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Tensorate #1-3
The Tensorate Series: 3 Novellas
The Black Tides of Heaven: In the first book of the Tensorate series, a rebellion threatens the power of the Protectorate. Akeha, one of the twin children of the Protector, leaves the Tensorate behind and falls in with the rebels. But every step Akeha takes towards the Machinists is a step away from Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond they share with their twin?
The Red Threads of Fortune: In the second book in the Tensorate series, Sanao Mokoya has abandoned the life that once bound her. Broken by the loss of her young daughter, she now hunts deadly, sky-obscuring naga in the harsh outer reaches of the kingdom, far from everything she used to love.
On the trail of a massive naga that threatens the rebellious mining city of Bataanar, Mokoya meets the mysterious and alluring Rider. But all is not as it seems: The beast they both hunt harbors a secret that could ignite war throughout the Protectorate.
The Descent of Monsters: JY Yang continues to redefine the limits of silkpunk fantasy with the Tensorate novellas. In this third volume, an investigation into atrocities committed at a classified research facility threatens to expose secrets that the Protectorate will do anything to keep hidden.
The Red Threads of Fortune: In the second book in the Tensorate series, Sanao Mokoya has abandoned the life that once bound her. Broken by the loss of her young daughter, she now hunts deadly, sky-obscuring naga in the harsh outer reaches of the kingdom, far from everything she used to love.
On the trail of a massive naga that threatens the rebellious mining city of Bataanar, Mokoya meets the mysterious and alluring Rider. But all is not as it seems: The beast they both hunt harbors a secret that could ignite war throughout the Protectorate.
The Descent of Monsters: JY Yang continues to redefine the limits of silkpunk fantasy with the Tensorate novellas. In this third volume, an investigation into atrocities committed at a classified research facility threatens to expose secrets that the Protectorate will do anything to keep hidden.
14 pages, Audible Audio
First published July 31, 2018
8 people are currently reading
364 people want to read
About the author
Neon Yang
19 books706 followersNeon Yang, formerly J.Y. Yang, is a Singaporean writer of English-language speculative fiction. Yang is non-binary and queer, and uses they/them pronouns.
Yang has written a series of "silkpunk" novellas, and has published short fiction since 2012. Their novella The Black Tides of Heaven was nominated for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella, the 2018 Kitschies Golden Tentacle and the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
Yang's work revolves around "the human body as a vessel for storytelling", and is based on their background as a molecular biologist, journalist and science communicator.
Yang has written a series of "silkpunk" novellas, and has published short fiction since 2012. Their novella The Black Tides of Heaven was nominated for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella, the 2018 Kitschies Golden Tentacle and the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
Yang's work revolves around "the human body as a vessel for storytelling", and is based on their background as a molecular biologist, journalist and science communicator.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 15, 2018
4.5 Stars
Author Ken Liu has described the silkpunk genre as "a blend of science fiction, and fantasy... (that) draws inspiration from classical East Asian antiquity." JY Yang's Tensorate series is a silkpunk series set in a China on the cusp of technological developments like telegraphs, sophisticated munitions, and energy sources. This audiobook comprises the first three Tensorate novellas (a fourth novella will release in 2019). The story of twins, Akeha and Mokoya, is told in a very compressed fashion across the first two novellas, The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune . Akeha and Mokoya are children of the powerful Protector (insert irony here) in a world in which the magical underpinning of our reality, called Slack, shapes reality. The Protector and her children (greater in number than just Akeha and Monkoya) and various other adepts are Tensors, individuals who can manipulate the Slack. Slack and slackcraft are complex concepts, embodying aspects of Wu Xing (the five elements), aspects of Taoism, and of Sunyata, a term from Mahayana Buddhism. (Compare "Slack is all, and all is the Slack" to the famous quote from the Heart Sutra- "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form"). This philosophical fusion forms the backdrop for stories of love, loss, political upheaval, the balance between religion and power.
