The Four Profound Weaves

Otherwise Award Honor ListWorld Fantasy Award FinalistNebula, Locus, and Ignyte Awards FinalistTwo transgender elders must learn to weave from Death in order to defeat an evil ruler―in the debut full-length work set in R. B. Lemberg’s award-winning queer fantasy Birdverse universe“The Four Profound Weaves is the anti-authoritarian, queer-mystical fairy tale we need right now.”―Annalee Newitz, author of The Future of Another Timeline“A beautiful, heartfelt story of change, family, identity, and courage.”―Library Journal, starred reviewThe Surun’ nomads do not speak of the master weaver, Benesret, who creates the cloth of bone for assassins in the Great Burri Desert. But aged Uiziya must find her aunt in order to learn the final weave, although the price for knowledge may be far too dear to pay.Among the Khana in the springflower city of Iyar, women travel in caravans to trade, while men remain in the inner quarter, as scholars. A nameless man struggles to embody Khana masculinity, after many years of performing the life of a woman, trader, wife, and grandmother.As his past catches up, the nameless man must choose between the life he dreamed of and Uiziya―while Uiziya must discover how to challenge the evil Ruler of Iyar, and to weave from deaths that matter.In this breathtaking debut set in R. B. Lemberg’s beloved Birdverse, The Four Profound Weaves offers a timeless chronicle of claiming one's identity in a hostile world.About the Birdverse: The Birdverse is the creation of fantasy author R. B. Lemberg. It is a complex, culturally diverse world, with a range of LGBTQIA characters and different family configurations. Named after its deity, Bird, Birdverse shorter works have been nominated for the Nebula, Hugo, Tiptree award, and Rhysling awards. The Four Profound Weaves is the first full-length work set in the Birdverse.

Library Journal [STARRED REVIEW]

“Birdverse” universe, presents a beautiful, heartfelt story of change, family, identity, and courage. Centering two older transgender protagonists in the midst of emotional and physical journeys highlights the deep, meaningful prose that Lemberg always brings to their stories.”

Publishers Weekly [STARRED REVIEW]

“Lemberg writes deeply considered, evocative portraits of their characters, handling sexuality and gender especially well. This diverse, folkloric fantasy world is a delight to visit.

Foreword

“R. B. Lemberg spins a world of singing gods, desert nomads, and magic humming in the wind . . . Impressive world building renders the shifting hues of the desert sands and the cold stone of The Collector’s palace in tight prose.”

Patricia McKillip, author of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

“The Four Profound Weaves contains imagery that glows on the page.”

Ms. Magazine

“What a treat: the full-length debut set in R.B. Lemberg’s super-queer Birdverse universe! It’s a wonder of identity, evolution and bravery in a time when we need it most."

Jewelle Gomez, author of The Gilda Stories

“A complex and mystical journey toward friendship, family, and love.”

Fran Wilde, author of The Bone Universe

“R. B. Lemberg’s lyrical skill, combined with unforgettable characters and the magic of the Birdverse makes a stunning fabric over which this story plays beautifully.”

Trans Narrative, L. A. Lanquist

“Go read this story, tell it to your friends, and help us get to that future that we so desperately need.”

Isaac R. Fellman, author of The Breath of the Sun

“Let this be your introduction to R.B.'s world of song carpets, deepnames, and deserts full of roving lovers.”

Kate Elliott, author of Court of Fives

“I am staggered by the richness and intricacy of R. B. Lemberg’s imagination. The Four Profound Weaves is an intense and emotional story of a journey of change, growth, and courage.”

M. Crane Hana, author of The Purist

“Both sweet and fierce, devastating and gentle in its truths.”

C. S. E. Cooney, author of Bone Swans, Stories

“The Four Profound Weaves is a jewel-bright tile in [Lemberg’s] ongoing mosaic.”

Nino Cipri, author of Homesick

“In reading this story about recognition and transformation, I felt recognized and transformed. It’s fantastic alchemy on Lemberg’s part, and their love and labor shines off the page.”

