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A review by daumari
The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang
4.0
We're told not to judge book by covers, but Yuko Shimizu's art is gorgeous and was the first thing that drew me to the Tensorate series. What's more intriguing is that the series starts with twin novellas for twin characters, and per an interview, the author thinks it will be interesting seeing the perspective readers have starting with one or the other.
Me? I tend to defer to chronological, even though nonlinear forms of storytelling are fascinating, so I started with The Black Tides of Heaven which starts at the twins' infancy (I'll also confess to checking the Goodreads series numbering), with Akeha as the main character though both are central to the plot, especially their twin Mokoya who has the gift of prophecy.
The world building is excellent. A lot of the fantasy genre is stuck in pseudo-medieval or renaissance fantasy!Europe, when Asian history and culture are ripe for inspiration. Gender is also an aspect but not necessarily central- in Ea, children are gender neutral until they confirm the gender they are, and there's no set age to declare and confirm a gender, which is refreshing. There's magical puberty blockers to stop changes until gender confirmation, though, and not everyone necessarily sees the confirmation doctors. But as I said, this is not the central point- rather, The Black Tides of Heaven focuses on the relationship of the twins- Mokoya is the seer, the one their mother, The Protector, wanted while Akeha is "the spare". Aside from political conflict, the novel twists on differences between the twins, who are bonded but definitely different people.
Me? I tend to defer to chronological, even though nonlinear forms of storytelling are fascinating, so I started with The Black Tides of Heaven which starts at the twins' infancy (I'll also confess to checking the Goodreads series numbering), with Akeha as the main character though both are central to the plot, especially their twin Mokoya who has the gift of prophecy.
The world building is excellent. A lot of the fantasy genre is stuck in pseudo-medieval or renaissance fantasy!Europe, when Asian history and culture are ripe for inspiration. Gender is also an aspect but not necessarily central- in Ea, children are gender neutral until they confirm the gender they are, and there's no set age to declare and confirm a gender, which is refreshing. There's magical puberty blockers to stop changes until gender confirmation, though, and not everyone necessarily sees the confirmation doctors. But as I said, this is not the central point- rather, The Black Tides of Heaven focuses on the relationship of the twins- Mokoya is the seer, the one their mother, The Protector, wanted while Akeha is "the spare". Aside from political conflict, the novel twists on differences between the twins, who are bonded but definitely different people.