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A review by rashellnicole
The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang
fast-paced
4.5
I can tell from this first book that this is going to be a series of novellas that I hold dear, much like the Singing Hills Cycle series by Nghi Vo. Similar in style, narrative flow, and characterization, the first book in the Tensorate series follows twins Mokoya and Akeha and their lives in the Grand Monastery as they are raised to pay the debt their mother incurred by asking for the Monastery’s help with suppressing a rebellion. As the children grow, so do their connections to the Slack and their gifts with that. Mokoya has the gift of prophecy, which the Monastery works to develop, in particular, as it turns out it’s impossible to stop any of these events from occurring.
Akeha is there for their sibling after each visceral prophecy, though it eventually starts to tear them apart. When Mokoya reveals that they are preparing to be confirmed as a woman, Akeha’s world shatters. Raised genderless, they choose their gender at 17, but they always assumed their path would be the same as their twin’s. Instead, Akeha must consider their own choice for confirmation and what it means to be separate from their twin.
After they both have their confirmation ceremonies, they part ways. Their mother has no use for Akeha as a son when Mokoya’s gift of prophecy works in her favor. Akeha leaves the world he’s always known to see what else the world has in store. Many adventures and encounters are had, he falls in love, and he ends up being the driving force behind the next Machinist rebellion (those opposing his mother’s rule). We have a bittersweet family reunion and the promise of more familial (and realm-related) drama to come in future novellas. I, for one, can’t wait to get my hands on the next book, and I’m grateful the series is complete so I can binge it!
Akeha is there for their sibling after each visceral prophecy, though it eventually starts to tear them apart. When Mokoya reveals that they are preparing to be confirmed as a woman, Akeha’s world shatters. Raised genderless, they choose their gender at 17, but they always assumed their path would be the same as their twin’s. Instead, Akeha must consider their own choice for confirmation and what it means to be separate from their twin.
After they both have their confirmation ceremonies, they part ways. Their mother has no use for Akeha as a son when Mokoya’s gift of prophecy works in her favor. Akeha leaves the world he’s always known to see what else the world has in store. Many adventures and encounters are had, he falls in love, and he ends up being the driving force behind the next Machinist rebellion (those opposing his mother’s rule). We have a bittersweet family reunion and the promise of more familial (and realm-related) drama to come in future novellas. I, for one, can’t wait to get my hands on the next book, and I’m grateful the series is complete so I can binge it!