
Light from Uncommon Stars
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Narrated by:
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Cindy Kay
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By:
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Ryka Aoki
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.
Critic reviews
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
There were lots of great moments in this book but it suffered from a lack of focus which should have been on Katrina's and Shizuka's storylines (which I loved as a queer ex-violinist).
I am not sure the science fiction elements meshed at all well or were developed enough in this with the rest of the story. And yes, those parts were like Star Trek which is part of the problem. I reckon the author is likely a star trek fan and wanted to write something similar which is not a bad idea but should have been it's own book. Not a part of this one.
Overall I hope the author continues to write and develop. I certainly wouldnt mind reading more once some more development is had.
As for the narration, I enjoyed it but the recording was bad in some parts and I think at one point a small section was missing.
I cant cut the stars right down the middle so I'll round up for the cursed violin plot which I really enjoyed. But in my heart of hearts this is a 2.5 star experience
Confusing
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Moving, inspiring and fuffilling
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Being trans makes you better at string instruments
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Absolutely gorgeous
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I could not tell when scenes changed. Person A might say or think something. Then person B would be doing something immediately, as if they were part of the same event, when it was really a different place and time.
In fact I only stuck it out because I had paid for this hard to understand porridge.
The story was initially interesting. Concepts of alien doughnut store, violin teacher in hock to hell. But after a while that became a bit of a side issue. The trans character was fine, if a little shallow. It felt a bit shoehorned in.
From a potentially good story, this got to be a bit meh by halfway through. In fact, If a piano fell on the protagonist leaving the teacher and starship captain unhurt, this would have been a better book.
I know this was a Hugo nominated book, but I don't think I would have voted for it.
Narration annoying whispering and sibilance
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a story of our times
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Made me cry, want to take up my old violin, and crave doughnuts simultaneously
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An Interstellar Love Story with Donuts & Demons
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a true work of love and art
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Alien donut shops and demonic contracts
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