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Light from Uncommon Stars

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Light from Uncommon Stars

Written by: Ryka Aoki
Narrated by: Cindy Kay
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About this listen

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

©2021 Ryka Aoki (P)2021 Macmillan Audio
Adventure Fiction Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Interstellar California Solar System
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What the critics say

2022, L.A. Times Book Prize - Finalist

2021, Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year

2022, ALA Alex Awards Winner (Adult for Young Adults)

2021, NYPL Best Books of the Year

What listeners say about Light from Uncommon Stars

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If I could marry this book, I would

This book is magic made real. It fits so perfectly next to my heart. Thank you so much to the author.

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Spectacular!

This book is a triumph. It’s beautiful and touches both the deepest and darkest and most beautiful and loving parts of humanity. It’s a spectacular book crafted from pain and love. I highly recommend it.

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My new favourite novel

Is it science fiction, urban fantasy, music fiction or trans coming of age? No, it's not. It's literature that draws from all of these genres to create a Post Modern, Anti-racist love song to Absurdism and the vital need for art that lives through us.

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All The Feels

January 2022 | 4/5
A family of aliens has travelled across the galaxy and opened a doughnut shop on earth. A violin virtuoso that has sold their soul to a demon. And a runaway, transgendered student looking for a home. Ryka Aoki blends genres masterfully in this tale.

I wasn't sure why we had aliens in a fairly standard, 'sold your soul to the devil' story, and just assumed a weak plot device to hammer home the sociopolitical message - and then, as the story came together, I couldn't help but smile and appreciate.

An easy read, that's tugs on your heart strings and forces you to see how your own follies and past judgements have impacted those around you.

This is a great read for anyone that's struggled with personal identity, embracing the unknown, or fitting in while you let yourself shine.

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wonderful!

twisting turning story with characters so rich in details and imagination, a great work of SciFi fantasy trans literature. I'm telling all my friends.

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loved it

I really liked this book, it was really weird and I enjoyed it immensely.

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Weird but not bad

I feel like there is potential for two really great books in here: one, a cozy donut shop romance where the mom of the alien family falls in love with a human; the other, a darker fantasy with hints of hope wherein a damned musician searches for the seventh soul to sell to hell, the one that will free her own soul from a bargain she made decades ago. When you put them both together, the book is just...weird. Neither one lives up to their plot line.

That being said, I loved the queer and trans rep in here and how the author pulls no punches about what it takes to survive as a trans woman. I'll keep my eye out for what this author comes up with next.

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