What do you think?
Rate this book
Down in the Sea of Angels
An intense and thoughtful time-travelling dystopian fantasy where three individuals, psychically linked through time, fight enslavement, exploitation, and environmental collapse. A great read for fans of Emily St. John Mandel.
In the year 2106, climate change has altered the world, transforming borders, cities, and socioeconomic structures. Additionally, a cosmic event known as the ‘Bloom’ has awakened psionic abilities in a small percentage of the population.
One such individual is Maida Chao, who possesses the ability of psychometry, a gift that allows her to “read” the objects she touches and know its entire history. Newly employed with the Golden Gate Cultural Recovery Project in the area once known as San Francisco Bay, she must learn how to navigate the parameters of her abilities as well as the politics of the organization she works for. Until a chance encounter with a political leader’s watch reveals a plan to eliminate psionic powers, and the people who possess them. People like her.
Terrified, but left with few options, Maida continues work at the GGCRP, when she stumbles upon a teacup and is psychically plunged into the lives of two of its previous owners – Ethan Chao of 2006, a “bourgeois bohemian” working his corporate design job while longing for greater purpose; and Li Nuan of 1906, an indentured servant in a Chinatown brothel.
On discovering that these two people are distant relatives of hers, a strong psychic connection is made and Maida realizes she can use the conduit of the teacup to send a message back through time, giving her the chance to warn her ancestors of the coming climate collapse and save her own life.
In the year 2106, climate change has altered the world, transforming borders, cities, and socioeconomic structures. Additionally, a cosmic event known as the ‘Bloom’ has awakened psionic abilities in a small percentage of the population.
One such individual is Maida Chao, who possesses the ability of psychometry, a gift that allows her to “read” the objects she touches and know its entire history. Newly employed with the Golden Gate Cultural Recovery Project in the area once known as San Francisco Bay, she must learn how to navigate the parameters of her abilities as well as the politics of the organization she works for. Until a chance encounter with a political leader’s watch reveals a plan to eliminate psionic powers, and the people who possess them. People like her.
Terrified, but left with few options, Maida continues work at the GGCRP, when she stumbles upon a teacup and is psychically plunged into the lives of two of its previous owners – Ethan Chao of 2006, a “bourgeois bohemian” working his corporate design job while longing for greater purpose; and Li Nuan of 1906, an indentured servant in a Chinatown brothel.
On discovering that these two people are distant relatives of hers, a strong psychic connection is made and Maida realizes she can use the conduit of the teacup to send a message back through time, giving her the chance to warn her ancestors of the coming climate collapse and save her own life.
384 pages, Paperback
First published April 22, 2025
37 people are currently reading
1173 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
Read
November 19, 2025This is one of Book Riot’s Best Books of 2025:
This blending of science fiction and fantasy takes place in San Francisco along three timelines—two in the past and one in the not-too-distant future. The oldest timeline is in 1906 with Li Nuan, a teen who was sold to a San Francisco Chinatown mob boss to settle her father’s debts. Then in 2006 is a queer, Chinese American named Nathan, who works in tech and is a Burning Man devotee. Finally, the year 2106 is woven in with Maida Sun, a woman with psionic abilities. It’s a beautifully written and thought-provoking examination of our connections and obligations to each other through time.
- Patricia Elzie-Tuttle
This blending of science fiction and fantasy takes place in San Francisco along three timelines—two in the past and one in the not-too-distant future. The oldest timeline is in 1906 with Li Nuan, a teen who was sold to a San Francisco Chinatown mob boss to settle her father’s debts. Then in 2006 is a queer, Chinese American named Nathan, who works in tech and is a Burning Man devotee. Finally, the year 2106 is woven in with Maida Sun, a woman with psionic abilities. It’s a beautifully written and thought-provoking examination of our connections and obligations to each other through time.
- Patricia Elzie-Tuttle
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1645808644i%2F7494844._UX200_CR0%2C6%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
August 1, 2025
My ability gave me windows into the past, but I walked in the future just like everyone else.
Maida is a psion living in 2106 San Francisco with the unique ability to know the history of objects she touches. At work, she touches a jade teacup trapped inside a time capsule, and gets interwoven into the lives of two very different people: Nathan, a tech designer living in 2006, and Li Nuan, a sixteen-year-old indentured servant living in 1906.
I don't often like dual-timeline stories, and this triple-timeline story gave me a lot of pause to the point where I was like "why did I even request this off NetGalley?"
It's a little clunky in parts, but overall it works really well, mainly because it shows how relatively ordinary people can make a difference. Perhaps not in the world, but to their families and communities and homes. And sometimes, ordinary people and their small interactions can change the world, too.
It also is an excoriating look at how capitalism is driving the climate crisis, exploiting both natural and human resources to allow a select few to live comfortably. And how it could change—but unfortunately the big change to a seeming-utopia in this book is caused by a deus ex machina in the form of the Bloom, the strange event that gave psions their abilities.
Maida's timeline feels very X-Men, Li Nuan's feels very much like a dark Stacey Lee novel, and Nathan's timeline feels like a Burning Man techie who grows a conscience.
The sexual assault scenes felt off in a way that I couldn't really figure out until I realized the author was a man. Also, the fact that the sexual assault scenes are all about children (child prostitution was common in many places in the US, particularly amongst historically marginalized and exoticized communities like the Chinese). Note: I'm not saying don't write about a very dark and very real part of history, but this depiction felt...off. These parts were a bit more graphic than the rest of the action in the book.
He has an amazing comfortable life that he never thought twice about before now, that he always thought he'd earned and built himself with hard work and dedication and skill. Which he did. But there is so much invisible labor and invisible support that makes his whole life possible.
There are many themes of fascism, capitalism, misogyny, racism and slavery, and heavy, HEAVY trigger warnings for child sexual assault.
I received an ARC from the publisher
Maida is a psion living in 2106 San Francisco with the unique ability to know the history of objects she touches. At work, she touches a jade teacup trapped inside a time capsule, and gets interwoven into the lives of two very different people: Nathan, a tech designer living in 2006, and Li Nuan, a sixteen-year-old indentured servant living in 1906.
I don't often like dual-timeline stories, and this triple-timeline story gave me a lot of pause to the point where I was like "why did I even request this off NetGalley?"
It's a little clunky in parts, but overall it works really well, mainly because it shows how relatively ordinary people can make a difference. Perhaps not in the world, but to their families and communities and homes. And sometimes, ordinary people and their small interactions can change the world, too.
It also is an excoriating look at how capitalism is driving the climate crisis, exploiting both natural and human resources to allow a select few to live comfortably. And how it could change—but unfortunately the big change to a seeming-utopia in this book is caused by a deus ex machina in the form of the Bloom, the strange event that gave psions their abilities.
Maida's timeline feels very X-Men, Li Nuan's feels very much like a dark Stacey Lee novel, and Nathan's timeline feels like a Burning Man techie who grows a conscience.
The sexual assault scenes felt off in a way that I couldn't really figure out until I realized the author was a man. Also, the fact that the sexual assault scenes are all about children (child prostitution was common in many places in the US, particularly amongst historically marginalized and exoticized communities like the Chinese). Note: I'm not saying don't write about a very dark and very real part of history, but this depiction felt...off. These parts were a bit more graphic than the rest of the action in the book.
He has an amazing comfortable life that he never thought twice about before now, that he always thought he'd earned and built himself with hard work and dedication and skill. Which he did. But there is so much invisible labor and invisible support that makes his whole life possible.
There are many themes of fascism, capitalism, misogyny, racism and slavery, and heavy, HEAVY trigger warnings for child sexual assault.
I received an ARC from the publisher
May 3, 2025
Review originally on JamReads
Down in the Sea of Angels is a bold dystopian sci-fi novel, written by Khan Wong, and published by Angry Robot Books. A difficult to characterize book, which presents us to three stories, loosely linked by a jade teacup (to be fair, all becomes clearer the more you advance in the novel), each one fighting against their own version of exploitation and collapse, ultimately giving us three excellent character-driven plots that, even if they have hard moments, give us a glimpse of hope, of breaking those circles.
In 2106, Maida Sun possesses the ability of psychometry, to see the history of objects just touching them; in this future, after the collapse, a minority of the population is gifted with psionic powers. Her job as historian puts her in contact with the jade teacup that will link her to the other characters, sending them visions that will put them in the path of change; but on her own timeline, her accidental encounter with a politician reveals plans to take the psionic minority and put them under control and in prisons, to be used as part of the powerful people's plans. She will need to be brave and collaborate with more people to expose those plans and avoid making her people the scapegoats, in a parallel to what some political rhetorics do today with other minorities.
2006's timeline presents us to Nathan, an upcoming tech-designer, living a good life without thinking much about the consequences to the world we live in; the visions of environmental destruction will make him to think more about his privilege and how the system is driving us towards our finale. While his story is more relaxed, I found it to be incredibly impactful, especially as we see his struggles to change his life and become that good man that can take a different approach and escape from the capitalistic system; in definitive, telling us that it is possible to be a positive force nowadays.
Finally, 1906's timeline puts us in the skin of Li Nuang, a 16 year old sold into slavery and forced into sex work; the visions of an earthquake will be spark needed to ignite her fire of change. She will need to be brave and to get the freedom that was negated from her; a really dark story but which has space for hope.
Ultimately, we can see how Khan Wong links the three stories through the jade teacup and the visions, tying them loosely to the same point; it is difficult to classify this book, but ultimately what we have is a thought-provoking novel whose major strength is the character development. While there are some action scenes, Wong prefers to put the focus on human relationships and on how the cycle of consumption needs to change to become different, to stop hurting whatever is around it.
Down in the Sea of Angels constitutes an enjoyable and thought-provoking reading experience, ultimately giving much to the reader to ponder about; if you like character-driven stories, you will surely love this book. (as a side note, be aware and check the content warnings before).
Down in the Sea of Angels is a bold dystopian sci-fi novel, written by Khan Wong, and published by Angry Robot Books. A difficult to characterize book, which presents us to three stories, loosely linked by a jade teacup (to be fair, all becomes clearer the more you advance in the novel), each one fighting against their own version of exploitation and collapse, ultimately giving us three excellent character-driven plots that, even if they have hard moments, give us a glimpse of hope, of breaking those circles.
In 2106, Maida Sun possesses the ability of psychometry, to see the history of objects just touching them; in this future, after the collapse, a minority of the population is gifted with psionic powers. Her job as historian puts her in contact with the jade teacup that will link her to the other characters, sending them visions that will put them in the path of change; but on her own timeline, her accidental encounter with a politician reveals plans to take the psionic minority and put them under control and in prisons, to be used as part of the powerful people's plans. She will need to be brave and collaborate with more people to expose those plans and avoid making her people the scapegoats, in a parallel to what some political rhetorics do today with other minorities.
2006's timeline presents us to Nathan, an upcoming tech-designer, living a good life without thinking much about the consequences to the world we live in; the visions of environmental destruction will make him to think more about his privilege and how the system is driving us towards our finale. While his story is more relaxed, I found it to be incredibly impactful, especially as we see his struggles to change his life and become that good man that can take a different approach and escape from the capitalistic system; in definitive, telling us that it is possible to be a positive force nowadays.
Finally, 1906's timeline puts us in the skin of Li Nuang, a 16 year old sold into slavery and forced into sex work; the visions of an earthquake will be spark needed to ignite her fire of change. She will need to be brave and to get the freedom that was negated from her; a really dark story but which has space for hope.
Ultimately, we can see how Khan Wong links the three stories through the jade teacup and the visions, tying them loosely to the same point; it is difficult to classify this book, but ultimately what we have is a thought-provoking novel whose major strength is the character development. While there are some action scenes, Wong prefers to put the focus on human relationships and on how the cycle of consumption needs to change to become different, to stop hurting whatever is around it.
Down in the Sea of Angels constitutes an enjoyable and thought-provoking reading experience, ultimately giving much to the reader to ponder about; if you like character-driven stories, you will surely love this book. (as a side note, be aware and check the content warnings before).
May 12, 2025
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I received a copy of the book from Angry Robot Books in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, blood, suicide, trafficking, racist language/attitudes, xenophobia, sexual harassment/assault, sexual content, drug use, death, confinement, kidnapping, injury, fire/fire injury
--
Wong has written a compelling story rooted in collective liberation and social justice following 3 individuals in San Francisco, each from a different century in time.
We’re first introduced to Maida Sun in the year 2106, a young woman with the ability to read the history of objects that she comes into contact with which not only allows her to uncover a nefarious government plot but the reading of a jade tea cup also connects her to two of its previous keepers. These are Li Nuan, a young indentured girl forced to work in a brothel in Chinatown during the early 20th century and Nathan, an up and coming tech-designer in the early 2000s who gets a rude awakening when he finds out his line of work is associated with forced child labour. The link between the three of them is one which helps them each to see through their own journeys and strive for a better future.
It is a story threefold where each perspective is beautifully tied together but also stands out on its own, not just not just because of how well Wong captured each of their voices and emotions but also because each timeline had its own distinctive vibe.
As someone who really enjoys reading about speculative futures I was fascinated by the one posed in Maida’s time where both natural and manmade disasters as well as an event known as the Bloom that activated psionic powers in certain people, has brought about a much changed world. It has that typical dystopian feel and while there were some info dumpy moments here and there and the timespan for the plot seemed a little too quick to be realistic, I was immediately drawn in by all the tension of what was happening as well as seeing Maida become actively involved in saving a community that has given her somewhere to belong.
