Light from Uncommon Stars

CW: racism, xenophobia, transphobia, parental abuse, anxiety and panic attacks

It's probably more of a 4.5.

This is another book which wasn't at all on my radar but then I read some reviews and immediately felt like this was something I couldn't miss. And I was so right.

The first thing I have to say is that this felt like something I've never read before. The way the author blends fantasy and sci-fi with raw humanity is masterful and I was left in awe. The writing in this book is exquisite, with every feeling that the author describes digging deep into our souls and leaving an indelible impression on me. The prose is raw and unflinching, and I did feel extremely sad and scared and so many other things at many points, but it was the quiet and sweet moments that make this one special. The book is also peppered with subtle commentary about the importance of found family and community - especially for queer people; the grief of displacement as well as the joy of finding a new home; and the myriad ways in which music enriches our lives.

But despite the world here spanning a galactic empire mired in a war as well as a devil trying to take back souls to hell, the backbone of this story are music and food. I have always loved singing and listening to music since childhood, but I hardly have any detailed knowledge about instruments, especially nothing about western classical music. But the way the author describes each tone in the music being played, the differences and the charms of each classical piece, the way the music deeply affects the player as well as the listener - all this just touched my heart. And the food .... that was just something. The day that I started listening to this wonderful audiobook, I also started a diet and fitness program due to which there are very few foods I'm allowed to eat. And this book just happens to be filled page after page with mouthwatering and delectable food descriptions and the sweet and savory smells and flavors. Im pretty unfamiliar with most Asian cuisine but I could still feel how delicious the items being talked about are. But the ones that left me craving and very frustrated were donuts, Cinnabon's cinnamon rolls and just any form of bread - because not only can I not eat them during this diet period, my mom would never let me touch any of them as long as I'm still stuck here at home.

The ensemble cast is just brilliant in this book. Katrina is a young trans girl runaway who is escaping her abusive home and struggling to make a new life. Her parts were very difficult to read initially because there were some graphic descriptions of physical abuse as well as her struggle to survive in a new place with very few resources, while also beating herself up about being a freak and not being normal. Her only solace in these tough times is her self taught violin which gives some escape from the harsh real world. All that changes when she is taken in by the legendary violin teacher Shizuka, who sees her as a beautiful soul capable of producing enchanting music and doesn't care about her body or gender. Together with Shizuka's housekeeper Astrid, they both give Katrina the home she doesn't have, the space to feel safe enough to explore her love for the violin as well as a future as a musician, and lots of delicious food to sustain her.

And then there's Lan and her family of unique beings. She may be a starship captain doubling as the owner of a donut shop, but she is also a mother and a woman with desires. Her developing relationship with Shizuka is a sweet slow burn, with two women who have been alone for a long while realizing that having someone along the journey of life is not such a bad thing. Lan's children and aunt are also a bunch of interesting people with different personalities, trying to navigate life away from home on a new planet, discovering more about this world which maybe behind them in technology but is vibrant and full of amazing people, but also full of hatred towards the people whom anyone perceives as the other.

In the end, this might have been a bit harsh and angsty and heartbreaking at times, but it's also a beautiful story of broken people coming together to make a wonderful life for themselves, creating new experiences and sharing their joy with everyone around them. It's a story of hope and family and community, as well as how important a part music and food play in enriching our bodies and souls. It's also an excellently narrated audiobook and I'm glad I got to listen to it.

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki is a collection of discordant elements: California's San Gabriel Valley, cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship with a deep love and fascination for fresh-made donuts. However, instead of Light From Uncommon Stars feeling overly jangly like a tin can full of pennies...this book comes together like a bit of sugar-dusted magic. 

The premise involves three women, Shizuka Satomi, Katrina Nguyen, and Lan Tran. All are women running from something and grasping for something that will, in the most literal sense, save them. 

Shizuka, long ago, 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. Enter Katrina, a young transgender runaway that catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent; Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate.

But where does a donut shop fit into all of this?

“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.”