Locus

“Lemberg’s gorgeous prose sets The Four Profound Weaves apart as one of the most beautifully written fantasies of the year.”

Washington Post

“A balm and a call to arms . . . Thoughtful and deeply moving, The Four Profound Weaves is the anti-authoritarian, queer-mystical fairy tale we need right now.” ―Annalee Newitz, author of The Future of Another Timeline ] "A haunting literary fantasy about the fluidity of gender and much else.”

Maria Haskins, author of Odin’s Eye

“If the plot is the warp of a story, then the weft of this novella is Lemberg’s exquisitely crafted, luminescent prose.”

Jason Sanford, author of Sublimation Angels

“When I finished this novella I cried because it was so joyful and beautiful and moving that for the first time in a long while I caught a glimpse of the path forward.”

Deborah J. Ross, author of Collaborators

“Lusciously detailed world-building and gorgeous language.”

SYFY Wire

“Both ethereal and ephemeral: graceful, delicately wrought, and fleeting.”

Scott H. Andrews, editor of Beneath Ceaseless Skies

“A brilliantly profound and poignant quest, through haunting desert and intricate city and terrifying dungeon, that's truly about people and change.”

Strange Horizons

“For me, the greatest fantasies―the works that I want to reread again and again―both provide a window onto ourselves and our own world and also transcend what we think we know and understand. The works I reread, and want to share, provide moments that open my chest to existence. The Four Profound Weaves does this often.”

SFRA Review

“Remarkable in its truths about the changing nature of life, poetic in its prose, and profound in its understanding of humanity.”

Traveling in Books

“With elegant prose and an understanding of human nature in all its genders, Lemberg weaves a golden tale of human longing, friendship, and hope.”

The Fantasy Hive

“Modern speculative fiction at its best, exploring important issues through compelling characters, fantastic settings, and exciting stories.”

Beauty in Ruins

“Powerful, magical, lyrical, and beautifully original”

The Novel Approach

“Theirs is a story of survival and triumph, of redemption and transition, and Lemberg delivers it in a deeply woven, and obviously personal, narrative.”

Chain Interaction

“A delightful world, nuanced representation of trans characters and a gorgeous story.”

Nonstop Reader

“5/5 stars. This will certainly be touted as a queer nonbinary transformational story (and it is that), but it's so much more.”

Traveling in Books

“Lemberg weaves a golden tale of human longing, friendship, and hope.”

The Temz Review

“It is a work that promotes hope and healing, and it is one of those rare books that can be accurately termed deeply wise.”

RT Book Reviews

“A richly imagined world of magic and transformation, in a story that explores gender identity and the power of storytelling.”

RevUU Magazine

“A beautiful debut masterpiece of inclusivity and diversity . . . The Four Profound Weaves already has established itself as a queer must-read.”

Middle Shelf

“Lemberg has told with subtlety a delicate tale of hope, change and resistance. It is, without a doubt, one of the finest stories published in 2020.”

New York Journal of Books

“The Four Profound Weaves is a beautifully articulated exploration of queer identity and transformation. Lemberg’s prose is rhythmic and haunting.”

Book Description

Review mailings to leading trade publications; ARCs available via NetGalley, Edelweiss, and GoodreadsReview copies to leading newspaper book reviewers, fantasy blogs, publications, and leading LGBTQIA publications Flier offering course adoption review copy to top 100 university gender/queer lit programs Social media rollout to include blog and podcast tours, Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA), alongside author and publisher push on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads, and Book launch events at The Raven (Lawrence, KS), Writers with Drinks (San Francisco), and Borderlands Books (San Francisco), with additional local publicity push

About the Author

R. B. Lemberg is a queer, bigender immigrant from Eastern Europe and Israel. Their stories and poems have appeared in Lightspeed Magazine’s Queers Destroy Science Fiction!, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Uncanny Magazine, Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology, and many other venues. R.B.’s work has been a finalist for the Nebula, Crawford, and other awards. You can find more of their work on their Patreon (patreon.com/rblemberg) and a full bio at rblemberg.net

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