Just as captivating was the storyline following Li Nuan, no doubt the most distressing and the one I was most emotionally invested in. Her perspective shed some light on the history of slavery and racism at the time and was all about courageously fighting first-hand for freedom.
Nathan’s side of the story was the most relaxed as it had the least amount of direct action but it was still engaging all the same. He is definitely of a much more sheltered/privileged background but he is the character that poses as a mirror to the reader and today’s world. The commentary that his narrative brings about with regards to reflecting on personal choices and the steps we as individuals can take to help the wider community was just as significant.
The history of the jade tea cup is also pieced together over the course of the book and I liked that by the end it cemented itself as more of a symbol of the idea that we can all learn from the past and reflect on the future in order to help shape a better today.
Final Rating – 4/5 Stars
**I received a copy of the book from Angry Robot Books in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, blood, suicide, trafficking, racist language/attitudes, xenophobia, sexual harassment/assault, sexual content, drug use, death, confinement, kidnapping, injury, fire/fire injury
--
Wong has written a compelling story rooted in collective liberation and social justice following 3 individuals in San Francisco, each from a different century in time.
We’re first introduced to Maida Sun in the year 2106, a young woman with the ability to read the history of objects that she comes into contact with which not only allows her to uncover a nefarious government plot but the reading of a jade tea cup also connects her to two of its previous keepers. These are Li Nuan, a young indentured girl forced to work in a brothel in Chinatown during the early 20th century and Nathan, an up and coming tech-designer in the early 2000s who gets a rude awakening when he finds out his line of work is associated with forced child labour. The link between the three of them is one which helps them each to see through their own journeys and strive for a better future.
It is a story threefold where each perspective is beautifully tied together but also stands out on its own, not just not just because of how well Wong captured each of their voices and emotions but also because each timeline had its own distinctive vibe.
As someone who really enjoys reading about speculative futures I was fascinated by the one posed in Maida’s time where both natural and manmade disasters as well as an event known as the Bloom that activated psionic powers in certain people, has brought about a much changed world. It has that typical dystopian feel and while there were some info dumpy moments here and there and the timespan for the plot seemed a little too quick to be realistic, I was immediately drawn in by all the tension of what was happening as well as seeing Maida become actively involved in saving a community that has given her somewhere to belong.
Just as captivating was the storyline following Li Nuan, no doubt the most distressing and the one I was most emotionally invested in. Her perspective shed some light on the history of slavery and racism at the time and was all about courageously fighting first-hand for freedom.
Nathan’s side of the story was the most relaxed as it had the least amount of direct action but it was still engaging all the same. He is definitely of a much more sheltered/privileged background but he is the character that poses as a mirror to the reader and today’s world. The commentary that his narrative brings about with regards to reflecting on personal choices and the steps we as individuals can take to help the wider community was just as significant.
The history of the jade tea cup is also pieced together over the course of the book and I liked that by the end it cemented itself as more of a symbol of the idea that we can all learn from the past and reflect on the future in order to help shape a better today.
Final Rating – 4/5 Stars
April 20, 2025
If you love dystopian fantasy and sci-fi, multiple storylines, psychic abilities, character development and real-world politics then I’d recommend to check this out!
Down in the Sea of Angels follows 3 characters (Li Nuan, Nathan and Maida) in their separate timelines, 1906, 2006 and 2106 respectively. All characters are sort of psychically linked and fight their own battles, ranging from enslavement, environmental collapse and exploitation. What I really liked about this book was how whilst we follow individuals in their lives which seems small, their efforts are connected and present a bigger picture; how the actions of some can impact the lives of many. The 3 characters never cross paths with another, they never directly interact so this isn’t a time travel story in a typical way. The tea cup is what connects them. I thought this was well done! There is a point and a message in each of their individual stories too.
I also enjoyed the representation in the book, with the story taking place in San Francisco and China Town being the centre for most of the story, and multiple minorities represented in a way that felt normal. I think to some extent you can draw parallels between the treatment of the few with psychic abilities in this story to how minorities in our world are treated.
I think the only reason I’m not giving it 5 stars is because by having the book split into 3 timelines, one for each character, it meant that some weren’t explored in detail enough for me. Nathan’s story felt a more shallow in comparison and I wished to have seen more of the internal struggle he went through. Maidas story ended a bit easy in my opinion.
This book is a political commentary on climate change, ethical consumption, social justice, socioeconomic issues, and equality. One I thoroughly enjoyed.
*Thank you to the publisher for an early review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts*
Down in the Sea of Angels follows 3 characters (Li Nuan, Nathan and Maida) in their separate timelines, 1906, 2006 and 2106 respectively. All characters are sort of psychically linked and fight their own battles, ranging from enslavement, environmental collapse and exploitation. What I really liked about this book was how whilst we follow individuals in their lives which seems small, their efforts are connected and present a bigger picture; how the actions of some can impact the lives of many. The 3 characters never cross paths with another, they never directly interact so this isn’t a time travel story in a typical way. The tea cup is what connects them. I thought this was well done! There is a point and a message in each of their individual stories too.
I also enjoyed the representation in the book, with the story taking place in San Francisco and China Town being the centre for most of the story, and multiple minorities represented in a way that felt normal. I think to some extent you can draw parallels between the treatment of the few with psychic abilities in this story to how minorities in our world are treated.
I think the only reason I’m not giving it 5 stars is because by having the book split into 3 timelines, one for each character, it meant that some weren’t explored in detail enough for me. Nathan’s story felt a more shallow in comparison and I wished to have seen more of the internal struggle he went through. Maidas story ended a bit easy in my opinion.
This book is a political commentary on climate change, ethical consumption, social justice, socioeconomic issues, and equality. One I thoroughly enjoyed.
*Thank you to the publisher for an early review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts*
May 8, 2025
This was a book I loved from its opening. In 2106 we meet Maida Sun, a woman is psychmetric: this is the ability to see the history of an object when she touches it (think Quinlan Vos for you “Clone Wars” watchers).
Many years earlier, after a series of climate disasters, some people began to get psionic abilities (telekinesis, psychometry, etc.), and though not a large part of the population, they are mostly accepted in this period.
When Maida Sun starts her new job in San Francisco, where she must determine the history of various objects so they can properly understood, she finds herself drawn to a jade teacup. When she touches it, she is shown the life of Li Nuan in 1906. Li Nuan was sold by her father to a crime boss in the US, and she arrived, first as a servant, then forced into prostitution within a filthy brothel, with several other young women.
Maida also is shown the life of Nathan, a tech-designer in 2006, who lives to party and enjoy unusual experiences. Both Li Nuan and Nathan have used the jade teacup, and how the tea cup has moved through time to be held by these three individuals is slowly revealed.
Maida also learns, inadvertently, that a political leader, despite his public beliefs, actually plans to reverse public sentiment about psions to such an extent that they will be kept imprisoned, then used exclusively and secretly for his benefit.
I loved the fully realized timelines. Li Nuan's time and experiences are hard to endure, considering the incredible abuse and sex trafficking of very young women. Li Nuan turns out to be tough, and though very limited in her experiences, still manages to find a way through her difficulties.
Nathan is untroubled by the quickly changing climate, until it's made personal to him, and then he's forced to think about how his actions, and those of others, are negatively affecting the environment.
Both Li Nuan's and Nathan's transformations are compelling, and lay the groundwork for Maida Sun's own awakening to resistance and clandestine action to save herself and other psions from harm. She's reluctant at first, but becomes emboldened and effective, and a valued member of the team trying to prevent a terrible injustice.
I went back and forth between the prose and the audio, and liked Eunice Wong's narration. Her Li Nuan is a particular favourite, though I think she captured Nathan's easy, comfortable approach to life well. Wong's Maida had a tension to her voice, which I liked.
I greatly enjoyed this thought provoking story. It's an interesting use of time travel, while also providing commentary on a number of things, such as unbridled consumption, climate change, abuse, and equality through the lives of well-drawn characters.
Thank you to Netgalley, Angry Robot and Dreamscape Media for these ARCs in exchange for my review.
Many years earlier, after a series of climate disasters, some people began to get psionic abilities (telekinesis, psychometry, etc.), and though not a large part of the population, they are mostly accepted in this period.
When Maida Sun starts her new job in San Francisco, where she must determine the history of various objects so they can properly understood, she finds herself drawn to a jade teacup. When she touches it, she is shown the life of Li Nuan in 1906. Li Nuan was sold by her father to a crime boss in the US, and she arrived, first as a servant, then forced into prostitution within a filthy brothel, with several other young women.
Maida also is shown the life of Nathan, a tech-designer in 2006, who lives to party and enjoy unusual experiences. Both Li Nuan and Nathan have used the jade teacup, and how the tea cup has moved through time to be held by these three individuals is slowly revealed.
Maida also learns, inadvertently, that a political leader, despite his public beliefs, actually plans to reverse public sentiment about psions to such an extent that they will be kept imprisoned, then used exclusively and secretly for his benefit.
I loved the fully realized timelines. Li Nuan's time and experiences are hard to endure, considering the incredible abuse and sex trafficking of very young women. Li Nuan turns out to be tough, and though very limited in her experiences, still manages to find a way through her difficulties.
Nathan is untroubled by the quickly changing climate, until it's made personal to him, and then he's forced to think about how his actions, and those of others, are negatively affecting the environment.
Both Li Nuan's and Nathan's transformations are compelling, and lay the groundwork for Maida Sun's own awakening to resistance and clandestine action to save herself and other psions from harm. She's reluctant at first, but becomes emboldened and effective, and a valued member of the team trying to prevent a terrible injustice.
I went back and forth between the prose and the audio, and liked Eunice Wong's narration. Her Li Nuan is a particular favourite, though I think she captured Nathan's easy, comfortable approach to life well. Wong's Maida had a tension to her voice, which I liked.
I greatly enjoyed this thought provoking story. It's an interesting use of time travel, while also providing commentary on a number of things, such as unbridled consumption, climate change, abuse, and equality through the lives of well-drawn characters.
Thank you to Netgalley, Angry Robot and Dreamscape Media for these ARCs in exchange for my review.
February 19, 2025
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This book follows three people linked through time—one in 1906, one in 2006, and one in 2106. In the future, a cosmic event called the Bloom has awakened psionic abilities in some of the population, but it’s also caused a minor apocalypse. Maida, one of the psions, has the ability to see the history of objects she touches. When she picks up a tea cup, she glimpses the lives of two strangers from the past, setting the stage for three interwoven and compelling storylines.
I really enjoyed this book—it kept me engaged the whole way through. Each character’s journey was interesting, but Li Nuan’s stood out the most to me. Her fight to free herself from indentured servitude had real emotional depth, and I was most invested in her chapters. Nathan was fun; his “awakening” to the environmental consequences of 21st-century life was interesting but had the lowest stakes of the three which made it a little less engaging. Maida had some of the coolest moments, thanks to her powers and relationships with other characters, but her sections also had a lot of “tell instead of show.” There was a fair bit of lore dumping about how the future is somewhat of a collectivist utopia (despite the world having been mostly wrecked - people come together in times of need it seems), which slowed things down for me, especially at the very beginning and very end
Overall, this was a solid read with engaging characters and an interesting premise. If you like time-spanning narratives, speculative fiction, or stories about characters navigating shifting realities, this is worth checking out. Also the cover is really pretty.
It should be mentioned that this book includes abuse, slavery and sexual assault (including of minors, some graphic), as well as drug use and death.
This book follows three people linked through time—one in 1906, one in 2006, and one in 2106. In the future, a cosmic event called the Bloom has awakened psionic abilities in some of the population, but it’s also caused a minor apocalypse. Maida, one of the psions, has the ability to see the history of objects she touches. When she picks up a tea cup, she glimpses the lives of two strangers from the past, setting the stage for three interwoven and compelling storylines.
I really enjoyed this book—it kept me engaged the whole way through. Each character’s journey was interesting, but Li Nuan’s stood out the most to me. Her fight to free herself from indentured servitude had real emotional depth, and I was most invested in her chapters. Nathan was fun; his “awakening” to the environmental consequences of 21st-century life was interesting but had the lowest stakes of the three which made it a little less engaging. Maida had some of the coolest moments, thanks to her powers and relationships with other characters, but her sections also had a lot of “tell instead of show.” There was a fair bit of lore dumping about how the future is somewhat of a collectivist utopia (despite the world having been mostly wrecked - people come together in times of need it seems), which slowed things down for me, especially at the very beginning and very end
Overall, this was a solid read with engaging characters and an interesting premise. If you like time-spanning narratives, speculative fiction, or stories about characters navigating shifting realities, this is worth checking out. Also the cover is really pretty.
It should be mentioned that this book includes abuse, slavery and sexual assault (including of minors, some graphic), as well as drug use and death.
March 28, 2025
A story told in three separate timelines - 1906, 2006, 2106 - with a psychic connection to a jade teacup binding all of them together.
I’ll be honest - this book did not work for me. Personally, I felt like the connection between the three timelines to be…tentative at best, and at no point did it feel like there was an actual reason for all three people to be connected through time. While reading this, I wound up wanting full books on both Maida and Li Nuan’s lives, as opposed to the small glances we were given. By breaking up this book into their three separate lives, instead of one entire story, I felt like I was given the sparknotes of three different ones. I was even explaining the plot of this book to my mom, and with only about 100 pages left could still not come up with a reason for the connection between these people - or how it was necessary to help a single one of them.
