Yoke of Stars by R.B. Lemberg

TL;DR: Incredibly heavy and beautiful, R.B. Lemberg does it again. This time exploring identity and translation and how these things can irrevocably change each other and ourselves.
Source: The publisher! Many many thanks, I love these books!

Plot: Stone Orphan is an assassin for hire who is waiting for her first contract when Ulín arrives. Ulín has stories but perhaps not the contract she expected.
Characters: Both characters were lovely and I really enjoyed them both but for me Ulín was the stronger of the two as her story was the most involved.
Setting: The framing of the story was in the School of Assassins but the narratives both characters presented were well drawn and beautiful.
Magic: This is the only thing I had questions on. Flicker is used quite a bit and I believe it the world for teleport, but I wish I knew for sure.

Thoughts:

R.B. Lemberg writes some of the most beautiful works, I’m just going to go ahead and tell you that continues here. This is the story of Stone Orphan and Ulín, who meet at the School of Assassins. Ulín was drawn to the school to purchase a contract, an assassin, and Stone Orphan is determined to fulfill that for her. Unfortunately Ulín is not entirely sure who she needs to be assassinated and the two exchange stories to determine this. This is novel is their stories and how ultimately the intertwine and come together.

This story focuses on translation and identity. Stone Orphan is from the siltway, a tight and confining community. She was driven from her community by her own desire to find more, and she must learn to translate and acclimate to a new world. While Ulín’s story is one of abuse and trauma. Both are heavy, Ulín’s especially, but they both focuses on the characters finding themselves through the worst of things. We also get some larger story work with exploration of Ladder and the School of Assassins, something we’ve seen teases and glimpses of in previous books.

I always recommend R.B. Lemberg’s work, it’s fantastic. But I have to say, even more so than previous books, this is heavy. Be kind to yourself. These characters explore themes of betrayal, marital abuse, loss of body autonymy, familiar abuse, and more. The pay off is beautiful and well worth the time and effort though.

5 out 5 beautiful falling stars