part of the book and I cannot wait where Mokoya and Akeha’s story goes next.
First sentence: “Head Abbot Sung of the Grand Monastery did not know it yet, but this night would change the course of all his days.”
March 26, 2021
2.5 stars. Sadly, I didn't love this one as much as I had expected. The beginning is very strong: lovely prose, evocative descriptions of an inventive fantasy landscape, twins who are very connected but also very different from each other: it had great potential.
Occasionally, the novella reclaims these early qualities for a beautiful sentence or two. But it felt as if it was only a novella (instead of a novel) because the author was too lazy/uninterested in several important plot points and character developments to actually write them out properly. A character is sent on a quest to retrieve phoenix feathers from a mountain top? Just summarize the trip in a sentence. A main character travels the realm, witnesses suffering, participates in a civil war, makes friends, watches those friends die? Only mentioned later in a summary, we never actually meet those friends nor witness his reaction. The interesting viewpoint character in the first chapter? Becomes irrelevant soon after. He's literally introduced with "[He] did not know it yet, but this night would change the course of all his days." Except it doesn't! He keeps his position, his job, everything continues exactly as before for him. His life doesn't change.
In addition, we start with the wonderful set-up of dual viewpoints, seeing things sometimes from one twin's perspective, sometimes from the other's. And then that just stops and we start getting only Akeha's perspective for the rest of the book, except for a few pages at the end. We later learn that the other twin was very busy during his absence and accomplished and grew a lot, but this is also only told in a summary, we don't get to experience any of the excitement.
So what are the pages spent on? Mostly: individual fights, most often against some monster that suddenly appears, and that has nothing to do with the story. Or a fight against a random drunk who also has nothing to do with the story. And teenage sexual angst, lust and self-doubt. Towards the end, we are *told* how much the twins supposedly always loved each other, and that love was the main characteristic of their relationship. But while they're actually still in the same town, we mostly see bickering arguments, jealousy, constantly comparing themselves to the other and feeling inferior or rejected, and even betraying the other by making out with their romantic partner. Uhm. Sorry, but that's pure ego drama, not sibling love in any way. And this episode is never alluded to again, never apologized for, nothing. By the way, all of the romance in this book is insta-love.
The world-building was wonderfully inventive, but also a total mess: none of it made sense in its wild mixture of historical detail, magic, and futuristic tech - none of it explained. The invented religion reminds me of the Force in Star Wars: The Slack is all, and all is the Slack. [...] All that is, exists through the grace of the Slack. All that moves, moves through the grace of the Slack. Except it doesn't, because again and again, the characters refer to "the fortunes" as moving everything, determining one's fate, granting favor or crushing you, and it's not explained why this doesn't contradict the "everything moves through the grace of the Slack" doctrine.
I guess my problem with this was mostly that the book's overall plot of a complicated civil war, technological progress in warfare, and rebellion against a tyrant, would have really benefited from a typical epic fantasy writing style. Descriptive, long, various POVs, fleshed-out, world explained, showing instead of telling. Instead, the author chose a very dreamy, fairy-tale like style that mostly tells instead of shows (except all those brief but irrelevant fight scenes of opponents unrelated to the plot), and leaves huge gaps of many years that aren't fleshed-out even though they contain absolutely crucial character development!
Maybe I shouldn't have read The Empress of Salt and Fortune before this one because they're pretty similar: the story of a revolution is told, the style is lyrical, the world is very unique and Asian-inspired, and there's the same amount of LGBT/non-binary representation and use of singular "they". Except in Empress of Salt, everything made sense, and even the writing style worked because the story was told as a story-within-a-story by a character narrating it, trying to convey what really happened through subtle allusions. The character didn't want to spell everything out, she just alluded to things, implied things, and you got it. I think it was just handled much more elegantly there. There, the short novella format also made sense, I didn't expect nor want everything to be fleshed out and was happy to leave it as a somewhat vague fairy-tale - that was part of its beauty.
What I did like here: I did feel with the twins, I was emotionally attached to them, and I loved the beautiful Asian-inspired setting. It just didn't quite come together for me, it was a bit too unpolished, not fleshed-out enough. Yang clearly has a wonderful imagination and a lot of talent, so I'd be happy to try this author again at some point in the future.
Occasionally, the novella reclaims these early qualities for a beautiful sentence or two. But it felt as if it was only a novella (instead of a novel) because the author was too lazy/uninterested in several important plot points and character developments to actually write them out properly. A character is sent on a quest to retrieve phoenix feathers from a mountain top? Just summarize the trip in a sentence. A main character travels the realm, witnesses suffering, participates in a civil war, makes friends, watches those friends die? Only mentioned later in a summary, we never actually meet those friends nor witness his reaction. The interesting viewpoint character in the first chapter? Becomes irrelevant soon after. He's literally introduced with "[He] did not know it yet, but this night would change the course of all his days." Except it doesn't! He keeps his position, his job, everything continues exactly as before for him. His life doesn't change.
In addition, we start with the wonderful set-up of dual viewpoints, seeing things sometimes from one twin's perspective, sometimes from the other's. And then that just stops and we start getting only Akeha's perspective for the rest of the book, except for a few pages at the end. We later learn that the other twin was very busy during his absence and accomplished and grew a lot, but this is also only told in a summary, we don't get to experience any of the excitement.
So what are the pages spent on? Mostly: individual fights, most often against some monster that suddenly appears, and that has nothing to do with the story. Or a fight against a random drunk who also has nothing to do with the story. And teenage sexual angst, lust and self-doubt. Towards the end, we are *told* how much the twins supposedly always loved each other, and that love was the main characteristic of their relationship. But while they're actually still in the same town, we mostly see bickering arguments, jealousy, constantly comparing themselves to the other and feeling inferior or rejected, and even betraying the other by making out with their romantic partner. Uhm. Sorry, but that's pure ego drama, not sibling love in any way. And this episode is never alluded to again, never apologized for, nothing. By the way, all of the romance in this book is insta-love.
The world-building was wonderfully inventive, but also a total mess: none of it made sense in its wild mixture of historical detail, magic, and futuristic tech - none of it explained. The invented religion reminds me of the Force in Star Wars: The Slack is all, and all is the Slack. [...] All that is, exists through the grace of the Slack. All that moves, moves through the grace of the Slack. Except it doesn't, because again and again, the characters refer to "the fortunes" as moving everything, determining one's fate, granting favor or crushing you, and it's not explained why this doesn't contradict the "everything moves through the grace of the Slack" doctrine.
I guess my problem with this was mostly that the book's overall plot of a complicated civil war, technological progress in warfare, and rebellion against a tyrant, would have really benefited from a typical epic fantasy writing style. Descriptive, long, various POVs, fleshed-out, world explained, showing instead of telling. Instead, the author chose a very dreamy, fairy-tale like style that mostly tells instead of shows (except all those brief but irrelevant fight scenes of opponents unrelated to the plot), and leaves huge gaps of many years that aren't fleshed-out even though they contain absolutely crucial character development!
Maybe I shouldn't have read The Empress of Salt and Fortune before this one because they're pretty similar: the story of a revolution is told, the style is lyrical, the world is very unique and Asian-inspired, and there's the same amount of LGBT/non-binary representation and use of singular "they". Except in Empress of Salt, everything made sense, and even the writing style worked because the story was told as a story-within-a-story by a character narrating it, trying to convey what really happened through subtle allusions. The character didn't want to spell everything out, she just alluded to things, implied things, and you got it. I think it was just handled much more elegantly there. There, the short novella format also made sense, I didn't expect nor want everything to be fleshed out and was happy to leave it as a somewhat vague fairy-tale - that was part of its beauty.
