I know that these are supposed to be stand-alone novellas, but honestly I would start with this one anyway. I didn't like Akeha at first -- they were so possessive of their twin, so reluctant to admit that maybe they're not absolutely identical in the end, and I didn't agree with his decision to stay away from Mokoya for so long. But nonetheless, as Akeha started to claim his own identity -- first identifying as male, then going travelling, etc -- I started to root for him, and in the end I was a little disappointed that this mostly felt like set-up for the second novella.

It's a good introduction to the world, anyway, with its various social complexities (like people being genderless before whatever age they decide to declare what they choose, and people not choosing or at least not choosing entirely) and the magic. I would like to know more about both -- about how the whole situation with choosing your gender and having your body altered magically to match arose, and more about the magic and Mokoya's part in it.

But also I wish I had more time with Akeha, because I felt like I'd just really got into his story when it ended.

Compelling characters in an interesting world. I liked this novella less well out of the two, but it was still an enjoyable read that offered further insight into the twins’ past.

4.5 stars. Effortlessly inclusive fantasy with rich, compelling world-building. Highly recommended.

The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang is the companion novella to The Red Threads of Fortune, with the two novellas having been released simultaneously. I happened to read The Red Threads of Fortune first, not for any particularly informed reason — I think I happened to have seen more marketing for that one when I made my preorder. This review will contain a lot of comparisons between the two novellas but I will try to avoid spoiling the other.

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?

Black Tides of Heaven follows Akeha, the twin of Mokoya, who was the protagonist in Red Threads of Heaven. As well as following the other twin, it is also set much earlier in time, following the twins (always from Akeha's point of view) from childhood until their thirties. While Red Threads had a lot of physical/geographical world building that drew me into the world and made me want to learn more, Black Tides had a lot more social world building. We got a more thorough explanation of the attitudes towards and treatment of gender, which was only hinted at and encountered obliquely in
Red Threads.

The social treatment of gender was very interesting, actually. Children, when born, are treated gender neutrally until they choose their gender when they feel ready. At that point it is usual, but not compulsory, to visit doctors to have the chosen gender biologically assigned. My impression was that it was something like puberty being delayed until desired, but aspects of magic were involved.

The story itself was presented in widely spaced chunks of time, showing us significant events at different stages of Akeha's life. As the "spare" twin (next to his sister, the Prophet), he has a very different set of issues and worries in life. We also learn about some events that are important backstory in Red Threads but from Akeha's point of view. I'm a bit torn as to which is the "best" reading order for these two novellas. Black Tides is the stronger volume, in my opinion, and packs more of an emotional punch. Being set earlier in time, it's also a logical choice for reading first. However, I didn't feel that reading them in the reverse order ruined the story or anything like that. They work when read in either order.

I recommend The Black Tides of Heaven to anyone who enjoyed Red Threads of Fortune and to fans of fantasy more generally. Especially to anyone looking for fantasy books that explore gender in interesting ways. I gather that there will be another pair of novellas in this world coming out next year, and I am planning to pick those up when they do.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: September 2017, Tor.com
Series: Tensorate, book 1 of two book ones
Format read: ePub eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

It’s only been the last few years that I’ve seriously read science fiction, and wow, has it always been so… progressive? The non-binary characters of Becky Chambers, Ann Leckie, and J.Y. Yang make me so happy. I love what they’re doing with gender in their work.

But let’s talk about The Black Tides of Heaven. It’s not long enough. I’m not saying this in a joking, “I wish I could read even more!!!” kind of way. More like, this story was too short to be enjoyable. Which, I know, it’s a novella. But this isn’t the kind of story fit for a novella length. This book desperately needs another 300 pages, honestly. Because the world, the characters, the plot, it’s all really interesting. But it moves so quickly, so jarringly, that I’m not given enough time to enjoy the good aspects of it.

I know there’s a twin novella released at the same time, which kind of accounts for my missing 300 pages. But I don’t want a twin novella, I want this particular story< fleshed out. God, I can only imagine how absolutely epic a massive 600-page volume of this could have been. What a shame. The length is such disappointingly huge factor that I’m not going to carry on with the series.

Mokoya and Akeha are the twin children of the Protector. While Mokoya was born with a prophetic ability that has doomed her to a life controlled by her autocratic mother, Akeha chooses to join the rebellious Machinists--engineers that believe non-magical technology should serve side by side with magic to benefit both the lower class non-magical and the higher class Tensorate mages. While magic is mostly for those who can wield it, technology is for everyone.

The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune weave us a delightful tapestry of world building where Yang shows us a richly developed society of myth and magic where gender can be chosen, fates can be shaped, and love holds the universe together. My only complaint with the novellas is that they were both far too short. It's an interesting world with really great characters. Hopefully we'll see more of it soon.

This is one of a pair of novellas released on the same day—which makes sense, since the central characters are a pair of twins, children of the ruler of their empire. Their mother has promised them to the local monastery, but when one of the children turns out to be a prophet, plans change. I chose to read this one first because it explains more of the background of the characters and their world (I think the fantasy classification here is silkpunk, which so far I like way more than steampunk) but am eager to see what the other one has in store. A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book is available now.

I picked up this book for the representation of gender neutral characters written by a nonbinary author. That, honestly, was excellent, so seamlessly written that I could hardly imagine how I had made it so complicated in my own head.

Yang writes a world where gender is decided by the individual as a confirmation. This can also include medication the make sure that the confirmation takes, but it isn't necessary.

Predominantly, this story is about the lives of twins Mokoya and Akeha, written solely through Akeha's point of view. It's almost difficult to separate the two of them for the first half of the novel, so wrapped up in each others lives are they. But, when Mokoya reveals that they have visions of the future, their lives begin to diverge.

That was also, for me, when the story started to fail a little bit. Years went by between chapters and, in that, too much passed that wasn't stated within the story. I felt like I missed things about the war that went on between Akeha and his mother and the factions they represented in the story (Machinists and Protectorate). I felt mostly like I missed any hint of romance between Akeha and Yongcheow.

(I didn't miss the yearning between Akeha and Thennjay however, and wished fervently for polyamory in these sections, but one novel can't represent everything.)

At the end, these disjointed threads of plot let down the story and characters in my opinion, though it was still strong enough to warrant a 4 star review.
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