Nebula and Locus award finalist Lemberg returns us to the Birdverse with this powerful collection of poems and stories. "In the Birdverse, a magic loosely based in geometry is a source of craftsmanship, art, protection and healing. Multiple cultures and countries engage in trade relationships and political alliances. Cultures make use of magic according to their own traditions and rules, and worship the deity Bird, in whichever feathered from Bird takes. And within these countries and cultures, individuals hurt and are hurt, heal and are healed." - Bookslut
R.B. Lemberg is a queer, bigender immigrant from Eastern Europe to the US. R.B.'s Birdverse novella The Four Profound Weaves (Tachyon, 2020) is a finalist for the Nebula, Ignyte, Locus, and World Fantasy awards, as well as an Otherwise Award honoree. R.B.'s poetry memoir Everything Thaws will be published by Ben Yehuda Press in 2022. Their stories and poems have appeared in Lightspeed Magazine’s Queers Destroy Science Fiction!, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, We Are Here: Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020, Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology, and many other venues. You can find R.B. on Twitter at @rb_lemberg, on Patreon at http://patreon.com/rblemberg, and at their websites rblemberg.net and birdverse.net.
Apparently, the only way I like short stories are single-author, single-world collections. And this one was brilliant. From more serious, beautiful short stories about belonging and love like The Book of How to Live to the wonderfully whimsical and humorous The Splendid Goat Adventure (also one of the two epistolary stories!), to The Book of Seed and the Abyss which is structured like academic discourse that becomes something more, to poetry, to stories that tie into other Birdverse works, the collection is varied, experimental in structure, and thoroughly queer and neurodivergent. Most highly recommended.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this one. I knew it was going to be a collection of poems and stories set in a shared universe with “a magic based in geometry”, overseen by “the deity Bird and all its incarnations”, and that there would be a lot of LGBT+ characters. I ended up quite enjoying it – especially the neurodivergent rep, as I’ll discuss below - but was a little lost for a while. So here is what to expect, if you are looking to give this a try!
“I will show you a single treasure from the treasures of the Ruler of Iyar” and “Grandmother-nai-Leylit’s cloth of winds” – The poem is essentially the backstory to the short story, though it gets explained in a more comprehensible way in the latter. Our narrator, who we eventually learn is named Aviya (for now, anyway), belongs to a culture where women are traders who roam the deserts and men are scholars secluded behind walls. But Aviya and her relatives don’t quite fit. One of her two grandmothers has always longed to be a man, and often does mannish things like inventing gadgets. Her little brother Kimi is barred from joining the men’s realm because he can barely speak…and thus is re-labeled as a girl. . And Aviya has no deepname. She seemingly accepts these differences when she decides to partner with just (girl)friend Gitit and set out on a journey with her and Kimi along with an invisible cloth of wind belonging to her grandmother to investigate its source. But it turns out she has some more accepting to do, and Gitit has some insecurities of her own.
“The desert glassmaker and the jeweler of Berevyar” An epistolary short story, where love blossoms between two artists as they share letters and their creations across the world.
“The book of seed and the abyss” Told in alternating short quotes from different books or documents, this gives a sense of what different cultures in this world believe about the origins and power of language. Reminds me of kabbalah and golem folklore.
“The splendid goat adventure” Another epistolary story, but much funnier, focusing on a student’s search for magical goats. That the goats turn out to be is hilarious to me in a somewhat similar way to Some of us can take ourselves too seriously, especially those who work for universities with over 100 years of accumulated tradition and pomposity…and seeing the sillier side of that satirized is kinda cathartic. I can also sympathize with the instructor, who is like:
“Three principles of strong building” A poem about magical construction, I think. I didn’t really understand it.
“The book of how to live” One of the stories with the strongest real-world parallels, this focuses on a non-magical artificer who hopes to be admitted to university as a student, and a kindred spirit from the culture of the first story. “If the work is to benefit many, then it belongs to many, and many must engage in it…She would need to go back to the quarter, to speak to the magicless artificers…her allies. The named strong in her family were not allies…The work was teaching her how to live.”
“Geometries of belonging” Oof, this one hit even harder! Here, our narrator is a healer. His many-syllabled deepnames are considered weak, but in fact they are perfect for delicately nudging the mind back into alignment. This one gets into issues like the immorality of both conversion therapy and wars of choice, which feels very timely. And, being in the middle of revisiting the Whole Cake Island arc of One Piece, this bit resonated: “We all are vessels of our brokenness…And what is wholeness if not brokenness encompassed in acceptance, the warmth of its power a shield against those who would hurt us? ‘The world is wide,’ I say. ‘There are other places where you can learn about deepnames.’”