What I did like here: I did feel with the twins, I was emotionally attached to them, and I loved the beautiful Asian-inspired setting. It just didn't quite come together for me, it was a bit too unpolished, not fleshed-out enough. Yang clearly has a wonderful imagination and a lot of talent, so I'd be happy to try this author again at some point in the future.
January 5, 2019
Fun and fast epic fantasy novella. Or is it SF? Regardless, there are great little tidbits and dense worldbuilding going on here and I had a pretty awesome time. I love detailed worldbuilding, but sometimes diving right into an assumed world only shown, rarely told, is its own joy.
Odd, no? But exposition CAN be quite comforting in a tale.
This doesn't have all that much of it, and that is fine except when it can get a bit overwhelming. The rest of the time, we have to just rely on the characters to get us by until all the pieces come together. Fortunately, they do. :)
The tragedy was the best part for me, but I did appreciate the sociological slant on being a woman and what has to be done to get or retain power in this particular setting. Both as one of the twins and the mother, in particular. But the tragedy sealed it for me.
Continuing on. :)
Odd, no? But exposition CAN be quite comforting in a tale.
This doesn't have all that much of it, and that is fine except when it can get a bit overwhelming. The rest of the time, we have to just rely on the characters to get us by until all the pieces come together. Fortunately, they do. :)
The tragedy was the best part for me, but I did appreciate the sociological slant on being a woman and what has to be done to get or retain power in this particular setting. Both as one of the twins and the mother, in particular. But the tragedy sealed it for me.
Continuing on. :)
February 2, 2018
My Video Review:
https://youtu.be/lGylZwlX2Fk
Wow this was so good! I really liked the society and how everything was set up. Akeha was such a great character to read about, and I liked the dynamic between Akeha and Moko. Their abilities were awesome and I loved the magic system. The Slack was really cool and I liked that the twins could communicate through it instead of talking out loud when they wanted. Also, in this world, people do not immediately have a gender assigned to them. They confirm or don't when they decide they identify as male, female, or neither. The two twins' powerhouse mother, The Protector, was an interesting antagonist that I loved to hate. I think the romances and some plot points happened too quickly, so it was jarring at those points, but overall, it's a very entertaining and wonderful read. I really want to know what will happen in the second novella.
https://youtu.be/lGylZwlX2Fk
Wow this was so good! I really liked the society and how everything was set up. Akeha was such a great character to read about, and I liked the dynamic between Akeha and Moko. Their abilities were awesome and I loved the magic system. The Slack was really cool and I liked that the twins could communicate through it instead of talking out loud when they wanted. Also, in this world, people do not immediately have a gender assigned to them. They confirm or don't when they decide they identify as male, female, or neither. The two twins' powerhouse mother, The Protector, was an interesting antagonist that I loved to hate. I think the romances and some plot points happened too quickly, so it was jarring at those points, but overall, it's a very entertaining and wonderful read. I really want to know what will happen in the second novella.
December 14, 2019
There's a lot of interesting ideas in J.Y Yang's debut, The Black Tides of Heaven, but they are rarely given the requisite time to breathe. This is, in part, due to the way that Yang has decided to roll out their Tensorate series. Instead of a novel, the series arrives on the scene in two novellas from Tor.com's novella imprint (which I've previously enjoyed). So, for being a brief read, the book covers a lot more ground that it's modest page count would suggest.
The tale in The Black Tides of Heaven revolves around twin siblings Akeha and Mokoya, children of a savage dictator. The twins were conceived as bargaining chips in an exchange with a magical monastery, and through this exchange children imbued with ability to manipulate the Slack (the magic system) can be brought up outside of their mother's cruel influence.
Yang, who identifies as non-binary, has crafted a unique gender neutral world: everyone is born genderless and chooses their gender later in life. I rather enjoyed this unique world that is different from other speculative novels which explore gender. The bulk of the novel spends time with the twins, their relationship, and the fallout from their eventual gender selection. These are, by far, the most fleshed-out sections of the novella which offers a full spectrum of gender exploration.
By contrast, the world that Yang has crafted is given the short-shrift. There's a lot of interesting ideas, characters, and magic that remain unexplored by the novella's end. It isn't the sort of book that promises future exploration or sets up mysteries: it just uses the magic world as a backdrop. That's all fine, but it lacks the punch of serious world-building that I'd been anticipating. The magic, martial arts monastery? I guess I'll have to wait for the next instalment!
I feel a bit bad giving an entirely negative review here when the second novella could provide a counterpoint to the problems I've listed. All the same, if the second novella dispels these complaints, then I'd argue that they should have been released as a single novel rather than two separate pieces. I'm jumping right into The Red Threads of Fortune to compare, so be on the lookout for that review soon!
The tale in The Black Tides of Heaven revolves around twin siblings Akeha and Mokoya, children of a savage dictator. The twins were conceived as bargaining chips in an exchange with a magical monastery, and through this exchange children imbued with ability to manipulate the Slack (the magic system) can be brought up outside of their mother's cruel influence.
Yang, who identifies as non-binary, has crafted a unique gender neutral world: everyone is born genderless and chooses their gender later in life. I rather enjoyed this unique world that is different from other speculative novels which explore gender. The bulk of the novel spends time with the twins, their relationship, and the fallout from their eventual gender selection. These are, by far, the most fleshed-out sections of the novella which offers a full spectrum of gender exploration.
By contrast, the world that Yang has crafted is given the short-shrift. There's a lot of interesting ideas, characters, and magic that remain unexplored by the novella's end. It isn't the sort of book that promises future exploration or sets up mysteries: it just uses the magic world as a backdrop. That's all fine, but it lacks the punch of serious world-building that I'd been anticipating. The magic, martial arts monastery? I guess I'll have to wait for the next instalment!
I feel a bit bad giving an entirely negative review here when the second novella could provide a counterpoint to the problems I've listed. All the same, if the second novella dispels these complaints, then I'd argue that they should have been released as a single novel rather than two separate pieces. I'm jumping right into The Red Threads of Fortune to compare, so be on the lookout for that review soon!
April 23, 2024
“The saying goes, ‘The black tides of heaven direct the courses of human lives.’ To which a wise teacher said, ‘But as with all waters, one can swim against the tide.’”
This wasn't a bad book in any way, but I simply couldn't get attached to the characters, and even the plot and the few emotional moments that actually made me feel something couldn't make up for it. Many interesting concepts were brought up as part of its worldbuilding, the most interesting of which was a unique approach to gender (in this world people are genderless until they choose which gender they want to be, or simply don't choose at all). Unfortunately, I couldn't connect with the characters, found the romances to be very insta-lovey, and was confused by some of the decisions the characters made. I don't know if it's just me, but kissing your sister's boyfriend is kind of... not nice. Neither is kissing her husband "for old times' sake."
A book of wonderful ideas but not the best execution.
This wasn't a bad book in any way, but I simply couldn't get attached to the characters, and even the plot and the few emotional moments that actually made me feel something couldn't make up for it. Many interesting concepts were brought up as part of its worldbuilding, the most interesting of which was a unique approach to gender (in this world people are genderless until they choose which gender they want to be, or simply don't choose at all). Unfortunately, I couldn't connect with the characters, found the romances to be very insta-lovey, and was confused by some of the decisions the characters made. I don't know if it's just me, but kissing your sister's boyfriend is kind of... not nice. Neither is kissing her husband "for old times' sake."
A book of wonderful ideas but not the best execution.
March 24, 2021
Nos encontramos en un planeta llamado Ea, dentro de las diferentes regiones que lo conforman, destaca el protectorado, cuya sombra controla gran parte de este mundo. Y todo lo maneja la protectora Sanao Hekate. Ella lleva muchos años mandando en esta sociedad absolutista sin que nadie la desobedezca, pero esto puede cambiar, ya que los hados deparan a la protectora una sorpresa, su último embarazo, va a traer a dos bebés, no uno como pensaba, y serán les gemeles Akeha y Mokoya.