Initially pawns in their mother's plans, Akeha and Mokoya are raised together first in a monastery, then in the Court, then finally as young adults they break away from their mother and even each other, to follow their own paths. (To say their relationship with their mother is complicated is a serious understatement.) Akeha, whose story is told in The Black Tide of Heaven becomes a rebel against his mother's regime. Mokoya, whose story is told in The Red Threads of Fortune is initially valued as her mother's prophet, but then also rebels and marries the young head of the powerful monastery that opposes her mother's control over her people. While the stories in the novellas feature a very compressed timeline (in the first novella alone we see the twins born, bartered, raised and finding their path, following them to age thirty-five in 230 pages), Yang still manages to create imbue the story with their fascinating view of magic and rich philosophy. In particular The Red Threads of Fortune slows down the pace to show us the Mokoya's deeply felt feelings of loss that fuel her own rebellion against the Protectorate. We also see Mokoya coming to see that the threads of fortune can be shifted when we see things the right way and that we can change destiny.
One of the most fascinating aspects of these novellas is the gender construct. JY Yang, themselves non-binary, has created a world in which individuals are considered gender neutral until they self-declare a gender, and also one in which gender does not dictate orientation. While there is much religious conflict in this book, it's refreshing that absolutely none of it deals with gender or orientation. People get to be themselves, and the threads of the Slack are never bent to warp or change who a person really is in terms of their gender or orientation. (I just love this about this series.)
"The Black Tides of Heaven direct the courses of human lives. But as with all waters, one can swim against the tide... I chose to swim. So can you."
"For the lines and knots of the Slack are the lines and knots of the world and all that is shaped is shaped through the twining of the red threads of fortune."
In the third novella, The Descent of Monsters however, we are introduced to a new twin, Rider, who we first encountered in The Red Threads of Fortune. They are searching for their separated twin, and that search occupies most of the book and is not fully resolved, presumably leading to the fourth novella. This is the first of the novellas in which see the Slack used to distort people and their potential, animals and their nature, and what can truly be a perversion of the natural order, all in service of holding on to power. The monsters of the title are less those 'created' than the creators themselves, who enslave, experiment, and abuse nature and the Slack.
This is a really marvelous series in which Yang trusts that you will gain understanding via submersion into the Tensorate world. It's worth your patience. The audio edition may assist some readers puzzling about the pronunciation of many of the terms.
P.S. This series has also given me my new favorite, discreet, all-purpose swear word- cheebye. Like Mokoya, at times I, too, wish I could curse myself into serenity.
Read it on the blog: http://marziesreads.blogspot.com/2018...
Author Ken Liu has described the silkpunk genre as "a blend of science fiction, and fantasy... (that) draws inspiration from classical East Asian antiquity." JY Yang's Tensorate series is a silkpunk series set in a China on the cusp of technological developments like telegraphs, sophisticated munitions, and energy sources. This audiobook comprises the first three Tensorate novellas (a fourth novella will release in 2019). The story of twins, Akeha and Mokoya, is told in a very compressed fashion across the first two novellas, The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune . Akeha and Mokoya are children of the powerful Protector (insert irony here) in a world in which the magical underpinning of our reality, called Slack, shapes reality. The Protector and her children (greater in number than just Akeha and Monkoya) and various other adepts are Tensors, individuals who can manipulate the Slack. Slack and slackcraft are complex concepts, embodying aspects of Wu Xing (the five elements), aspects of Taoism, and of Sunyata, a term from Mahayana Buddhism. (Compare "Slack is all, and all is the Slack" to the famous quote from the Heart Sutra- "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form"). This philosophical fusion forms the backdrop for stories of love, loss, political upheaval, the balance between religion and power.
Initially pawns in their mother's plans, Akeha and Mokoya are raised together first in a monastery, then in the Court, then finally as young adults they break away from their mother and even each other, to follow their own paths. (To say their relationship with their mother is complicated is a serious understatement.) Akeha, whose story is told in The Black Tide of Heaven becomes a rebel against his mother's regime. Mokoya, whose story is told in The Red Threads of Fortune is initially valued as her mother's prophet, but then also rebels and marries the young head of the powerful monastery that opposes her mother's control over her people. While the stories in the novellas feature a very compressed timeline (in the first novella alone we see the twins born, bartered, raised and finding their path, following them to age thirty-five in 230 pages), Yang still manages to create imbue the story with their fascinating view of magic and rich philosophy. In particular The Red Threads of Fortune slows down the pace to show us the Mokoya's deeply felt feelings of loss that fuel her own rebellion against the Protectorate. We also see Mokoya coming to see that the threads of fortune can be shifted when we see things the right way and that we can change destiny.
