diverse reads annotation -- light from uncommon stars

Author: Ryka Aoki

Title: Light from Uncommon Stars

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy; LGBTQ Fiction

Publication Date: September 28, 2021

Number of Pages: 372 pages

Geographical Setting:  San Gabriel Valley - California 

Time Period: Modern day

Series: N/A

Plot Summary: This highly ambitious novel follows Katrina Nguyen, a traumatized but deeply talented transgender violinist, who escapes her abusive family and finds herself the student of a highly revered yet mysterious violin teacher Shizuka Satomi. Shizuka, known as the "Queen of Hell" within the musical community, has more than earned the title: after making a deal with a demon, she must cultivate and deliver seven souls to hell. With one year left before the demon comes to collect, Shizuka has damned six prodigies, and Katrina is posed to be her last. Further complicating matters is Shizuka's growing affection for Lan Tran, an interstellar refugee hiding out on Earth by running a donut shop. Lan, still reeling from her escape but dedicated to protecting her family at all costs, does not have time for distractions yet can't seem to escape Shizuka's magnetism. As Katrina hones her skills, the lives of these women become increasingly entangled, and all must contend with what they are willing to sacrifice for those they love. 

Subject Headings: Violinists -- Fiction; Transgender people -- Fiction; Adventure stories; Science fiction; California -- Fiction

Appeal:

·       Tone: Bittersweet, hopeful, moving

·       Characterization: This novel boasts an incredibly diverse and complex cast of characters. Katrina, who is Chinese, Vietnamese and Mexican, is a young queer transgender woman, reckoning with immense trauma while fighting to survive and, ultimately, find her own voice. Shizuka, a queer Japanese woman, learns that she is more than the harm she's done in pursuit of her music, and that love is, in fact, the most powerful force in the universe. Lan, a spaceship captain tasked with keeping her family safe and outrunning a world-ending plague, refuses to be distracted from her mission until Shizuka introduces her to new passions and things she never believed she would have again. Supporting characters are all given rich interior lives, including Lucy Matia, the sidelined yet gifted daughter of a violin-crafting dynasty, and Lan's family: Shirley, a hologram who is much more than her code, Lan's brilliant twins, and Aunt Floresta, the heart of the family. 

·       Storyline: This own-voices novel is heavily character-driven. The connections that form between the many characters and how they grow and impact each other is the focus of the story. Although primarily following the perspectives of Shizuka, Katrina, and Lan, other significant secondary characters occasional take the reins, allowing expansion of the novel's world. Perspectives may shift multiple times per chapter or not at all, making the story feel diligently plotted and yet free flowing. Worldbuilding is incremental; the story's universe unfolds through the characters that define it: Katrina, entirely mortal, roots us in the world we know; Shizuka, "Queen of Hell," introduces us to the demons that prey upon souls; Lan, an interstellar being, dazzles us with futuristic technology like replicators, tangible holograms, and stargates.  

·       Language/style: The novel's true strength lies in it's lush, descriptive language. Aoki's lyrical prose perfectly flows like the music around which the story revolves. Musings on life, loss, love, music, and what we owe one another are all deeply moving. Food is a crucial feature of the novel, and Aoki treats each sip of tangerine juice, bite of donut, and forkful of duck with reverence, offering the reader a full sensory experience that will leave their mouths watering.

·       Setting: This story primarily takes place in a series of locations in the San Gabriel Valley in California. Real life restaurants, roads, parks, landmarks, and other buildings are referenced, bringing a realism that grounds the novel in spite of its fantastical elements. In many ways, the Valley is a character itself, described fondly on a personal level as Shizuka's hometown but also on a grander scale through its bustling Asian community. 

·       Pacing: Medium-paced. This novel unfolds over the course of a year, with chapter titles designating months and characters frequently noting the changing of seasons. However, while the looming deadline is a constant presence, only one central character is aware of it. Events do not form the outline of the action, instead the story progresses through character development. Crucial moments that span days or weeks are dwelled upon, while other months are skipped over entirely, giving the pacing an inconsistency that could be hard to grasp for some readers. 

·       Themes: Found family, Faustian bargains 

**Content Warnings: Transphobia, homophobia, child abuse (physical/emotional), sexual harassment/assault, rape, racism, xenophobia, violence/murder, use of slurs**

3 terms that best describe this book:  Moving, lyrical, hopeful

Relevant fiction: 

·       The House in the Cerulean Sea – TJ Klune 

      Although more fantastical than Uncommon Stars, this heartwarming novel will appeal to readers moved by Aoki's diverse, queer characters finding acceptance with their chosen families. Both are also intrinsically hopeful stories that focus on lonely characters finding love, fulfillment, and redemption in unlikely places with the most unexpected of people. In this case, it is a by-the-book bureaucrat on assignment at an orphanage for magical children (including the antichrist) who falls for their charming, dedicated proprietor. 

·       August Kitko and the Mechas from Space – Alex White

      Another queer sci-fi novel described as hopeful and lyrical, readers who particularly enjoyed Uncommons Stars' depiction of music as a powerful, soul-saving force will be delighted to know that music also plays a crucial role in White's novel, in which a jazz pianist joins forces with rebel Vanguards (Mechas from deep space whose mission is to wipe out humanity) to save Earth and its people. 

·       The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – Becky Chambers 

      Uncommon Stars is frequently compared to this deeply hopeful and warmhearted sci-fi novel, primarily due to its queer characters and use of the found family trope. However, instead of aliens living among humans on Earth, Planet places a human among myriad alien crewmates aboard a tunneling ship as it journeys through the vast endlessness of space to complete its mission. 

Relevant nonfiction:

·       Seasonal Velocities – Ryka Aoki

Want more from Uncommon Stars' fascinating author? Seasonal Velocities is a powerful collection of poetry, stories, speeches, performance art, and more that invites readers into the "fragile and furious" journey through her life as a transgender poet, composer, teacher, and writer. Aoki's fierce work has been described as "earnest, unflinching, exquisite, centered and sharp" and contains more of the lush lyricism imbued into her novel. 

·       Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time – Natalie Hodges

      Moving, lyrical, and thought-provoking, Korean-American violinist Hodges' memoir is a sweeping rumination on neuroscience, quantum physics, and the meaning of life. While anchored in illuminating research, Hodges describes her own struggles with her family, prejudice, perfectionism, and the performance anxiety ultimately forces her to change the direction of her life.  

·       The Only Pirate at the Party – Lindsey Stirling

      Uncommon Stars readers familiar with the music world (or who were just on YouTube during the 2010s) may have found Katrina's passion for creating unconventional videos for her violin music to be reminiscent of real-life musician Stirling (she is even namedropped in the book a time or two). This amusing, candid memoir details this classically trained violinist turned YouTube sensation's rise to stardom, from her childhood to America's Got Talent and all of the struggles in between.