El universo que crea Neon Yang me ha parecido muy rico, pese a la brevedad de la obra. Y el primer detalle que destaca es ese mundo donde a las personas no se les asigna un género al nacer, este es decidido por ellos mismos cuando sienten que llega el momento. A veces ni siquiera eligen ninguno de ellos. Me ha encantado encontrarme con un mundo así, una utopía que solucionaría muchas cosas en la vida real. Un tema raramente tratado en la ficción.
Otro de los puntos fuertes que tiene la historia es la relación de les dos hermanes, ya que desde el principio puedes sentir esa unión real. Suelo disfrutar mucho de las relaciones de hermanas, hermanos, o como en este caso, de hermanes, que resultan creíbles. El sentimiento familiar traspasa las páginas, y no es algo fácil de hacer o, al menos, yo no lo he encontrado muchas veces. También me ha parecido muy interesante la magia que usan a través del uso de las cinco naturalezas, que es algo que ya había visto en cine, y siempre me interesaba, pero es la primera vez que lo disfruto en literatura.
Me ha gustado mucho que aparezcan diferentes monstruos mitólogicos, mezclando realidad y mitología, tales como el velocirraptor, que es mi dinosaurio favorito de la vida, cosa que me ganó por completo. Eso sí, espero que en las siguientes partes sigan saliendo y lo hagan un poquito más, que me quedé con ganas de verlos más tiempo. Además, me he llevado una grata sorpresa con cierta relación amorosa, no diré nombres para evitar los spoilers, pero me ha gustado mucho y me ha hecho sacar mi parte fangirl, y eso que el romance, normalmente, no me entusiasma en exceso.
El libro está escrito con lenguaje inclusivo y era algo que a priori no sabía bien si me iba a costar o no, ya que era la primera vez que leía algo usando este lenguaje, pero la experiencia ha sido super satisfactoria, y desde el minuto uno he entrado tanto en el lenguaje, como en la historia. Creo que es de esos libros interesantes por muchas cosas, pero sobre todo porque enseña y muestra una realidad muy importante, y al ser ficción, lo hace de una manera mucho más relajada. Aprender con los libros siempre es un bien que hay que valorar.
En definitiva, he disfrutado mucho "Las mareas negras del cielo", y lo bueno es que es la primera parte de la saga del Tensorado, cosa que me alegra, porque la única mini pega que tiene es que es muy corto y te quedas con ganas de más. Si fuera un libro autoconclusivo me hubiera aguado un poco la fiesta, pero aún hay tres partes más para seguir disfrutando de este universo.
El universo que crea Neon Yang me ha parecido muy rico, pese a la brevedad de la obra. Y el primer detalle que destaca es ese mundo donde a las personas no se les asigna un género al nacer, este es decidido por ellos mismos cuando sienten que llega el momento. A veces ni siquiera eligen ninguno de ellos. Me ha encantado encontrarme con un mundo así, una utopía que solucionaría muchas cosas en la vida real. Un tema raramente tratado en la ficción.
Otro de los puntos fuertes que tiene la historia es la relación de les dos hermanes, ya que desde el principio puedes sentir esa unión real. Suelo disfrutar mucho de las relaciones de hermanas, hermanos, o como en este caso, de hermanes, que resultan creíbles. El sentimiento familiar traspasa las páginas, y no es algo fácil de hacer o, al menos, yo no lo he encontrado muchas veces. También me ha parecido muy interesante la magia que usan a través del uso de las cinco naturalezas, que es algo que ya había visto en cine, y siempre me interesaba, pero es la primera vez que lo disfruto en literatura.
Me ha gustado mucho que aparezcan diferentes monstruos mitólogicos, mezclando realidad y mitología, tales como el velocirraptor, que es mi dinosaurio favorito de la vida, cosa que me ganó por completo. Eso sí, espero que en las siguientes partes sigan saliendo y lo hagan un poquito más, que me quedé con ganas de verlos más tiempo. Además, me he llevado una grata sorpresa con cierta relación amorosa, no diré nombres para evitar los spoilers, pero me ha gustado mucho y me ha hecho sacar mi parte fangirl, y eso que el romance, normalmente, no me entusiasma en exceso.
El libro está escrito con lenguaje inclusivo y era algo que a priori no sabía bien si me iba a costar o no, ya que era la primera vez que leía algo usando este lenguaje, pero la experiencia ha sido super satisfactoria, y desde el minuto uno he entrado tanto en el lenguaje, como en la historia. Creo que es de esos libros interesantes por muchas cosas, pero sobre todo porque enseña y muestra una realidad muy importante, y al ser ficción, lo hace de una manera mucho más relajada. Aprender con los libros siempre es un bien que hay que valorar.
En definitiva, he disfrutado mucho "Las mareas negras del cielo", y lo bueno es que es la primera parte de la saga del Tensorado, cosa que me alegra, porque la única mini pega que tiene es que es muy corto y te quedas con ganas de más. Si fuera un libro autoconclusivo me hubiera aguado un poco la fiesta, pero aún hay tres partes más para seguir disfrutando de este universo.
November 16, 2023
Because he had always known, even as a child, that he was the lightning, while she was the fire in the core of planets. And the world needed both. Revolutions needed both. Someone had to wield the knives, but someone also had to write the treaties.
Sanao Akeha is one of the two youngest twin children of the Protector, ruler of an oppressive government. Black Tides of Heaven follows a thirty-year period in their life as they come of age and begin to assert their own identity.
I have so many good things to say about this. The magic system of Tensorate is wonderful, resonating with me on a near-instinctual level. Additionally, the relationship between the twins, Akeha and Mokoya, is incredibly crafted. People in this world also select their own genders, something the book explores in a fascinating way—one sibling selects to be a man and one selects to be a woman, and the selection of this is is so interesting. I really enjoyed this elemental integration of worldbuilding.
I should disclaim that I accidentally read the second chronological novella in this series first, and I think its effect on my consumption of this novel was that I just wished I were rereading The Red Threads of Fortune. The thirty-year expanse of this novella made me feel as if I wanted more from various relationships - in particular the twins’ relationship with their mother, the Protector, and their sister, Sonami. Even Akeha’s relationships with his rebel lover Yongcheow, and the twin’s relationships with the Head Abbott, felt as if they could have been shown more. I wished for this novella to really focus on a shorter period, so we could get a full glimpse of the characters.
But in the midst of this critique, it should be said: Neon Yang is a truly fantastic writer. I’ll definitely be reading everything this author releases.
Youtube | TikTok | Spotify | About |
January 31, 2018
This was an excellent little novella. I read it all in one sitting. Even though it was short, the world building is rich. No words were wasted on infodumps, and the story and surrounding world was told organically.
The characters were wonderful. Akeha especially, experiences a lot of growth over the course of these chapters. I did not like him at first. I thought he was a little closed minded, childish, too dependent on his sister, but his story grew and really made you care for him.
The writing was enchanting, although the story itself is not at all like a fairy tale the writing really whisked me away to another place. The magic system was fun and I loved that it was used for modern purposes (weapons building, technology such as “talkers” [phones], etc.).
This was fresh and different and new and well worth picking up. I’ll definitely be adding it’s companion novella to my list.
The characters were wonderful. Akeha especially, experiences a lot of growth over the course of these chapters. I did not like him at first. I thought he was a little closed minded, childish, too dependent on his sister, but his story grew and really made you care for him.
The writing was enchanting, although the story itself is not at all like a fairy tale the writing really whisked me away to another place. The magic system was fun and I loved that it was used for modern purposes (weapons building, technology such as “talkers” [phones], etc.).
This was fresh and different and new and well worth picking up. I’ll definitely be adding it’s companion novella to my list.
