Name: Lia Yuliana's review of The Descent of Monsters by Neon Yang
Item: The Descent of Monsters
Rating: 3
Author: Lia Yuliana

Neon Yang

A finalist for the 2019 Lammy Award for best LGBTQ SF/F/Horror and the Locus Award for Best Novella Neon Yang continues to redefine the limits of silkpunk fantasy with their Tensorate novellas, which the New York Times lauded as "joyously wild." In this third volume, an investigation into atrocities committed at a classified research facility threaten to expose secrets that the Protectorate will do anything to keep hidden You are reading this because I am dead. Something terrible happened at the Rewar Teng Institute of Experimental Methods. When the Tensorate’s investigators arrived, they found a sea of blood and bones as far as the eye could see. One of the institute’s experiments got loose, and its rage left no survivors. The investigators returned to the capital with few clues and two prisoners: the terrorist leader Sanao Akeha and a companion known only as Rider. Investigator Chuwan faces a puzzle. What really happened at the institute? What drew the Machinists there? What are her superiors trying to cover up? And why does she feel as if her strange dreams are forcing her down a narrowing path she cannot escape? The Tensorate Series Book 1: The Black Tides of Heaven Book 2: The Red Threads of Fortune Book 3: The Descent of Monsters Book 4: The Ascent to Godhood

The Descent of Monsters

Angela Noris

A finalist for the 2019 Lammy Award for best LGBTQ SF/F/Horror and the Locus Award for Best Novella Neon Yang continues to redefine the limits of silkpunk fantasy with their Tensorate novellas, which the New York Times lauded as "joyously wild." In this third volume, an investigation into atrocities committed at a classified research facility threaten to expose secrets that the Protectorate will do anything to keep hidden You are reading this because I am dead. Something terrible happened at the Rewar Teng Institute of Experimental Methods. When the Tensorate’s investigators arrived, they found a sea of blood and bones as far as the eye could see. One of the institute’s experiments got loose, and its rage left no survivors. The investigators returned to the capital with few clues and two prisoners: the terrorist leader Sanao Akeha and a companion known only as Rider. Investigator Chuwan faces a puzzle. What really happened at the institute? What drew the Machinists there? What are her superiors trying to cover up? And why does she feel as if her strange dreams are forcing her down a narrowing path she cannot escape? The Tensorate Series Book 1: The Black Tides of Heaven Book 2: The Red Threads of Fortune Book 3: The Descent of Monsters Book 4: The Ascent to Godhood At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Lia Yuliana

Update 12/07/2022

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Other reviews in the series :
1.The Black Tides of Heaven
2.The Red Threads of Fortune
3.The Descent of Monsters
4.The Ascent to Godhood

Official Release Date : July 31st 2018
Buy the book :
Amazon|Book Depository|Bookshop.org (affiliate)

3.5/5 ⭐️


  
    “Where there was a jungle of fear and uncertainty, there shall be the shape of hidden things revealed. Where there were storms of lies, there will be truth.”
  


The Descent of Monsters is the third instalment to the Tensorate series by Neon Yang. Following up The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortunes—The Descent of Monsters makes a one hundred and eighty degrees turn in story telling. The format changed from the standard first person POV to a case report based and sole diary entry kind of story. At first I found this to be off putting reading the first few chapters but in actuality it made the reading experience more fast and enjoyable. 

The POV is not even from the perspectives of the main characters instead readers will follow the perspective of a Tensorate investigator that is tasked to "work on" a case involving a certain facility run by the Protectorate that the Protectorate is trying to "cover up". 

It took me just one sitting to finish the whole book and I found some pretty interesting facts about the world and motivations of certain characters. I didn't expect Neon Yang would shift to this direction of story telling. It is a good palate cleanser to finally wrap up all the loose plot lines in this epic world. 

Anyway, I will not say much about the story but it is a good book that reveals a lot of things about the world and the people in power. Also, so much foreshadowing contained in this book. I am buzzing.

Sahi K

If the first two novellas impressed me with their vivid and lush descriptions and the fascinating world, this book goes into a whole other direction I wasn’t expecting and left me all kinds of horrified. 

This novella is mainly told in the epistolary format, including lots of reports, transcripts, diary entries and letters. Because this wasn’t always straightforward and the story involved finding out the truth about what happened at the institute, there is an air of mystery about and I liked the slow unraveling of the truth. The descriptions here also tended to be more on the horrific side and there were many instances where I found it difficult to continue. But I also liked that we finally got to see deeper into the Protectorate’s activities and how corrupt and monstrous it is towards it’s own people. 

While we mostly follow a Tensor turned rebel Sariman, I also liked that we got glimpses of the twins and also a few chapters in the POV of Rider. Sariman is just trying to do her job and is frustrated with all the obstacles she has to face, but when she realizes that the truth is so much bigger and terrifying, she teams up with the rebels to get to the bottom of it. Her storyline represents the many people who try to do the right thing even when it doesn’t effect them personally, even when they don’t get credited for it. I liked this change of the tone of the series going from extraordinary individuals to the ordinary ones - proving that every one is equally important in a revolution. 

I was just left gasping towards the end with it’s hopeful, yet heartbreaking climax and that just means that I’m gonna read the final book immediately. If you enjoy stories with rebels, intricate magic systems and great character relationships, then you should check this series out without fail because I promise, you will be blown away.

Nickie Mohler

I love these books! Now I have to wait for the next one. At least I only have to wait a couple of weeks.

Alexia Cambaling

J.Y. Yang has done it again. Their Tensorate series of novellas has quickly become one of my favorites and I was glad to see it continue with The Descent of Monsters. I’m finally all caught up in the series and ready for The Ascent to Godhood.

One of the best things about The Descent of Monsters is that it brings in something new to the series. However, I’d like to repeat that while it can stand on its own, it’s best enjoyed after having read The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune.

I loved how J.Y. Yang mixes things up in this book. Here, we follow Inspector Chuwan, a tensor who’s tasked with uncovering what happened in the Rewar Teng Institute. Only, it seems that there are forces at work bent on hampering her investigation. The Inspector now turns rogue in order to uncover the truth and in the process discovers more about the festering corruption in the heart of the Tensorate.

In this book, we have Inspector Chuwan’s journal, letters, her report, as well as official documents such as a transcript of Rider’s interrogation. I liked the procedural feel in this story and how it’s simultaneously of a smaller scope while also showing us a bigger slice of how the Tensorate operates. As usual, J.Y. Yang’s world-building is tight and top-notch. Their writing is also a lot stronger in this novel and adds a lot to the procedural noir-ish feel.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Descent of Monsters and I’ll be counting the days to The Ascent to Godhood.

This review is also on  The Bookworm Daydreamer

Ben Nathan

So much fun. Great characters that were introduced and revisited. I love the investigation vibe that went throughout the whole book and the way it moved the entire Tensorate forward. Not sure if it's my favorite of the series, but I did adore it.

Angela Noris &
The Descent of Monsters by Neon Yang

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