A review by mariahaskins
Yoke of Stars by R.B. Lemberg

5.0

I love R.B. Lemberg's own description of this book: "it features assassins, linguistics, and FISH COMMUNISM." I'm not sure I can write a better description than that! I love Lemberg's Birdverse, and Yoke of Stars is a gorgeously wrought Birdverse tale where stories are told and shared between two people who are connected in ways they do not understand when they first meet. Into the tale of these two people, Lemberg weaves thoughts on language and translation and how we shape ourselves with language and are also shaped by it, and how our thoughts, and ourselves, can change in translation. This is also a story about trauma and strife and magic, of stars that hold and bind and devour, and maybe, just maybe, it's about the possibility of something else beyond the hurt and pain. The way the stories in the book touch and interweave, the way the characters in them tug and pull at each other, is beautifully done - and I love how deftly Lemberg pulls all the threads together into a complex, striking weave.