Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Tor Books (2021), Edition: 1, 384 pages
Description
"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"--… (more)
Media reviews
"Readers prepared for the emotionally difficult scenes will find a beautiful, satisfying story of redemption and families of choice."
User reviews
LibraryThing member SamMusher
I gave this 3 stars because the things it's trying to do clearly work for a lot of the people who need it. I am one of those people, but it super did not work for me, alas.
Things that I should have loved about this book: food, the cultural specifics of the LA setting, chosen family, queer
Things that ultimately ruined it for me:
- I cannot deal with books that use sci-fi trappings as whimsy. People keep comparing this book to Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series, but Chambers takes her sci-fi worldbuilding *seriously*, even while the worlds she creates are in service of the stories she wants to tell. In books like this, I can't tell which parts to think about, where to look for meaning or piece together a surprise, and where the author just wants me to shrug and suspend disbelief. (Same issue with This Is How You Lose the Time War, which I also couldn't stand even though everyone else loved it... it's possible this is also my problem with La Cuentista, though that one failed so hard on the worldbuilding that it told no story at all.)
- Who even were any of these people? We're told how special and amazing everyone is in each other's eyes, but we never spend enough time in anyone's perspective for me to *feel* it. Katrina got closest to being a character I could connect with. Lan's family was farthest away -- most of their motivations, after arriving on Earth, made very little sense to me. We learn nothing about Astrid as a person at all, so she may as well be a magical butler without a past or desires of her own, which is...honestly kind of offensive? There were a LOT of characters and a LOT going on; I think it needed half as many POV characters and more time with those so they could come into focus. Sometimes a book with a lot of characters successfully tells a larger story or sheds light on a central theme that way; in this book I just kept asking why so-and-so is even in the story.
- I did not come into this book caring about violins or the classical music industry, but I am very open to caring about new things! This book sure said a lot of things about that world, and dropped a lot of violin-related names, but not in a way that made me care.
- All the writing about how so-and-so's music made people "see their past" or "feel their home" or whatever just made me roll my eyes. I have had powerful experiences with music and art, of course, but this felt entirely overblown.
- Speaking of overblown, sentences like: "If magic is more than illusions on a stage, if magic can actually change the world, then what is reality but a song that one imagines and sets free?" Huh?? I kept stopping and saying, "argh, that doesn't MEAN anything!"
- Ugh, human exceptionalism, no one else in the universe has art, blah blah whatever. The Endplague was initially intriguing, especially since Shizuka called my exact problem with Lan's explanation -- "yo, isn't this just mortality? we have that" -- so I expected it to mean something deeper, but nope.
Things that I should have loved about this book: food, the cultural specifics of the LA setting, chosen family, queer
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characters, SF & fantasy elementsThings that ultimately ruined it for me:
- I cannot deal with books that use sci-fi trappings as whimsy. People keep comparing this book to Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series, but Chambers takes her sci-fi worldbuilding *seriously*, even while the worlds she creates are in service of the stories she wants to tell. In books like this, I can't tell which parts to think about, where to look for meaning or piece together a surprise, and where the author just wants me to shrug and suspend disbelief. (Same issue with This Is How You Lose the Time War, which I also couldn't stand even though everyone else loved it... it's possible this is also my problem with La Cuentista, though that one failed so hard on the worldbuilding that it told no story at all.)
- Who even were any of these people? We're told how special and amazing everyone is in each other's eyes, but we never spend enough time in anyone's perspective for me to *feel* it. Katrina got closest to being a character I could connect with. Lan's family was farthest away -- most of their motivations, after arriving on Earth, made very little sense to me. We learn nothing about Astrid as a person at all, so she may as well be a magical butler without a past or desires of her own, which is...honestly kind of offensive? There were a LOT of characters and a LOT going on; I think it needed half as many POV characters and more time with those so they could come into focus. Sometimes a book with a lot of characters successfully tells a larger story or sheds light on a central theme that way; in this book I just kept asking why so-and-so is even in the story.
- I did not come into this book caring about violins or the classical music industry, but I am very open to caring about new things! This book sure said a lot of things about that world, and dropped a lot of violin-related names, but not in a way that made me care.
- All the writing about how so-and-so's music made people "see their past" or "feel their home" or whatever just made me roll my eyes. I have had powerful experiences with music and art, of course, but this felt entirely overblown.
- Speaking of overblown, sentences like: "If magic is more than illusions on a stage, if magic can actually change the world, then what is reality but a song that one imagines and sets free?" Huh?? I kept stopping and saying, "argh, that doesn't MEAN anything!"
