Houston Southard

Neon Yang - The Black Tides of Heaven

A buddhist-inflected technomagic silkpunk fantasy rollercoaster. While amazing for this reason alone, this work is so much more than nonbinary fiction by a nonbinary author. For those who struggle with and can’t see past Neon Yang writing themselves into an imaginative powerhouse of a world where gender is the only choice children have, this book still has everything. Magic, politics, family, prophecy and warcraft, all jam-packed into just over 200 pages. Elementalist mages control society's massive wealth inequality until revolutionary machinists give them a run for their money. Twin heir protagonists become defectors disillusioned of their elite status thru tragedy and oppressive status quos. Every tease of worldbuilding becomes a treat as this novella weaves brevity alongside elegant prose to produce a brief but beautiful introduction into the Tensorate Series. We can only ever be open to what we're exposed to, so please, expose yourself. You’ll be glad Neon did.