An apprentice assassin and an inquisitive linguist trade interwoven tales in order to enact revenge. Ukrainian author R. B. Lemberg (The Four Profound Weaves) returns...

An apprentice assassin and an inquisitive linguist trade interwoven tales in order to enact revenge. Ukrainian author R. B. Lemberg (The Four Profound Weaves) returns to their legendary Birdverse in an ode to the transformative power of storytelling.

"Haunting, nuanced, and hopeful, Yoke of Stars is essential reading."
--Izzy Wasserstein, author of These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart

In the School of Assassins, Stone Orphan waits for a first assignment. After their first kill, they will graduate and attain the coveted cloth of bone. But instead of a commission, Stone Orphan gets an inquisitive linguist, Ul?n. Ul?n has heard the Orphan Star's song of despair, mirroring her own, and drawing her to the School of Assassins. But Ul?n is far more interested in learning Stone Orphan's language than deciding whom she wishes to kill.

Unable to contain their curiosity, Stone Orphan offers to exchange stories with Ul?n to help her decide the fate of three men. By turns, Stone Orphan and Ul?n narrate tales of love, suffering, exile, and self-determination, and two wounded souls find hope in each other through the radical act of listening.