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LibraryThing member tuusannuuska
I think I went into this with false expectations. I thought this would mostly be a light hearted sci-fi story, but really this is 70% about violins and violin music, 25% about the heart wrenching trans experience of our young main character in a bigoted world, and around 5% about any sci-fi
I find this a little difficult to rate and review. The main character's experiences being a young trans woman were very well portrayed and at times difficult to read, and the representation is definitely important. However, because this story is structured in a very disjointed way with constantly alternating POVs, she was the only character that actually felt real. Everyone else remained translucent, and in some cases completely incidental.
I feel like the author wanted to throw in some cozy, silly spins with the donut shop and the budding relationship between the donut shop lady and the queen of hell, but there just wasn't enough meat to any of it. In the end I didn't really care enough about the actual central plot to really enjoy this as a reading experience, but there were still redeeming qualities to it as well.
While the story isn't quite similar in this one, the book this most reminded me of was The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and I think fans of that one would really appreciate this one as well.
I'll be interested in Aoki's future work, but hopefully the next one will be a little more condenced and a little less all over the place.
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themes.I find this a little difficult to rate and review. The main character's experiences being a young trans woman were very well portrayed and at times difficult to read, and the representation is definitely important. However, because this story is structured in a very disjointed way with constantly alternating POVs, she was the only character that actually felt real. Everyone else remained translucent, and in some cases completely incidental.
I feel like the author wanted to throw in some cozy, silly spins with the donut shop and the budding relationship between the donut shop lady and the queen of hell, but there just wasn't enough meat to any of it. In the end I didn't really care enough about the actual central plot to really enjoy this as a reading experience, but there were still redeeming qualities to it as well.
While the story isn't quite similar in this one, the book this most reminded me of was The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and I think fans of that one would really appreciate this one as well.
I'll be interested in Aoki's future work, but hopefully the next one will be a little more condenced and a little less all over the place.
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LibraryThing member Charon07
An odd blend of science fiction and fantasy with happily-ever-after endings for everyone (well, everyone we care about anyway). Though it deals with some heavy topics—a trans girl running away from an abusive father, an intergalactic plague of existential despair, a woman about to lose her
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soul—it’s unrelentingly upbeat. The transformational power of music makes everything right in the end. In fact, if there had been just little bit more sadness, a touch more of the underlying tragedies, it would have been a more affecting book. As it was, it seemed a little too light to be a great book for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member whitreidtan
A sci-fi fantasy mash-up? If you know me, you might be wondering right now who I actually am, because Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki is not at all my usual sort of read. Well, this was a book club choice so despite being really hesitant about the concept, I tried to go into it with an open
Shizuka Satomi is a famous violin teacher, once a prodigy herself. She is called the Queen of Hell and it turns out there is a good reason. She has promised to deliver the souls of seven other violin prodigies to the Devil in return for her own. So far she's delivered six and is on the lookout for the seventh. Katrina Nguyen is a young transgender woman who has been teaching herself to play the violin via YouTube tutorials. Her father is abusive and she earns a small amount of money as a sex worker. When she can no longer tolerate the abuse she's endured for so long, she runs away from home and ultimately ends up homeless. Shizuka hears Katrina playing her violin in a park and knows she's found her next student. Lan Tran is an alien, both in the sense of a creature from somewhere other than Earth and in the sense of being an immigrant to the US (she and her family have taken on human form). Her family/crew is trying to remain undiscovered as they flee from war and plague on their home planet. They've bought a donut shop and are working to make it an interstellar star gate. This is, of course, the donut shop where Shizuka gets her coffee in the morning and she is drawn to Lan despite both women keeping the secret of their real identity from each other.
These narrative threads don't actually mesh very well, and they are not the only ones presented here either. Aoki seems to be trying to do too many things all at once. In fact, there are so many traumatic issues dealt with here, rape, racism, abuse, incest, and transphobia to name a few, that it is hard to feel like any of them were given enough space on the page. The fact that there's so much going on isn't helped by the cast of characters, many of whom are barely fleshed out at all, especially Lan and family. Had Aoki chosen to just write this story about Shizuka and Katrina, the book would have held together better (although certainly a different ending would have been needed--something I might have advocated for anyway). The constant flipping of perspective between characters without any warning and even within sentences or paragraphs made this difficult to follow without having to circle back and re-read. I know many people really loved this book and I generally enjoy quirky, ultimately hopeful books but this one just didn't work for me (or for most of my book club either).