Maida has the psychic ability to connect to objects and see their pasts, and by doing so sees a brief glimpse into the lives of both Nathan and Li Nuan. She also discovers a plot to capture and control everyone else like her in their futuristic world. Li Nuan is a trafficked 16 year old girl in the slums of Chinatown, desperate for escape and freedom. And Nathan…is a grown man who somehow just discovered that child exploitation, labor and slavery is a thing in the tech world, and has a crisis of conscience.
Clearly, two of these stories had a stronger connection to me than the third. It was just a bit difficult to read about the real life abuses and dangers suffered by these two women, only to have a chapter where this man complains about the horrors of society. I’m sorry but I just didn’t care about Nathan and found his chapters to be tedious and boring, at best.
Also, much of this book is written with a more YA feel, and - while there were trigger warnings for the sexual abuse Li Nuan would suffer - I felt it was a bit more graphic at times than was entirely necessary, or went into more detail than I felt was needed to understand her story. There is one scene in particular that I felt went into more detail than I needed to understand her sexual abuse, as well as another scene that I didn’t find necessary at all other to have her be abused another time. And with the whiplash of her chapters as opposed to the “party at Burning Man and then suddenly become aware of capitalism” Nathan and “anxious at her new job and then forced to become an agent to save her kind” Maida felt extremely out of place. I strongly believe her chapters could have been toned down to still tell her sexual abuses but to not make them so violent and triggering, while not losing any of the horror of them.
This book has a huge theme on limiting harm and trying for the best, but in many ways it doesn’t work with the rest of the novel. With a societal collapse that happened before the events of this novel started in 2106, despite the theme of “time is circular, not linear” it doesn’t exactly work. The book itself even mentions how Li Nuan can’t really do anything to help prevent the apocalypse and so she just tries to do her best where she’s at, and Nathan can only do so much to try to mitigate his carbon footprint. We know how the story ends because we’re currently in the future!
Also, so much of this novel in the futuristic “utopia” world present in 2106 involved Maida saying disparaging things about those who do not help in some way to “clean up the mess” left by the Precursors (people present before the collapse).
‘Service at these centers was compulsory - a minimum of two days a month for the residents of the Administrative Regions.’
‘...anyone who worked more than their compulsory earned luxury credits.’
‘Those of us who were not giant assholes dedicated some of our time to clean up the mess.’
One thing I kept thinking of while reading that was never mentioned or acknowledged, was how do disabled people fit into this model of “everyone needs to work to get basic necessities”? While the knowledge that in this utopia things like food, basic clothing, and housing are provided - but they are provided by “contributing” which…isn’t much better than how capitalism works currently. It was even mentioned that her living quarters are provided by the job she is doing, which - in my honest opinion - sounded a lot like company towns and like having these benefits are only provided to those who can do the work for them. How does this utopia provide for those who cannot do those jobs, who cannot “dedicate some time to clean up the mess” not because they are “a giant asshole” but because their body doesn’t allow them to do so? Not to mention that the way to gain luxuries was to do even more work than the bare minimum required, so do…disabled people then just not deserve things like nice clothes or alcohol?
This is partially what I mean when I say I’d have liked entire stories about these broken-up pieces of novels. Li Nuan’s story is barely fleshed out, with a strange focus on her sexual abuses while Maida’s doesn’t go into the worldbuilding and instead very quickly exposes the political corruption trying to imprison them. Reading about the issues they’ve been facing felt much more like a SparkNotes version of their story, as opposed to everything that was provided. (And don’t get me started on Nathan’s story focusing way too much on whatever party they were doing in the desert and the fact that I simply. Did not care one iota. About it. Or him.)
Also, this is a spoiler without actually spoiling anything, but the whale thing was too weird and should’ve been taken out.
Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for providing this copy for review.
I’ll be honest - this book did not work for me. Personally, I felt like the connection between the three timelines to be…tentative at best, and at no point did it feel like there was an actual reason for all three people to be connected through time. While reading this, I wound up wanting full books on both Maida and Li Nuan’s lives, as opposed to the small glances we were given. By breaking up this book into their three separate lives, instead of one entire story, I felt like I was given the sparknotes of three different ones. I was even explaining the plot of this book to my mom, and with only about 100 pages left could still not come up with a reason for the connection between these people - or how it was necessary to help a single one of them.
Maida has the psychic ability to connect to objects and see their pasts, and by doing so sees a brief glimpse into the lives of both Nathan and Li Nuan. She also discovers a plot to capture and control everyone else like her in their futuristic world. Li Nuan is a trafficked 16 year old girl in the slums of Chinatown, desperate for escape and freedom. And Nathan…is a grown man who somehow just discovered that child exploitation, labor and slavery is a thing in the tech world, and has a crisis of conscience.
Clearly, two of these stories had a stronger connection to me than the third. It was just a bit difficult to read about the real life abuses and dangers suffered by these two women, only to have a chapter where this man complains about the horrors of society. I’m sorry but I just didn’t care about Nathan and found his chapters to be tedious and boring, at best.
Also, much of this book is written with a more YA feel, and - while there were trigger warnings for the sexual abuse Li Nuan would suffer - I felt it was a bit more graphic at times than was entirely necessary, or went into more detail than I felt was needed to understand her story. There is one scene in particular that I felt went into more detail than I needed to understand her sexual abuse, as well as another scene that I didn’t find necessary at all other to have her be abused another time. And with the whiplash of her chapters as opposed to the “party at Burning Man and then suddenly become aware of capitalism” Nathan and “anxious at her new job and then forced to become an agent to save her kind” Maida felt extremely out of place. I strongly believe her chapters could have been toned down to still tell her sexual abuses but to not make them so violent and triggering, while not losing any of the horror of them.
This book has a huge theme on limiting harm and trying for the best, but in many ways it doesn’t work with the rest of the novel. With a societal collapse that happened before the events of this novel started in 2106, despite the theme of “time is circular, not linear” it doesn’t exactly work. The book itself even mentions how Li Nuan can’t really do anything to help prevent the apocalypse and so she just tries to do her best where she’s at, and Nathan can only do so much to try to mitigate his carbon footprint. We know how the story ends because we’re currently in the future!
Also, so much of this novel in the futuristic “utopia” world present in 2106 involved Maida saying disparaging things about those who do not help in some way to “clean up the mess” left by the Precursors (people present before the collapse).
‘Service at these centers was compulsory - a minimum of two days a month for the residents of the Administrative Regions.’
‘...anyone who worked more than their compulsory earned luxury credits.’
‘Those of us who were not giant assholes dedicated some of our time to clean up the mess.’
One thing I kept thinking of while reading that was never mentioned or acknowledged, was how do disabled people fit into this model of “everyone needs to work to get basic necessities”? While the knowledge that in this utopia things like food, basic clothing, and housing are provided - but they are provided by “contributing” which…isn’t much better than how capitalism works currently. It was even mentioned that her living quarters are provided by the job she is doing, which - in my honest opinion - sounded a lot like company towns and like having these benefits are only provided to those who can do the work for them. How does this utopia provide for those who cannot do those jobs, who cannot “dedicate some time to clean up the mess” not because they are “a giant asshole” but because their body doesn’t allow them to do so? Not to mention that the way to gain luxuries was to do even more work than the bare minimum required, so do…disabled people then just not deserve things like nice clothes or alcohol?
This is partially what I mean when I say I’d have liked entire stories about these broken-up pieces of novels. Li Nuan’s story is barely fleshed out, with a strange focus on her sexual abuses while Maida’s doesn’t go into the worldbuilding and instead very quickly exposes the political corruption trying to imprison them. Reading about the issues they’ve been facing felt much more like a SparkNotes version of their story, as opposed to everything that was provided. (And don’t get me started on Nathan’s story focusing way too much on whatever party they were doing in the desert and the fact that I simply. Did not care one iota. About it. Or him.)
Also, this is a spoiler without actually spoiling anything, but the whale thing was too weird and should’ve been taken out.
Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for providing this copy for review.
April 11, 2025
Three individuals separated by 200 years are linked by their physical connection to a jade teacup in this dystopian sci-fi novel. In 1906, 16-year old Li Nuan is a victim of (sex-)trafficking, fighting for her freedom in the slums of Chinatown. In 2006, a man working at the Burning Man’s festival confronts the societal inequity and climatological collapse of his time, as he’s composing a time-capsule that is to be buried during the festival. In 2106 in a post-climate-collapse future, a woman with the psionic ability to “read” an objects history looks into the past of a jade teacup, whilst being scrutinized by the authorities for her skills.
What I liked:
This book was a mixed bag for me. Although I really liked the themes the novel addresses, and liked parts of the stories individually, I felt like the whole was so much less than the sum of its parts. It’s a novel with strong ideas, which I appreciate. There’s a lot to contemplate after you finish the final page, and the novel is written in such a way that it makes these themes accessible to readers that are relatively new to them. I liked the plot well enough, and enjoyed puzzling along with the characters to unravel how their stories might become connected.
In terms of accessibility: the book is released in e-book, paperback and audio. I can recommend both the audio and the e-book, but the audio in particular has excellent narration that elevated the story for me.
What I didn’t like:
For a novel that’s hinges on the idea of connections through time, the connection between these three storylines felt incredibly flimsy. Switching between timelines often felt more like interruptions in the flow of the story, than adding to it. I also had a strong preference for some of the stories over the others. Maida’s story was probably the most interesting to me, and I’d have preferred it to have taken centerstage, whilst offering the other two stories more so as flashbacks. Li Nuans story has the potential to be incredibly powerful, but does not get enough page-time to delve into the atrocities that it “namedrops”. That made it very hard to read for me personally. We get glimpses at horrific sexual- and racial violence committed against minors, but there’s too little time to explore it with the care and attention it needs. I would’ve loved a full novel on Li Nuan, but as a smaller part of this narrative, I felt the incredibly heavy topics weren’t handled with the care I’d have wanted.
Nathan was just insufferable as a character. He came across as incredibly naïve to me; a grown man, only now realizing that social injustice and climate-impact are a thing…?! I understand the story that was being told here, but it had too strong ‘woke-privileged-teen-in-adult-man’s-body-vibes” to me.
Again, it overall made it into an unbalanced whole that was less than the sum of its parts.
What didn’t help:
On multiple occasions, the marketing draws comparisons to the work of Emily St. John Mandel. It’s in the tagline, the press releases and even the title (Sea of Angels/Sea of Tranquility seems almost deliberate). I don’t think that comparison does Down in the Sea of Angels any favours. I have to admit that it was a big part of why I requested an ARC, as Mandel is one of my all-time favourite authors, but that parallel was part of my disappointment in Sea of Angels. It simply lacks the nuance and literary mastery that Mandel has honed over years of writing, and selling it as “for fans of Emily St. John Mandel” might just not get it in the hands of an audience that is going to love it.
Something similar can be said about the cover. The bright and colourful art would be more fitting for a cozy-sci-fi, which is a tonal mismatch to the actual story’s content.
Many thanks to the Angry Robot and Dreamscape Audio for providing me with an (audio-)ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
What I liked:
This book was a mixed bag for me. Although I really liked the themes the novel addresses, and liked parts of the stories individually, I felt like the whole was so much less than the sum of its parts. It’s a novel with strong ideas, which I appreciate. There’s a lot to contemplate after you finish the final page, and the novel is written in such a way that it makes these themes accessible to readers that are relatively new to them. I liked the plot well enough, and enjoyed puzzling along with the characters to unravel how their stories might become connected.
In terms of accessibility: the book is released in e-book, paperback and audio. I can recommend both the audio and the e-book, but the audio in particular has excellent narration that elevated the story for me.
What I didn’t like:
For a novel that’s hinges on the idea of connections through time, the connection between these three storylines felt incredibly flimsy. Switching between timelines often felt more like interruptions in the flow of the story, than adding to it. I also had a strong preference for some of the stories over the others. Maida’s story was probably the most interesting to me, and I’d have preferred it to have taken centerstage, whilst offering the other two stories more so as flashbacks. Li Nuans story has the potential to be incredibly powerful, but does not get enough page-time to delve into the atrocities that it “namedrops”. That made it very hard to read for me personally. We get glimpses at horrific sexual- and racial violence committed against minors, but there’s too little time to explore it with the care and attention it needs. I would’ve loved a full novel on Li Nuan, but as a smaller part of this narrative, I felt the incredibly heavy topics weren’t handled with the care I’d have wanted.
Nathan was just insufferable as a character. He came across as incredibly naïve to me; a grown man, only now realizing that social injustice and climate-impact are a thing…?! I understand the story that was being told here, but it had too strong ‘woke-privileged-teen-in-adult-man’s-body-vibes” to me.
Again, it overall made it into an unbalanced whole that was less than the sum of its parts.
What didn’t help:
On multiple occasions, the marketing draws comparisons to the work of Emily St. John Mandel. It’s in the tagline, the press releases and even the title (Sea of Angels/Sea of Tranquility seems almost deliberate). I don’t think that comparison does Down in the Sea of Angels any favours. I have to admit that it was a big part of why I requested an ARC, as Mandel is one of my all-time favourite authors, but that parallel was part of my disappointment in Sea of Angels. It simply lacks the nuance and literary mastery that Mandel has honed over years of writing, and selling it as “for fans of Emily St. John Mandel” might just not get it in the hands of an audience that is going to love it.
