The Red Threads of Fortune

TW: suicide ideation

I loved this little novella. It’s got awesome things like giant raptors and flying nagas, but the real reason I love this story is the deep emotional heart of the protagonist overcoming her grief and choosing to live after the death of her daughter.

I know there’s another novella set before this one, The Black Tides of Heaven, but I haven’t gotten the chance to read it yet. Clearly, The Red Threads of Fortune stands on its own.

After her young daughter died in a tragic accident, Sanao Mokoya abandoned her old life to go hunt wild nagas near the edges of the kingdom. For three years, she’s existed in a limbo, not really caring whether she lives or dies. Now, she and her pack of raptors are trailing a naga show more rumored to be bigger than any she’s hunted before. And she’s not the only one looking for the naga; she soon encounters someone else, a mysterious person named Rider, who has magical capabilities unlike any Mokoya has seen before. If she can trust Rider, they can work together to defend the city of Bataanar from the giant naga… and whomever is controlling it.

It’s amazing how much The Red Threads of Fortune packs into 160 pages. It’s an intricate, beautiful story of grief, loss, and healing and the relationships between mothers and daughters. And the prose is fantastic, which isn’t a huge surprise, since I’ve already known from their short stories that JY Yang is an amazing writer.

I adored Mokoya as a protagonist. The great thing about older characters is that they’ve got so much history. Mokoya is a woman in her forties with an estranged husband and a dead daughter. And a pack of raptors, of course. She’s scarred and world weary, and at certain points she contemplates suicide. She’s the sort of rough around the edges female character I adore.

Also, she’s queer, a word that could be applied to this novella in general. Part of the world building is that children are considered gender neutral and don’t chose their gender until they get older. There appears to be no prejudice against same-sex relationships, and one of the major characters, Rider, is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. It’s so wonderful to read a queer friendly, non-Western fantasy with great female characters. Also dinosaurs. I seriously loved the dinosaurs, you guys.

Actually, I just loved this novella in general. It’s doubtlessly one of my favorite reads of 2017, and it’s made me eager to get to The Black Tides of Heaven.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page. show less

I received this ebook through the publisher via Netgalley.

Yang has created an evocative Asian-inspired world in her Tensorate series. The setting is so immersive that I was slightly disoriented to start, but I soon found myself hooked. Mokoya is a former prophet, embittered by the loss of her child. She busies herself with hunting naga, and is looked after by a friends who love and accept her, abrasive as she is. Rumors of a massive and aggressive naga drive her deep into danger--and into a new relationship that brings other new perils.

Red Threads is high on action, but the core is all about love and healing. Mokoya's pain feels profound and real, and her journey to begin the healing process is beautiful to witness. The book features a show more nonbinary romantic lead, which was a refreshing surprise. show less

Not only is the worldbuilding beautiful, with an interesting setting, delightfully complex push-pull between cultures, regions, magic use and perspectives, and a fascinating plot, the heart of this book is about relationships, the effects of long-held grief (TW: over the death of her young child )), and the rewarding, difficult, complex ways in which relationships--familial, marital, loving, collegiate--change over time. I love Mokoya intensely, and her grief struck a chord, as did the ways in which her fear informs her choices, her perspectives, and, crucially, her insights. This small novella packs a big punch, and the gender system gives a lot to crunch over. I'm really looking forward to more in this world, and more work in general show more from this author. As a genderqueer reader, meeting a love interest who uses 'they/them' pronouns is so rare that it's profoundly impactful to see as a matter-of-fact, full, fraught and fascinating depiction. These characters live and breathe in their flawed, hurt, healing lives. If the genderqueer character and the ethical non-monogamy don't sway you... there is really awesome magic, heart-in-throat explosions, and dino-birds! show less

As soon as I finished The Black Tides of Heaven, I knew I was gonna read this novella soon because that world is magical and I didn’t wanna forget it so soon. And this book turned out to be even more impressive.

This time the plot had no time jumps, actually it takes place within just a few days but the amount of extensive world building we get here alongwith a deep dive into the different interpretations of the magic system, is amazing and I couldn’t stop reading at all. We also get gorgeous descriptions of magical creatures and I particularly loved two of them so much. In such few pages, we also get some jaw dropping action sequences and I was trying to picture them in my head but that turned out to be impossible.