“Ranra’s unbalancing” and “Where your quince trees grow” Another pairing of poem backstory and short story. I don’t know that I quite understand these, but I enjoyed the themes of exiles finding a home and what it means to belong to the land.
“Mirrored mappings” A poem that leads us back to the desert where this journey began.
I’ve been very happy recently to find more fiction books by autistic writers featuring characters that reflect their experience, such asBe the Sea,The Death of Jane Lawrence, and The Spirit Bares Its Teeth. Of course, reflecting the author (or my) direct experience does tend to mean that most are some variant of “low support needs”. So I was impressed to see the wide range of identifiably autistic characters depicted here (and also I think some other neurodivergences, such as ADHD, but I'm not as confident in my diagnoses there). They are all different, not just in their support needs and in the specific set of typically autistic traits they exhibit but in their personalities and interests. And yet – as I often find in the real world – each one had at least one thing I relate to: The way Kimi is visibly more relaxed in the wilderness than the noisy city; the way Dedei lights up when they are talking about their special interest; the way Efronia finds people exhaustingly complicated but finds solace in doing her intellectually complex work well…and hopes that will be enough to be accepted, even if she messes up in other ways. Etc. The queer rep is good, too – though I admit I was hoping it was going to be a more “queer normative” world! Some countries are in some ways, but there is definitely more of the struggle represented in others. And that is good too – but it is best to go in expecting that!
I actually love this collection so much. I think r.b. lemberg's birdverse is secretly winning the fantasy genre for me right now. the writing is lovely, the stylistic transitions are handled deftly, and the worldbuilding is gorgeous, ornate, and unique. I wish lemberg was more widely read right now because their work deals with the questions of identity (specifically through queer and disabled characters) that so much of contemporary fantasy is trying to address, but they do it with a nuance, complexity, genuine thoughtfulness, and stylistic flair that hardly anyone else in this literary sphere is even approaching.
This is a collection for the adventurers, the explorers, for those who will not accept the rules the world is built upon and for those who are searching for more in this beautiful, magical world.
Geometries of Belonging is a collection of short prose fiction and poetry that is set in the same universe as The Four Profound Weaves and The Unbalancing as well as many author pieces Lemberg has published over the years. The Birdverse is a sandbox full of treasures that you as the reader get to discover which each new story you pick up. It's almost like each story is another puzzle piece that helps you understand this world and the people in it better. It's absolutely possible to start your journey here if you have yet to dive into this world though I think the novella might help contextualize this collection more.
As expected, this collection is unapologetically queer, the characters are already fully realized and sometimes even people you recognize from other stories. What strikes me as especially well done is the yearning for progress and discovery that is shared between many of the pieces. The Birdverse is not yet fully mapped, not every mystery is uncovered and the knowledge about deepnames and other such things is not shared equally. So it makes perfect sense that we dive deeper into these discrepancies, touch upon those inequalities but also rejoice as the characters find incredible new places, learn new things and let their emotions guide them.
I will show you a single treasure from the treasures of the Ruler of Iyar | ★★★★★ Grandmother-nai-Leylit’s Cloth of Winds | ★★★★✩ The Desert Glassmaker and the Jeweler of Berevyar | ★★★✩✩ The Book of Seed and the Abyss | ★★★★✩ The Splendid Goat Adventure | ★★★★★ Three Principles of Strong Building | ★★★✩✩ The Book of How to Live | ★★★★✩ Geometries of Belonging | ★★★✩✩ Ranra’s Unbalancing | ★★★★✩ Where Your Quince Trees Grow | ★★★✩✩ Mirrored Mapping | ★★★✩✩
I received an advanced reading copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
A world with unique cultures, some with strict sex and gender roles and others being far freer. Magic is based on having one or more names of varying length. the shortest being the most powerful but least controllable. Tech makes broad use of magic, one radical wants to make machines without magic so everyone can use them. Not your usual fantasy, it suffers the usual problems of short stories, too short! The author has a full length novel, might be pretty good.
Received an eARC from the author Content warnings: In-universe prejudice, discussions of war, grief
The Birdverse is among the richest worlds I have ever been given the gift of visiting. Between The Four Profound Weaves and The Unbalancing, it is evident that this is a wholly realized world with its only political structures and magic system. This latest excursion, a collection of short stories and poems, really bring forth that incredibly unique creativity. Told in a multitude of styles, from missives to annotations to more structured tales, this collection offers an invitation to a world ruled by the magic of names and where the land responds to the human activity happening in its space.
The thing that will stay with me most about these stories and this world is the profound respect Lemberg shows towards people who work in crafts, from weaving to glassmaking to other forms “practical artistry.” Those characters carry the same weight as do the warlords and bureaucrats. There’s also an element of academia that comes into play which makes this such a refreshing world to read. War isn’t the primary plot driver, though it does inform backstories and linger in the background. That being said, Lemberg brings a unique voice and perspective to fantasy, and I’m glad that there are so many stories within the Birdverse.