Something similar can be said about the cover. The bright and colourful art would be more fitting for a cozy-sci-fi, which is a tonal mismatch to the actual story’s content.
Many thanks to the Angry Robot and Dreamscape Audio for providing me with an (audio-)ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
2025
October 3, 2025ANHPI TBR
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot
June 24, 2025
In 2106 San Francisco, Maida starts her new job with the Golden Gate Cultural Recovery Project. The organization finds and documents artifacts from before the Collapse that upended society and halved the population. Maida is a psion, one of the minority with psychic abilities, and her power lets her sense the history of objects she touches. A jade teacup produces stronger visions than she's ever experienced, revealing the lives of two San Franciscans from the past. In 2006, Nathan is a designer who feels unfulfilled by his work in the tech industry but loves the community and creativity he finds at Burning Man. And in 1906, Li Nuan is an indentured servant in Chinatown desperate to escape her brutal life in a brothel. The teacup brings them visions as well, in a connection that provides hope. But Maida's power also shows her that an anti-psion movement is growing, stoking fear and threatening to round up people with abilities.
I enjoyed this ambitious novel. Each of the three storylines is well-developed, with a strong set of characters and a clear arc. Wong portrays every version of San Francisco with care, and I was delighted by the historical details, the familiar-to-me recent past, and the imagined future shaped by drastic climate change. The way the three stories fit together is interesting—there are no huge surprises, and yet the overall story adds up to something a bit different than I expected. I didn't love everything about this (a recurring problem of shifting verb tenses was a big irritation), but there's a lot that will stay with me.
I enjoyed this ambitious novel. Each of the three storylines is well-developed, with a strong set of characters and a clear arc. Wong portrays every version of San Francisco with care, and I was delighted by the historical details, the familiar-to-me recent past, and the imagined future shaped by drastic climate change. The way the three stories fit together is interesting—there are no huge surprises, and yet the overall story adds up to something a bit different than I expected. I didn't love everything about this (a recurring problem of shifting verb tenses was a big irritation), but there's a lot that will stay with me.
March 6, 2025
I received an ARC for this book thanks to Netgalley and Angry Robot. 4.5 stars. Wow! That is my first thought when paraphrasing my thoughts on this book. This was different in the best way possible. Not only was the writing beautiful, but the message was vital. This is the type of book I think every person needs to read. It inspires the reader to look at their choices and imagine the effects they have on our future as a people. Unfortunately, the people who need to absorb these messages the most probably wouldn’t bother reading it.
I love the way the stories are tied together. Each timeline has an overarching message about change and growth as a society, and how an individual can help shape a better future for many. Li Nuan’s story focuses on slavery, racism, human trafficking, and just trying to survive. How can one worry about the future when you don’t even foresee being alive and present for one?
Nathan’s story revolves around realizing how our current lifestyles and capitalistic culture are not sustainable and the devastating effects on future generations. I relate most of all to Nathan, not only because time is closest to the current time, but also because his story showcases the overwhelm of learning how to do better and battling with accepting that there is no true way to make only ethical choices under Capitalism.
Maida’s story is an eye-opening picture of a changed world, years post-collapse after climate change, war, famine, and disease devastated everything. Her story is tragic, yet provides hope for a better world, whilst also understanding that there will always be those who want to dominate and take power at the cost of others. Her story has futuristic “sci-fi” elements to it, which I found interesting, and it was the perfect way to draw attention to how easily someone seeking power can turn others against what is different. Even in a world focused on learning from past mistakes, there will always be hate and prejudice. It is an excellent parallel to all periods in which a leader has convinced a following of people that different is bad or even dangerous. It is a pattern repeated throughout history, and likely our futures as well. The work of improvement is never finished.
I love the way the stories are tied together. Each timeline has an overarching message about change and growth as a society, and how an individual can help shape a better future for many. Li Nuan’s story focuses on slavery, racism, human trafficking, and just trying to survive. How can one worry about the future when you don’t even foresee being alive and present for one?
Nathan’s story revolves around realizing how our current lifestyles and capitalistic culture are not sustainable and the devastating effects on future generations. I relate most of all to Nathan, not only because time is closest to the current time, but also because his story showcases the overwhelm of learning how to do better and battling with accepting that there is no true way to make only ethical choices under Capitalism.
Maida’s story is an eye-opening picture of a changed world, years post-collapse after climate change, war, famine, and disease devastated everything. Her story is tragic, yet provides hope for a better world, whilst also understanding that there will always be those who want to dominate and take power at the cost of others. Her story has futuristic “sci-fi” elements to it, which I found interesting, and it was the perfect way to draw attention to how easily someone seeking power can turn others against what is different. Even in a world focused on learning from past mistakes, there will always be hate and prejudice. It is an excellent parallel to all periods in which a leader has convinced a following of people that different is bad or even dangerous. It is a pattern repeated throughout history, and likely our futures as well. The work of improvement is never finished.
April 25, 2025
This is a hard book to characterize, and even more difficult to sum up in just a few – or even a few dozen – pithy phrases. But I’m certainly going to try.
A big part of that difficulty is that it isn’t just one story. It’s three stories that are loosely linked – even though that’s not obvious at the beginning – centered around three individuals who do not know what they have to do with each other any more than the reader does.
They’re also not experiencing the same thing – or even the same sort of thing, although the first and third are closer in that particular than either of them would ever imagine.
But there is one thing that they share from the beginning. All of their stories, all of their histories and hopes and dreams, take place in San Francisco, a place that has carried the hopes and dreams of so very many since long before the city boomed during the California Gold Rush.
In 1906, Li Nuan, 16 years old, sold by her parents into slavery, forced into sex work, whose very existence is proof that slavery was not eradicated by the Civil War, is ‘in service’ to one of the Tong bosses who ‘owned’ pre-Earthquake Chinatown. And the earthquake is coming, the end of the world as Li Nuan knows it. But she’s seeing visions of the quake, the fire that follows, and the death and destruction that results. And those visions have told her that she can seize the freedom she yearns for in the chaos – if she’s willing to do whatever it takes to claim it.
Nathan Zhao in 2006, an up-and-coming tech designer, is busy living his very good life without taking too much care for the consequences to the world he lives on. He’s a good man, a good person, he’s got a great job, is in a happy long-term relationship with his boyfriend, they’re free to be openly gay – which he knows is a privilege – and life is, well, good. The vision that he gets, both of Li Nuan’s past and of the environmental destruction to come in his near future, opens his eyes and sets his life on a different course than he’d originally planned.
The reason that both Li Nuan and Nathan are having these life-changing visions is Maida Sun. Maida is a historian and more importantly, is gifted with psychometry in a future where a significant minority of the population has been gifted with psionic powers of one stripe or another. Maida can see the past of any object she touches, and she’s working on a cultural reclamation project in the ruins of what her post-apocalyptic society calls ‘The Precursor Era’. In other words, us.
And that’s where all the links get filled in – and pushed out into the future. Nathan and his friends buried a time capsule in 2006, a capsule that is uncovered as part of the project Maida is working on. In that capsule, along with photos, memorabilia, a few personal items and a bit of outright junk, is a jade tea cup from the mid-19th century. A cup that passed through Li Nuan’s hands, down the generations to her great-grandson Nathan, and into that box only to emerge a century later under the hands – and into the powers – of Nathan’s great-great-niece, Maida.
At a point where Maida’s post-apocalyptic world is on the cusp of descending into the dystopia they initially avoided. But only will continue to do so at this terrible, hopeful juncture if Maida can seize her day and her freedom as decisively as her ancestor Li Nuan did hers.
Escape Rating A-: This is one of those stories that made me think pretty much all the thoughts and feel like it brought up all the readalikes. Which is only fair as it’s not one story but three stories and they aren’t as similar as one might expect in a single book.
At the same time, it did feel as if all the stories revolved around the idea of ‘carpe diem’, even though the days that each person in the change needed to seize were very different. Still, when they each grabbed hold of that day out of hope for the future, they each moved the story forward into the hope that they reached out for.
A virtuous circle rather than the vicious cycle that begins each of their stories.
Li Nuan’s story is the most harrowing – not surprising considering the conditions under which she was brought to California. Nathan is honestly having a lot of fun in his part of the story – at least until he sees that his world is not only due for a great big fall – but a fall that he’s likely to live to see and and can’t continue his own personal revel toward the cliff even if he can’t do much to fix the wider world.
But the story is centered in Maida Sun’s early 21st century post-apocalypse. Initially her world seems filled with hope of a brighter day for everyone – even if most people are still cursing the ‘Precursors’ (meaning US) for leaving such a big damn mess to clean up.
Still, the human side of Maida’s world is filled with hope. The ‘Collapse’ of the Precursor civilization in the 2050s, the climatic changes, the wars and death and destruction that followed, set humanity up for a more cooperative future – with the help of the great ‘Bloom’ of auroras that surrounded the planet and gave rise to psionic powers among a percentage of the population.
But by Maida’s 2106, the new normal has been normal long enough, and the devastation of the collapse is just far enough back in time and memory, that some people are starting to think that the ‘good old days’ were better than they were – at least for THEIR sort of people. Whatever that might mean. And, because humans are STILL gonna be human, there’s always someone just watching and waiting to take advantage of that impulse. By creating a new scapegoat, giving a new generation someone to hate and fear, and telling as many big lies as they can to weaponize society so that a new authoritarian regime can rise and start the whole terrible cycle all over again.
It’s hard to miss the historical parallels, because the playbook being used is old and familiar and all the more frightening for being followed right this very minute. What gives Down in the Sea of Angels its hopeful ending is that Maida Sun and the psions are finally living in a time when more people seem to want the world to get better for everyone – or alternatively that she and the psion community have the truth on their side and the opportunity to nip the forces of regression, repression and evil in the bud before the tide has turned completely in their favor.
More than a few of all of those thoughts I mentioned at the top before I close. One of the reasons this story worked as well as it did is that San Francisco is a bit of a liminal place and its history as well as its reputation for being a bit ‘out there’ for multiple definitions of that phrase fit the story. (For an entirely different fantasy featuring San Francisco’s liminality take a look at Passing Strange by Ellen Klages.)
Maida’s particular early 22nd century was fascinating because it didn’t follow the usual patterns for post-apocalyptic stories – or at least there was clearly a delay between the apocalypse and the dystopia – or we missed the first wave of dystopia and this is the attempt of a second dystopia to take hold. It’s a very different post-apocalyptic vision from either The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed or The Knight and the Butcherbird by Alix E. Harrow and the contrasts are quite interesting.
As much as the rising tide of authoritarianism in Maida’s time resembles both the rise of Nazi Germany AND the present political situation in the United States, the way that the anti-psion sentiment is created and promoted by the powers-that-be owes more than a bit, in the fictional sense at least, to the anti-mutant sentiment in the X-Men movie series.
I’ll confess that I picked this up because I absolutely adored the author’s debut novel, The Circus Infinite – and I was hoping to get a similar feeling from this book. In the end I did enjoy Down in the Sea of Angels very much, but not quite as much as Circus, and I think that’s because of the split story lines and how long it took them to figure out that they were part of each other. Howsomever, I did absolutely love the audio narration by Eunice Wong, and it was lovely to hear her voice again, telling me a marvelous story.
Originally published at Reading Reality
A big part of that difficulty is that it isn’t just one story. It’s three stories that are loosely linked – even though that’s not obvious at the beginning – centered around three individuals who do not know what they have to do with each other any more than the reader does.
They’re also not experiencing the same thing – or even the same sort of thing, although the first and third are closer in that particular than either of them would ever imagine.
But there is one thing that they share from the beginning. All of their stories, all of their histories and hopes and dreams, take place in San Francisco, a place that has carried the hopes and dreams of so very many since long before the city boomed during the California Gold Rush.
In 1906, Li Nuan, 16 years old, sold by her parents into slavery, forced into sex work, whose very existence is proof that slavery was not eradicated by the Civil War, is ‘in service’ to one of the Tong bosses who ‘owned’ pre-Earthquake Chinatown. And the earthquake is coming, the end of the world as Li Nuan knows it. But she’s seeing visions of the quake, the fire that follows, and the death and destruction that results. And those visions have told her that she can seize the freedom she yearns for in the chaos – if she’s willing to do whatever it takes to claim it.
Nathan Zhao in 2006, an up-and-coming tech designer, is busy living his very good life without taking too much care for the consequences to the world he lives on. He’s a good man, a good person, he’s got a great job, is in a happy long-term relationship with his boyfriend, they’re free to be openly gay – which he knows is a privilege – and life is, well, good. The vision that he gets, both of Li Nuan’s past and of the environmental destruction to come in his near future, opens his eyes and sets his life on a different course than he’d originally planned.
The reason that both Li Nuan and Nathan are having these life-changing visions is Maida Sun. Maida is a historian and more importantly, is gifted with psychometry in a future where a significant minority of the population has been gifted with psionic powers of one stripe or another. Maida can see the past of any object she touches, and she’s working on a cultural reclamation project in the ruins of what her post-apocalyptic society calls ‘The Precursor Era’. In other words, us.
And that’s where all the links get filled in – and pushed out into the future. Nathan and his friends buried a time capsule in 2006, a capsule that is uncovered as part of the project Maida is working on. In that capsule, along with photos, memorabilia, a few personal items and a bit of outright junk, is a jade tea cup from the mid-19th century. A cup that passed through Li Nuan’s hands, down the generations to her great-grandson Nathan, and into that box only to emerge a century later under the hands – and into the powers – of Nathan’s great-great-niece, Maida.