April 30, 2021
This was enjoyable, but felt a bit lackluster to me. I liked the way Akeha and Mokoya’s relationship as siblings was written, especially as they grew further and further apart, but it was a bit difficult to deeply feel all their pain with the time jumps. In general, these jumps created gaps in character/plot development but there was nothing to make up for them, which left me aching for more. The worldbuilding also could have been more extensive, but I did love how gender is treated in this world as a choice rather than something forced on at birth. I’m interested in reading more, especially after feeling strangely touched yet unsatisfied by the ending, and hopefully the next installments won’t have the same issues.
:: representation :: East/Southeast Asian-coded non-binary cast, mlm MC
:: content warnings :: murder, death, depictions of grief
:: representation :: East/Southeast Asian-coded non-binary cast, mlm MC
:: content warnings :: murder, death, depictions of grief
Read
February 7, 2022“The saying goes, ‘The black tides of heaven direct the courses of human lives.’ To which a wise teacher said, ‘But as with all waters, one can swim against the tide.'”
So What's It About?
Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as children. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While his sister received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What's more, he saw the sickness at the heart of his mother's Protectorate.
A rebellion is growing. The Machinists discover new levers to move the world every day, while the Tensors fight to put them down and preserve the power of the state. Unwilling to continue to play a pawn in his mother's twisted schemes, Akeha leaves the Tensorate behind and falls in with the rebels. But every step Akeha takes towards the Machinists is a step away from his sister Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond he shares with his twin sister?
What I Thought
I really like Yang's take on silkpunk, which is a blend of sci fi and fantasy rooted in technological advances. Instead of adopting the traditional steampunk trappings of Victorian England, however, silkpunk takes inspiration from East Asian settings and cultural mores. If you're interested in learning more about it, here's an interview with Ken Liu where he describes it in more detail.
Yang's take on silkpunk involves thought-provoking debates over who should be permitted to control technological advances as well as an elemental magic system that doesn't bog itself down in to many rules and mechanisms (I'm going through a phase where I dislike hard magic systems!) I also liked its meditations on the nature of fate - how is it possible to choose your own path when you have been shaped for a certain destiny all your life?
As a twin myself I also have a certain soft spot for stories that feature twins prominently. Yang does a great job of capturing the unique experience of being a twin in its intensity, love and resentment. Akeha spends much of his life in Mokoya's shadow, not through any fault of her own but because of the magic she was born with and their mother's preferential treatment. When you are going through the exact same life experiences and developmental stages at the same time as your twin it becomes much easier to compare yourself to them, I think, and I felt that undercurrent of comparison and unworthiness as well as the desire to shape his own path in Akeha's story.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the treatment of gender in this novella, which was novel and refreshing. In Yang's world children are raised in gender neutrality, using the pronoun "they" until they decide what gender they want to spend their lives as. I think it's an amazing way of incorporating genders beyond the binary into a fantasy setting while calling the essentialized, dichotomous nature of that binary into question in the first place and also establishing a thought-provoking statement about the way we raise our children in reality. Furthermore, the division between Akeha and Mokoya becomes all the more complex when they become different genders.
In my view this novella's main failings have principally to do with the fact that so much story takes place over such a short page count. A great deal of plot is packed into this novella, and I think the pacing and emotional resonance suffered for it. You don't, for instance, really get to see the romances develop at all and they end up feeling rather insta-love-y. I would have also appreciated really digging down into the motivations behind decisions like Aheta's decision to join the rebellion. In short the bones of an excellent story are all there, but I could definitely have used much more fleshing out in their delivery.
So What's It About?
Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as children. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While his sister received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What's more, he saw the sickness at the heart of his mother's Protectorate.
A rebellion is growing. The Machinists discover new levers to move the world every day, while the Tensors fight to put them down and preserve the power of the state. Unwilling to continue to play a pawn in his mother's twisted schemes, Akeha leaves the Tensorate behind and falls in with the rebels. But every step Akeha takes towards the Machinists is a step away from his sister Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond he shares with his twin sister?
What I Thought
I really like Yang's take on silkpunk, which is a blend of sci fi and fantasy rooted in technological advances. Instead of adopting the traditional steampunk trappings of Victorian England, however, silkpunk takes inspiration from East Asian settings and cultural mores. If you're interested in learning more about it, here's an interview with Ken Liu where he describes it in more detail.
Yang's take on silkpunk involves thought-provoking debates over who should be permitted to control technological advances as well as an elemental magic system that doesn't bog itself down in to many rules and mechanisms (I'm going through a phase where I dislike hard magic systems!) I also liked its meditations on the nature of fate - how is it possible to choose your own path when you have been shaped for a certain destiny all your life?
As a twin myself I also have a certain soft spot for stories that feature twins prominently. Yang does a great job of capturing the unique experience of being a twin in its intensity, love and resentment. Akeha spends much of his life in Mokoya's shadow, not through any fault of her own but because of the magic she was born with and their mother's preferential treatment. When you are going through the exact same life experiences and developmental stages at the same time as your twin it becomes much easier to compare yourself to them, I think, and I felt that undercurrent of comparison and unworthiness as well as the desire to shape his own path in Akeha's story.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the treatment of gender in this novella, which was novel and refreshing. In Yang's world children are raised in gender neutrality, using the pronoun "they" until they decide what gender they want to spend their lives as. I think it's an amazing way of incorporating genders beyond the binary into a fantasy setting while calling the essentialized, dichotomous nature of that binary into question in the first place and also establishing a thought-provoking statement about the way we raise our children in reality. Furthermore, the division between Akeha and Mokoya becomes all the more complex when they become different genders.
In my view this novella's main failings have principally to do with the fact that so much story takes place over such a short page count. A great deal of plot is packed into this novella, and I think the pacing and emotional resonance suffered for it. You don't, for instance, really get to see the romances develop at all and they end up feeling rather insta-love-y. I would have also appreciated really digging down into the motivations behind decisions like Aheta's decision to join the rebellion. In short the bones of an excellent story are all there, but I could definitely have used much more fleshing out in their delivery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2021
4,25 / 5
Con esta novela corta se estrenado Duermevela Ediciones en el sector editorial, una fabulosa y premiada historia de Neon Yang enmarcada dentro de la corriente silkpunk (La gracia de los reyes). Viajemos hasta Ea y su Protectorado, donde conoceremos a dos hermanes gemeles concebides para saldar una deuda de sangre con el Gran Monasterio. Esta es la historia de Akeha y Mokoya. Esta es una historia de rebelión. Esta, es una historia de búsqueda de la propia identidad. Mokoya, bendecide con los dones de profeta debe lidiar con el férreo control materno, mientras su gemele Akeha, ignorade por todes, debe encontrar su lugar en el mundo. Al mismo tiempo, una rebelión se está gestando en las sombras. Una rebelión que sacará a relucir los vínculos fraguados durante sus primeros años de vida.
Esta primera entrega -de cuatro- de la saga del Tensorado sigue una trama bastante sencilla, aunando elementos fantásticos de tintes asiáticos con una exploración de diferentes conceptos de género a través de sus personajes. Neon Yang cubre, en apenas 200 páginas, desde el nacimiento de los personajes principales hasta llegar a su treintena. Lo hace a través de viñetas en el tiempo: momentos importantes en sus vidas y escenas elegidas por la sustancialidad en su trayectoria vital. Son representaciones de instantes que permiten entender a los personajes, incluso aunque nos falten años de por medio, entrelazando un arco político con otro personal sin caer en los típicos tropos vengativos paternofiliales.
