The Black Tides of Heaven
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Our view
In “The Black Tides of Heaven”, Neon Yang fits an Asian-inspired fantasy world of magic, politics and fluid gender into a novella. The Protector’s twins are pulled by their magical gifts into their mother’s political schemes. Some readers admire the richness of the world and how naturally varied genders and relationships belong to it; others wish it were a full novel with more room for its characters. It opens the “Tensorate” series.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Black Tides of Heaven is a 2017 LGBT fantasy novella by Singaporean author Neon Yang. The story centers around the twin children of the Protector, whose magic powers cause them to become entangled in the political machinations of their mother. It is one of the first two novellas in the Tensorate series, the other being The Red Threads of Fortune. It was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Novella, Locus Award for Best Novella, and World Fantasy Award—Novella.
Reading order · Tensorate
Full order & progress →- The Black Tides of HeavenThis book
7.67.6 / 10 - The Red Threads of FortuneThe Red Threads of Fortune–Not ranked yet
- Descent of MonstersDescent of Monsters–Not ranked yet
- The Ascent to GodhoodThe Ascent to Godhood–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.2 across 148 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 50% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Fantasy average of 8.0. That is how 7.6 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 6.9 | 9 | 6% |
| Hardcover | 7.2 | 139 | 94% |
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Fantasy — and a score of 7.6, the closest to this book.
