This book has a lot going for it and does a huge service to nonbinary representation.ĭisclosure: I received an ARC from Tachyon for the purpose of review. I have a weakness for ships and nautical folklore and this novel very much felt like being inside a dream experiencing these elements while a skilled bard spins beautifully threaded words. Lemberg creates magic even when they describe a simple act like brushing one’s hair-the act itself transcends and comes across as ceremonial: “found my box of olive wood, edged in brass and rarely used, and I applied potions and powders until my naturally dark hair was bleached bone-white.” The combination of superior language use with all the nautical elements works so well: “I often was tempted to let simply flicker, like tiny lighthouses calling ships to the shore.” The play on words feels like you’re inside a poet’s playground. 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. Reading this book is like diving into the most beautiful language exploring various aspects of human possibility. While the plot has a lot going for it, in this review I simply have to gush over the language. There are ghosts, there is magic, and many many nautical elements.
This book is set in an archipelago in a queer Atlantis focusing on many nonbinary characters and exploring the deepnames in the Birdverse present in The Four Profound Weaves with the addition of romance. The Unbalancing is rooted in the mystical cosmology, neurodiversity, and queerness that infuses Lemberg’s lyrical prose. For Ranra and Lilun, their story is just beginning for the people of Gelle-Geu, it may well be too late to save their home.
An unforeseen configuration of their magical deepnames illuminates the trouble under the tides. When Ranra and Lilun meet, sparks begin to fly. Semberi insists upon telling Lilun mysterious tales of the deliverance of the stars by the goddess Bird.
Meanwhile, the poet Erígra Lilún, who merely wants to be left alone, is repeatedly asked by their ancestor Semberi to take over the starkeeping helm. The celebrated new starkeeper Ranra Kekeri, who is preoccupied by the increasing tremors, confronts the problems left behind by her predecessor. Beneath the waters by the islands of Gelle-Geu, a star sleeps restlessly.
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