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mind. And unfortunately, this is not the book to convince me to read similar books.Shizuka Satomi is a famous violin teacher, once a prodigy herself. She is called the Queen of Hell and it turns out there is a good reason. She has promised to deliver the souls of seven other violin prodigies to the Devil in return for her own. So far she's delivered six and is on the lookout for the seventh. Katrina Nguyen is a young transgender woman who has been teaching herself to play the violin via YouTube tutorials. Her father is abusive and she earns a small amount of money as a sex worker. When she can no longer tolerate the abuse she's endured for so long, she runs away from home and ultimately ends up homeless. Shizuka hears Katrina playing her violin in a park and knows she's found her next student. Lan Tran is an alien, both in the sense of a creature from somewhere other than Earth and in the sense of being an immigrant to the US (she and her family have taken on human form). Her family/crew is trying to remain undiscovered as they flee from war and plague on their home planet. They've bought a donut shop and are working to make it an interstellar star gate. This is, of course, the donut shop where Shizuka gets her coffee in the morning and she is drawn to Lan despite both women keeping the secret of their real identity from each other.
These narrative threads don't actually mesh very well, and they are not the only ones presented here either. Aoki seems to be trying to do too many things all at once. In fact, there are so many traumatic issues dealt with here, rape, racism, abuse, incest, and transphobia to name a few, that it is hard to feel like any of them were given enough space on the page. The fact that there's so much going on isn't helped by the cast of characters, many of whom are barely fleshed out at all, especially Lan and family. Had Aoki chosen to just write this story about Shizuka and Katrina, the book would have held together better (although certainly a different ending would have been needed--something I might have advocated for anyway). The constant flipping of perspective between characters without any warning and even within sentences or paragraphs made this difficult to follow without having to circle back and re-read. I know many people really loved this book and I generally enjoy quirky, ultimately hopeful books but this one just didn't work for me (or for most of my book club either).
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LibraryThing member ladycato
I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.
Light From Uncommon Stars is a joy, a revelation, a rare book that is utterly unique in all its elements. This is a book that explores what it means to be transgender in modern America--and not through a side character, but through the
Truly, this is one of the best books I've read this year--one of the best, period. It moved me to tears more than once. If this doesn't get award nominations next year, I am going to rage.
Light is not a fluffy, easy read, though. It has trigger warnings galore. There are blatant depictions of the domestic and sexual abuse, sex work, homophobia, and racism--but there is also brilliant hope and triumph. These characters slog through the darkness to find the light, especially Katrina. Oh, Katrina. There is a scene where she goes shopping, and with heartfelt support finds a dress that makes her feel truly beautiful, and wow. This book abounds with moments of wow.
Light From Uncommon Stars is a joy, a revelation, a rare book that is utterly unique in all its elements. This is a book that explores what it means to be transgender in modern America--and not through a side character, but through the
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protagonist, Katrina. It's about the profound power of music through the violin--and not simply classic compositions, but a celebration of video game music! It's also about deals with the devil and aliens running a southern California donut shop and what it means to be truly alive. This all sound like it'd make a messy hodgepodge of a novel, but Aoki makes it WORK.Truly, this is one of the best books I've read this year--one of the best, period. It moved me to tears more than once. If this doesn't get award nominations next year, I am going to rage.
Light is not a fluffy, easy read, though. It has trigger warnings galore. There are blatant depictions of the domestic and sexual abuse, sex work, homophobia, and racism--but there is also brilliant hope and triumph. These characters slog through the darkness to find the light, especially Katrina. Oh, Katrina. There is a scene where she goes shopping, and with heartfelt support finds a dress that makes her feel truly beautiful, and wow. This book abounds with moments of wow.
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LibraryThing member muddyboy
From the title and the comments on the dust jacket I was expecting a much more science fiction bent to this novel. There are a few passing references to space travel but this is certainly not central to the novel. The main story is about a young trans violinist (Katrina) who is taken under the wing
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of a much respected coach. We learn that this coach has made a "deal with the devil" to produce seven great violinist and turn them over to the dark side. Katrina will be number seven. The other main emphasis is donuts and a donut shop owned by one of the characters. I am not sure why this emphasis is needed. Kind of goofy. Show Less
LibraryThing member kevn57
This book was funny
This, she did not have to explain. No matter where you live, if you have an Asian friend who can set you up with free Wi-Fi, you go with it and don’t ask questions.
