PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
R. B. Lemberg is a queer, bigender immigrant from Eastern Europe and Israel. Their stories and poems have appeared in Queers Destroy Science Fiction!, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Uncanny Magazine, Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology, and many other venues. Lemberg's work has been a finalist for the Nebula, Crawford, and other awards. Their debut Birdverse novella, The Four Profound Weaves, came out from Tachyon in 2020; the novella was nominated for the World Fantasy, Locus, Nebula, and Ignyte awards and it was selected for the Otherwise Award Honor List. You can find more of their work on their Patreon (patreon.com/rblemberg) and a full bio at rblemberg.net.
In a narrative by turns gentle and implacable, Lemberg writes movingly and magnificently about disaster, survival, and hope. --Kate Elliott, author of the Crown of Stars series The lush lyricism of the mythology, culture and history in The Unbalancing is illustrious and transportive. It's an enchanting world of star lore, magic and gender identity with a roster of heartfelt characters told with such rich prose that kept me rooting for Ranra. --Tlotlo Tsamaase, The Silence of the Wilting Skin Lemberg's stories embrace truths that we are afraid to confront: that sometimes failure is inevitable, but that hopeful futures can still be found amid the destruction. Despair, love, survival, death, identity, and community are intimately intertwined in the Birdverse. This is one of the most beautiful and important books I've read this year. --Nibidita Sen, Hugo, Nebula, and Ignyte Award-nominated author R. B Lemberg's Birdverse is one of my favorite places to visit, full of queer possibilities and deep emotional and philosophical musings. In The Unbalancing they give us wonder, devastation, resilience, and love. Lemberg's poetic voice makes even the harshest explorations of loss beautiful, and manages to balance grief and horror with hope and joy. --Julia Rios, Hugo Award-winning editor of Uncanny Magazine The Unbalancing is the latest glimpse into the great tapestry of Birdverse, and it's inspiring and contemplative and hot and tense. It finds a group of queer nerds thrust into a place of power, tasked with the impossible, and faced with the legacy of loss, despair, and inaction. Through that, though, they find strength in each other to act, and to reach for an outcome that might not be victory, but which isn't entirely defeat. It's a beautiful and nuanced work about love, power, and magic. --Quick Sip Reviews Reading this book is like diving into the most beautiful language exploring various aspects of human possibility. Everything in this book is so fluid from the words, the setting itself, but also the characters--the way they think, the way they feel, and the way they present. --Infinite Text Praise for The Four Profound Weaves Buzzfeed Best Book Releases of the Week Publishers Weekly 2020 Top-10 Fall SF, Fantasy, and Horror Autostraddle Queer and Feminist Books Coming Your Way in 2020Ms. Magazine Reads for the Rest of Us 2020 Washington Post Gift Guide 2020 UK Independent Gift Guide The Four Profound Weaves contains imagery that glows on the page. --Patricia A. McKillip, author of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld [STARRED REVIEW] Nebula-nominated Lemberg's first novella, set in their deeply queer Birdverse universe, presents a beautiful, heartfelt story of change, family, identity, and courage. --Library Journal Thoughtful and deeply moving, The Four Profound Weaves is the anti-authoritarian, queer-mystical fairy tale we need right now. --Annalee Newitz, author of Autonomous and The Future of Another Timeline [STARRED REVIEW] Lemberg's outstanding debut novel expands on the short stories of the Birdverse that they have been publishing for about a decade . . . This diverse, folkloric fantasy world is a delight to visit. --Publishers Weekly R.B. Lemberg writes with a luminous pen, spraying light all around their words and ideas. --Jewelle Gomez, author, The Gilda Stories
