Waiting on a Bright Moon: A Tor.com Original

Neon Yang

Jul 2017 · Sold by Tor Books

About this ebook

Neon Yang's space opera "Waiting on a Bright Moon" is a Tor.com Original short story

Xin is an ansible, using her song magic to connect the originworld of the Imperial Authority and its far-flung colonies— a role that is forced upon magically-gifted women “of a certain closeness”. When a dead body comes through her portal at a time of growing rebellion, Xin is drawn deep into a station-wide conspiracy along with Ouyang Suqing, one of the station’s mysterious, high-ranking starmages

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

I had first heard of Yang's story on Twitter, on a post about it's cover reveal, where it had been described as an 'ansible lesbians story' and I was intrigued by what ansible meant. Turns out, its a science fiction term for instant communication (something about quantum entanglement and such, but that is too much physics for here) and that, as well as the fact that it has a f/f relationship, had me like - I gotta read this! Fast forward to months later, and I find it on Tor, and it was worth the wait. The world of Waiting on a Bright Moon is half-formed, but it is also a short story and you kinda are able to fill in the blanks. Basically, Tian is an ansible working at one of the Empire's eight colonies to form instant portals using her voice, and her connection with another ansible from her cluster living at the heart of the Empire. The story places an emphasis on music as being a bond between people, and in the Empire, lesbians are 'punished' by being forced to become ansibles, since the connection is strengthened by bonds, including sexual ones. Tian's romances, first with her clustermate, and later on with the starmage at her colony are enveloped by a bond of song overall. Also, the author draws on Chinese culture (one of the songs is an actual real one) for the music as well as little details, and presents a beautiful story about love and rebellion. The ending is left on a heart-breaking note, but with a hint of hope. I would actually love to read a full-fledged story of the world created in this story, as well as what would happen ahead

We're dropped into world with language, culture, history and imaginative technology, a place where the protagonist possesses a powerful "gift" that can cut across space and time, but she is limited by the pain of her past, a pain that could close her off to hope for the possibilities of her future. Told both with pace and beauty.

About the author

Neon Yang is the author of the Tensorate series of novellas from Tor.com Publishing (The Black Tides of Heaven, The Red Threads of Fortune). Their short stories have appeared in venues like Uncanny, Lightspeed and Strange Horizons. A lapsed journalist and a former practicing scientist, they love stories about angry women, strange cities, and burning it all down. They live in Singapore.