Esa, junto con el buen equilibrio entre ideas originales de su mundo y tropos de la fantasía, son su baza ganadora. El lector se ve inmerso en los personajes y el mundo construido por Neon Yang, que toma forma sin explicaciones ni exposiciones. Aquí no hay mucho del famoso infodump. Es una sensación extraña, que hace sentir a toda Ea como un mundo que ya conocemos, pero a la vez, nos obliga a rellenar los espacios en blanco a cada lector. Sin embargo, lo digo desde ya, en ningún momento necesite echar mano del glosario que existe al final del volumen. Como ocurría con La quinta estación de N. K. Jemisin, Yang muestra una habilidad pasmosa para mantener el ritmo narrativo y dar contexto a su universo sin detenerse en una explicación tras otra.
Quizá lo que más llame la atención a cualquiera que se acerque a Las mareas negras del cielo sea el uso del neutro. Le traductore Carla Bataller hace un laborioso trabajo para ofrecer la experiencia completa propuesta por Neon Yang. Le autore construye una sociedad donde la elección explicita de género y su confirmación quirúrgica es cosa de cada uno, cuando llega el momento. Puede ser en su juventud, más tarde, o simplemente, no hacerlo nunca. Neon Yang incluye mujeres, hombres, y personas que no son ni lo uno ni lo otro.
Aunque advertidos por una nota, puede ser que la estrategia lingüística llame un tanto la atención en los primeros compases. Sin embargo, pronto el lector se sitúa en el contexto. Es más, incluso aprende. Las mareas negras del cielo hace un tratamiento del género y la sexualidad ejemplar, donde presenta a la sociedad que el genero es una opción para cada uno de nosotres. Las mareas negras del cielo es en este aspecto una exploración profunda del género, reforzada por el postfacio de Ártemis López, que tiene un efecto normalizador y didáctico de lo más necesario en nuestra sociedad actual.
Reseña en el blog: https://boywithletters.blogspot.com/2...
Con esta novela corta se estrenado Duermevela Ediciones en el sector editorial, una fabulosa y premiada historia de Neon Yang enmarcada dentro de la corriente silkpunk (La gracia de los reyes). Viajemos hasta Ea y su Protectorado, donde conoceremos a dos hermanes gemeles concebides para saldar una deuda de sangre con el Gran Monasterio. Esta es la historia de Akeha y Mokoya. Esta es una historia de rebelión. Esta, es una historia de búsqueda de la propia identidad. Mokoya, bendecide con los dones de profeta debe lidiar con el férreo control materno, mientras su gemele Akeha, ignorade por todes, debe encontrar su lugar en el mundo. Al mismo tiempo, una rebelión se está gestando en las sombras. Una rebelión que sacará a relucir los vínculos fraguados durante sus primeros años de vida.
Esta primera entrega -de cuatro- de la saga del Tensorado sigue una trama bastante sencilla, aunando elementos fantásticos de tintes asiáticos con una exploración de diferentes conceptos de género a través de sus personajes. Neon Yang cubre, en apenas 200 páginas, desde el nacimiento de los personajes principales hasta llegar a su treintena. Lo hace a través de viñetas en el tiempo: momentos importantes en sus vidas y escenas elegidas por la sustancialidad en su trayectoria vital. Son representaciones de instantes que permiten entender a los personajes, incluso aunque nos falten años de por medio, entrelazando un arco político con otro personal sin caer en los típicos tropos vengativos paternofiliales.
Esa, junto con el buen equilibrio entre ideas originales de su mundo y tropos de la fantasía, son su baza ganadora. El lector se ve inmerso en los personajes y el mundo construido por Neon Yang, que toma forma sin explicaciones ni exposiciones. Aquí no hay mucho del famoso infodump. Es una sensación extraña, que hace sentir a toda Ea como un mundo que ya conocemos, pero a la vez, nos obliga a rellenar los espacios en blanco a cada lector. Sin embargo, lo digo desde ya, en ningún momento necesite echar mano del glosario que existe al final del volumen. Como ocurría con La quinta estación de N. K. Jemisin, Yang muestra una habilidad pasmosa para mantener el ritmo narrativo y dar contexto a su universo sin detenerse en una explicación tras otra.
Quizá lo que más llame la atención a cualquiera que se acerque a Las mareas negras del cielo sea el uso del neutro. Le traductore Carla Bataller hace un laborioso trabajo para ofrecer la experiencia completa propuesta por Neon Yang. Le autore construye una sociedad donde la elección explicita de género y su confirmación quirúrgica es cosa de cada uno, cuando llega el momento. Puede ser en su juventud, más tarde, o simplemente, no hacerlo nunca. Neon Yang incluye mujeres, hombres, y personas que no son ni lo uno ni lo otro.
Aunque advertidos por una nota, puede ser que la estrategia lingüística llame un tanto la atención en los primeros compases. Sin embargo, pronto el lector se sitúa en el contexto. Es más, incluso aprende. Las mareas negras del cielo hace un tratamiento del género y la sexualidad ejemplar, donde presenta a la sociedad que el genero es una opción para cada uno de nosotres. Las mareas negras del cielo es en este aspecto una exploración profunda del género, reforzada por el postfacio de Ártemis López, que tiene un efecto normalizador y didáctico de lo más necesario en nuestra sociedad actual.
Reseña en el blog: https://boywithletters.blogspot.com/2...
June 29, 2022
La seconda cosa più strana che abbia mai letto. Non so nemmeno come riuscire a descriverlo.
Ogni persona nasce priva di genere e solo una volta che lo ritiene opportuno, SE lo ritiene necessario, può scegliere i propri pronomi. Una volta fatta la scelta i medici provvedono anche a dare un'identità più caratterizzata, diversamente dalla presenza neutrale che si mantiene fino a quel giorno.
L3 gemell3 sono figlie della Protettrice Sanao, una dittatrice che l3 aveva promess3 al Grande Monastero ancora prima che nascessero in cambio di un favore. Mokoya e Akeha nascono con due doni, ma solo uno è considerato indispensabile. L'altrə, stufə di sottostare agli ordini della madre, scappa e si unisce a un gruppo di ribelli che vede come principale nemico proprio lə gemellə.
Un racconto breve, più che un romanzo, da grandi colpi di scena e dal worldbuilding interessante e molto originale. La scrittura è scorrevole e gli unici momenti in cui mi sono sentita costretta a fermarmi è stato per elaborare un "WHAT?" dopo l'altro. Accadde tutto così in fretta che alla fine mi sono ritrovata con il libro in mano e un solo pensiero:
"Ma cosa ho appena letto?"
Interessante.
Ogni persona nasce priva di genere e solo una volta che lo ritiene opportuno, SE lo ritiene necessario, può scegliere i propri pronomi. Una volta fatta la scelta i medici provvedono anche a dare un'identità più caratterizzata, diversamente dalla presenza neutrale che si mantiene fino a quel giorno.
L3 gemell3 sono figlie della Protettrice Sanao, una dittatrice che l3 aveva promess3 al Grande Monastero ancora prima che nascessero in cambio di un favore. Mokoya e Akeha nascono con due doni, ma solo uno è considerato indispensabile. L'altrə, stufə di sottostare agli ordini della madre, scappa e si unisce a un gruppo di ribelli che vede come principale nemico proprio lə gemellə.
Un racconto breve, più che un romanzo, da grandi colpi di scena e dal worldbuilding interessante e molto originale. La scrittura è scorrevole e gli unici momenti in cui mi sono sentita costretta a fermarmi è stato per elaborare un "WHAT?" dopo l'altro. Accadde tutto così in fretta che alla fine mi sono ritrovata con il libro in mano e un solo pensiero:
"Ma cosa ho appena letto?"
Interessante.
January 13, 2021
Content Warning: torture, psychological abuse, child loss
This book is one of a pair following twins, Mokoya and Akeha, who are the children of the Protector. They are sold off to the Grand Monastery as children. But when Mokoya begins to developed prophetic dreams, their mother wants her back to use her ability. As well, a rebellion is growing. Unwilling to continue to be his mother's pawn, Akeha leaves the Tensorate and joins up with the rebels, the Machinists. But every step he takes towards the rebels is another step further away from his sister.