One of the most fascinating aspects of these novellas is the gender construct. JY Yang, themselves non-binary, has created a world in which individuals are considered gender neutral until they self-declare a gender, and also one in which gender does not dictate orientation. While there is much religious conflict in this book, it's refreshing that absolutely none of it deals with gender or orientation. People get to be themselves, and the threads of the Slack are never bent to warp or change who a person really is in terms of their gender or orientation. (I just love this about this series.)
"The Black Tides of Heaven direct the courses of human lives. But as with all waters, one can swim against the tide... I chose to swim. So can you."
"For the lines and knots of the Slack are the lines and knots of the world and all that is shaped is shaped through the twining of the red threads of fortune."
In the third novella, The Descent of Monsters however, we are introduced to a new twin, Rider, who we first encountered in The Red Threads of Fortune. They are searching for their separated twin, and that search occupies most of the book and is not fully resolved, presumably leading to the fourth novella. This is the first of the novellas in which see the Slack used to distort people and their potential, animals and their nature, and what can truly be a perversion of the natural order, all in service of holding on to power. The monsters of the title are less those 'created' than the creators themselves, who enslave, experiment, and abuse nature and the Slack.
This is a really marvelous series in which Yang trusts that you will gain understanding via submersion into the Tensorate world. It's worth your patience. The audio edition may assist some readers puzzling about the pronunciation of many of the terms.
P.S. This series has also given me my new favorite, discreet, all-purpose swear word- cheebye. Like Mokoya, at times I, too, wish I could curse myself into serenity.
Read it on the blog: http://marziesreads.blogspot.com/2018...
Read
November 8, 2020i really enjoyed listening to this since I found the world-building interesting and innovative. however, I would have liked it better if the characters had more time to interact and build their relationships more genuinely.
July 22, 2024
The series follows a different character in each book, each time progressing in the timeline of events. with previous characters mentioned every now and then, making it read more like a history of the world through the eyes of 3 different people.
It wasn't bad, but it wasn't one of those books that you would say kept you wanting more.
It wasn't bad, but it wasn't one of those books that you would say kept you wanting more.
Want to read
September 28, 2019I'm sorry. I started to listen to it because I got it on Hoopla but it seems I can't follow an audio book i've never read or at least I can't here. I'll have to get an ebook or physical book to read at some point.
October 24, 2018
A solid good 'book' to listen to.
As a collection of three novellas, I feel the stories are best read in sequence. The world building, attachment to certain characters, and especially their backstories, are integrated so intimately within the subtext that I feel reading the third before reading the first or second ones would be like smelling a used whisky glass without having a drop of the drink. You might get the overall impression, but your experience would still be lacking.
There were aspects of the stories I loved, and some I hated. Others were simply meh, which all evened out to make this a solid three star, it's-a-good-read, rating.
The first novella does a great job at setting up a more general view of the world and the inner workings of the Protector's family. I felt, however, the characters were very much secondary to the world, and I honestly hated the prevalence of fate/prophecy. While the preceding novellas do lend a more nuanced view of these subjects, I still don't like them.
The second novella was my favorite. My kind of action and conflict! I felt the pacing was much improved, and since we already knew the backstory of the characters more wordspace could be spent on how they each deal with their current, chosen, paths. The author does an amazing job describing creatures and buildings, here, too.
The third novella is the one I'm most torn about. While I enjoyed the investigative plot points and how those were handled, I felt jarred from suddenly being in the head of a completely new character. Although I enjoyed her POV's quirk's immensely, I felt she took away from stories that weren't quite finished. The ending wasn't my favorite, either.