At a point where Maida’s post-apocalyptic world is on the cusp of descending into the dystopia they initially avoided. But only will continue to do so at this terrible, hopeful juncture if Maida can seize her day and her freedom as decisively as her ancestor Li Nuan did hers.
Escape Rating A-: This is one of those stories that made me think pretty much all the thoughts and feel like it brought up all the readalikes. Which is only fair as it’s not one story but three stories and they aren’t as similar as one might expect in a single book.
At the same time, it did feel as if all the stories revolved around the idea of ‘carpe diem’, even though the days that each person in the change needed to seize were very different. Still, when they each grabbed hold of that day out of hope for the future, they each moved the story forward into the hope that they reached out for.
A virtuous circle rather than the vicious cycle that begins each of their stories.
Li Nuan’s story is the most harrowing – not surprising considering the conditions under which she was brought to California. Nathan is honestly having a lot of fun in his part of the story – at least until he sees that his world is not only due for a great big fall – but a fall that he’s likely to live to see and and can’t continue his own personal revel toward the cliff even if he can’t do much to fix the wider world.
But the story is centered in Maida Sun’s early 21st century post-apocalypse. Initially her world seems filled with hope of a brighter day for everyone – even if most people are still cursing the ‘Precursors’ (meaning US) for leaving such a big damn mess to clean up.
Still, the human side of Maida’s world is filled with hope. The ‘Collapse’ of the Precursor civilization in the 2050s, the climatic changes, the wars and death and destruction that followed, set humanity up for a more cooperative future – with the help of the great ‘Bloom’ of auroras that surrounded the planet and gave rise to psionic powers among a percentage of the population.
But by Maida’s 2106, the new normal has been normal long enough, and the devastation of the collapse is just far enough back in time and memory, that some people are starting to think that the ‘good old days’ were better than they were – at least for THEIR sort of people. Whatever that might mean. And, because humans are STILL gonna be human, there’s always someone just watching and waiting to take advantage of that impulse. By creating a new scapegoat, giving a new generation someone to hate and fear, and telling as many big lies as they can to weaponize society so that a new authoritarian regime can rise and start the whole terrible cycle all over again.
It’s hard to miss the historical parallels, because the playbook being used is old and familiar and all the more frightening for being followed right this very minute. What gives Down in the Sea of Angels its hopeful ending is that Maida Sun and the psions are finally living in a time when more people seem to want the world to get better for everyone – or alternatively that she and the psion community have the truth on their side and the opportunity to nip the forces of regression, repression and evil in the bud before the tide has turned completely in their favor.
More than a few of all of those thoughts I mentioned at the top before I close. One of the reasons this story worked as well as it did is that San Francisco is a bit of a liminal place and its history as well as its reputation for being a bit ‘out there’ for multiple definitions of that phrase fit the story. (For an entirely different fantasy featuring San Francisco’s liminality take a look at Passing Strange by Ellen Klages.)
Maida’s particular early 22nd century was fascinating because it didn’t follow the usual patterns for post-apocalyptic stories – or at least there was clearly a delay between the apocalypse and the dystopia – or we missed the first wave of dystopia and this is the attempt of a second dystopia to take hold. It’s a very different post-apocalyptic vision from either The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed or The Knight and the Butcherbird by Alix E. Harrow and the contrasts are quite interesting.
As much as the rising tide of authoritarianism in Maida’s time resembles both the rise of Nazi Germany AND the present political situation in the United States, the way that the anti-psion sentiment is created and promoted by the powers-that-be owes more than a bit, in the fictional sense at least, to the anti-mutant sentiment in the X-Men movie series.
I’ll confess that I picked this up because I absolutely adored the author’s debut novel, The Circus Infinite – and I was hoping to get a similar feeling from this book. In the end I did enjoy Down in the Sea of Angels very much, but not quite as much as Circus, and I think that’s because of the split story lines and how long it took them to figure out that they were part of each other. Howsomever, I did absolutely love the audio narration by Eunice Wong, and it was lovely to hear her voice again, telling me a marvelous story.
Originally published at Reading Reality
May 22, 2025
Disclaimer: I received an advanced review copy via NetGalley.
History, action, coming of age, time travel, sci-fi:
Wong weaves us through three time periods leading up to and past an apocalyptic environmental catastrophe that demolishes half of the world’s population and civilization, all tied together by a magic jade tea cup.
Sadly, the cup doesn’t live up to its promise. The novel reads like three disparate novellas (with completely different genres) glued together with a weak catalyst. Furthermore, it has a generous application of deus ex machina, retconning, and expository dump that really pushed my tolerance for BS.
Other than Li Nuan, Nathan and Maida are flat, lack self awareness, and read like poorly written YA protagonists overly reliant on internal monologue. Supporting characters are textbook tropes, especially the villains. By the end of the book I can barely recall any visual details because so little was given. The relationships are also completely unrealistic, or over the top.
Nathan’s story reads like an overindulgent glorification of Burning Man turned guilt trip fest. His thoughts on his burgeoning awareness of environmental and human exploitation border on proselytizing and paranoid. It’s also a super weak plot point that his transformation hinges on him discovering his family’s bitter roots via magic tea cup images.
Maida is unremarkable and not believable as a heroine. She’s also incredibly ignorant of psionic abilities considering she attended a specialized institution but knows next to nothing about other psionic types. Her journey from new hire to critical member of an underground special ops group defies belief especially as they defeat the big bad with no struggle. The Linking, as another review pointed out, were plain wack and needs way more backstory.
Li Nuan had the most complex characterization and character ark. However compared to the juvenile YA tones of Nathan and Maida, the explicit sexual abuse references were jarring. The symbolism of the jade cup felt too forced—like the author was trying too hard to tie it with the other timelines.
Personal beef: she is from a Cantonese-dominant area immigrating to a Cantonese-dominant destination, why on earth is her name spelled in Mandarin pinyin (which wasn’t even invented yet)! As a Cantonese speaker, the implied Cantonese dialogue is at times culturally awkward and unrealistic.
I wanted to like this story, but it pulled me in too many directions. I really think the ideas are worth exploring, but maybe as separate novels in the same universe.
History, action, coming of age, time travel, sci-fi:
Wong weaves us through three time periods leading up to and past an apocalyptic environmental catastrophe that demolishes half of the world’s population and civilization, all tied together by a magic jade tea cup.
Sadly, the cup doesn’t live up to its promise. The novel reads like three disparate novellas (with completely different genres) glued together with a weak catalyst. Furthermore, it has a generous application of deus ex machina, retconning, and expository dump that really pushed my tolerance for BS.
Other than Li Nuan, Nathan and Maida are flat, lack self awareness, and read like poorly written YA protagonists overly reliant on internal monologue. Supporting characters are textbook tropes, especially the villains. By the end of the book I can barely recall any visual details because so little was given. The relationships are also completely unrealistic, or over the top.
Nathan’s story reads like an overindulgent glorification of Burning Man turned guilt trip fest. His thoughts on his burgeoning awareness of environmental and human exploitation border on proselytizing and paranoid. It’s also a super weak plot point that his transformation hinges on him discovering his family’s bitter roots via magic tea cup images.
Maida is unremarkable and not believable as a heroine. She’s also incredibly ignorant of psionic abilities considering she attended a specialized institution but knows next to nothing about other psionic types. Her journey from new hire to critical member of an underground special ops group defies belief especially as they defeat the big bad with no struggle. The Linking, as another review pointed out, were plain wack and needs way more backstory.
Li Nuan had the most complex characterization and character ark. However compared to the juvenile YA tones of Nathan and Maida, the explicit sexual abuse references were jarring. The symbolism of the jade cup felt too forced—like the author was trying too hard to tie it with the other timelines.
Personal beef: she is from a Cantonese-dominant area immigrating to a Cantonese-dominant destination, why on earth is her name spelled in Mandarin pinyin (which wasn’t even invented yet)! As a Cantonese speaker, the implied Cantonese dialogue is at times culturally awkward and unrealistic.
I wanted to like this story, but it pulled me in too many directions. I really think the ideas are worth exploring, but maybe as separate novels in the same universe.
April 30, 2025
Gorgeously told contemporary fantasy, spanning three centuries of interconnected narratives, each equally compelling in plot and characters. Wong pulls off the rare feat of writing grounded fantasy which feels both real and yet still pushes the edges of our understanding of the shared human experience. Each time period is stunningly rendered, with particular care for the era nearest our own, reflecting lived experiences and evoking a depth of feeling that brings the scenes to life. Highly recommend.
May 10, 2025
Content warning at start: "Down in the Sea of Angels contains racist language and attitudes, sexual assault, sexual harassment, the historical sex trafficking of minors, acknowledgment of the forced labor of minors, physical and verbal abuse, violence, drug use and drug-related death."
3.75*
In Down In the Sea of Angels, we follow three timelines: 1906, 2006, and 2106. I adore this concept, especially seeing how much changes in a century, right? So the main-main character I suppose is Maida in 2106, who has the gift of psychometry, which allows her to see the history of objects. One such object is an old jade tea cup, which connects the stories. Nathan in 2006 and Li Nuan in 1906 both were owners of the cup, and we follow their stories as well.
I will tell you the thing I liked the least first to get that out of the way: while I enjoyed Maida's story and learning about what becomes of the Bay Area, the "gifts" part was my least favorite element. Not because it wasn't done well, but because that is just my personal preference. I think that while I liked Maida a lot as a character, I felt a little more connected to Nathan and Li Nuan's stories. It's funny, because Maida's story is told in first while the others were in third, but I still felt more connected. Strange, that. I also thought that the "bad guy" in Maida's time was a little over the top, but then I look at our own timeline's villain, and I guess I can't fault it, can I?
I loved how different all three stories were, yet how they still connected a lot of the same themes and elements to make the story feel seamless. Found family was big throughout, as was standing up for what we think is right even if it isn't always easy. There is so much relevance to our current issues, both on a political level at home, and a more global scale when thinking about the environmental implications. The characters all had to handle some pretty huge morality dilemmas, and I am always a huge fan of those.
The stories definitely pulled at my heartstrings, and I loved the relationships featured throughout the book. Like I said, lots of found families, and some biological families too, but every type of relationship under the sun was explored in the stories.
Bottom Line: An introspective look at how much (and how little) can change in the course of a few generations, and the threads that connect us all.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
May 1, 2025
★★★★½
I rarely find books that haunt me days after finishing them, but "Down in the Sea of Angels" has left me in that wonderful state of literary afterglow. Khan Wong's novel isn't just time travel—it's something far more intimate: three souls connected across centuries through a single teacup, each fighting their own version of exploitation and collapse.
The audiobook pulled me completely under its spell. Li Nuan's struggle in 1906 Chinatown broke my heart in ways I wasn't prepared for. Nathan's 2006 awakening to environmental consequences felt uncomfortably like looking in a mirror. But it was Maida's 2106 post-collapse world that truly captivated me—I adored how Wong scattered references to our current pop culture, transformed into distant mythology in her timeline, making the future feel both alien and achingly connected to our present.
Vibes we are tracking:
🌊 Found family across time
💫 Psychic connections that transcend generations
🌱 Environmental collapse with hope sprouts
🏙️ Dystopia that doesn't feel hopeless
🔮 Objects carrying memories/history
👁️ The past speaking to the future
🧠 Powers born from collective trauma
🗣️ Marginalized voices becoming powerful
🌐 Pop culture becoming future mythology
I was really struck by how Wong shows these patterns of fighting against power repeating through time. It's not just a sci-fi story—it's a powerful reminder that what we do today affects tomorrow in ways we might never see. The writing just pulls you in completely, making both the environmental destruction and the hope of people coming together feel equally real.
If you're feeling kind of helpless about everything happening in the world right now, this book doesn't give you simple solutions, but something I think is better: the feeling that people have always fought these same battles, and that even the small things we do to push back really do matter in the long run.
Content note: Contains depictions of abuse, slavery, sexual assault (including of minors), drug use, and death.
I rarely find books that haunt me days after finishing them, but "Down in the Sea of Angels" has left me in that wonderful state of literary afterglow. Khan Wong's novel isn't just time travel—it's something far more intimate: three souls connected across centuries through a single teacup, each fighting their own version of exploitation and collapse.
The audiobook pulled me completely under its spell. Li Nuan's struggle in 1906 Chinatown broke my heart in ways I wasn't prepared for. Nathan's 2006 awakening to environmental consequences felt uncomfortably like looking in a mirror. But it was Maida's 2106 post-collapse world that truly captivated me—I adored how Wong scattered references to our current pop culture, transformed into distant mythology in her timeline, making the future feel both alien and achingly connected to our present.
Vibes we are tracking:
🌊 Found family across time
💫 Psychic connections that transcend generations
🌱 Environmental collapse with hope sprouts
🏙️ Dystopia that doesn't feel hopeless
🔮 Objects carrying memories/history
👁️ The past speaking to the future
🧠 Powers born from collective trauma
🗣️ Marginalized voices becoming powerful
🌐 Pop culture becoming future mythology
I was really struck by how Wong shows these patterns of fighting against power repeating through time. It's not just a sci-fi story—it's a powerful reminder that what we do today affects tomorrow in ways we might never see. The writing just pulls you in completely, making both the environmental destruction and the hope of people coming together feel equally real.