The first thing you notice when reading this story is that humanity is laid bare. The good, the bad, and the deplorable are brought into the light for all to see. Maybe it is because it involves Faustian bargains. Ultimately, who you are will shine through because it has to. The music and the devil know what is in your heart. I think that is why one of the main characters is transgender. Aside from the beautiful queer representation, they are being their most authentic self. Who they really are, is brought out to the forefront in a very emotional and unflinchingly raw way. 

And I am here for it. 

The book also touches on the importance of the concept of a found family. Who we are born to is not necessarily whom we end up with as our nearest and dearest. Sometimes, our family is a bunch of alien space refugees running from a galactic war who run a donut shop. 

Light from Uncommon Stars is also a sensual experience. Music and food can be luscious and evocative of memories of bygone times. Aoki uses them as mute characters. When speaking of music, “What would happen if someone played their existence not only to its inevitable end, but also to its inevitable beginning? What if someone played their music to its inevitable everything?” Or, when talking about bread, “A good bread tastes like home.” 

My only caveat to this lovely story is a point brought up by the amazing reviewer Gautam Bhatia: this story is heavily steeped in American culture. This might make this story difficult to connect to if you are unaware of some of the minutiae of American culture. 

If you have an opportunity to read this book, you should. It is an entertaining, heartwarming experience that speaks to the heart of what makes us both human and who we are inside. It takes absolute courage to be your most authentic self, and these three female protagonists, each on their own path, show that courage in different ways. 

Somewhere between 3.5 to 3.75. The premise of this one was really great, so many chaotic moving parts but it somehow came together in the end really nicely. We have Lan Tran, a donut-selling alien bringing her family to escape her war-torn planet. We have Shizuka Satomi, a violinist casually known as the Queen of Hell who has made a deal with the devil to send him seven souls in order to get her own back, and she's already done six. Then we have Katrina Nguyen, a trans female protagonist running away from a life of brutality, oppression, and exploitation because she also just so happens to be a prodigy with the violin.

Everything meshes together really well and the book has a lot of heart. It also has a very strong message against the repression and exploitation of queer people, especially those from the trans community. I support this message, but I also found that it was too on-the-nose here, and sometimes almost felt a bit didactic. But I acknowledge that perhaps this on-the-nose-ness is necessary in order to reach out and perhaps help some teens out there struggling the same way Katrina did, and to provide just that bit of encouragement and affirmation that they are seen, and that's great for them. Personally, it dampened my enjoyment a bit which is why my rating is the way it is, but hey, if this book does some good in the world, I'm all for it.

This was...weird. I'm between a 3 and 4 here. There were three separate story lines and I'm not sure that really any came to a meaningful or satisfactory ending. That said, the characters themselves were beautiful and their stories engaging. I appreciated the craft with which the author portrayed anxiety, but/and I would love to hear a trans person's take on how that experience was portrayed. It felt like sometimes the author was making assumptions about experience or playing a bit too hard on certain points or aspects, such as dysphoria and abuse, but not as much on moments of gender euphoria or uplift.

Anyway, a fine book—certainly a unique one—but not one I'd recommend to many people.

This is perhaps one of the most beautiful books I've ever read.

Hard stop.

I had a few hurdles to overcome early on (was okay with demons, then we got a donut-slinging starship captain and I absolutely exclaimed “oh c'mon” while reading), but I'm thrilled to have continued on.

If I had to sum this book up, it would be that it's a story about very specific outsiders who face systemic, western-society induced hurdles that prevent them from being their true selves. While there is a literal Faustian bargain here, most of the characters are living in the same reality. One where demons are making deals with musicians for souls, starship captains from a far off empire are trying too hard to be perfect to gain acceptance, a luthier grapples with her family's generational misogyny and a trans runaway faces nonstop discrimination and somehow the core conceit for this entire story is the game UnderTale.

There's a lot to digest here.

What happens, though, is we get to see how love, encouragement and community can help. Maybe it can't heal these wounds and make the awful people go away, just like it can't make the mysterious “EndPlague” the empire faces stop, but by sharing beauty and love, in this book's case through music, it can reach other people and help them feel like they aren't alone.