Infuriating, how can a father treat his family so
Then she felt her father kicking in the door.
She shuddered. She
Freak! Abomination!
Why are you even alive?
Faggot, just die.
What wins science or religion?
Science, and that was how this book cemented itself as an all time favorite. Demons and hell are anchored to earth, and science is universal.
It wasn't just Katrina 's father, so many of the people that Katrina interacted with were just horrid to her.
It wasn't until I read the about author that I understood what I instinctively knew. The writing is really rhythmic like poetry, but it's not the words used as much as the punctuation that drives that rhythm.
Can we, should we show tolerance to the intolerant?
This, she did not have to explain. No matter where you live, if you have an Asian friend who can set you up with free Wi-Fi, you go with it and don’t ask questions.
Infuriating, how can a father treat his family so
Then she felt her father kicking in the door.
She shuddered. She
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folded in on herself and rocked back and forth. She didn’t deserve happiness like this, laughter like this.Freak! Abomination!
Why are you even alive?
Faggot, just die.
What wins science or religion?
Science, and that was how this book cemented itself as an all time favorite. Demons and hell are anchored to earth, and science is universal.
It wasn't just Katrina 's father, so many of the people that Katrina interacted with were just horrid to her.
It wasn't until I read the about author that I understood what I instinctively knew. The writing is really rhythmic like poetry, but it's not the words used as much as the punctuation that drives that rhythm.
Can we, should we show tolerance to the intolerant?
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LibraryThing member zeborah
Sometimes it's hard putting my finger on what I liked about a book. I don't care in the slightest about food porn (though it did have me craving donuts) and though I learned the violin to a mediocre-amateur level thus at least understand the vocabulary, I'm luke-warm about music porn too. In fact
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between the music, the modern setting, and the Tam Lin setup, I almost bounced out of it as quickly as I did from War of the Oaks, until chapter 3 hit with a counterpart of Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left. At that point I loved the whole thing. I guess what I do like is fun juxtapositions - and of course titles with puns in them. Show Less
LibraryThing member hblanchard
In retrospect, Ryka Aoki's "Light from Uncommon Stars" is the best new science fiction / fantasy release of 2021, and, it's a little bit of both genres all mashed up together. This one book is so cute and fuzzy but dead serious at the same time - I mean, can an author pull off a somber comment on
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LGBTQ rights, alien invasion, and Doctor Faustus in the same novel - but make that story into Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? This a novel that had me smiling, chuckling, and rolling my eyes all the way through. I loved it. I recommend it highly (and it's, gasp, not a doorstop!). Show Less
LibraryThing member jennybeast
Content warnings for people who’ve experienced abuse, especially trans folks — there’s quite a lot throughout, because one of the main characters is an abused trans teen.
At first I wasn’t sure what to do with this book — the donut aliens, the cursed violin teacher, the trans violin
At first I wasn’t sure what to do with this book — the donut aliens, the cursed violin teacher, the trans violin
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prodigy — but the story sings and the characters shine, and I enjoyed it very much. I particularly liked the acceptance that the young have just as much to teach the old, and that music is an ever changing power. Beautiful, unusual, painful in parts. An excellent exploration of trauma (several kinds) and healing. Show Less
LibraryThing member Shrike58
In a word, this novel seemed slight to me. If I were to point to a specific problem it would be to ask the rhetorical question that you really expect me to have sympathy for the main character (music instructor Shizuka Satomi) after they've sent six individuals to their doom, but it's this one
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special person who makes them see the light? Really? To not be a total downer about this story, I think it would make a pretty good manga or anime. Show Less
LibraryThing member Khimaera
Every so often, one comes across a book that reads like a beautiful musical composition. Ryka Aoki’s Light from Uncommon Stars is written in a style that dances from moment to moment and character to character in a way that at times feels playfully and deliberately contrasting and at others
You’re not only going to find demons here that are reminiscent of Gaiman and Pratchett’s Crowley, replete with unexpected moments of levity, but a family fleeing a galactic war and the Endplague that will sooner or later come for us all. Katrina Nguyen unknowingly stumbles into this setting while fleeing an abusive home. She’s been damaged by a world that has stolen her confidence and power at every turn. Among all the characters, there are tragic, heartfelt themes of different forms of pain and doubt sown by a world that often does not care to understand the damage it can so casually inflict upon people who are different-than – Othered by a society that seems to have no place for them. The learned defenses of each character clash brilliantly against each other like a frenzied froth of sprinkle fireworks in a duck pond. This is a story about characters struggling to heal, discovering their own power, and establishing their own legacy.
