User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
A tremendous finale to a spectacular series. I can't properly express how much I loved this last instalment. It's my favourite by far and the more I think about it the better it gets. This cannot be the last we've seen of this world. I need more. This is only the beginning. Someone please answer my prayers.
Rating: really liked it
The Ascent to Godhood is about the
relationship between Hekate, the series' villainess, and Lady Han, a courtesan-turned-revolutionary. It follows how the two met, the times they spent together, and how the relationship fell apart - so, yes, it's basically an
f/f villain romance, with delicious intrigue in the background.
The
Tensorate is a series of novellas written in unusual formats, some of which worked for me more than others, and when I heard that
The Ascent to Godhood was to be a transcription of "
a drunken monologue", I thought this wouldn't work for me at all. And was I wrong. You already vaguely know how the story ends, and you're being told by Lady Han what happened, and yet it works - maybe too much? (
Those were my FEELINGS, book. How dare you.) It makes up for the details lost in the telling with a narrative voice that you will remember, and maybe exactly because of the few descriptions you're given, the few details you know are even more memorable.
This ended up being
my favorite novella in the series.
This is not the story of a revolution. It is much more personal than that, it's
a story about love and loss and grief, and it deliberately doesn't focus on Hekate's downfall, because that's not what was important to Lady Han to begin with.
Lady Han loved this terrible woman, and hated her just as much, and this is about how those feelings can coexist, and this complicated, twisted relationship. If you're looking for something that is about political intrigue and a revolution, you're going to be disappointed - they're the background, not the focus. I didn't mind that; I was there for the villain romance, and all the conflicting feelings that come with it. It's probably my favorite trope, and it means so much to me to finally see a book focus specifically on an f/f version of it.
Villainous, competent women are my favorite kind of characters, so I knew right from the beginning that Hekate was going to have a lot of potential, but I didn't think I would get a book focusing on her, and I'm so glad this exists. Lady Han is also brave and shrewd and manipulative, and I loved reading her version of the story.
The Ascent to Godhood is
a tragedy, one about
how your love and admiration for a person can mislead you, and about how the excessive mistrust from those experiences can destroy you all the same. Tragic f/f love stories in which the tragedy has nothing to do with homophobia, like the m/f ones that have existed since forever, have so much value, and while this is a tragic gay story, it's
not the kind of tragic gay story we're so familiar with.
I also loved how this novella and
The Descent of Monsters were tied to each other. I didn't love
The Descent of Monsters, but this novella gave it more meaning. I really recommend reading this even if you, like me, thought the third book was kind of a waste of your time. The only thing I still don't understand is what is even up with Sonami. I mean, this book kind of gave me an answer, but as she's not a developed character at all, I'd still love to know more.
Content warnings: suicide of a minor character, child trafficking, death of a toddler, forced sterilization. Nothing graphic because you're just being told about it, and usually not in detail.
Rating: really liked it
Another tremendous story in this terrific alt-Chineseish fantasy universe. This one gives us the backstory of series villains Lady Han and the Protector who ruled the Tensorate world for decades. Which is fantastic: I love a villain narrative to fill in the other side. It's a dark love story with no happy ending, told as an old woman's reminiscence in a bar. Immersive, beautifully described (probably not the place to start the story even if, technically, it's mostly a prequel). And once again a cover to die for, I hope the artist has won awards.
Rating: really liked it
Omg. This book is perfect, this series is perfect, I love everything about this SO MUCH.
Rating: really liked it
What a way to finish out the year!
This whole series has been incredibly innovative, with different style and tone each novella. This time around we are sitting down with a woman who is just a little bit tipsy, telling us her life story (2nd person pov), so it has by far the most casual voice of the series. This woman takes us on her journey from rural peasant girl with nothing, to elite training as a courtesan, to a rise to power alongside (and in the bed) of a powerful woman in a court full of betrayal. Absolutely gripping read.
Rating: really liked it
the covers for this series are always gorgeous and this is about sapphic lovers to enemies!!! definitely my favorite so far.
Rating: really liked it
This continues to be a wonderful series.
Rating: really liked it
Wow! This series keeps blowing me away. Each book is written in a completely different style and voice, so they all have a really distinct feel to them. And to my mind, each book in this series has been better than the one before it (although comparing them is tricky because of how different they are. It may be that this world is just growing on me as I become more familiar with it).
This one is narrated entirely as a tipsy/drunken ramble of reminiscences by Lady Han, previously known as a bit of a shadowy figure/villain lurking around the edges of the earlier books. And what a voice she has. I could hardly put this down, but forced myself to do so just so I could savor it longer. I think this is the shortest of the four books. And I would happily have read twice its length.