All around, a good read, and I will be open to reading more from this author in the future.
As a collection of three novellas, I feel the stories are best read in sequence. The world building, attachment to certain characters, and especially their backstories, are integrated so intimately within the subtext that I feel reading the third before reading the first or second ones would be like smelling a used whisky glass without having a drop of the drink. You might get the overall impression, but your experience would still be lacking.
There were aspects of the stories I loved, and some I hated. Others were simply meh, which all evened out to make this a solid three star, it's-a-good-read, rating.
The first novella does a great job at setting up a more general view of the world and the inner workings of the Protector's family. I felt, however, the characters were very much secondary to the world, and I honestly hated the prevalence of fate/prophecy. While the preceding novellas do lend a more nuanced view of these subjects, I still don't like them.
The second novella was my favorite. My kind of action and conflict! I felt the pacing was much improved, and since we already knew the backstory of the characters more wordspace could be spent on how they each deal with their current, chosen, paths. The author does an amazing job describing creatures and buildings, here, too.
The third novella is the one I'm most torn about. While I enjoyed the investigative plot points and how those were handled, I felt jarred from suddenly being in the head of a completely new character. Although I enjoyed her POV's quirk's immensely, I felt she took away from stories that weren't quite finished. The ending wasn't my favorite, either.
All around, a good read, and I will be open to reading more from this author in the future.
May 15, 2019
What I enjoy about this series is the Asian inspired setting, the intriguing magic system, and androgynous or non gender binary characters. People being born sexless and have to choose a gender, although some do not. There were interesting relationships built, but I have to admit, I feel like there's a 4th book that I'm missing. I'm not sure if there are plans for a 4th, but it feels like maybe there should be.
The first and second books have solid arcs and seem to be building towards a converging climax. Both are written in third person, the first focusing on one sibling, the second focusing on the other. I expected the third to tie their stories together and conclude the escalating tensions between the oppressive leadership and rebellion, but the third takes a completely different approach. It feels like an extended epilogue where past events are recounted in the forms of journal entries and transcripts from interrogations, and leaves off a handful of unanswered questions. I appreciate a story that leaves me with questions, but some of these felt incomplete - a character dies, but to what effect? One major character is revealed to be pregnant, but they aren't really spoken of beyond that.
The first and second books have solid arcs and seem to be building towards a converging climax. Both are written in third person, the first focusing on one sibling, the second focusing on the other. I expected the third to tie their stories together and conclude the escalating tensions between the oppressive leadership and rebellion, but the third takes a completely different approach. It feels like an extended epilogue where past events are recounted in the forms of journal entries and transcripts from interrogations, and leaves off a handful of unanswered questions. I appreciate a story that leaves me with questions, but some of these felt incomplete - a character dies, but to what effect? One major character is revealed to be pregnant, but they aren't really spoken of beyond that.
April 8, 2019
I enjoyed the plot very much. I found the narrator's choice to give the twin main characters gendered voices before they themselves had determined their own gender to be a strange choice. Also, I did not understand the decision to give some characters "Asian" accents. While a few of the characters obviously do not speak the Protectorate language fluently, the decision to make some of the characters more ethnic seemed somewhat arbitrary. Both of these things really took away from my experience of the novels.
September 30, 2020
(completed as an audiobook)
The compilation of the first three books in the Tensorate series work well as an audiobook, with a skilled and listenable narrator. The relative brevity of the books (novellas I suppose) allow a faster flow of narrative than many 30h+ fantasy doorstops in the genre. Unfortunately that comes at a cost, leaving me with a sense of incompleteness, as if I'd read a buffed up submission to an anthology rather than a complete work. This was notably the case with book 3: The Descent of Monsters.
Positively, the world is creative and fresh, a mix of elemental sorcery and a 'force'-like "Slack" clashing with technology (guns, communicators), with an East Asian cultural vibe. It's USP is the gender fluid nature of the characters, which while intriguing can lead to confusing pronoun usage for old brains such as mine. It's woven well into the characters, however, and I found it fresh and interesting to 'read.'