One journey of discovery begins with being stuck on a California freeway having to pee so badly her bladder might literally explode and the bonding power of delicious, fresh donuts baked by emigrant aliens. Enter Shizuka Satomi, Queen of Hell. Despite Katrina’s harrowing experiences and journey, in many ways this is Shizuka’s story. She once had the evocative power to touch people’s hearts with transcendent music played on her exquisite Guarneri violin with a Hell-cursed dogwood bow. She has sold her soul to a demon and the only way to get it back is to provide Hell with seven deliciously tortured souls. She’s given them six prodigies and she’s got her formidable Miranda Priestly gaze set upon Katrina as the last. Shizuka’s stumbling, growing relationship with the captain of the alien crew, Lan Tran, who manages the donut shop, her companion Astrid’s steadfast caring through cooking, and Katrina’s influence help them all find ways to heal themselves and each other.
This is a book to experience with all your senses from lush descriptions of food that will have you craving them to the evocative, heartfelt language and power of music to touch people’s souls. A violin is the perfect vessel for the lessons to be learned from this story. Aoki reminds us it is not the strings that make a violin sing but the reverberating echoes of sound through its hollow spaces that give a memorable and powerful voice to the violinist. This is very much true of all her characters along their journeys to carve out a place in this world together.
There are going to be a lot of readers seeking out classical music from reading this book and one can only hope something will resonate that helps them find their way out of their own personal darkness. Ryka Aoki is keen to remind us that you can always, always rewrite your song and the Light from Uncommon Stars can help light the way. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to make a trip to the donut shop while listening to some Alondra de la Parra.
** Thank you lucky, glittery stars and Tor Books for the advanced reader copy from a Twitter contest! This is my honest, unbiased review **
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sensually intermingles its characters together like a resplendent sonata. It is Bartok’s Sonata for Solo Violin that echoes across the pages from the opening conflicting, almost fracturing Tempo di ciaccona to the fleeting fugue, the flowing painful beauty of the Melodia to the somewhat mystifying and satisfying Presto. Make no mistake, Aoki’s book is nothing short of magical.You’re not only going to find demons here that are reminiscent of Gaiman and Pratchett’s Crowley, replete with unexpected moments of levity, but a family fleeing a galactic war and the Endplague that will sooner or later come for us all. Katrina Nguyen unknowingly stumbles into this setting while fleeing an abusive home. She’s been damaged by a world that has stolen her confidence and power at every turn. Among all the characters, there are tragic, heartfelt themes of different forms of pain and doubt sown by a world that often does not care to understand the damage it can so casually inflict upon people who are different-than – Othered by a society that seems to have no place for them. The learned defenses of each character clash brilliantly against each other like a frenzied froth of sprinkle fireworks in a duck pond. This is a story about characters struggling to heal, discovering their own power, and establishing their own legacy.
One journey of discovery begins with being stuck on a California freeway having to pee so badly her bladder might literally explode and the bonding power of delicious, fresh donuts baked by emigrant aliens. Enter Shizuka Satomi, Queen of Hell. Despite Katrina’s harrowing experiences and journey, in many ways this is Shizuka’s story. She once had the evocative power to touch people’s hearts with transcendent music played on her exquisite Guarneri violin with a Hell-cursed dogwood bow. She has sold her soul to a demon and the only way to get it back is to provide Hell with seven deliciously tortured souls. She’s given them six prodigies and she’s got her formidable Miranda Priestly gaze set upon Katrina as the last. Shizuka’s stumbling, growing relationship with the captain of the alien crew, Lan Tran, who manages the donut shop, her companion Astrid’s steadfast caring through cooking, and Katrina’s influence help them all find ways to heal themselves and each other.
This is a book to experience with all your senses from lush descriptions of food that will have you craving them to the evocative, heartfelt language and power of music to touch people’s souls. A violin is the perfect vessel for the lessons to be learned from this story. Aoki reminds us it is not the strings that make a violin sing but the reverberating echoes of sound through its hollow spaces that give a memorable and powerful voice to the violinist. This is very much true of all her characters along their journeys to carve out a place in this world together.
There are going to be a lot of readers seeking out classical music from reading this book and one can only hope something will resonate that helps them find their way out of their own personal darkness. Ryka Aoki is keen to remind us that you can always, always rewrite your song and the Light from Uncommon Stars can help light the way. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to make a trip to the donut shop while listening to some Alondra de la Parra.