I really enjoyed this! In such a short amount of time, I really feel like I was able to really get to know the characters and feel for their situations. Which is truly something to say because we cover 35 years in only 230 pages. I also absolutely LOVED the world that was created in this book and am so excited to read the other novella - The Red Threads of Fortune - which I'm guessing is going to focus more on Mokoya. The magic system in this book had a very interesting combination of a solid magic system, technology, and religious influences.
It's really unique and the queer representation is AMAZING. Essentially, individuals are all non-binary, or gender non-conforming until they confirm their gender when and if they feel it's right for them. And until their confirmation, they are referred to with they/them pronouns. It's a really unique and fascinating thing that I think is very relevant in today's modern society. And the way that we all shouldn't assume someone's gender, and make sure we know someone's pronouns before addressing them.
I personally enjoyed Yang's writing style. I thought it was a good blend of descriptive and straightforward storytelling. Overall, this was a really fun and fast-paced, unique story.
This book is one of a pair following twins, Mokoya and Akeha, who are the children of the Protector. They are sold off to the Grand Monastery as children. But when Mokoya begins to developed prophetic dreams, their mother wants her back to use her ability. As well, a rebellion is growing. Unwilling to continue to be his mother's pawn, Akeha leaves the Tensorate and joins up with the rebels, the Machinists. But every step he takes towards the rebels is another step further away from his sister.
I really enjoyed this! In such a short amount of time, I really feel like I was able to really get to know the characters and feel for their situations. Which is truly something to say because we cover 35 years in only 230 pages. I also absolutely LOVED the world that was created in this book and am so excited to read the other novella - The Red Threads of Fortune - which I'm guessing is going to focus more on Mokoya. The magic system in this book had a very interesting combination of a solid magic system, technology, and religious influences.
It's really unique and the queer representation is AMAZING. Essentially, individuals are all non-binary, or gender non-conforming until they confirm their gender when and if they feel it's right for them. And until their confirmation, they are referred to with they/them pronouns. It's a really unique and fascinating thing that I think is very relevant in today's modern society. And the way that we all shouldn't assume someone's gender, and make sure we know someone's pronouns before addressing them.
I personally enjoyed Yang's writing style. I thought it was a good blend of descriptive and straightforward storytelling. Overall, this was a really fun and fast-paced, unique story.
March 31, 2021
Primera parte de una tetralogía que nos lanza de cabeza a un mundo nuevo y nos deja con ganas de más.
En este caso lo fácil sería decir que se parece a "Avatar: La leyenda de Aang", pero aunque sí creo que puede gustar a les fans de la serie, no es con lo que lo compararía. A ver, sí, hay ciertas similitudes (aunque en realidad, me ha recordado más a "La leyenda de Korra"): magia basada en el control de ciertos elementos (agua, tierra... etc), ciertas bases comunes de folklore asiático (más concretamente del extremo y del sudeste asiáticos), un mundo con más parecidos al steampunk que a la fantasía medieval, los temas del imperialismo y el colonialismo, familias muy disfuncionales con líderes autocráticos... Pero en realidad, me recuerda más a "La saga de Vorkosigan": ir a saco con la trama, tener muy poca paja, el instalove...
En cierto sentido, se me hacía más parecida a una "space opera" que a una historia de fantasía. Si sois de esas personas a quienes les encanta leer larguísimas descripciones, y páginas y páginas de construcción de mundo al detalle, éste no es vuestro libro. Neon Yang tiene tan poco interés en relatarte 200 años de Historia que ocurrió en un acantilado concreto como Tolkien en escribir comedia ligera. Y aun así construye mundo, un mundo nuevo y refrescante en el que sucede una trama llena de acción y drama Y VELOCIRAPTORES CON PLUMAS DE COLORES Y BOMBAS ATÓMICAS MÁGICAS.
Y ese sería mi argumento definitivo, no solo que Neon Yang construye una historia donde el hecho de que no se le da importancia al género es importante, sino que ha metido velociraptores con plumaje de colores y, si eso no fuera poco, bombas atómicas de magia. Porque sí, porque mola. Ante esto, todos vuestro argumentos son inválidos.
Quiero la segunda parte. Y más velociraptores.
En este caso lo fácil sería decir que se parece a "Avatar: La leyenda de Aang", pero aunque sí creo que puede gustar a les fans de la serie, no es con lo que lo compararía. A ver, sí, hay ciertas similitudes (aunque en realidad, me ha recordado más a "La leyenda de Korra"): magia basada en el control de ciertos elementos (agua, tierra... etc), ciertas bases comunes de folklore asiático (más concretamente del extremo y del sudeste asiáticos), un mundo con más parecidos al steampunk que a la fantasía medieval, los temas del imperialismo y el colonialismo, familias muy disfuncionales con líderes autocráticos... Pero en realidad, me recuerda más a "La saga de Vorkosigan": ir a saco con la trama, tener muy poca paja, el instalove...
En cierto sentido, se me hacía más parecida a una "space opera" que a una historia de fantasía. Si sois de esas personas a quienes les encanta leer larguísimas descripciones, y páginas y páginas de construcción de mundo al detalle, éste no es vuestro libro. Neon Yang tiene tan poco interés en relatarte 200 años de Historia que ocurrió en un acantilado concreto como Tolkien en escribir comedia ligera. Y aun así construye mundo, un mundo nuevo y refrescante en el que sucede una trama llena de acción y drama Y VELOCIRAPTORES CON PLUMAS DE COLORES Y BOMBAS ATÓMICAS MÁGICAS.
Y ese sería mi argumento definitivo, no solo que Neon Yang construye una historia donde el hecho de que no se le da importancia al género es importante, sino que ha metido velociraptores con plumaje de colores y, si eso no fuera poco, bombas atómicas de magia. Porque sí, porque mola. Ante esto, todos vuestro argumentos son inválidos.
Quiero la segunda parte. Y más velociraptores.
April 12, 2021
Mokoya and Akeha are twins of the great Protector, thought of as royalty, and sold to the Great Monestry as children. Both are gifted children, but it's Mokoya who has the misfortune to draw her mother's attention. As a prophet, they can devine the near future. A future than cannot be changed. As rebellion stirs, it's twin Akeha who we see decide who they want to be and want they want to right for as the passage of time occurs.
I loved some of the themes presented here. We have a richly imagined world that has a magical system heavily linked to spirituality, construction and the elements. It's never really explained but rather left up to the reader to unravel, as we see it used through the twins and in the architecture around them. It sits well besides the main story, naturally slotting into the narrative to enhance the plot.
I also really liked the gender fluidity that is examined through Mokoya and Akeha. This is a world where children are not given a gender at birth, but instead are allowed to move organically through the process of deciding for themselves who they are. This can take 3 years, 10 years, or sometime their whole life to discover. Gender is never defined by one singular aspect of an individual.
I do think that the short length results in a lack of character development and the pacing is off in places. We take large time jumps through the story, moving quickly from the twins childhood through to adulthood and because of this we miss out on a lot of their development and emotional growth. Akeha always feels a little standoffish, which meant I struggled to connect with them at times. The plot also doesn't do enough to build up the background behind the rebellions and why they're occuring, which would have helped me understand the world a bit better.
Great novella with some interesting insights that you don't see enough of in fantasy, I'm intrigued enough to continue on in the series.
I loved some of the themes presented here. We have a richly imagined world that has a magical system heavily linked to spirituality, construction and the elements. It's never really explained but rather left up to the reader to unravel, as we see it used through the twins and in the architecture around them. It sits well besides the main story, naturally slotting into the narrative to enhance the plot.