If you're feeling kind of helpless about everything happening in the world right now, this book doesn't give you simple solutions, but something I think is better: the feeling that people have always fought these same battles, and that even the small things we do to push back really do matter in the long run.
Content note: Contains depictions of abuse, slavery, sexual assault (including of minors), drug use, and death.
April 8, 2025
This is a very interesting book it's scifi fantasy but we also focus on segregation and sex trafficking and racism this was so gripping I couldn't put it down incredible listening to each main characters stories and about how both their individual lives and connective lives develop 4.5⭐️
April 11, 2025
What if history existed out of time?
I just finished reading Down in the Sea of Angels a Sci Fi & Fantasy book written by Khan Wong. I read the AudioBook published by Dreamscape Media. NetGalley gave me a copy of this book. I listened to this book on NetGalley. It is a stand alone book.
This book is a must read if you like: Social commentary, post Apocalyptic Themes, deep subject matter, and thought provoking fiction.
We follow a woman with a unique gift, she can sense histories of items with a single touch. But when one item gives her visions so strong it is like she is experiencing them she has to figure out why and how to help people in the past before she looses her future.
This book is well written with a moody, serious tone. The main character is pragmatic while the others she channels are drastically different. Each of them is going through a new awakening.
This book was almost too intense for me. Be sure to read the content warnings. I fast forwarded one part (though historically speaking it was not as intense as it could have been). I also struggled with the ending feeling too simplistic.
This book was different because i could see this sort of apocalypse happening. Though it had fantasy elements, it very much felt real and like a commentary on our society.
I loved the journey of the character in 2006. I think his struggles are struggles we can all relate to.
The ending did not satisfy me. I don’t want to give spoilers, but it felt like I was missing the last quarter of the book.
I felt the narrator was clear and connected well with the story.
As a whole I'm glad I read this book, but I would not recommend it to everyone. In addition to the content warnings there are very clear statements of political stances where certain characters are referred to as stupid or absurd if they didn't align with a certain political view. However it has some beautiful writing and the way the plot is weaved worked very well....until the climax.
Content Warnings: Rape, adult language, Sexual content, death, racism.
I just finished reading Down in the Sea of Angels a Sci Fi & Fantasy book written by Khan Wong. I read the AudioBook published by Dreamscape Media. NetGalley gave me a copy of this book. I listened to this book on NetGalley. It is a stand alone book.
This book is a must read if you like: Social commentary, post Apocalyptic Themes, deep subject matter, and thought provoking fiction.
We follow a woman with a unique gift, she can sense histories of items with a single touch. But when one item gives her visions so strong it is like she is experiencing them she has to figure out why and how to help people in the past before she looses her future.
This book is well written with a moody, serious tone. The main character is pragmatic while the others she channels are drastically different. Each of them is going through a new awakening.
This book was almost too intense for me. Be sure to read the content warnings. I fast forwarded one part (though historically speaking it was not as intense as it could have been). I also struggled with the ending feeling too simplistic.
This book was different because i could see this sort of apocalypse happening. Though it had fantasy elements, it very much felt real and like a commentary on our society.
I loved the journey of the character in 2006. I think his struggles are struggles we can all relate to.
The ending did not satisfy me. I don’t want to give spoilers, but it felt like I was missing the last quarter of the book.
I felt the narrator was clear and connected well with the story.
As a whole I'm glad I read this book, but I would not recommend it to everyone. In addition to the content warnings there are very clear statements of political stances where certain characters are referred to as stupid or absurd if they didn't align with a certain political view. However it has some beautiful writing and the way the plot is weaved worked very well....until the climax.
Content Warnings: Rape, adult language, Sexual content, death, racism.
May 9, 2025
“All it takes to reshape the world, to turn people against each other, is a we’ll-devised lie. History has demonstrated that time and time again.”
This book was so interesting and enthralling. Three individuals connected over 200 years through a jade teacup. The commentary on connection to the earth and one another, a collective experience of existence is so relevant right now.
This book asks the question, how do you fix a broken world or a broken society?
I thoroughly enjoyed this science fiction take on social equality, climate change, ethical consumption and social justice.
We follow Li Nuan in 1906, longing for freedom from a Chinatown brothel. Then we follow Nathan, a tech-designer looking for greater purpose and to break the cycle of exploitation. Lastly, we follow Maida in 2106. She has the ability to touch objects and see their history and through a jade teacup connects herself to Li Nuan and Nathan.
Science fiction but more about the human experience.
This book was so interesting and enthralling. Three individuals connected over 200 years through a jade teacup. The commentary on connection to the earth and one another, a collective experience of existence is so relevant right now.
This book asks the question, how do you fix a broken world or a broken society?
I thoroughly enjoyed this science fiction take on social equality, climate change, ethical consumption and social justice.
We follow Li Nuan in 1906, longing for freedom from a Chinatown brothel. Then we follow Nathan, a tech-designer looking for greater purpose and to break the cycle of exploitation. Lastly, we follow Maida in 2106. She has the ability to touch objects and see their history and through a jade teacup connects herself to Li Nuan and Nathan.
Science fiction but more about the human experience.
April 22, 2025
Thank you to Angry Robot for the ARC of Down in the Sea of Angels by Khan Wong.
This is one of those books that brims with potential but stumbles under the weight of its own ambition. It’s thoughtful and certainly unique, threading together three stories across time through psychic connections and a single object. And yet, in trying to explore so many themes and timelines at once, it felt like none of them were given the space or depth they needed to truly resonate.
Maida’s narrative in 2106 had a fascinating premise. She is a psion living in a supposed utopia that quickly begins to reveal its cracks. I wanted to sit with her, to learn more about the world she was born into and how her abilities shaped her role within it, but instead we’re told much of this in large, sweeping explanations that felt emotionally distant. The political stakes are clear, yet the urgency of them didn’t fully land for me.
Li Nuan’s story, set in 1906, was by far the strongest. Her character and the painful world she inhabits were vividly drawn. The themes of exploitation, survival, and autonomy were compelling, and I wanted more time with her. Her arc felt the most emotionally engaging, but even so, difficult subjects like sex trafficking and indentured servitude were introduced and then moved away from too quickly to leave lasting impact.
Nathan’s storyline, on the other hand, was the least compelling. I understand the narrative need to present a modern-day lens, but he felt underdeveloped. His privilege is apparent, yet the text rarely interrogates it in any meaningful way. As a result, his sections felt self-indulgent and out of sync with the more emotionally rich arcs of the other two characters.
The idea of the teacup tying them all together sounded poetic in theory, but in practice, it felt thin. I kept waiting for the deeper meaning, for the moment it would all come together in a way that felt revelatory. Instead, the connections were surface-level, which left the structure feeling fragmented and disjointed.
In the end, I think this book had three potentially interesting stories. But without a stronger emotional throughline or more cohesive integration, it read more like three novellas that occasionally interrupted each other than a fully formed novel. The writing has promise, and the ambition is admirable, but this one didn’t quite come together for me.
Follow me on socials: Instagram | TikTok @mythicalreadsreviewer.
April 30, 2025
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
From the premise alone, I was obsessed. I love his idea of object holding memories and the idea of traveling in time introducing a fantastical layer. It just feels like one of those ideas and metaphors we have brought to life. At the same time, Down in the Sea of Angels also examines the prejudices and misconceptions Maida faces. How she can be forced to explain herself, perform like an act. I loved how this theme, and Maida's timeline, progresses to examine discrimination and misinformation.
From the premise alone, I was obsessed. I love his idea of object holding memories and the idea of traveling in time introducing a fantastical layer. It just feels like one of those ideas and metaphors we have brought to life. At the same time, Down in the Sea of Angels also examines the prejudices and misconceptions Maida faces. How she can be forced to explain herself, perform like an act. I loved how this theme, and Maida's timeline, progresses to examine discrimination and misinformation.
January 5, 2026
this book had a really compelling intergenerational narrative, and the most seamless presentation of metaphysical abilities that i’ve seen in recent memory, a great read
April 9, 2025
SPOILER FREE REVIEW AHEAD!
My GOODNESS
What to say about this book?
If you’re a reader who typically loves lit fic and who loves historical fiction this book will be for you.
Not because it’s either of those genres really at all, but because it overflows with truth and real life in the same way as historical fiction, and because it takes you deep in the same way lit fic does. And did I mention if you like sci-fi, dystopian reads, and/or fantasy you should also pick up this book? Why? Because it’s all three of those genres and still manages to be a book I’d recommend to the latter two. This book absolutely took me by The heart and embraced me in a warm hug I really needed right now. It was so deep. The theme of golden threads of connection will be one I think about for a long time. Truthfully it’s already something I think about a lot, so I was definitely the target audience for this book. If this one isn’t optioned, Hulu Netflix somebody- they’re frankly out of their damned minds. Entirely. There are 3 points of view in this book. Initially I really enjoyed Li Nuan’s perspective most, as hers is set in the past the furthest and After all, I started as a historical fiction reader. You really feel for her and all she goes through and root for her. But Then there’s Maida, and as the story goes along her perspective is so filled with fantasy and intrigue that I couldn’t stop reading hers either. Lastly, there’s Nathan. He’s labeled as a hedonist and I suppose that’s true, but my elder millennial heart saw him as one of my own and it made me the least interested somehow. Who he starts at was not a person that felt interesting to me. His character arc is major and his growth is satisfying. One thing I really loved about this story is how everything felt circular in the BEST WAY. The themes of connection and found family really tie in with the way he’s written this story and even though there’s sadness and grief and loss and heartbreak there’s also joy and beauty and connection and love. It felt like such a solid representation of a lived experience as a whole. Another thing I really loved, you’ll find people of all kinds in this book. Non binary, white, gay, heterosexual, Asian, female, male…truly, this book is not lacking in representation. This is a Book that’s a wonderful sci-fi and fantasy escape, thought provoking political commentary, and deeper read that I’ll be thinking about for a long time. The magic is really well thought out and I think clever the way he wove it in and used it with the storyline equal parts intelligent and emotionally gripping. This read really found me at exactly the right time in my life, in the world, in this socioeconomic landscape and gave me comfort in a time I needed it. I so highly recommend this book that I can’t underscore it enough and I hope you choose to pick it up today! You won’t regret it. I do think as a big Emily St. John Mandel fan that Angry Robot was spot on in recommending this read to her fans!
TLDR STFU: Below is a rundown for you of tropes, triggers, strengths, weaknesses, and a rating with final thoughts.
Tropes
Good vs. evil
Found family
Reluctant Hero
The Dark Lord
Magical Artifacts
Prophecy
Forbidden Magic
Technological Control
Climate Disaster
Time Travel
Oppressive Tyranny
Triggers
*Graphic
Misogyny
Pedophilia
Racism
Sexual violence
Slavery
Xenophobia
Abandonment
*Moderate
Child abuse
Rape
Strengths
The magic is really well thought out and I think clever the way he wove it in and used it with the storyline equal parts intelligent and emotionally gripping. His writing was enveloping without being wordy or pretentious. The character arcs were there, and the worlds were rounded out for each main character including setting, occupation, friends and acquaintances etc. nothing felt forced and the book was fast paced.
Weaknesses
Some people may be bored with the historical setting for Li Nuan. I don’t think this is a weakness, but could be something that loses some readers more used to a typical fantasy read.
Rating/Final Thoughts
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If I could rate this book 15 stars I would. Cannot recommend it enough and Khan Wong- I’m obsessed! Thank you for writing this book!
My GOODNESS
What to say about this book?
If you’re a reader who typically loves lit fic and who loves historical fiction this book will be for you.
Not because it’s either of those genres really at all, but because it overflows with truth and real life in the same way as historical fiction, and because it takes you deep in the same way lit fic does. And did I mention if you like sci-fi, dystopian reads, and/or fantasy you should also pick up this book? Why? Because it’s all three of those genres and still manages to be a book I’d recommend to the latter two. This book absolutely took me by The heart and embraced me in a warm hug I really needed right now. It was so deep. The theme of golden threads of connection will be one I think about for a long time. Truthfully it’s already something I think about a lot, so I was definitely the target audience for this book. If this one isn’t optioned, Hulu Netflix somebody- they’re frankly out of their damned minds. Entirely. There are 3 points of view in this book. Initially I really enjoyed Li Nuan’s perspective most, as hers is set in the past the furthest and After all, I started as a historical fiction reader. You really feel for her and all she goes through and root for her. But Then there’s Maida, and as the story goes along her perspective is so filled with fantasy and intrigue that I couldn’t stop reading hers either. Lastly, there’s Nathan. He’s labeled as a hedonist and I suppose that’s true, but my elder millennial heart saw him as one of my own and it made me the least interested somehow. Who he starts at was not a person that felt interesting to me. His character arc is major and his growth is satisfying. One thing I really loved about this story is how everything felt circular in the BEST WAY. The themes of connection and found family really tie in with the way he’s written this story and even though there’s sadness and grief and loss and heartbreak there’s also joy and beauty and connection and love. It felt like such a solid representation of a lived experience as a whole. Another thing I really loved, you’ll find people of all kinds in this book. Non binary, white, gay, heterosexual, Asian, female, male…truly, this book is not lacking in representation. This is a Book that’s a wonderful sci-fi and fantasy escape, thought provoking political commentary, and deeper read that I’ll be thinking about for a long time. The magic is really well thought out and I think clever the way he wove it in and used it with the storyline equal parts intelligent and emotionally gripping. This read really found me at exactly the right time in my life, in the world, in this socioeconomic landscape and gave me comfort in a time I needed it. I so highly recommend this book that I can’t underscore it enough and I hope you choose to pick it up today! You won’t regret it. I do think as a big Emily St. John Mandel fan that Angry Robot was spot on in recommending this read to her fans!
