The Tensorate Series (The Black Tides of Heaven, The Red Threads of Fortune, The Descent of Monsters, The Ascent to Godhood)

Overall, I enjoy the world which was so imaginative and queer! It's still such a mystery how it all works but feels so grounded. The characters are all interesting to varying degrees, I'd say. All unique with their own ambitions and flaws. I'd say Rider is my favorite, though not given enough time in my opinion. Mokoya is a close second, I found her journey through grief and love so real and painful.

The formats or styles of each part were interesting. It took me a while to get into each part because first I wanted more Akeha, then the sudden change to letters & other text was jarring, and then finally the conversation was awkward. I got into them all eventually, except the conversational style of "The Ascent to Godhood" which I couldn't get into. The story (of the last book) was interesting enough but I wanted more. I think "The Red Threads of Fortune" or "The Descent of Monsters" was my favorite. I enjoyed following Mokoya, and I was invested in Chuwan's investigation (it was just hard to believe that people took time to write some of the notes lol).

Update 13/07/2022 You can find the rest of my reviews at An Ode to Fiction. | Subscribe to my Booktube channel Official Release Date : September 21st 2021 Buy the book : Amazon|Book Depository|Bookshop.org (affiliate) My reviews of each of the book 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

My rating of the 4 novellas averages out to a little more than 4, so that's what I'm sticking with here. As for the individual novellas, here are my ratings: - The Black Tides of Heaven: 4.5 stars - The Red Threads of Fortune: 4 stars - The Descent of Monsters: 4.5 stars - The Ascent to Godhood: 3.5 stars Overall, I really enjoyed this series of novellas. The world is fascinating, intricate, yet easy to understand. The characters are complex, flawed and interesting. Out of all the stories, The Black Tides of Heaven was my favorite. It's the longest out of the four, as Neon Yang needed the time to show you the world itself. Akeha was also my favorite character, and this was his/their POV. What I find interesting is that Neon Yang took the time to try out different writing styles. One is a story spanning many years, allowing you to get to know the world and first characters. One a story spanning only a few days. One is more a collection of investigative reports & letters (which I loved!), and lastly, we have a story that's being told to "us" (wherein the reader is playing the role of a character, if that makes sense). I liked this exploration of different writing styles within the same series and universe, I don't think I've ever read anything like it. I have to admit that I found the final novella quite disappointing. We've been building up to something for 3 stories and I can't help but feel like we were denied of the story's climax. Especially since it was so short as well! Overall, I'd highly recommend this series.