I also really liked the gender fluidity that is examined through Mokoya and Akeha. This is a world where children are not given a gender at birth, but instead are allowed to move organically through the process of deciding for themselves who they are. This can take 3 years, 10 years, or sometime their whole life to discover. Gender is never defined by one singular aspect of an individual.
I do think that the short length results in a lack of character development and the pacing is off in places. We take large time jumps through the story, moving quickly from the twins childhood through to adulthood and because of this we miss out on a lot of their development and emotional growth. Akeha always feels a little standoffish, which meant I struggled to connect with them at times. The plot also doesn't do enough to build up the background behind the rebellions and why they're occuring, which would have helped me understand the world a bit better.
Great novella with some interesting insights that you don't see enough of in fantasy, I'm intrigued enough to continue on in the series.
October 16, 2019
Set in a richly imagined world, JY Yang’s first part in their Tensorate series is evocative, bold, and dreamlike. I wanted to be more emotionally wrapped up in the story, though, because I liked so many of the ideas so much, and I love when my head and my heart are equally engaged when I’m reading. But there’s plenty here to keep me wanting to learn more of what happens in the tumultuous Protectorate Yang created.
April 24, 2024
Unfortunately I didn’t love this one. I thought the exploration of gender and gender fluidity was fascinating and progressive, and I felt that Neon Yang’s writing was smooth and readable. The characterization didn’t work out for me though. For me, there wasn’t sufficient development of the twins as characters, not enough scenes really fleshing out their emotions and motivations in a way that would make me care or get invested. Without that rich characterization, I also struggled to immerse myself in the fantasy elements of the book. Onto the next!
August 10, 2018
The Black Tides of Heaven is a beautiful story about twins, fate and finding your own path. It follows a young person trying to find his agency in a world that has always seen him as an afterthought, as someone unimportant and passive, and he decides to fight against that. It's also a story about the complexity of family ties.
JY Yang is now one of my favorite authors.
When I read their novelette Waiting on a Bright Moon earlier this year, I knew I had to try their novella series. And The Black Tides of Heaven did not disappoint.
This novella follows two twins, Akeha (whose PoV we follow) and Mokoya (who has with a prophetic gift). We follow them from their birth to the days of the revolution that is forever changing the Tensorate. The constant time jumps did prevent me from connecting to them sometimes, but I was always invested in their story. It was painful to see them grow apart, even if that was inevitable. I almost cried multiple times. I loved them both, and I want to read more about them.
I loved the worldbuilding. It's speculative fiction in a non-western setting, with a very interesting magic system and an approach to gender and sexuality that I had never seen before.
I like reading about worlds where not only we have an all-queer cast (which is always great) but there's no allo/cis/heteronormativity.
In this world, children are genderless until they choose to be confirmed as [gender]. Then they can change the way their bodies look, if they want to; some do, others don't, for various reasons. And there are many characters with lovers of their same gender.
In this world, magic users are Tensors, and they can work with the "Slack" by pulling the five natures, Earth, Water, Fire, Forest and Metal. It's never really explained, but I didn't have a problem with that - I could visualize everything, and I like when SFF books (especially if they're adult) don't spoon-feed me information. Maybe I won't understand everything immediately, but that means that the book will be even more interesting when I reread.
Because I will reread this, I already know.
The only thing I didn't love was the romance - I didn't feel it, but that happens with most romantic relationships I read, so it didn't bother me that much. Also, there's never that much space to develop relationships in short fiction.
The saying goes, "The black tides of heaven direct the courses of human lives". To which a wise teacher said, "But as with all the waters, one can swim against the tide."
Edit 08/08/2018: I stated in my review, almost a year ago, that it was difficult to connect with the characters and the romance because of the time jumps (I never had this problem with Red Threads). This didn't happen on reread and I can't wait to reread the second book too.
JY Yang is now one of my favorite authors.
When I read their novelette Waiting on a Bright Moon earlier this year, I knew I had to try their novella series. And The Black Tides of Heaven did not disappoint.
This novella follows two twins, Akeha (whose PoV we follow) and Mokoya (who has with a prophetic gift). We follow them from their birth to the days of the revolution that is forever changing the Tensorate. The constant time jumps did prevent me from connecting to them sometimes, but I was always invested in their story. It was painful to see them grow apart, even if that was inevitable. I almost cried multiple times. I loved them both, and I want to read more about them.
I loved the worldbuilding. It's speculative fiction in a non-western setting, with a very interesting magic system and an approach to gender and sexuality that I had never seen before.
I like reading about worlds where not only we have an all-queer cast (which is always great) but there's no allo/cis/heteronormativity.
In this world, children are genderless until they choose to be confirmed as [gender]. Then they can change the way their bodies look, if they want to; some do, others don't, for various reasons. And there are many characters with lovers of their same gender.
In this world, magic users are Tensors, and they can work with the "Slack" by pulling the five natures, Earth, Water, Fire, Forest and Metal. It's never really explained, but I didn't have a problem with that - I could visualize everything, and I like when SFF books (especially if they're adult) don't spoon-feed me information. Maybe I won't understand everything immediately, but that means that the book will be even more interesting when I reread.
Because I will reread this, I already know.
The only thing I didn't love was the romance - I didn't feel it, but that happens with most romantic relationships I read, so it didn't bother me that much. Also, there's never that much space to develop relationships in short fiction.
The saying goes, "The black tides of heaven direct the courses of human lives". To which a wise teacher said, "But as with all the waters, one can swim against the tide."
Edit 08/08/2018: I stated in my review, almost a year ago, that it was difficult to connect with the characters and the romance because of the time jumps (I never had this problem with Red Threads). This didn't happen on reread and I can't wait to reread the second book too.
January 26, 2019
Eh, it was okay. The premise sounded great but overall was underwhelming and the writing was awkward (to me anyway). The powers and system behind them were interesting but not enough to interest me completely.
April 2, 2018
This was truly delightful. I think the only issue I had was that it was abbreviated where it could have been made into a truly moving story if it had a little more flesh on its bones. It worked really well as is, but I think it could have been superlative with a little more space.
CONTENT WARNING:
Things to love:
-The take on gender. Hard to miss and hard not to love. A culture that does not force gender, and even postpones puberty until (and if) each person chooses how they want their body to look? That's great. Plus it was handled really well, I think. The singular "they" can be confusing for readers, especially when, as here, the main characters are twins, and often together. But Yang showed us how easy it is to get around that. There were also lots of great moments about "coming out" and how presentation and gender are not the same. I'm keeping this in my back pocket for when the young people in my life start questioning things like pronouns, presentation etc. It's a great "you're not alone" book that I think might make a lot of people think.
-The world. Omg, so cool. Fans of Seirei no Moribito will find imagery so pretty you could cry. Rich, familiar and yet foreign, it was a great setting.
-The magic. Again, just a twist on a classic, but well visualized and explained enough that I felt that I understood its uses and limits. I could have used more on this, but I still thought it was a great blend of mystical power creating science.
-The conflict. All of the conflicts, really. What happened in Akeha's heart and with his body felt as immediate and important as the tyranny of the Tensorate, and the steps taken to counteract it. Again, I'd have liked this drawn out a little more. There was a lot that was so close to poignant but stopped just before we could commit to being in Akeha's head.
Things Not to love:
Seriously, I think the only thing that's keeping this from five stars from me is its brevity. I'm usually the first to say authors pad their stuff and it suffers for it. But here, it just needed a little more breathing room. I guess it was also slightly derivative, but so much was fresh and all of it was incredibly well done. I will always read one of my favorite story arcs again, and when they're as intricate as this one, the familiarity makes it just feel that much more special.
I do recommend this, and will be continuing the series.