TLDR STFU: Below is a rundown for you of tropes, triggers, strengths, weaknesses, and a rating with final thoughts.
Tropes
Good vs. evil
Found family
Reluctant Hero
The Dark Lord
Magical Artifacts
Prophecy
Forbidden Magic
Technological Control
Climate Disaster
Time Travel
Oppressive Tyranny
Triggers
*Graphic
Misogyny
Pedophilia
Racism
Sexual violence
Slavery
Xenophobia
Abandonment
*Moderate
Child abuse
Rape
Strengths
The magic is really well thought out and I think clever the way he wove it in and used it with the storyline equal parts intelligent and emotionally gripping. His writing was enveloping without being wordy or pretentious. The character arcs were there, and the worlds were rounded out for each main character including setting, occupation, friends and acquaintances etc. nothing felt forced and the book was fast paced.
Weaknesses
Some people may be bored with the historical setting for Li Nuan. I don’t think this is a weakness, but could be something that loses some readers more used to a typical fantasy read.
Rating/Final Thoughts
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If I could rate this book 15 stars I would. Cannot recommend it enough and Khan Wong- I’m obsessed! Thank you for writing this book!
March 6, 2025
Down in the Sea of Angels by Khan Wong
As I sit perched on my chair, laden with the comfort of pillows, I sit silently sipping on tea from my mug molded from clay. The warmth adds a sense of calm as I gaze out the window. Spindly and ever-waving in their existence, the nearby trees say hello to greet me this morning. A wondrous sight, a tree. Their strong branches endure hardships in the way of extreme weather and yet bravely stand rooted with conviction for all to marvel. Pondering questions infiltrate my mind: Where do we come from? Who shapes us to be who we are? Anyone who has formulated a plan to explore their heritage has been down this rabbithole before.
In this marvelous story written by Khan Wong, three individuals are connected by one item. This object shows them the strife of years gone by and years yet to come. Tales of a different time, a century between each, explain the realisms of daily life no matter the period of existence. More than that, it provides a beacon of hope. A physical reminder to the owners of the resolve and fortitude of those who came before.
Li Nuan, taken against her will, is thrown into a world controlled by a local slumlord. Fighting against her intuitions brings upon a wretched way of life, pleasing men's urges. The reader gathers an empathetic compassion for her story, and yet Li Nuan is not like most others. Her strength is deeply rooted in her resolution to survive and prosper in a world that is doomed for her failure.
Nathan, a carefree-thinking inventor, has a sure path to happiness. However, something is lacking. What happens when your career takes an arduous turn? Society turns a blind eye towards obvious injustices, and others are set in the spotlight. As his success grows, Nathan’s company will have him questioning his moral ethics. How far is too far? A dramatic event expedites a change that has been brewing within Nathan. What will he find on his path of self-discovery?
Maida has a gift. Her ability to touch an object and see its origins and history through dazzling imagery imbues her mind. She is known as a psion, born from an event known as the bloom conjured from mankind's total collapse caused by unmitigated suffering at the hands of greed. Her kind is special, and with this uniqueness comes a fear from those in control. They must be regulated and silenced, or perhaps controlled.
My journey was beautifully crafted by Khan Wong. Each specific individual’s dilemma posed introspective moments. A set of complex rules defined by the framework of the decree at the time. Women’s rights? Minority equality? As the times change, so do the boundaries in which humanity lives. Consistent is the hunger for power and control. A good example is that of the chaga mushroom. Chaga is a perennial that grows on the tree bark, growing larger each spring through fall. Beginning as an infection, eventually bursting out and finally killing the tree. However, the mushroom, with medicinal-like qualities, has been found to have many beneficial effects on the body when drunk as tea. Think of those in power like the chaga. Brutal in existence with the intent to dominate, with every passing season, and yet we, the consumers, get stronger with time. Our collective minds seemingly more familiar with the rhetoric and tricks that prey upon us. The plan is ever-changing and challenging, creating an abundance of chaos to throw us off the scent of those looking to devour. Perhaps someday, this incessant desire for ruling the masses will be weaned out of our DNA, and eventually staving off the needless suffering of our species.
Upon reflection, the book poses questions about our moral compass and radiates a flawless microcosm of contemporary society. The prose easily extends a hand to provoke thoughts in a tightly connected piece of art that is difficult to put down. I am giving this 4.45 stars and rounding down to 4 stars. Highly recommended reading!
Many thanks to Angry Robot for the ARC through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion.
As I sit perched on my chair, laden with the comfort of pillows, I sit silently sipping on tea from my mug molded from clay. The warmth adds a sense of calm as I gaze out the window. Spindly and ever-waving in their existence, the nearby trees say hello to greet me this morning. A wondrous sight, a tree. Their strong branches endure hardships in the way of extreme weather and yet bravely stand rooted with conviction for all to marvel. Pondering questions infiltrate my mind: Where do we come from? Who shapes us to be who we are? Anyone who has formulated a plan to explore their heritage has been down this rabbithole before.
In this marvelous story written by Khan Wong, three individuals are connected by one item. This object shows them the strife of years gone by and years yet to come. Tales of a different time, a century between each, explain the realisms of daily life no matter the period of existence. More than that, it provides a beacon of hope. A physical reminder to the owners of the resolve and fortitude of those who came before.
Li Nuan, taken against her will, is thrown into a world controlled by a local slumlord. Fighting against her intuitions brings upon a wretched way of life, pleasing men's urges. The reader gathers an empathetic compassion for her story, and yet Li Nuan is not like most others. Her strength is deeply rooted in her resolution to survive and prosper in a world that is doomed for her failure.
Nathan, a carefree-thinking inventor, has a sure path to happiness. However, something is lacking. What happens when your career takes an arduous turn? Society turns a blind eye towards obvious injustices, and others are set in the spotlight. As his success grows, Nathan’s company will have him questioning his moral ethics. How far is too far? A dramatic event expedites a change that has been brewing within Nathan. What will he find on his path of self-discovery?
Maida has a gift. Her ability to touch an object and see its origins and history through dazzling imagery imbues her mind. She is known as a psion, born from an event known as the bloom conjured from mankind's total collapse caused by unmitigated suffering at the hands of greed. Her kind is special, and with this uniqueness comes a fear from those in control. They must be regulated and silenced, or perhaps controlled.
My journey was beautifully crafted by Khan Wong. Each specific individual’s dilemma posed introspective moments. A set of complex rules defined by the framework of the decree at the time. Women’s rights? Minority equality? As the times change, so do the boundaries in which humanity lives. Consistent is the hunger for power and control. A good example is that of the chaga mushroom. Chaga is a perennial that grows on the tree bark, growing larger each spring through fall. Beginning as an infection, eventually bursting out and finally killing the tree. However, the mushroom, with medicinal-like qualities, has been found to have many beneficial effects on the body when drunk as tea. Think of those in power like the chaga. Brutal in existence with the intent to dominate, with every passing season, and yet we, the consumers, get stronger with time. Our collective minds seemingly more familiar with the rhetoric and tricks that prey upon us. The plan is ever-changing and challenging, creating an abundance of chaos to throw us off the scent of those looking to devour. Perhaps someday, this incessant desire for ruling the masses will be weaned out of our DNA, and eventually staving off the needless suffering of our species.
Upon reflection, the book poses questions about our moral compass and radiates a flawless microcosm of contemporary society. The prose easily extends a hand to provoke thoughts in a tightly connected piece of art that is difficult to put down. I am giving this 4.45 stars and rounding down to 4 stars. Highly recommended reading!
Many thanks to Angry Robot for the ARC through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion.
April 10, 2025
I received an ARC from the publisher Angry Robot for free in exchange for an honest review.
Three separate individuals are inextricably linked by one jade cup. A young girl trafficked from China, a fellow attending Burning Man and a psychic, I mean psionic, lady who’s new job is in jeopardy because of prejudice.
✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
Plot
Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me, and I’m actually disappointed with myself. This is such a wonderful premise, but I got bored.
Out of the three characters, I feel that Nathan’s could have been removed all together. Despite how well it was written, I couldn’t bring myself to care about his Burning Man adventures or the new relationships he was forming along the way. I liked his connection to the cup and Li Nuan, but other than that I didn’t really understand his part in the story.
I really liked the premise of Maida’s story, especially with the potentially implications of her special abilities, where these came from and the impact of prejudice on her role. But that’s where my enjoyment stopped. Again, I just couldn’t care about her at all. Maida’s era being set in the future would also have benefitted from some world building, which I felt other than glimpses was missing. We know there’s been an apocalypse of some sort and this has changed the world, but I felt that it ended there and I was left wanting to know more.
And lastly Li Nuan. She probably has my favourite of the stories out of the three, and hers is incredibly bleak. I did find her transition from one prison to another interesting, but I wish there had been some light at the end of this tunnel.
Characters
Nathan – I’ve also written about the plot aspects, but his character didn’t really resonate with me either. There was a big anti-capitalism focus throughout his travels, which while an important and serious topic, felt like overkill, even with the link to climate change in Maida’s story. I enjoyed his relationship with his partner, and they were both very sweet, but I didn’t care about anyone else.
Maida – I really liked the idea of her story. However I found Maida very flat and uninteresting herself. I didn’t feel that she had any real personality beyond her skills or any real drive to improve anything for herself or the secret society that she gets embroiled in.
Li Nuan – another interesting story with some insight into her thoughts and feelings throughout, but I wish we’d learnt some more about her life before being trafficked to America.
The Good
The premise is really good. I love the idea of three interconnected people from different times, especially when its linked through an object.
The Bad
I found the characters flat and uninteresting in themselves. While their plots were good, the characters themselves didn’t quite live up to it.
The Ugly
Nothing ugly.
The Wrap Up
This is an excellent idea split egregiously into three separate story lines, all without the world building and character development to make them stick together with any kind of pizazz.
✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
Find Me
Instagram
Storygraph
Three separate individuals are inextricably linked by one jade cup. A young girl trafficked from China, a fellow attending Burning Man and a psychic, I mean psionic, lady who’s new job is in jeopardy because of prejudice.
✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
Plot
Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me, and I’m actually disappointed with myself. This is such a wonderful premise, but I got bored.
Out of the three characters, I feel that Nathan’s could have been removed all together. Despite how well it was written, I couldn’t bring myself to care about his Burning Man adventures or the new relationships he was forming along the way. I liked his connection to the cup and Li Nuan, but other than that I didn’t really understand his part in the story.
I really liked the premise of Maida’s story, especially with the potentially implications of her special abilities, where these came from and the impact of prejudice on her role. But that’s where my enjoyment stopped. Again, I just couldn’t care about her at all. Maida’s era being set in the future would also have benefitted from some world building, which I felt other than glimpses was missing. We know there’s been an apocalypse of some sort and this has changed the world, but I felt that it ended there and I was left wanting to know more.
And lastly Li Nuan. She probably has my favourite of the stories out of the three, and hers is incredibly bleak. I did find her transition from one prison to another interesting, but I wish there had been some light at the end of this tunnel.
Characters
Nathan – I’ve also written about the plot aspects, but his character didn’t really resonate with me either. There was a big anti-capitalism focus throughout his travels, which while an important and serious topic, felt like overkill, even with the link to climate change in Maida’s story. I enjoyed his relationship with his partner, and they were both very sweet, but I didn’t care about anyone else.
Maida – I really liked the idea of her story. However I found Maida very flat and uninteresting herself. I didn’t feel that she had any real personality beyond her skills or any real drive to improve anything for herself or the secret society that she gets embroiled in.
Li Nuan – another interesting story with some insight into her thoughts and feelings throughout, but I wish we’d learnt some more about her life before being trafficked to America.
The Good
The premise is really good. I love the idea of three interconnected people from different times, especially when its linked through an object.
The Bad
I found the characters flat and uninteresting in themselves. While their plots were good, the characters themselves didn’t quite live up to it.
The Ugly
Nothing ugly.
The Wrap Up
This is an excellent idea split egregiously into three separate story lines, all without the world building and character development to make them stick together with any kind of pizazz.
✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
Find Me
Storygraph
May 3, 2025
“For all the differences in our material vessels, we are the same spirit-stuff, the spark of life, the blaze of consciousness. We have a duty to it, don’t we? To do more than consume, to do more than our chores and our jobs. How much more can we heal this world? How much more beauty can we make? How much more gratitude can we pour out into the sea of our existence, the roiling in and out tidal cycles of our lives?”
Beautiful work from start to finish. I fell asleep in the middle of reading the other night because I just could not put this book down. This is historical fiction, speculative fiction, political fiction, sci-fi, etc. etc., and it manages to fit itself comfortably into all of these different genres without cluttering up & compromising the story. The plot weaves together two centuries of American history and handles a relatively large cast of characters, and it manages all of this with grace.
During a time when American politicians flagrantly lie about minorities and tend to receive promotions rather than demotions for it it’s cathartic to read about a fictional American quasi-president facing justice in a more socially advanced future. The post-Collapse world is believable; I can see how we would end up with Regional Alliances and a more states-focused government if a climate catastrophe on that scale took place. Linstrom as a metaphor for the key power-hungry fundamentalist politicians of today works very well
The main cast and even the small side characters are really distinctive and interesting. The queer representation in this book is great; it felt refreshing to read about queer people who are accepted and whose queerness isn’t an (active) point of contention between them and others. Sometimes you want to read about the struggle and sometimes you want to read about queer people being regular people, and these characters fit for the most part into the latter category.
