I Can’t Wait For…Yoke of Stars by R. B. Lemberg

Posted 3rd July 2024 by Sia in Can't-Wait Wednesday / 0 Comments

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is Yoke of Stars by R. B. Lemberg!

Yoke of Stars (Birdverse Books) by R.B. Lemberg
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Nonbinary MC
Published on: 16th July 2024
Goodreads

An apprentice assassin and an inquisitive linguist trade interwoven tales in order to enact revenge. Ukrainian author R. B. Lemberg (The Four Profound Weaves) returns to their legendary Birdverse in an ode to the transformative power of storytelling.

“Haunting, nuanced, and hopeful, Yoke of Stars is essential reading.”
―Izzy Wasserstein, author of These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart

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, Ulín. Ulín has heard the Orphan Star’s song of despair, mirroring her own, and drawing her to the School of Assassins. But Ulín 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 Ulín to help her decide the fate of three men. By turns, Stone Orphan and Ulín narrate tales of love, suffering, exile, and self-determination, and two wounded souls find hope in each other through the radical act of listening.

You can read an excerpt of this book here!

I love Lemberg’s Birdverse – it’s such a gorgeous, intricate setting, with so many kinds of queerness and neurodivergence displayed in dozens of different fictional cultures! I am, as I’ve said many times, a worldbuilding nut, and I swoon for the kind of imagination and attention to detail on display in Lemberg’s work!

I admit, I didn’t have a great time with Lemberg’s novel (although I’m determined to try it again at some point) but I’ve been starry-eyed for every short story and novella of theirs! Which is why I’m especially hopeful for Yoke of Stars – it’s a novella, so hopefully I will love it as much as I’ve loved their other shorter works.

This one does sound very promising; we’ve caught glimpses of the School of Assassins and the Orphan Star in some other Birdverse stories, and I’m happy to dive into both! Plus, are those little sea serpents on the cover? *crosses fingers*

And let’s be honest, I’ll always pounce on anything that promises to feature ‘the transformative power of storytelling’ – not to mention ‘radical listening’!

I’m pretty sure you can start reading almost anywhere in the Birdverse and fine, but I recommend beginning with Geometries of Belonging, a book which collects several of the short stories together. Plus poetry!

Or you can dive right into Yoke of Stars. I’m pretty sure that will be more than okay!

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