The Black Tides of Heaven

As a fellow genderqueer/non-binary Asian writer, I’m happy to champion the first in Neon Yang’s Tensorate series. A YA novella set in a non-Western fantasy landscape, this book tackles issues of gender identity and choice head-on, introducing us to a society where children are referred to individually using they/them pronouns, and can select one of the binary genders when they come of age or chose to remain non-binary. We see the world through the eyes of twins Mokoya and Akeha as they come into their gender expressions and their powers in a feudal, monastic society largely reminiscent of those found… show more.

This silkpunk novella series blew me away with its intricate world-building, heavily inspired by the author’s Singaporean background, and complex political landscape. I’m also a sucker for stories about twins and instantly adored the two very different siblings, Akeha and Mokoya, who are our main protagonists in this tale that examines themes of cultural and wealth inequality as well as gender identity. The Slack magic system in this series is also particularly well-crafted.