Light from Uncommon Stars Audiobook By Ryka Aoki cover art

Light from Uncommon Stars

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Light from Uncommon Stars

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 Interstellar California Solar System Heartfelt

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

What listeners say about Light from Uncommon Stars

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Just Wonderful

I hope the descriptions of the violin and its history, music pieces and theirs, playing and how bodies are held, were accurate as they were ensorselling.

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3 people found this helpful

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Best book I read this year

This book was brilliant, nuanced and heart-warming. I’ve never reas a book with so many strange wonderful layers. Definitely recommend!

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Unique, mesmerizing and beautiful.

This book is a wild ride. I was not at all sure where I was going for the majority of the book, and every twist was so surprising

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

Simple, but different, and rich.

uneven, but inventive. Not your usual fare. A story about different things, and more importantly, different people.

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1 person found this helpful

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Strange, kooky, but gorgeous

This book was so weird, it was entertaining and delightful. By no means was it a typical fantasy or sci-fi book. It might not be for everyone. There were parts that were confusing and hard to follow. But with all that the only way I can describe this book is by calling it a work of art. The author has managed to describe the feeling of biting into a cherished meal, of having music touch your heart, and to have your soul loved and accepted. She describes the thing that makes humanity seek art in the first place. The thing I can't even begin to touch on here. You're just going to have to go read it. And if you decide not to, you will be making a terrible mistake and missing out on something spectacular.

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Unexpected and beautiful

Loved the story, cadence, and beauty expressed in this work. The performance elevated the engagement.

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A tremendous story!

Genre bending and beautifully written story about the power of chosen families and queer experience. Will read again one day.

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Get this now!

I usually don’t leave reviews but I had to for this one. As a trans femme, this story spoke to me like few others ever have. The journey that Katrina Nguyen goes through resonates with my own experience to a degree I never thought possible for a fictional character to do. I am a voracious listener and listen to dozens of audiobooks per year. So when I say I can count in my fingers the amount of books that have resonated with me this way it’s quite the feat. If you are trans, have someone you care about who is trans, or just want a fun queer sci fi/fantasy/romance novel, pick this up IMMEDIATELY! It’s hard at times to listen because Katrina’s experiences with transphobia are very visceral to me. However it’s completely worth it. Amazing work and definitely on the list of my favorite books ever and I’ve listened to hundreds over the past decade.

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The story was very good and easy to follow.

I loved everything about this book. The story was excellent! One of my favorite books of all time. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

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  • Overall
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Beautiful and heartbreaking

I love being surprised by a book and this one surprised me in so many ways. The novel blends sci-fi, coming of age and mythic story lines and then marinades all of that in the emotions that music can draw from us. It’s stunning and wonderful. My only quibble, a small one, is the narrator differentiation between two of the characters. I did have to back up a couple of times but it did not take away from the overall effect of the novel. I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

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