Here are my favorites:
“The Desert Glassmaker and the Jeweler” *A story told in letters exchanged between a glassmaker and a jeweler *Really showcase the incredible richness of the world of the Birdverse and shows a deep respect for those who make physical pieces of art
“The Three Principles of Strong Building” * Sets the tone for the remainder of the collection * A seemingly rigid framework for the way deepnames and their balancing are constructed, told in verse almost like a scripture * Of course, deconstruction immediately follows
“The Book of How to Live” * This feels like fantasy academia but in the context of gatekeeping around specific forms of magic * Compelling in the way that it navigates a clash of mindsets and explores the roles people are assigned and the roles they make for themselves
“Geometries of Belonging” * A healer with strict rules about using healing helps a child break free from their parents and, at the same time, prevent a war * Really stretches and defines the limits of deepname magic, including introductions of how * CW: grief, references to deceased family, in-universe prejudice, attempted conversion therapy
“Where Your Quince Trees Grow” * Justifiable and justified rage encapsulated in a short story about a narrator stealing a quince * The placement of this one after “Ranra’s Unbalancing” is absolutely brilliant * CW: displacement as a result of war
NOMINATED FOR THE 2023 URSULA K. LE GUIN PRIZE FOR FICTION
“We all are vessels of our brokenness, we carry it inside us like water, careful not to spill.”
Everybody is broken in Lemberg's Birdverse, and no book showcases this more than GEOMETRIES OF BELONGING. Most people in these stories and poems very much don't belong in their world. Gender and linguistics have always played a prominent role in the Birdverse stories but it felt most explicit here. Lemberg does unique stuff with the genre that I can only be astonished by and respect.
And yet... There's always something off about their style, making it a chore to read, as much as I want to love it. I had this problem with THE FOUR PROFOUND WEAVES (where I was reading it and didn't very much understand any of it) and found THE UNBALANCING to be more readable, but I once again had to power through it. A shame, because Lemberg seems like they should be one of my favourite writers.
This is a collection of stories and poems in a shared universe and I found the pieces of varying interest. My favourite is the entertaining story called The Splendid Goat Adventure. There were a few others I found engaging and moving. As a whole, I feel like I understand this universe a bit better now as well which I had been hoping would happen eventually as I read more stories in this world. It's a strange and varied place with different attitudes and cultures and identities explored with layers.
Having read this collection, I am so completely hooked on the Birdverse now. I love Lemberg's writing, and their characters, and the different societies, and so many other things (like the academia stories!).
For many years now, I've had a list of media (mostly books) that I want to get to, and "Birdverse stories" is one of the earliest items on this list. It must be from the middle of grad school or something. I think until this year all I'd read was "Grandmother-nai-Leylit's Cloth of Winds" in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, which I really liked. But now that I've read a novella, a novel, and GEOMETRIES OF BELONGING (very helpful to have a whole bunch of stories collected in one volume!), I feel immersed in the richness of this world! I loved realizing where a story fit into history compared to another story I'd just read. It made me think, Oh, wow, if those characters knew what was to come... I don't feel like I have a perfect grasp of every land and every culture in the Birdverse (and in a vast world I probably shouldn't!), but at the same time the universe feels accessible. After just a few stories, you start to draw connections, and certain references are familiar. I wholeheartedly recommend this collection.
This was a wonderful short story and poetry collection of queer sff. All set in the same unique universe it was interesting to explore the rich setting through the eyes of the characters. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the novel by R.B. Lemberg. But I think that's just cause I prefer novels. But so lovely to see queer and trans people in these stories.
Rating collections is so hard. The two stories in here that I really liked were the two longest: "Grandmother-nai-Leylit's Cloth of Winds" and "Geometries of Belonging" because they both felt like they had enough space for their characters to breath and struggle and grow through the questions of belonging and identity that is the biggest theme in this book.
A stunning collection of short fiction and poetry that links tales across the mysterious but fascinating Birdverse. Tales of love, art, healing and change abound. An absolutely fascinating and powerful read I strongly recommend
Odd. Not a story, but a collection of pieces, that leans toward a story, but never lands.
Smart, interesting writing, compelling characters. But just a collection of anecdotes. I got interested in the characters, and wanted to know more, but it's not there. A little disappointing.
The beginning was a bit difficult to grasp & understand, but it became increasingly interesting. This is the 1st book of the "series" I saw at the library. I am now on my way to get the series, then I will revisit this compendium again, with much anticipation.
The gender pronoun system mentioned in this story is very much like the way I would design pronouns from scratch for a language. Love Lemberg's world-building.