Praise for Yoke of Stars
“Haunting, nuanced, and hopeful, Yoke of Stars is essential reading. Lemberg refuses to look away from the hurt we can do to one another, while reminding us that through listening, labor, and mutual support, we can reject patterns of harm and cultivate something better. In these hard times, Yoke of Stars feels as necessary as air, as water, as kindness.”
—Izzy Wasserstein, author of These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart
“This is a story about trauma and strife and magic, of stars that hold and bind and devour, and maybe, just maybe, it’s about the possibility of something else beyond the hurt and pain. The way the stories in the book touch and interweave, the way the characters in them tug and pull at each other, is beautifully done—and I love how deftly Lemberg pulls all the threads together into a complex, striking weave.”
—Maria Haskins, author of Wolves and Girls
“For fellow word-nerds, Lemberg’s linguistic explorations are a thought-provoking journey into how language influences all of us. Lemberg’s command of language and narrative nuance makes this a haunting, beautiful read.”
—Marian Crane, author of the Lonhra Sequence
“R. B. Lemberg’s Birdverse is one of fantasy’s most immersive, lyrical, and mind-expanding universes, to which this dream of a novella adds dazzling new depths. Yoke of Stars is a beautiful tale about the stories we all live within, about the languages and connections that bind us to each other and trap us within the same. I loved Yoke of Stars and am certain this is a story I'll return to over and over in the years to come.”
—Jason Sanford, author of Plague Birds
“When I tell you that this book essentially altered my neural pathways, I mean that in so many good ways. Everything about this book from the writing, the imagery, the character development, the world building, is just luminous. A gorgeous, lush, super queer fantasy.”
—Wulfe Wulfemeyer, The Raven Book Store
Praise for The Unbalancing
“The lush lyricism of the mythology, culture, and history in The Unbalancing is illustrious and transportive. It’s an enchanting world of star lore, magic and gender identity with a roster of heartfelt characters told with such rich prose that kept me rooting for Ranra.”
—Tlotlo Tsamaase, The Silence of the Wilting Skin
“R. B. Lemberg’s Birdverse is one of my favorite places to visit, full of queer possibilities and deep emotional and philosophical musings. In The Unbalancing they give us wonder, devastation, resilience, and love. Lemberg’s poetic voice makes even the harshest explorations of loss beautiful and manages to balance grief and horror with hope and joy.”
—Julia Rios, Hugo Award–winning editor of Uncanny Magazine
“The Unbalancing is a story of people and their power, in nature and society, in interactions and relationships, and of consent and belonging, and of failure and hope. ‘We gift all to each other,’ a wise advisor says, ‘nobody and nothing can destroy this.’ In the face of catastrophe and deepest fear, Lilún and Ranra learning to strive and share and acknowledge failure brings survival and hope.”
—Scott H. Andrews, World Fantasy Award–winning editor/publisher of Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Praise for The Four Profound Weaves
★ “Nebula-nominated Lemberg’s first novella, set in their deeply queer ‘Birdverse’ universe, presents a beautiful, heartfelt story of change, family, identity, and courage. Centering two older transgender protagonists in the midst of emotional and physical journeys highlights the deep, meaningful prose that Lemberg always brings to their stories.”
—Library Journal
“The Four Profound Weaves is a balm and a call to arms. R. B. Lemberg reassures us that there’s still time to find yourself, no matter how old you are; and they stir our revolutionary urges to defeat murderous dictators. But this novella is also a finely-drawn, realistic character study of people who love their communities but never quite feel at home in them. And the magical system is a sheer delight. Thoughtful and deeply moving, The Four Profound Weaves is the anti-authoritarian, queer-mystical fairy tale we need right now.”
—Annalee Newitz, author of Autonomous and The Future of Another Timeline
★ “Lemberg’s outstanding debut novel expands on the short stories of the Birdverse that they have been publishing for about a decade . . . Lemberg writes deeply considered, evocative portraits of their characters, handling sexuality and gender especially well. This diverse, folkloric fantasy world is a delight to visit.”
—Publishers Weekly
★ “R. B. Lemberg spins a world of singing gods, desert nomads, and magic humming in the wind in The Four Profound Weaves . . . Impressive world building renders the shifting hues of the desert sands and the cold stone of The Collector’s palace in tight prose. Social structures and customs are relayed with the same deft hand; the free, accepting atmosphere of the desert and its people ends at Iyar’s stifling walls.”
—Foreword
Also by R. B. Lemberg
