“Bursts with love and insights on food, music, inheritance, and transformation.”
New York Times
A BookRiot Pick of Best SFF Books of the Year
A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2021 in Science Fiction
One of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2021
An Indie Next List Selection
Winner of the Alex Award
Winner of the Stonewall Book Award
Finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Novel
Finalist for the Locus Award for Fantasy
Among shortlisted titles for Hugo Award - Nominee, 2022
Among shortlisted titles for L.A. Times Book Prize - Finalist, 2022
Among longlisted titles for Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, 2021
Winner of ALA Alex Awards Winner (Adult for Young Adults), 2022
Among longlisted titles for NYPL Best Books of the Year, 2021
Among shortlisted titles for Hugo Award - Nominee, 2022
Among shortlisted titles for L.A. Times Book Prize - Finalist, 2022
Among longlisted titles for Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, 2021
Winner of ALA Alex Awards Winner (Adult for Young Adults), 2022
Among longlisted titles for NYPL Best Books of the Year, 2021
"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.
Praise