Isn't that the point of art? I know it always was for me.

I can't recommend this book enough.

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 LGBTQ rights, alien invasion, and Doctor Faustus in the same novel (not to mention some great musical references) - but then 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!).

This was an enjoyable read, although it did feel a little tonally odd at times. There were certain plot points that I never really bought (Endplague?), however the over-arching themes made them fairly easy to gloss over (although one passing comment at the end threw me a bit: did it mean to imply that Katrina had formed some sort of relationship with her apparently unrepentant molester Tso?).

Also, although I can appreciate the appropriateness of the Bartok piece as a metaphor for acceptance of things outside your normal realm of experience, I am not a great lover of the violin, so I struggled to really understand the impact the music was meant to be having. Granted the experience was well described, but I can't say I really believed in it. I suspect this is a failure on my part however.

So, overall, despite some misgivings, a good read; probably even more so if you have greater musical appreciation than I do.

This book tackles so much in such a short time, it should've been overwhelming, but somehow it all fit together perfectly.

I especially liked the refreshing writing style that somehow really mirrored the way my brain usually works (probably not for everyone though).

Also, so weird. There are Aliens owning a Donut Shop and a cursed Violin. I loved it.

• 
  Queer MCs, likeable characters.
  Donuts!
  A mix of sci-fi and fantasy that's entirely its own.
  Violins! And donuts!
  The writing style is like a lot of small, still moments on a string that makes you want to stay in them longer.
  
  -
  Predictable ending.
  The final third lost momentum for me. Pacing and tension-wise (perhaps because of predictable ending?)
  
  3.5*

I really enjoyed half of this book, but the other half annoyed me to no end. I think that the portrayal of Katrina as a homeless, trans, violin prodigy willing to sell her soul for a scrap of dignity is extremely well done, realistic, and poignant. However, Lan the donut lady/alien refugee mom was so flat and dull that it inhibited the whole story for me. From the non-sensical romantic aspects to her frequent disregard for her children, I just could not get into her storyline at all, especially not mashed together with soul stealing demons. Aoki is great at writing about food for sure, but the overall conceit of the book is just not for me.

In April, I will turn 50. In just under a half-century of reading, I have had many favorite books. Light from Uncommon Stars is the best book I have ever read. Like Shizuka and Katrina’s music, the words evoked/unlocked memory after memory for me; I wept. To read this book is to be broken open, chapter after chapter. To be stabbed, to be held, to be dangled, to be soothed.

This review is my applause, and it thunders. My only question is: what kind of deal did Ryka Aoki have to make to create art that does this? And how can I save her from the payment that must be due?

Shizuka Satomi has made a deal with the devil: she must train 7 souls in the way of the violin and then sacrifice them in order to save her soul and get her music back. However, when she finds her 7th student, Katrina, she realizes that this may be harder than she imagined. Katrina, a trans woman who has run away from home, is homeless and desperate. Shizuka's offer to teach her violin while providing housing and food seems too good to be true, but she readily accepts. Lan, a woman from a different planet, has set up shop in a donut shop nearby. These 3 women's lives entangle, and they must work together to overcome their fears and live.

This book is beautiful. At the beginning, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The story telling is a little confusing. When the POV changes in the audiobook, there is typically no pause or anything to indicate it has changed and the reader has to figure it out. At first, this made everything a little confusing, but as you get to know the characters, you can easily keep up with the changes. After I started to pick up on what this story was about, I fell in love. The characters are all so complex and damaged in a way that felt so real. They all had their own demons, literally and figuratively, that they had to deal with from their pasts and their present, and watching these characters help each other through life felt so rewarding. This book tackles very heavy themes, including racism, transphobia, queerphobia, etc., but Aoki did a great job of balancing these themes with touching moments.

I recommend this book to anyone. It was a lovely, fun, dark story about survival in a world that doesn't want you to survive.

TW: anxiety, deadnaming, domestic abuse, gun violence, homophobia, mentions of war (intergalactic), misgendering, partental physical abuse, racism, rape, self harm, sexual abuse, slut-shaming, suicidal thoughts, transphobia