This time we get show more Mokoya’s POV and after the events of the first book, it was quite painful to share her grief. This story is essentially about debilitating grief, feeling as if there is no point in being alive, but also finding the courage to try to live again when opportunity presents itself. The development of feelings between Mokoya and Rider might feel like instalove but it’s so beautifully written that I was completely invested and my heart was breaking towards the end. I just kept wishing that I could read more of them being together.

In the end, this may be a small novella but it has a lush and vivid world, an intricate magic system, and a gorgeous story of love in all forms. I can’t believe I’m so late in reading this series but I’m not gonna wait longer to finish the remaining two novellas. show less

I read The Red Threads of Fortune before I read [b:The Black Tides of Heaven|33099588|The Black Tides of Heaven (Tensorate, #1)|J.Y. Yang|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1485291538s/33099588.jpg|53763120] and though chronologically it perhaps is better suited to be the second book in the series, I'm glad I started with it.

This is an amazing book. The worldbuilding is fascinating and complex and original and, best of all, the worldbuilding never consumes the actual story or the characters. The world and the narrative work in conjunction rather than in opposition to creature a story that has immense depth and poignancy. The novella format works super-well too, as it prohibits infodumping and excess, streamlining the story into an show more extremely effective and emotionally devastating experiences.

The characters are so well-crafted. Mokoya's pain is visceral, tangible, and you immediately emphasize with her; you can feel the rawness of her loss, the frustration and guilt she feels, the desire to run from her pain while being unable to ever truly leave it behind. Her relationships are intense and poignant, especially with her husband. I really liked Rider as well, although we don't know much about them. They are fascinating, mysterious, and though at times their motives are unclear and their choices unwise, they are always sympathetic and affecting.

The magic system is fascinating. Its very essence is so tightly interwoven with the world around it we get the sense the characters breathe it, swim in it, live it--as innate as their own heartbeats. The setting is original, well-described and imbued with life. The conflict is at once highly and intensely internal but with global consequences as well. I loved the politics, the connections and again, due to the novella format we're never overwhelmed with unnecessary detail. Everything matters.

This was such a wonderful book, I can't wait to read more in this world! show less

I don't know if I liked this book more than the first one or not. They are very different stories, set in the same world, with the same characters, just from different POVs. This book takes place after the events of the first book, and I did enjoy getting to see the aftermath of everything, and what was going on in the Protectorate. I just don't know if I liked Mokoya's POV as much as Akeha's. The overall story and plot were great, it moved at a good, even, pace. The writing was exceptional, yet again, and I really enjoyed learning more about this world and it's magic system.

We explore grief in this novella, and definitely acceptance of who we are. There are definitely some moments of identity crisis and conflicting emotions for the show more characters. I really like how many aspects there are to these novellas. Mokoya definitely has courage, and resolve to keep going in the world after the events of the last novel, but you can definitely tell she is suffering and not dealing with it in the most healthy way. I liked how this was recognized and acknowledged. JY Yang did a great job exploring these themes and I am excited for more in this series. show less

Well, once I read The Black Tides of Heaven and liked it so much, I suppose it was inevitable that I would read the rest of the series. You know, when I write a review like this I generally include a disclaimer about how much I generally try to resist getting pulled into series. But given the number I am currently enmeshed in or have recently finished (this one, Machineries of Empire, the Broken Earth trilogy, the Sixth World series, the Daevabad Trilogy...) I don't think I can really say that anymore.

ANYWAY, this second installment switches to the POV of Sanao Mokoya, who is now struggling with the grief of losing her young daughter. She keeps running around half-cocked, putting herself into dangerous situations, as those in her life show more struggle between giving her space and wanting her to be safe. As they investigate a massive Naga threatening the desert city Bataanar and Mokoya finds herself drawn to a mysterious stranger, secrets are discovered that could spark all-out war.

There is, again, an incredible amount of worldbuilding in this tiny novella, though I do have to say the lack of description on certain details drove me to distraction on the raptors. What are they? Bird of prey? Velociraptors? Something in between? Something else entirely? Just when I'd think I was starting to develop a good mental picture, some new remark would undermine it all.

Still definitely here for the ride, though. show less