Light From Uncommon Stars

By: Ryka Aoki

Narrated by: Cindy Kay

"Cindy Kay masterfully narrates this unique audiobook, which combines a variety of genres to tell a moving story of self-acceptance and finding safety even in the bleakest of times." - AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award review

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.

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

Cozy Blend of Magical Realism and Light Sci-Fi

This book was beautiful. The characters are well developed. Spending time in Katrina’s head was joyous, frustrating, and sad. It gave me more empathy for trans people, especially trans kids. The love story is really a subplot in this book, but that works really well. I loved seeing the way characters influenced each other for the better and seeing them grow. I listened to this in a day and a half it was so good.

Brilliant.

This was a delight to listen to. A page turner. A lesson in found family and in loving people just the way they are. You don’t have to understand you just have to open your mind and heart to differences. The music. The violins. Aliens.

character shifts are jarring

The story was wonderful, I loved how it intermingled genres and used that as an alagory.

My only issue is with the recording/production. There are no breaks when characters change pov. It is rather jarring and can take a second to reorient and get back into the story.

Absolutely loved it.

The world would certainly be a better place if everyone openly listened/read this book.

Loved this book

I read the synopsis and wasn’t thinking I would like it… loved it. Pulled in immediately.