** Thank you lucky, glittery stars and Tor Books for the advanced reader copy from a Twitter contest! This is my honest, unbiased review **
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LibraryThing member lavaturtle
I loved this book! It's a beautiful story about relationships and art and prejudice and charting your own course, and also about aliens and donuts and cursed violins. The characters are amazing, the plot is compelling, and the ending is just lovely.
LibraryThing member foggidawn
A transgender girl flees an abusive home. A master violinist has made a contract with the devil, and she has just a year left to fulfil it. A family of aliens, fleeing intergalactic war, opens a doughnut shop and tries to blend in with life on Earth. And somehow all of these stories meld together
I picked this up hoping for quirkiness ala Becky Chambers, and there is definitely fun quirkiness there (aliens running a doughnut shop? yes!), but it didn't quite work for me. The perspective leaps around a bit, which can be jarring. Also, there's just a lot going on, and with that and the perspective hopping, it's hard to really sink into the story and get to know the characters. I felt that in general characters were too quick to accept things that would normally stretch credulity. I had some other, harder to verbalize issues with the book, but those are enough for a start. If the premise seems interesting to you, you might love it, but it's not a book I'll revisit. (It did give me a powerful craving for doughnuts, though.)
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in ways both tragic and heartwarming.I picked this up hoping for quirkiness ala Becky Chambers, and there is definitely fun quirkiness there (aliens running a doughnut shop? yes!), but it didn't quite work for me. The perspective leaps around a bit, which can be jarring. Also, there's just a lot going on, and with that and the perspective hopping, it's hard to really sink into the story and get to know the characters. I felt that in general characters were too quick to accept things that would normally stretch credulity. I had some other, harder to verbalize issues with the book, but those are enough for a start. If the premise seems interesting to you, you might love it, but it's not a book I'll revisit. (It did give me a powerful craving for doughnuts, though.)
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LibraryThing member quondame
Violin players making deals with the devil, a Vietnamese Latina trans teen runaway, immigrant donut makers from a failing galactic empire, the woman who inherits the violin repair shop from the male line that didn't recognize her talent, isn't your usual east of east Los Angeles cast of characters,
Deals with the devil stories have a certain predictability though cutely twisted here, and earth arts as a contributor to galactic well-being isn't stunningly new and over-dials end of book feel goodies. Oh and wasn't that relentlessly telegraphed?! Over doing is a fault but not fatal as the characters and their problems are worth spending a bit of extra time with. And while the Monterey Park/El Monte they inhabit is parallel rather than congruent with the one I used to visit regularly it is entirely recognizable in its variety and dedication, perhaps even obsession, with eating well and widely. If it weren't for the weather, I'd move there.
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but put some serious twists on the local food scene. But Olive Garden? Really, lost half a star right there! Mostly a fun story which does deal seriously with identity, craftsmanship, differing experiences of discrimination and acceptance, but not so seriously with souls, should you care about such.Deals with the devil stories have a certain predictability though cutely twisted here, and earth arts as a contributor to galactic well-being isn't stunningly new and over-dials end of book feel goodies. Oh and wasn't that relentlessly telegraphed?! Over doing is a fault but not fatal as the characters and their problems are worth spending a bit of extra time with. And while the Monterey Park/El Monte they inhabit is parallel rather than congruent with the one I used to visit regularly it is entirely recognizable in its variety and dedication, perhaps even obsession, with eating well and widely. If it weren't for the weather, I'd move there.
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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
I was never one of these violinists, I was an okay player but I met some of these people, the ones who could make their violin sing when playing scales, I knew them and honestly I often envied them. Having an unusual violin I also knew how people regarded an unusual instrument.
This story mixes a
The alien story felt somewhat incomplete and in some ways more than the story needed but still it made me want to find some music and discover different foods.
This story mixes a
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galactic refugee family; a violin teacher who owes a soul to a demon and a transgender girl who has had to run away from home to find herself. There is a lot of food and music in this story and reverence for video game music as well as classical music and you can feel that the author knows about these things. There is also a sense of place in the story and a feeling of being both in a place where you should be and a place where sometimes you're not accepted.The alien story felt somewhat incomplete and in some ways more than the story needed but still it made me want to find some music and discover different foods.
