In a review for Tor, Maya Gittelman called the novel 'one of the best speculative novels I’ve ever read' and that it 'reminds me what genre is capable of. However, Gussoff criticized the male characters as 'two-dimensional 'not-women'' and thought that the ending was 'too sweet' given the stakes of the novel. In a review for Locus, Caren Gussoff praised the novel's portrayal of women and its use of speculative fiction tropes to explore the meaning of womanhood in the modern day. Light From Uncommon Stars was named A Kirkus Best Book of 2021, was the 2022 Alex Award Winner, was a 2022 Stonewall Book Award winner and made the New York Public Library Top 10 list of 2021. Light From Uncommon Stars was nominated for the 2022 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, 2022 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature, and 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novel. The two strike up a tenuous flirtation, but their budding romance is imperiled by Satomi's deal with the demon and Tran's tumultuous galactic past. She finds that student in Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender prodigy with little formal training.Īs Satomi teaches Nguyen, she also meets Lan Tran, a starship captain and refugee disguised as a doughnut shop owner, who has brought her family to Earth to escape war and a deadly plague. Satomi has delivered six souls already, and with a year left on her contract, she needs one more student.

To do this, she coaches ambitious violin students, then offers them fame and renown in exchange for their souls. Years ago, she struck a deal with a demon that she would deliver seven souls to hell. Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in Ryka Aokis Light from Uncommon Stars, a defiantly joyful adventure set in Californias San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts.

Shizuka Satomi is the world's best violin teacher, known for coaching virtuosos who meet tragic ends. It was nominated for a 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novel. Light From Uncommon Stars is a science fiction and fantasy novel by American author and poet Ryka Aoki.

Light from uncommon stars reviews