Li Nuan’s tragic adolescence and heroic fight for freedom, Nathan’s revelations about consumerism and late-stage capitalism causing him to ask himself the same questions about his values which many of us are grappling with today, and Maida’s quest for justice and acceptance amidst rising animosity towards her minority group being weaponized by malicious powerful figures- all of these stories are brilliant and powerful reminders of the strength & resilience of the human spirit in the face of all manner of obstacles, internal and external, personal and systemic. Well-written, with a beautiful ending that neatly wraps up each plot line and offers a message of hope for the future of mankind, I’d recommend this book more than any other I’ve read so far this year.
Beautiful work from start to finish. I fell asleep in the middle of reading the other night because I just could not put this book down. This is historical fiction, speculative fiction, political fiction, sci-fi, etc. etc., and it manages to fit itself comfortably into all of these different genres without cluttering up & compromising the story. The plot weaves together two centuries of American history and handles a relatively large cast of characters, and it manages all of this with grace.
During a time when American politicians flagrantly lie about minorities and tend to receive promotions rather than demotions for it it’s cathartic to read about a fictional American quasi-president facing justice in a more socially advanced future. The post-Collapse world is believable; I can see how we would end up with Regional Alliances and a more states-focused government if a climate catastrophe on that scale took place. Linstrom as a metaphor for the key power-hungry fundamentalist politicians of today works very well
The main cast and even the small side characters are really distinctive and interesting. The queer representation in this book is great; it felt refreshing to read about queer people who are accepted and whose queerness isn’t an (active) point of contention between them and others. Sometimes you want to read about the struggle and sometimes you want to read about queer people being regular people, and these characters fit for the most part into the latter category.
Li Nuan’s tragic adolescence and heroic fight for freedom, Nathan’s revelations about consumerism and late-stage capitalism causing him to ask himself the same questions about his values which many of us are grappling with today, and Maida’s quest for justice and acceptance amidst rising animosity towards her minority group being weaponized by malicious powerful figures- all of these stories are brilliant and powerful reminders of the strength & resilience of the human spirit in the face of all manner of obstacles, internal and external, personal and systemic. Well-written, with a beautiful ending that neatly wraps up each plot line and offers a message of hope for the future of mankind, I’d recommend this book more than any other I’ve read so far this year.
April 7, 2025
After the reorganization of the world that humanity nearly destroyed and with it themselves, was an event called the bloom. After certain people discovered they had unique abilities. One of these is a woman who can read the history of an object as it passed from owner to owner. Fresh from the academy with top honors she takes a job assisting in a historical excavation and restoration project. Unearthed is a teacup that draws her in so deep that it sets off a chain connection that won't let go even when she does.
In a time not so long before our modern day is an engineer who's becoming disillusioned with his job. When a series of protests wakes him to the destructive nature of our supply chain and consumer economy he suddenly feels not only like his work is meaningless but even his greatest passion and entertainment is also excessively detrimental. He becomes haunted at every turn unable to unsee how desperate the global situation is.
Near the start of the 19th century is a girl sold into servitude to the Chinese turf boss. More than territory, he holds the police that patrol it in his pocket. Forced into performing both domestic duties and sexual service, she is desperate to find her way out. She is frozen by fear of the consequences of failure. Yet she has an impression that there is danger for her beyond her captor and in it also hope. A fiery one.
“Down in the Sea of Angels” is a book that spirals through timelines. Within these coils is a story about stewardship, resistance, connection, defiance, and fellowship. While at its core it may be a climate-dystopia, in some ways the theme seemed more of a method to show interconnection that went beyond objects or bloodlines. It is equally a commentary on the repetition of the human behavior that has withstood time thus far.
For some readers this may come off as too on-the-nose of heavy handed. .Personally I think it is well worth a read. First and foremost I have to praise the strong character work. Each voice was not only distinct but each timeline was its own genre. The 1900s was a story of oppression. The 2000s was a philosophical and moral reawakening. The third was an all out sci-fi political drama with its own high adrenaline moments. The very method of laying out the different timelines felt fresh to other flip flopping or multi-generational tales. The cherry on top was the various friend and community groups. Each provided really great side characters that contributed not just as filler to the central character's stories but were active in it.
A really fun romp through time that is on occasion absolutely depressing and nihilistic.On the flip side it is also bittersweet, hopeful, and empowering.
In a time not so long before our modern day is an engineer who's becoming disillusioned with his job. When a series of protests wakes him to the destructive nature of our supply chain and consumer economy he suddenly feels not only like his work is meaningless but even his greatest passion and entertainment is also excessively detrimental. He becomes haunted at every turn unable to unsee how desperate the global situation is.
Near the start of the 19th century is a girl sold into servitude to the Chinese turf boss. More than territory, he holds the police that patrol it in his pocket. Forced into performing both domestic duties and sexual service, she is desperate to find her way out. She is frozen by fear of the consequences of failure. Yet she has an impression that there is danger for her beyond her captor and in it also hope. A fiery one.
“Down in the Sea of Angels” is a book that spirals through timelines. Within these coils is a story about stewardship, resistance, connection, defiance, and fellowship. While at its core it may be a climate-dystopia, in some ways the theme seemed more of a method to show interconnection that went beyond objects or bloodlines. It is equally a commentary on the repetition of the human behavior that has withstood time thus far.
For some readers this may come off as too on-the-nose of heavy handed. .Personally I think it is well worth a read. First and foremost I have to praise the strong character work. Each voice was not only distinct but each timeline was its own genre. The 1900s was a story of oppression. The 2000s was a philosophical and moral reawakening. The third was an all out sci-fi political drama with its own high adrenaline moments. The very method of laying out the different timelines felt fresh to other flip flopping or multi-generational tales. The cherry on top was the various friend and community groups. Each provided really great side characters that contributed not just as filler to the central character's stories but were active in it.
A really fun romp through time that is on occasion absolutely depressing and nihilistic.On the flip side it is also bittersweet, hopeful, and empowering.
May 22, 2025
I wanted to like this, the premise is so interesting-three individuals somehow connected across time through psychic visions, social upheaval, and a jade teacup- but the execution was unfortunately disappointing for me.
One third of the story follows Nathan, a guy living in the early-2000's tech boom of 2006. he works in tech and goes to burning man. can't really tell you anything else about him, that about sums him up. After he's confronted with the fact that his company relies on child slave labor to mine precious minerals, and he has a psychic omen of environmental destruction through the teacup at Burning Man, he quits his job and turns to...permaculture? and becomes one of the great environmental activists of his time period?
The next third follows Li Nuan, a 16-year old girl in 1906 sex trafficked into America and being held in a brothel against her will. She finds a safe haven in the nearby church, recieving protection from the white people in return for converting herself and other rescued girls to christianity. This storyline had the most potential for interesting commentary and exploration of social issues of the time... except that literally as soon as Li Nuan is safe in the church, she herself immediately tells the reader that she's simply traded one prison for another and this is the only way the white devil jesus people will ever see her and other asian girls as wlrthy of saving, when they're potential converts.
The "main" story follows Maida in the year 2106. she's a psychometrist, a discriminated-against class of person who can touch objects and psychically see their history. Who made them, and where, who's owned them throughout the years, where the object has traveled. it's a cool idea for a power system but I found the writing in Maida's section to be the weakest by far. Her plot follows a secret government plot to put all psychics in prisons, wipe their minds, and harness their power for the not-president of their not-nation-state. Her section is the only one written in first-person and it really added to the vibe of someone just writing down the events of their day in a journal, rather than actually storytelling.
overall, the characters were uninteresting and lacked dimension or development. This book was just too long for how shallow it was, it hits on so many social, environmental, political issues but doesn't address any of them with any depth or nuance.. And when I'm reading a fiction book, i want it to be a story! Every single thing the author wants the reader to think about, to know, every question the reader is supposed to ask is DIRECTLY telegraphed in the text through our character's internal monologues. 2.5
One third of the story follows Nathan, a guy living in the early-2000's tech boom of 2006. he works in tech and goes to burning man. can't really tell you anything else about him, that about sums him up. After he's confronted with the fact that his company relies on child slave labor to mine precious minerals, and he has a psychic omen of environmental destruction through the teacup at Burning Man, he quits his job and turns to...permaculture? and becomes one of the great environmental activists of his time period?
The next third follows Li Nuan, a 16-year old girl in 1906 sex trafficked into America and being held in a brothel against her will. She finds a safe haven in the nearby church, recieving protection from the white people in return for converting herself and other rescued girls to christianity. This storyline had the most potential for interesting commentary and exploration of social issues of the time... except that literally as soon as Li Nuan is safe in the church, she herself immediately tells the reader that she's simply traded one prison for another and this is the only way the white devil jesus people will ever see her and other asian girls as wlrthy of saving, when they're potential converts.
The "main" story follows Maida in the year 2106. she's a psychometrist, a discriminated-against class of person who can touch objects and psychically see their history. Who made them, and where, who's owned them throughout the years, where the object has traveled. it's a cool idea for a power system but I found the writing in Maida's section to be the weakest by far. Her plot follows a secret government plot to put all psychics in prisons, wipe their minds, and harness their power for the not-president of their not-nation-state. Her section is the only one written in first-person and it really added to the vibe of someone just writing down the events of their day in a journal, rather than actually storytelling.
overall, the characters were uninteresting and lacked dimension or development. This book was just too long for how shallow it was, it hits on so many social, environmental, political issues but doesn't address any of them with any depth or nuance.. And when I'm reading a fiction book, i want it to be a story! Every single thing the author wants the reader to think about, to know, every question the reader is supposed to ask is DIRECTLY telegraphed in the text through our character's internal monologues. 2.5
March 29, 2025
I love a good dystopian novel and as I loved the author’s previous book, The Circus Infinite, I was really excited to read this new novel.
The premise sounded brilliant, three characters living in San Francisco at different times but all three of them are linked together by a Jade tea cup. The main POV is Maida, a young woman with psychic abilities living in the year 2106. She has a very rare ability to be able to ‘read’ objects and handling the tea cup gives her insights into the cup’s previous owners and their lives. She learns about Li Nuan, a young Chinese girl who has been sold by her father and sent to San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1906 and Nathan, a designer living in 2006 who comes to see that things are very wrong with the way society is treating our world.
The main plot is in the future time of 2106. The world is recovering from a period of climate change leading to wars and famine. The former USA is now split up into separate areas each controlled by their own director. In this new era, a minority of the population have developed psychic gifts and are known as Psions. As you might expect with a group of people who are different, reactions to them differ and the book sees them treated as: useful members of society, feared for the power that they control or seen as a resource to be controlled and used by those in power.
I did enjoy all three of the character’s story lines to a certain and the amount of research carried out by the author really added to the depth of the stories. However, Li Nuan’s was by far the most gripping of the three and she came across as the most real character. Each time the POV changed to one of the other two, I found myself wanting to go back and find out what happened next in 1906.
I think that my main problem with this book is that by giving us three different timelines, I never felt that I really got to know any of the main protagonists. Li Nuan’s story is the most dramatic and the one that I wanted to read the most but neither Nathan or Maida really came alive for me. I can see why the author wanted to include Nathan’s story but I wonder if the characterisation would have been stronger if the book had just focused on Li Nuan and Maida?
I enjoyed the book and the author’s view of what our future might look like but for me, the lack of depth in the characterisation meant that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped. Still a solid three stars though.
My thanks to Net Galley and the publishers Angry Robot for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
The premise sounded brilliant, three characters living in San Francisco at different times but all three of them are linked together by a Jade tea cup. The main POV is Maida, a young woman with psychic abilities living in the year 2106. She has a very rare ability to be able to ‘read’ objects and handling the tea cup gives her insights into the cup’s previous owners and their lives. She learns about Li Nuan, a young Chinese girl who has been sold by her father and sent to San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1906 and Nathan, a designer living in 2006 who comes to see that things are very wrong with the way society is treating our world.
The main plot is in the future time of 2106. The world is recovering from a period of climate change leading to wars and famine. The former USA is now split up into separate areas each controlled by their own director. In this new era, a minority of the population have developed psychic gifts and are known as Psions. As you might expect with a group of people who are different, reactions to them differ and the book sees them treated as: useful members of society, feared for the power that they control or seen as a resource to be controlled and used by those in power.
I did enjoy all three of the character’s story lines to a certain and the amount of research carried out by the author really added to the depth of the stories. However, Li Nuan’s was by far the most gripping of the three and she came across as the most real character. Each time the POV changed to one of the other two, I found myself wanting to go back and find out what happened next in 1906.
I think that my main problem with this book is that by giving us three different timelines, I never felt that I really got to know any of the main protagonists. Li Nuan’s story is the most dramatic and the one that I wanted to read the most but neither Nathan or Maida really came alive for me. I can see why the author wanted to include Nathan’s story but I wonder if the characterisation would have been stronger if the book had just focused on Li Nuan and Maida?
I enjoyed the book and the author’s view of what our future might look like but for me, the lack of depth in the characterisation meant that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped. Still a solid three stars though.
My thanks to Net Galley and the publishers Angry Robot for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews