The Black Tides of Heaven (Tensorate #1)

by Neon Yang

The onset of age was like a dam breaking: slowly at first, then all at once.

“In the monastery,” Mokoya said, “they taught us that fortune is both intractable and impartial. That when bad things happen, it’s the result of an incomprehensible and inhuman universe working as it does. The mountain shrugs, but thinks nothing of the houses crushed in the avalanche. That was not its purpose.”

I don’t care about the fortunes. I care about doing whatever you can, with whatever’s in front of you. Because it’s the only thing you can do.”

“The philosopher Sadhya, a wise man, said that the powerful can make the truth dance to their song.

“The saying goes, ‘The black tides of heaven direct the courses of human lives.’ To which a wise teacher said, ‘But as with all waters, one can swim against the tide.’”

“There are no righteous deaths,” Yongcheow whispered. “Only ones that cannot be avoided.”

Because he had always known, even as a child, that he was the lightning, while she was the fire in the core of planets. And the world needed both. Revolutions needed both. Someone had to wield the knives, but someone also had to write the treaties.

With all the horrors in the world, it was easy to forget there were wonders too.