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LibraryThing member Stevil2001
A fifth of the way into this book, I was fairly uncertain about it. On the one hand, there was some charming, amusing stuff: a family of aliens gone undercover on Earth as owners of a doughnut shop, picked because they were using the giant doughnut on the roof to build a stargate. On the other
But by the two-fifth mark, I was totally into it. Once I adjusted to what Ryka Aoki was doing here, I was captivated by it. Light from Uncommon Stars is a great book about people confronting the histories that pull them down, both personal and family, and managing to forge new ones. The main character is a would-be violinist, and she comes into the orbit of a violin instructor who has promised to deliver the souls of nine promising violin students into hell so that she can obtain musical greatness for herself. Only unlike all her previous students, this one's greatest aspiration is to stream performances of videogame and anime music on YouTube! Aoki's depiction of a found home amidst the problems of transphobia is effective and charming; watching the "Queen of Hell" decide that if this girl is going to play anime music, she is going to be the best at it, is very effective. I often bounce off writing about music, but Aoki's, well, sings. I enjoyed reading about violin refurbishers, and the climax, where she carries us through someone's performance of a solo violin sonata, is incredibly effective. There are good twists and reversals in the plot and characters, and neat connections drawn, and the music works both as a metaphor for other things and as music in itself.
This was the very last of the 2022 Hugo finalists that I read, and even thought I was burning out of them, it was my favorite of all them.
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hand, there was some harrowing stuff: around the one-fifth mark there's a sexual assault of a teenage girl, which she just kind of shrugs off as the kind of thing that has to happen to her because she's trans. The mix of tones felt very off to me, and I wasn't convinced it was being pulled off successfully. Did I want harsh transphobia in my cute book about doughnut-making aliens?But by the two-fifth mark, I was totally into it. Once I adjusted to what Ryka Aoki was doing here, I was captivated by it. Light from Uncommon Stars is a great book about people confronting the histories that pull them down, both personal and family, and managing to forge new ones. The main character is a would-be violinist, and she comes into the orbit of a violin instructor who has promised to deliver the souls of nine promising violin students into hell so that she can obtain musical greatness for herself. Only unlike all her previous students, this one's greatest aspiration is to stream performances of videogame and anime music on YouTube! Aoki's depiction of a found home amidst the problems of transphobia is effective and charming; watching the "Queen of Hell" decide that if this girl is going to play anime music, she is going to be the best at it, is very effective. I often bounce off writing about music, but Aoki's, well, sings. I enjoyed reading about violin refurbishers, and the climax, where she carries us through someone's performance of a solo violin sonata, is incredibly effective. There are good twists and reversals in the plot and characters, and neat connections drawn, and the music works both as a metaphor for other things and as music in itself.
This was the very last of the 2022 Hugo finalists that I read, and even thought I was burning out of them, it was my favorite of all them.
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LibraryThing member renbedell
A super weird book about a runaway trans girl who befriends a violin teacher who sold her soul to the devil. Add in inter-alien relationships and demons, and you have a super interesting and original novel. It is a very enjoyable read.
LibraryThing member sleahey
After running away from an abusive father and her family's disavowal of the trans identity, Katrina is left with nothing but her violin. Luckily she is overheard playing in a park by a woman who takes her in and helps her hone her talent. Unluckily, this teacher has made a Faustian deal with the
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devil to deliver violinists' souls to hell, and Katrina is the last required. Meanwhile, an alien family has set up shop in an LA doughnut shop with inventions they hope will save the universe. The intersection of these characters is at times hilarious, at others poignant, and readers can't help but care what Katrina's fate will be. Show Less
LibraryThing member Othemts
Shizuka Satomi is a world-renown violin instructor who has made a deal with a demon to trade the souls of 7 violin prodigies for success. She has one more soul to collect and has returned home to Southern California to find a likely candidate.
Lan Tran is a starship captain who has escaped a
Katrina Nguyen is a teenage transgender girl who has run away to Los Angeles from her abusive family and supports herself making YouTube videos. She also plays the violin.
Somehow not only are all these characters in the same novel, but their interactions create a heartfelt human story that transcends genres. Shizuka and Lan meet, share their strange histories, and strike up a romance. And of course, Shizuka takes on Katrina as her student, and yet treats her with such tenderness that it's hard to believe she plans to sell Katrina's soul to the Devil.
And that only scratches the surface of the brilliant, warm, funny, and creative novel!
Lan Tran is a starship captain who has escaped a
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galactic war with her family, and now operate a doughnut shop as their cover.Katrina Nguyen is a teenage transgender girl who has run away to Los Angeles from her abusive family and supports herself making YouTube videos. She also plays the violin.