There's not much I can say without spoilers. This tells how the mother of the twins Mokoya and Akeha, from Books 1 and 2, became the Protector. It is a story full of backstabbing and power-grabbing, none of it pretty, but all of it absolutely gripping, with the chilling fascination of staring a poisonous snake straight in the face. Brr.
And the ending of this book implies that Book 5 will be a story I've been dying to know since I finished Book 3, so I am eagerly awaiting the next installment.
Rating: really liked it
The perfect finale to "The Tensorate Series" is a heart-breaking story of love and betrayal, narrated by the infamous Lady Han, leader of the Machinist movement. Of course, she wasn't always Lady Han, and the person who would elevate her to power would also one day become her greatest foe...
This story of rags to riches, drunklenly told by the great Lady to someone sent to her by Chuwan Sarima, finally gives us the story of how Hekate, the harsh Protector most of this series has orbited around, came to power, and what kind of woman she is. It also ties in beautifully with the previous installment, "The Descent of Monsters" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).
A fitting conclusion to a wonderful series. Each tome is a 4 star individually, but the series as a whole is a solid 5 stars.
Rating: really liked it
3.0 StarsThis was the shortest of the four novellas and did not leave the biggest impression. I appreciated the character work, but wanted more plot in this one. While not the strongest of the four works, I would still be interested to read more stories set in this world.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher as part of the Tensorate series bindup edition.
Rating: really liked it
When I finished The Descent of Monsters, I assumed this book would be a continuation of that storyline and I didn’t even bother reading the blurb. But this one turned out to be something very different and unexpected.
I’ve read someone describe this book as a drunken monologue and that’s just perfect. It’s very conversational but we only get to hear one side of the dialogue, however that didn’t take away from the story at all. I quite liked this style of storytelling. And the best part, this is almost like a combination of lovers to enemies and villain romance trope, and it’s something I’ve never read before. This book also doesn’t have a lot of world building because it’s a very personal story and I quite liked this change of pace.
The Protector has always been on the fringes of the series as a terrifying character but we never get to know much about her, so this origin story of hers in the words of someone very close to her was very fascinating to read. At the same time, this is also Lady Han’s story and how the Machinist movement came to be - so the overall vibe of this book is like a historical account. It’s also a very interesting look at how circumstances change a person completely and how much power can corrupt anyone - to such an extent that love and relationships don’t matter anymore. Sonami is another character who has remained very mysterious throughout the series and I can’t wait to get to know her better.
To conclude, this book may not have had the story I wanted, but it was still an amazing read. The author has managed to immerse me in this sometimes cruel world through four very unique novellas, and my only hope is that we get so many more books in this series because I’m not done with these characters and want to follow them through so many more stories.
Rating: really liked it
A short but interesting continuation of the Tensorate universe. I love how Yang manages to renew their writing by every novella. It keeps them feeling refreshingly new.
Rating: really liked it
And now for some back story. Hekate’s rise to be the Protector is intertwined with Lady Han’s life story. I can’t resist a cantankerous old lady narrator, so Ascent sucked me right in, but didn’t quite sustain my delight in the final act - I was as interested in Han as in Hekate, and frustrated not to get more detail on her life as a Machinist.
3.5 stars
Full review
Rating: really liked it
OH MY DEAR LERD. This was the shortest novella of the series but it was by far my favorite because it tied id not all, most of the loose ends of the series. THIS WAS A FCKING DELIGHT TO READ. I'll be writing full reviews soon of this series! Definitely a fave now plus that cover is so gorgeous???
Rating: really liked it
"Even you, my precious peony. Even you will turn against me when the time is right."TW: suicide, rape, pedophilia, death of a child
Actual rating: 3.5 ⭐️
This was definitely an impressive short story! Mainly because it was a villain f/f romance and the actions and power-moves these two ladies orchestrated together were just spectacular.
I really liked Lady Han and Hekate. They were both cunning and resourceful, ambitious and heartless. My kind of characters, basically.
I also liked the writing style.
The story was told as if in dialogue. Lady Han shared her personal story over drinks with a stranger, a “you” we never truly get to know. I thought it was refreshing and made for an even more interesting and addictive experience.
It was immersive and I loved the political intrigue, the betrayals and the backstabbing.
All in all,
The Tensorate Series offered so much to the queer, silk-punk sci-fi, fantasy genre. A very much needed breath of fresh air.
I would highly recommend this four short stories as they all were beautifully written, gorgeously atmospheric and wonderfully diverse (both thanks to the actual queer representation and the themes tackled).
The Ascent to Godhood was a thoroughly enjoyable conclusion to a series that undoubtedly fascinated me.
And in case you are wondering, yes. You do have to read the other novellas before starting this fourth installment; the stories are connected.
"At that time, I was focused on one thing and one thing only: my own survival. You think that makes me selfish? I never said I was perfect. Who among us is?"
