Light From Uncommon Stars

by Ryka Aoki

Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in Ryka Aoki's Light From Uncommon Stars, a defiantly joyful adventure set in California's San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts.

Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six.

When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate.

But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.

As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.

• ISBN10: 1250789060
• ISBN13: 9781250789068
• Publish Date: 28 September 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 5 April 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

If you pitch a book to me as being a blend of Good Omens and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, you just know I'm going to read it, right? Enter Light From Uncommon Stars, written by Ryka Aoki.

Making a deal with the devil is a tale as old as time. For most people, this saying is a metaphor at best. For Shizuka Satomi, it is very much the literal truth. She made a bargain with the devil: her soul in exchange for seven others.

Unfortunately, the deal is a bit more particular than that. It stipulates that she might provide seven violin prodigies, a feat easier said than done. Right as Shizuka was about to finally reach her goal and seal the deal on the seventh, a distraction by the name of Lan Tran enters the scene.

“Tomorrow is tomorrow. Over there is over there. And here and now is not a bad place and time to be, especially when so much of the unknown is beautiful.”

Light From Uncommon Stars was such an atmospheric and lovely read; words almost fail to describe it. This is my first novel by Ryka Aoki, and guys – I am absolutely in love. Consider this author added my 'auto read' list.

This novel gets a lot of love from me, as one main character is a transgender WoC, and the other two are sapphic WoC. Plus, the story is so beautifully human, despite the obviously very alien (literally) elements.

What really put me over the edge into loving this book had to be Aoki's writing. My goodness, it's stunning! Every sentence was so evocative and carefully thought out; you could practically feel the words resounding in your heart. I loved every minute of it.

Thanks to Tor Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks