Yoke of Stars

(Paperback)

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Description

In this newest novella from the queer, mystical Birdverse, an apprentice assassin and an inquisitive linguist share their tales in order to make a fateful decision. Lush and lyrical, this cross-cultural tale of the beauty of language is a gift to anyone who appreciates the transformative power of storytelling.

'Over the years, R. B. Lemberg has built a world of serpents, deserts, stars, and bones, where transformation is omnipresent and restlessness rewarded.' C. S. E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Bone Swans, Stories

In the School of Assassins, Stone Orphan waits for a first assignment. After their first kill, they will graduate and attain the coveted cloth of bone. But instead of a commission, Stone Orphan gets an inquisitive linguist, Ulin. Ulin has heard the Orphan Star's song of despair, mirroring her own, and drawing her to the School of Assassins. But Ulin is far more interested in learning Stone Orphan's language than deciding whom she wishes to kill.

Unable to contain their curiosity, Stone Orphan offers to exchange stories with Ulin to help her decide the fate of three men. By turns, Stone Orphan and Ulin narrate tales of love, suffering, exile, and self-determination, and two hurt souls find hope in each other through the radical act of listening.

Reviews

Praise for R. B. Lemberg's Birdverse

"Lush lyricism of the mythology, culture and history . . . an enchanting world of star lore, magic and gender identity."
--Tlotlo Tsamaase, The Silence of the Wilting Skin

"In all their fiction from the fascinating Birdverse world, Lemberg centers marginalized identities: queer, trans, neurodiverse, elderly, and more.
--Buzzfeed

[STARRED REVIEW] "Lush, dreamlike prose and nuanced explorations of trans and queer identity."
--Booklist

"The world-building is full of deep lore and casual queerness, and Lemberg's magic system is appropriately wild and poetic."
--Washington Post

"Lemberg writes movingly and magnificently about disaster, survival, and hope."
--Kate Elliott, author of the Crown of Stars series

"Beautiful and queer and challenging and tender."
--Autistic Book Party

"It made me cry, and gave me strength."
--Trans Narrative

"Imagery that glows on the page."
--Patricia A. McKillip, author of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

[STARRED REVIEW] "A beautiful, heartfelt story of change, family, identity, and courage."
--Library Journal

"The anti-authoritarian, queer-mystical fairy tale we need right now."
--Annalee Newitz, author of Autonomous and The Future of Another Timeline

[STARRED REVIEW] "This diverse, folkloric fantasy world is a delight to visit."
--Publishers Weekly

"R.B. Lemberg writes with a luminous pen, spraying light all around their words and ideas."
--Jewelle Gomez, author of The Gilda Stories

Author Bio

Le Guin Feminist Science-Fiction Fellowship recipient R. B. Lemberg is a queer, bigender fantasist, poet, and professor. Lemberg was born in L'viv, Ukraine, and also lived in Israel and subarctic Russia before migrating to the U.S. Lemberg's Birdverse novella The Four Profound Weaves was a finalist for the Nebula, Ignyte, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards. Their stories and poems have appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, We Are Here: Best Queer Speculative Fiction, Sisters of the Revolution, and many other publications. Lemberg lives in Lawrence, Kansas, with their family.