Cynically, one could consider that the accolades heaped on the books relate more to the gender fluid and non-European aspects of the book versus the story. I'd say not, at least for books 1 and 2. They have good character driven plots, intelligent writing, fairly solid dialogue, and engaging stories of the two disparate twins.
I found book 3 a chore. The narrative device didn't work well in audiobook, and the plot was fairly scanty, and uninspiring. It felt like a short story, or even an epilogue, padded out. Perhaps it's a set-up for more work? I'm glad that it wasn't a book I'd purchased stand alone, as I'd feel rather short changed.
In summary, a good compilation of three variable books, in an interesting setting. Worth a listen or a read. Just that feeling it could've been better.
The compilation of the first three books in the Tensorate series work well as an audiobook, with a skilled and listenable narrator. The relative brevity of the books (novellas I suppose) allow a faster flow of narrative than many 30h+ fantasy doorstops in the genre. Unfortunately that comes at a cost, leaving me with a sense of incompleteness, as if I'd read a buffed up submission to an anthology rather than a complete work. This was notably the case with book 3: The Descent of Monsters.
Positively, the world is creative and fresh, a mix of elemental sorcery and a 'force'-like "Slack" clashing with technology (guns, communicators), with an East Asian cultural vibe. It's USP is the gender fluid nature of the characters, which while intriguing can lead to confusing pronoun usage for old brains such as mine. It's woven well into the characters, however, and I found it fresh and interesting to 'read.'
Cynically, one could consider that the accolades heaped on the books relate more to the gender fluid and non-European aspects of the book versus the story. I'd say not, at least for books 1 and 2. They have good character driven plots, intelligent writing, fairly solid dialogue, and engaging stories of the two disparate twins.
I found book 3 a chore. The narrative device didn't work well in audiobook, and the plot was fairly scanty, and uninspiring. It felt like a short story, or even an epilogue, padded out. Perhaps it's a set-up for more work? I'm glad that it wasn't a book I'd purchased stand alone, as I'd feel rather short changed.
In summary, a good compilation of three variable books, in an interesting setting. Worth a listen or a read. Just that feeling it could've been better.
June 11, 2023
I haven’t touched fantasy in a long time. Like, maybe when I was 15?? I came across The Tensorate series by Neon Yang a few months back, decided it looked super tempting, and just simply smooshed the BORROW IT!! button in my head this time round.
The Tensorate series by Neon Yang narrates the story of twins Mokoya and Akeha, born to the Protector, the supreme leader who rules over the lands. Originally due for the monastery for training as part of a blood price deal with the Protector, they are taken back when the Protector realizes that Mokoya has a very special gift.
But this doesn’t stop the twins however, who defect from their mother eventually. Mokoya, the talented twin with her prophetic abilities, chooses to forsake the Protector and join her beloved Thennjay, the abbott of the monastery. Akeha, the twin who grew up under Mokoya’s shadow, actively becomes an outlaw, joining the Machinists in their struggle against the Tensorate for a better future.
The twins also have a talent for being extremely ironheaded and finding themselves at death’s doors (especially Mokoya) frequently throughout their lives, as they struggle to break free from their mother’s chokehold.
The writing is fast-paced and invigoratingly bloody. I could see the Eastern influences through the mythical beasts and the magical system of slackcrafting that includes the five Chinese elements of nature: fire, water, forest (wood), earth and metal. In this world, people can choose their genders, and there is a conversation between Akeha and his lover Yongcheow that has a philosophical bent.
The addition of the Hokkien expletives seem really strange when written in English - maybe because I hear them spoken instead all the time - but my inner gangster appreciates the inclusion. Akeha is my favourite pig-headed character whose justifiable angst I can emphatize with at times. Unless he’s making those nuclear sunballs…
The Tensorate series by Neon Yang narrates the story of twins Mokoya and Akeha, born to the Protector, the supreme leader who rules over the lands. Originally due for the monastery for training as part of a blood price deal with the Protector, they are taken back when the Protector realizes that Mokoya has a very special gift.
