Light From Uncommon Stars by Cindy Kay

Light From Uncommon Stars

Cindy Kay, Ryka Aoki, Macmillan Audio

Tor/Forge · Print & ebook · September 28, 2021

A Science Fiction pick for readers exploring Light From Uncommon Stars.

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Who it’s for
A category-search friendly blend of romance, fantasy, and insight, with a familiar neighboring-book feel.
Genres
Lesbian Romance, Contemporary Fantasy, Sci-Fi Adventure
Published
Tor/Forge, September 28, 2021

About this book

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.

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Hugo Award Finalist A National Bestseller Indie Next Pick New York Public Library Top 10 Book of 2021 A Kirkus Best Book of 2021 A Barnes & Noble Best Science Fiction Book of 2021 2022 Alex Award Winner 2022 Stonewall Book Award Winner 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.

What It Gives

A category-search friendly blend of romance, fantasy, and insight, with a familiar neighboring-book feel.

Come here for

  • LGBTQ+ romance in a contemporary-fantasy register
  • A sustained, immersive read with some explanatory stretch

Expect

  • YA pacing with room to settle in
  • Book-club adjacency, not just vibes

Where it sits

Sci-Fi Adventure49%
Lesbian Romance43%
Contemporary Fantasy35%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Sci-Fi Adventure
  • Transgender Fiction
Authors
Cindy Kay, Ryka Aoki, Macmillan Audio
Publisher
Tor/Forge
Published
September 28, 2021
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Sci-Fi Adventure