The Ascent to Godhood (Tensorate Series #4)

Curator’s note

The Tensorate series pulls us into a mind-bending world that's reminiscent of the Avatar TV series — pugilists known as Tensors fight by mastering and shaping different elements. Yet it ditches the cliché of a “chosen one” protagonist, shines brilliantly with an oh-so-Singaporean mix of Malay and Chinese cultures, and — most importantly — is unabashedly queer. People are born non-binary and set their gender when they become of age (with some choosing to remain non-binary), and same-sex relationships are commonplace, if not more prevalent than straight relationships. The Protectorate is a queer, fantastical, scary, and magical world — and we live for it.

Synopsis

This novella is part of the 4-part Tensorate novella series: The Black Tides of Heaven, The Red Threads of Fortune, The Descent of Monsters, and The Ascent to Godhood. The first 2 novellas can be read in any order.

The Protector is dead.

For fifty years, the Protector ruled, reshaping her country in her image and driving her enemies to the corners of the map. For half a century the world turned around her as she built her armies, trained her Tensors, and grasped at the reins of fate itself. Now she is dead. Her followers will quiver, her enemies rejoice.

But in one tavern, deep in rebel territory, her greatest enemy drowns her sorrows. Lady Han raised a movement that sought the Protector's head, yet now she can only mourn her loss. She remembers how it all began, when the Protector was young, not yet crowned, and a desperate dancing girl dared to fall in love with her.

About the author

Neon Yang (a.k.a. JY Yang) is a queer, non-binary author who is based in Singapore. Before that, they were a molecular biologist, science writer, and journalist. Neon uses they / them pronouns and the Mx honorific (i.e. Mx Yang).