Somehow not only are all these characters in the same novel, but their interactions create a heartfelt human story that transcends genres. Shizuka and Lan meet, share their strange histories, and strike up a romance. And of course, Shizuka takes on Katrina as her student, and yet treats her with such tenderness that it's hard to believe she plans to sell Katrina's soul to the Devil.
And that only scratches the surface of the brilliant, warm, funny, and creative novel!
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LibraryThing member wanderlustlover
Spring 2022 (April);
~ 2022 Hugo Novel Nominee
Score: 3.5, rounded up
"Where does music end, and love begin?"
I've had to shuffle a lot around in my head for this one, and I always know it's a problem when it starts in a muddle and requires some more muddling to figure out where to put it. The problem
This is a love letter to Faustian pacts, to transgender youth, to online gaming & video recording, to galactic space opera wars, to artificial intelligence, to Asian-American culture, to violins, to music, to family you'd lie to and die to protect, to family you find along the way, to donuts, and every bit of delicious food out there. There's so much going on in here, that the plates never stop spinning, even in the moments when it's supposed to feel calm.
I loved all of the main characters, but I felt that the casting was drastically only made up of women, which felt off-balance to me for where and when it was set (yes, there are a number of male roles but they aren't focused on much at all in any of the pov's; and I still have some unresolved feelings about Marcus' unresolved storyline ending).
~ 2022 Hugo Novel Nominee
Score: 3.5, rounded up
"Where does music end, and love begin?"
I've had to shuffle a lot around in my head for this one, and I always know it's a problem when it starts in a muddle and requires some more muddling to figure out where to put it. The problem
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with this book is that I really like -- but even more so I think I like what it's trying to be, and what it would be if this book wasn't a debut, but instead a third or fourth publication by the author. This is a love letter to Faustian pacts, to transgender youth, to online gaming & video recording, to galactic space opera wars, to artificial intelligence, to Asian-American culture, to violins, to music, to family you'd lie to and die to protect, to family you find along the way, to donuts, and every bit of delicious food out there. There's so much going on in here, that the plates never stop spinning, even in the moments when it's supposed to feel calm.
I loved all of the main characters, but I felt that the casting was drastically only made up of women, which felt off-balance to me for where and when it was set (yes, there are a number of male roles but they aren't focused on much at all in any of the pov's; and I still have some unresolved feelings about Marcus' unresolved storyline ending).
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LibraryThing member JudyGibson
A delightful mix of fantasy and sf! How odd to have a demon from Hell and a refugee family of space aliens running a donut shop in the same story. As a classical music fan I was fascinated by all the violin lore, and hope it was accurate. I found a YouTube recording of the Jascha Heifetz
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performance of Bartok's Sonata for Solo Violin and listened to it while reading the section about Katrina's competion: yes indeed it's a difficult piece to listen to. Show Less
LibraryThing member macha
gotta love the sheer energy and range of this pop culture tour de force: inhabited by a mix of so much loved and lovable diversity, starring a trans lead character, following a trail of new classical music, ethnic food, a space opera backstory, and both aliens and demons. not to mention donuts. but
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also it's deeper than this style usually chooses to go, and more detailed on grounding the detail elements of its various threads, because it has some important things it wants to say. i really took to it, and will happily follow the author in future. Show Less
LibraryThing member drthubbie
It takes a bit of adjustment to get into this tale of a musical prodigy/transgender runaway meeting a teacher with a daemon from hell on track to collect her or her student's soul but all can be changed by the space aliens in their doughnut shop/space portal, but it is worth it. Cindy Kay's
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narration of the audio book is great. Show Less
LibraryThing member Treebeard_404
Astonishingly good! To read the synopsis is to miss the whole point of the book, which are meditations and observations what it means to be ourselves and how we treat others. This will be a book I will be recommending to a great many people. Consider yourself forewarned. :)
[Audiobook note: the
[Audiobook note: the
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reader, Cindy Kay, is amazing. I will be looking for other readings by her as soon as I finish writing this note.] Show Less
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 2022)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — 2021)
Mythopoeic Awards (Finalist — Adult Literature — 2022)
Alex Award (2022)
Otherwise Award (Winner — 2021)
Ignyte Award (Shortlist — 2022)
Dragon Award (Finalist — Fantasy Novel — 2022)
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Science Fiction and Fantasy — 2021)
New York Public Library Best Books: For Adults (Science Fiction — 2021)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2021-09-28
Physical description
384 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
1250789060 / 9781250789068
Local notes
Signed