CONTENT WARNING:
Things to love:
-The take on gender. Hard to miss and hard not to love. A culture that does not force gender, and even postpones puberty until (and if) each person chooses how they want their body to look? That's great. Plus it was handled really well, I think. The singular "they" can be confusing for readers, especially when, as here, the main characters are twins, and often together. But Yang showed us how easy it is to get around that. There were also lots of great moments about "coming out" and how presentation and gender are not the same. I'm keeping this in my back pocket for when the young people in my life start questioning things like pronouns, presentation etc. It's a great "you're not alone" book that I think might make a lot of people think.
-The world. Omg, so cool. Fans of Seirei no Moribito will find imagery so pretty you could cry. Rich, familiar and yet foreign, it was a great setting.
-The magic. Again, just a twist on a classic, but well visualized and explained enough that I felt that I understood its uses and limits. I could have used more on this, but I still thought it was a great blend of mystical power creating science.
-The conflict. All of the conflicts, really. What happened in Akeha's heart and with his body felt as immediate and important as the tyranny of the Tensorate, and the steps taken to counteract it. Again, I'd have liked this drawn out a little more. There was a lot that was so close to poignant but stopped just before we could commit to being in Akeha's head.
Things Not to love:
Seriously, I think the only thing that's keeping this from five stars from me is its brevity. I'm usually the first to say authors pad their stuff and it suffers for it. But here, it just needed a little more breathing room. I guess it was also slightly derivative, but so much was fresh and all of it was incredibly well done. I will always read one of my favorite story arcs again, and when they're as intricate as this one, the familiarity makes it just feel that much more special.
I do recommend this, and will be continuing the series.
March 25, 2023
Yep yep yep, this is it, this is how it's done
April 8, 2021
★★★☆☆ (3,5/5)
En este mundo ficticio que nos presenta «Las mareas negras del cielo» hay un claro control y dominio por parte de El protectorado, liderado por la protectora Sanao Hekate, ante las demás regiones. Tras muchos años gobernando y siendo respetada por todos, los hados intervendrán en su último y esperado embarazo. El nacimiento de les gemeles Akeha y Mokoya cambiará el destino de sus vidas.
Debo realzar la originalidad de la trama, en la que seremos partícipes de una utopía en la que las personas al nacer no reciben un género específico, sino que lo elegirán cuando quieran sin obligación, ni presión. Esto en un mundo de ficción fantástica y acompañado de una narración y traducción con lenguaje no binario brindan una experiencia lectora de lo más gratificante.
Lo cierto es que esta historia destaca por muchas cosas, pero su esencia se centra en la relación entre les dos hermanes. Es esa unión inquebrantable que resulta adictiva, que aporta ternura a esta historia de la mano de estes protagonistes que lucharán incansablemente. Tampoco quiero dejar de lado a otros personajes como Sanao, con la que siento la necesidad de conocer más en profundidad.
La ambientación, sistema de magia y world building han resultado ser muy atrayentes, a pesar de que no son explotados en todo su máximo esplendor, prometen ofrecernos grandes aventuras en las siguientes entregas. Además le autore de la novela opta por una narración directa, cómoda y muy ágil con un tono íntimo que invita a la reflexión en varias ocasiones.
Para finalizar, solo quisiera deciros que siento que no haya tenido más páginas con las que entretenerme. Queda el consuelo de que sé que disfrutaré enormemente de su continuación que esperaré pacientemente y en la que deseo un desarrollo más pronfundo. Una obra diferente, ligera y que ofrece mucha originalidad en el mundo narrativo de la fantasía universal. Gracias a la editorial por optar por este tipo de novelas tan necesarias y que tratan de manera tan natural estos temas.
En este mundo ficticio que nos presenta «Las mareas negras del cielo» hay un claro control y dominio por parte de El protectorado, liderado por la protectora Sanao Hekate, ante las demás regiones. Tras muchos años gobernando y siendo respetada por todos, los hados intervendrán en su último y esperado embarazo. El nacimiento de les gemeles Akeha y Mokoya cambiará el destino de sus vidas.
Debo realzar la originalidad de la trama, en la que seremos partícipes de una utopía en la que las personas al nacer no reciben un género específico, sino que lo elegirán cuando quieran sin obligación, ni presión. Esto en un mundo de ficción fantástica y acompañado de una narración y traducción con lenguaje no binario brindan una experiencia lectora de lo más gratificante.
Lo cierto es que esta historia destaca por muchas cosas, pero su esencia se centra en la relación entre les dos hermanes. Es esa unión inquebrantable que resulta adictiva, que aporta ternura a esta historia de la mano de estes protagonistes que lucharán incansablemente. Tampoco quiero dejar de lado a otros personajes como Sanao, con la que siento la necesidad de conocer más en profundidad.
La ambientación, sistema de magia y world building han resultado ser muy atrayentes, a pesar de que no son explotados en todo su máximo esplendor, prometen ofrecernos grandes aventuras en las siguientes entregas. Además le autore de la novela opta por una narración directa, cómoda y muy ágil con un tono íntimo que invita a la reflexión en varias ocasiones.
Para finalizar, solo quisiera deciros que siento que no haya tenido más páginas con las que entretenerme. Queda el consuelo de que sé que disfrutaré enormemente de su continuación que esperaré pacientemente y en la que deseo un desarrollo más pronfundo. Una obra diferente, ligera y que ofrece mucha originalidad en el mundo narrativo de la fantasía universal. Gracias a la editorial por optar por este tipo de novelas tan necesarias y que tratan de manera tan natural estos temas.
July 12, 2023
This is the first volume of the Tensorate series of novellas by Neon Yang. It is intended to be stand-alone, and was published the same day as another volume, The Red Threads of Fortune.
While I expected this to be good, I was surprised by just how good it was. The world Yang has created is vibrant and fully-developed, and their writing evokes a true sense of place without being overly descriptive (in fact, the prose is crisp and concise, another strength of the novella). There is a cool magic system, strange creatures, and an interesting level of technology, all in an Asian-inspired backdrop.
The characters, however, are where this book really shines. Yang is skilled at showing the interactions between a variety of characters. The twins at the center of this story have a relationship that develops in a fascinating way. Because of this strong characterization, there are also some emotionally-moving moments. A few lines sent a chill down my spine, and I also found myself starting to tear up on at least one occasion.
One thing that didn't work quite as well for me is that each of the four “parts” of the novella (which takes place over the course of about 35 years) are separated by lengthy time skips; while this allows for more plot points in fewer words, I felt like every time I started to get really invested in the storyline, that section ended and we started a new one, thus losing some of the momentum. Additionally, I felt the ending (despite this being marketed as a stand-alone) left some loose ends that I would have liked to see addressed.
Overall, Neon Yang has emerged as an exciting new voice in SFF literature; I’m eager to read the other novellas set in this world.
While I expected this to be good, I was surprised by just how good it was. The world Yang has created is vibrant and fully-developed, and their writing evokes a true sense of place without being overly descriptive (in fact, the prose is crisp and concise, another strength of the novella). There is a cool magic system, strange creatures, and an interesting level of technology, all in an Asian-inspired backdrop.
The characters, however, are where this book really shines. Yang is skilled at showing the interactions between a variety of characters. The twins at the center of this story have a relationship that develops in a fascinating way. Because of this strong characterization, there are also some emotionally-moving moments. A few lines sent a chill down my spine, and I also found myself starting to tear up on at least one occasion.
One thing that didn't work quite as well for me is that each of the four “parts” of the novella (which takes place over the course of about 35 years) are separated by lengthy time skips; while this allows for more plot points in fewer words, I felt like every time I started to get really invested in the storyline, that section ended and we started a new one, thus losing some of the momentum. Additionally, I felt the ending (despite this being marketed as a stand-alone) left some loose ends that I would have liked to see addressed.
Overall, Neon Yang has emerged as an exciting new voice in SFF literature; I’m eager to read the other novellas set in this world.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,322 reviews