But this doesn’t stop the twins however, who defect from their mother eventually. Mokoya, the talented twin with her prophetic abilities, chooses to forsake the Protector and join her beloved Thennjay, the abbott of the monastery. Akeha, the twin who grew up under Mokoya’s shadow, actively becomes an outlaw, joining the Machinists in their struggle against the Tensorate for a better future.
The twins also have a talent for being extremely ironheaded and finding themselves at death’s doors (especially Mokoya) frequently throughout their lives, as they struggle to break free from their mother’s chokehold.
The writing is fast-paced and invigoratingly bloody. I could see the Eastern influences through the mythical beasts and the magical system of slackcrafting that includes the five Chinese elements of nature: fire, water, forest (wood), earth and metal. In this world, people can choose their genders, and there is a conversation between Akeha and his lover Yongcheow that has a philosophical bent.
The addition of the Hokkien expletives seem really strange when written in English - maybe because I hear them spoken instead all the time - but my inner gangster appreciates the inclusion. Akeha is my favourite pig-headed character whose justifiable angst I can emphatize with at times. Unless he’s making those nuclear sunballs…
March 24, 2024
A Chinese-influenced steam punk type of world, but where machines are only just starting to get going because the families in power are able to bend nature to their wills, thus defeating the need for machines unless you are too poor, and too controlled by the people in power, to be able to make and use them.
In book 1 we meet twins, born into the royal family and able to bend nature using The Slack. One is a prophet and the other a rebel.
In book 2 the characters of the twins have been shaped by a disaster and by the different paths they have taken in life. Quite a deeply character-driven novella. One of the twins meets a new partner, Rider.
Book 3 has a somewhat different cast and a different format. It is a report into an accident/disaster/mass-death-event and also the story of Rider's search for their own long lost twin.
I've enjoyed listening to these three novellas. They have slightly different pacing and tone to many books I have read. I love the fact that they are all about the story and the characters and the setting and if they have any political or social axes to grind, they are not excessively overt. Though the stories are generally not military or physically aggressive, do not read the last of the three if you are upset by descriptions of the detritus left after a massacre.
In book 1 we meet twins, born into the royal family and able to bend nature using The Slack. One is a prophet and the other a rebel.
In book 2 the characters of the twins have been shaped by a disaster and by the different paths they have taken in life. Quite a deeply character-driven novella. One of the twins meets a new partner, Rider.
Book 3 has a somewhat different cast and a different format. It is a report into an accident/disaster/mass-death-event and also the story of Rider's search for their own long lost twin.
I've enjoyed listening to these three novellas. They have slightly different pacing and tone to many books I have read. I love the fact that they are all about the story and the characters and the setting and if they have any political or social axes to grind, they are not excessively overt. Though the stories are generally not military or physically aggressive, do not read the last of the three if you are upset by descriptions of the detritus left after a massacre.
February 13, 2023
For lovers of adventure and high fantasy this is the right series. The third book raises deeper philosophical questions than the first two but both sequels are equally as good as the first book in terms of adventure, magic and world building. A discussion on gender takes place throughout the books, which I highly appreciated.
October 2, 2018
It was good. It felt kinda like a spinoff Avatar: The Last Airbender series. A lot of the themes were similar. I think the last novella was the best written and formatted, although I'm not sure if the actual story was necessarily the best.
It was enjoyable.
It was enjoyable.
July 12, 2025
idk if i was just missing the point but i could not figure out what the overarching plot of the series was. i understood where each book was going individually but very much so lost the plot along the way. still very interesting tho.
August 13, 2018
the three novellas are wildly different in narrator and narration - and it worked so well. i hope the next book is about dao :)
February 4, 2019
The writing throughout this whole series is amazing. The audiobook is great. My favorite was The Black Tides of Heaven. Can't wait for the fourth one!
June 10, 2019
A wonderful series that will change my thoughts on fantasy forever :)
May 15, 2020
2.5 stars
June 24, 2023
I couldn't find a paperback icon since I read this series in print. This was a June pick for my Sci-Fi book club. We overall like it, but wished for more details.
June 30, 2023
Good and interesting world and characters, but not convinced by the pacing.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews