The Black Tides of Heaven

by JY Yang

Other authorsYuko Shimizu (Cover artist), Christine Foltzer (Cover designer), Carl Engle-Laird (Editor), Serena Maylon (Map)
Paperback, 2017-09

Status

Available

Call number

PR9570 .S53

Publication

Tor.com (New York, 2017). 1st edition, 1st printing. 240 pages. $15.99.

Description

Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as infants. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While Mokoya received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What's more, they saw the sickness at the heart of their 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 as a pawn in their 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 Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond they share with their twin?… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member greeniezona
Listen. I may never have read this if it hadn't been for a challenge in a reading group I'm a part of. I'd even checked out the first two Tensorate books once before, as they were fantasy novellas, but I didn't get to them before I had to turn them back in. But then I needed a book to fill the Y
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prompt -- and there was J.Y. Yang!

Of course one of the notable things about this series is that people in this world are born gender neutral, and remain so until they choose a gender and go through gender confirmation. This is all just kind of background to the story, however Yang never goes into detail about what being neutral means, or what the confirmation process looks like, or even explains norms like how or when people tend to choose their genders. There is only the mentions of Mokoya and Akeha choosing -- in a very matter of fact way -- because it is just how this world is. Can be read as a refreshing reminder that none of that genitalia stuff is any of your business anyway.

Yang's writing is a bit dry -- but that may be because Akeha, who is our POV character in this volume, seems to be that way. It will be interesting to see if that changes in the other books.

There are a host of things undescribed here -- creatures, organizations, etc. For instance: What, exactly, is a naga? Descriptions of nagas certainly exist outside of this book, but there are multiple iterations that can differ in significant ways. The decision to just dump you in this world is certainly deliberate -- and I vacillated between appreciating and being frustrated by that approach.

But my interest is certainly piqued. It looks like I will be reading the rest of this series.
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LibraryThing member lavaturtle
I love the worldbuilding in this book: the society's interesting approach to gender, the political tensions, the magic system. The main character was well-drawn and sympathetic. The ending wasn't quite as definitive as I would have liked, so I'm glad there's more in this series!
LibraryThing member quondame
Intriguing tale of twins born to the Protector who intended only one child to satisfy a deal made with the Abbot. At age 9, tje Proctor reclaims Mokoya who is a prophet, forcing the aged Abbot to also return Akeha. At 17 they seek out the young man Mokoya's prophesy has revealed will be the new
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Abbot and Mokoya confirms her gender as female to join him at the Monastery. Akeha confirms as male, leaves the capital for the southern reaches of the Protectorate and eventually commits to the Mechanics rebellion. A tragic accident some years later causes Akeha to return to the capital and face his mother. The cast of characters is necessarily small in such a slim book, but rather too slim to give weight to an empire. What is shown of the land and characters is well done, but action is more prominent than atmosphere.
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LibraryThing member renbedell
An Asian-style fantasy story of twins born from a tyrannical empress and partially raised by an opposing abbot. The fantasy element is the magic able to be used by certain people and that the twins are genderless when they are bone and are able to choose their gender when they are ready. It is a
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very interesting aspect of the story. It has typical themes of prophetical twins and an evil mother, but the world, characters, and fantasy elements make this book stick out. It is a short book, which means it jumps time a lot. It was nice to not have unnecessary fillers, but sometimes I wanted to learn more about the characters.
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LibraryThing member Stevil2001
The Black Tides of Heaven provided an overview of the lives of a pair of identical twins in a fantasy world, both with magical powers, one with the gift of prophecy. I enjoyed it... but I never felt myself drawn into the characters or their world.
LibraryThing member rivkat
Twin fantasy novellas about twins Mokoya and Akeha, children of the Protector who are given over to the Monastery as payback for the head monk’s assistance in beating back a rebellion, then snatched back when it turns out that Mokoya can see the future. Magic is energy available to the talented,
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but technology is increasingly offering the untalented the same kinds of powers, destabilizing the rule of the Protector. Also, because magic allows it, children are ungendered until they decide on a gender and the doctors evoke and stabilize their genitalia/secondary sex characteristics. This is part of what creates tension between the twins, when Mokoya wants to enter gender while Akeha wants to keep their childhood vow never to do so. Akeha becomes a rebel, but Mokoya is still vulnerable to their mother’s manipulations. It’s a fragmentary tale; I might have liked a full on novel set in this world better.
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LibraryThing member emeraldreverie
Really enjoyed this! Fascinating magic system, wonderful characters and relationships. Good drama. Good action. Very queer, including nonbinary rep. Definitely reading more.
LibraryThing member xiaomarlo
The world building and the representation of gender expression are both very good, but the plot wasn't great, I think because the book is short but it spans such a long period of time that the narrative points pass by quickly and don't hold enough weight.
LibraryThing member Petroglyph
This novella was uneven. I know this is the first in a series, but The black tides of heaven felt incomplete in ways I don’t expect first-in-series books to be.

In terms of world-building it felt as though there was too much going on: there’s a magical system (think The Force filtered through
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Five-Elements-style categories) that exists alongside real-world technology; there’s the secondary-world history, where fairly standard imperialist conquerors lord it over the down-trodden conquered; there’s various factions and ethnic groupings, not all of which were clearly introduced; and there’s the gender setup, where children are “they” until about 17 when they choose their gender and doctors magic their bodies into the appropriate forms. Some of these things were organically worked into the narrative, but others were dumped into it at the three-quarters point. This novella felt like it should have been expanded into something a bit longer.

With so much going on in the background, the main plot skips and jumps from event to event. Chapters are named after the twin protagonists’ ages (the sixth year, the seventeenth year), and while the plot and intrigue are interesting enough in their own right, the episodic nature of the narrative makes it hard to appreciate things like character development and motivation. Here, too, this novella felt as though it should have been longer than it was.
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LibraryThing member pwaites
When I read The Red Threads of Fortune, I was blown away by the intricacy of this fantasy novella. The Black Tides of Heaven was released at the same time, and both novellas stand alone. That said, The Black Tides of Heaven takes place before The Red Threads of Fortune.

The story starts out with the
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birth of twin children (Mokoya and Akeha) to the Protector, who promptly gives them to the Grand Monastery to pay off a debt. The story follows Akeha as they grow up and discover a path separate from their prophetic sibling.

One of the most notable elements of The Black Tides of Heaven is Yang’s treatment of gender and sexuality. In the culture Yang’s created, children are not assigned a gender at birth. They are referred to with non-gendered pronouns and wear specific non-gendered clothing until they chose their gender (either male or female), usually in their teen years although some chose as young as three. I think there’s a tendency to paint these sorts of fantasy worlds as queer utopias, but it’s still a culture where adult gender is considered binary, which is brought up more in The Red Threads of Fortune with the introduction of an adult nonbinary character. It also interests me what the expectations are for the different genders and how they still seem to have designated gender roles, although the society is also non-patriarchal.

The Black Tides of Heaven spans over thirty years of Akeha’s life. As you might expect, it’s a coming of age story. The core of the novella is Akeha defining himself as an individual distinct from his sister and expectations for a child of the Protector. But his individual journey takes place within a larger socio-political conflict. I think The Black Tides of Heaven gave me a better perspective on the Tensor/Machinists conflict than The Red Threads of Fortune, possibly due to the larger time span. I’m also glad that I actually saw the character of the Protector, since I’d heard a lot about her in the other novella.

Of course, there’s a lot happening here for just a novella, and as a result the story feels thin in some places. While I thought The Black Tides of Heaven gave more of a picture of the world, I still think I need to see more of it. Luckily, there’s going to be two more novellas in the series! Unfortunately, that doesn’t help with some of the issues in The Black Tides of Heaven. Specifically the development of character relationships. I thought the relationship between the siblings was the strongest, but there’s a lot of relationship building that gets lost in the time skips, especially when it comes to the romantic relationships.

Yang is a fantastic writer, and I highly recommend their work. Do yourself a favor and read the Tensorate novellas.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
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LibraryThing member Shrike58
My response to this novella was that it was interesting but only interesting. Perhaps matters will come deeper into focus if I read more of the set of novellas of which this is a part but I come away with the sense that the author is trying a little too hard to play with the stuff of fable and
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legend and I'm not feeling as moved as I would like. Or, to put it another way, the siblings Mokoya & Akeha are fine but their dictatorial mother feels only like a set-piece prop to be reacted against, because that is what one does.
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LibraryThing member dreamweaversunited
The world of this book is so interesting and well fleshed out. The central relationship between the twins really anchored the story. Poetic, beautiful, stirring.
LibraryThing member jdifelice
This was sooo good. I really liked the ideas and themes explored and how the world was created. We follow Mokoya and Akeha - siblings in the Protectorate. This story explores the ideas of gender identity, identity, and sibling relationships. It really captures the essence of figuring out who you
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are, and how you fit into the world, and what you can do to change it. I really liked this.

The world was really cool, and I liked the concept of slack craft - I would like to see more of how it works and some more explanation in future books though. The Protectorate is an interesting society, and I can't wait to explore more in the next books.

Overall, I really liked this, and all the themes it discussed and explored. Would definitely recommend.
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LibraryThing member ocgreg34
The Black Tides of Heaven (2017) by JY Yang is a fantasy novella that tells the story of twins Mokoya and Akeha, presented to the Grand Monastery by their mother, the Protector, for services rendered in thwarting a rebellion. While growing up in the monastery and learning the power of slackcraft
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(controlling nature), Mokoya uncovers their gift of prophetic dreams and soon becomes a pawn in their mother's plans for the Protectorate. Akeha, cast aside by their mother, joins the Machinists--those rebelling against the Protectorate.

While primarily a fantasy story, I liked that the plot relied more on the characters and their actions and feelings instead of on their magical powers. For me, it sometimes weighs a story down when the author focuses on the wondrous aspects of the characters' mystical gifts instead of on the characters themselves. In "The Black Tides of Heaven," the characters face a number of inner struggles, such as deciding which gender they want to be, their emotions involving love, dealing with the societal impacts of the family they come from and how that divides the protectorate. I found myself more involved with the characters instead of their powers.

I highly recommend this first novella in the Tensorate series.
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LibraryThing member jzacsh
Second read through: quite excellent. Better the second time around!

Something I hadn't remembered from the first read is the cool background on the title of the book, specifically this quote about free-will roughly 2/3 through the book:


"No matter what we did, her visions happened anyway. Future
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events can be set in stone. Where is your free will in that?"


Yongcheow folded careful hands over his belly. "But in those cases, you did do something, didn't you? You went to find the new Head Abbot. Your mother's purging Machinists. Some things might be fixed, but everything around then can be changed. That's the part that counts."


"A test. That's the Obedient belief, isn't it? Everything is a test from the heavens."


A considered silence shimmered. Then Yongcheow spoke. "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.'"


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LibraryThing member jakecasella
Pretty fun! A little thinly-sketched, but it is a novella. I'm left with lots of questions about how the world works. The magic system (and possible conflict/replacement with technology to make things more accessible) is interesting, as is the gender confirmation aspect of the society. The magical
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creatures felt like teasers, would like to see more. Will definitely continue reading the series.
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LibraryThing member acdha
The world is fascinating and the empire felt appropriately large. The pacing felt uneven and left me wishing the second half was longer.

I’m looking forward to the next book.
LibraryThing member wunder
I understand that this is a novella, but the story seems incomplete. It ends at a stopping place, but there are large things that are unresolved.
LibraryThing member Tikimoof
Length and scope didn't match to make me care about the characters. I'm kinda bored of the "guns vs magic" stuff too.
LibraryThing member Othemts
Akeha and Mokoya are the twin youngest children of the cruel and dictatorial Protector. In The Protector's empire, people called Tensors are able to control elemental forces using a magical skill known as slackcraft.The Protector's control of the Tensors enables her absolute rule. Children in the
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Tensorate are raised without gender with physical differences suppressed by slackcraft. When they come of age they can confirm their gender.

The twins are initially raised at a monastery until The Protector learns that Mokoya has developed a gift of prophecy and forces them to return to the empire. Akeha flees to aid a nascent revolutionary moment while Mokoya tries to avoid having their mother abuse their gift. All of this builds to a final confrontation with the lingering question, can Akeha and Moyoka defeat their mother without succumbing to her dependence on violence.

This book falls into a genre called silkpunk, fantasy fiction that draws on aspects of Asian antiquity with more modern technological elements. I can't say that I quite "get" it but it is a unique and interesting novella.
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LibraryThing member Sammelsurium
There is the outline of a story here, but nothing of interest is explored for more than a couple pages before the book fast-forwards another six years in the characters' lives to the next plot point. It's so sparse that events seem to lack continuity and character motivations become obscure. While
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we know that complicated romantic entanglements exist, that at least two forms of systematic oppression exists, and that there is a grand rebellion, why any of these things matter to the main character, or should matter to us, is unclear. There is simply not enough depth of characterization to make any of those things complex or memorable.
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LibraryThing member krau0098
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in The Tensorate series; there are four novellas in this series. I borrowed a copy of this on ebook through Kindle Unlimited.

Thoughts: I liked this book but didn't love it. It's a bit confusing to follow the magic system and the world here. The writing
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itself was easy to read and the story was intriguing. The book takes big jumps in time which makes it hard to stay engaged with the characters.

The book follows Mokoya and Akeha; twin children born to the Protector who were bargained off to the Grand Monastery at the age of six. They are raised at the monastery and eventually the Protector tries to pull Mokoya back to her because of Mokoya's prophetic skills. After that point, the story is mostly told from Akeha's point of view.

Parts of this book were a bit hard to follow. The magic system is sketchy and for some reason Mokoya and Akeha have super powers that aren't well understood; they also seem to be able to communicate mind to mind which is never explained. The political situation was a bit easier to understand and is basically the Tensorate against the Protectorate.

The book is short and has four parts to it; each part makes a bit jump in time which made it tough to engage with these characters and their lives. The writing was easy enough to read though and I found the story engaging enough. I don't plan on continuing the series though because I just wasn't intrigued enough by the characters or their world.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I liked this. It is a quick read with a lot of world-building and an intriguing societal structure. Some things here should have been better filled out (like the magic system and politics) but you can sit back just go with it and not think too hard and follow what is happening okay. I also didn't enjoy the huge jumps in time, it made it hard to stay engaged with the story and characters. I didn't enjoy this enough to continue with the series.
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LibraryThing member hatpin
Great worldbuilding but all the characters seem to fall in love at first sight. Novellas are fine, but not if it's just a novel with the character development cut out. Not interested in reading further.
LibraryThing member dcunning11235
This had some of the makings of a great novel, and I think suffers quite a bit from being pared down to a novella (even if it is part of a pair.) So some parts are rushed, or just undetailed/blurry, you're left with some idea of how this world works, but it is thin. Where does the Protectorate fit
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into this... world? Planet? Is it a planet? Everyone hates it because domination, but where did it come from? Why has it lasted this long? Just cruelty and power and nothing else? Other peoples exist to have other peoples/races, and that seems to be it. Everyone is sex (not just gender, as some reviews say) nonbinary, how did that happen? How did that work before? Did the Protectorate force that on everyone?

Okay, so those are all things that actually interested me. I'm complaining because I wanted more. But then there is the other stuff... Oh, look, they are going to create telephones and someone invented handguns and *low yield nukes.* Its like steampunk, but pieces of industrial and modern era technology are getting created in like 20 years time. And so in 40 or 50 more years, they will be conquering neighboring star systems...?
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Awards

Hugo Award (Nominee — Novella — 2018)
Nebula Award (Nominee — Novella — 2017)
Locus Award (Finalist — Novella — 2018)
Otherwise Award (Honor List — 2017)
The Kitschies (Finalist — 2017)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2017

Physical description

240 p.; 5 inches

ISBN

9780765395412

Local notes

Inscribed (San Jose, August 2018).
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