The Four Profound Weaves
The Surun’ do not speak of the master weaver, Benesret, who creates the cloth of bone for assassins in the Great Burri Desert. But Uiziya now seeks her aunt Benesret in order to learn the final weave, although the price for knowledge may be far too dear to pay.
Among the Khana, 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 the past catches up to the nameless man, he must choose between the life he dreamed of and Uiziya, and Uiziya must discover how to challenge a tyrant, and weave from deaths that matter.
2021 Nebula Award Finalist
2021 Ignyte Award Finalist
2021 Locus Award Finalist
Buzzfeed Best Book Releases of the Week
Publishers Weekly 2020 Top-10 Fall SF, Fantasy, and Horror
Book Riot 10 Great Adult LBGTQ+ Fantasy Books of 2020
Foreword Book of the Day
Autostraddle Queer and Feminist Books Coming Your Way in 2020
[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
[STARRED REVIEW] “Lemberg’s outstanding debut . . . expands on the short stories of the Birdverse that they have been publishing for about a decade . . . 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. (Sept.)
—Publishers Weekly
[STARRED REVIEW] “”R. B. Lemberg spins a world of singing gods, desert nomads, and magic humming in the wind in The Four Profound Weaves . . . Impressive world building renders the shifting hues of the desert sands and the cold stone of The Collector’s palace in tight prose. Social structures and customs are relayed with the same deft hand; the free, accepting atmosphere of the desert and its people ends at Iyar’s stifling walls.”
—Foreword
“Go read this story, tell it to your friends, and help us get to that future that we so desperately need.”
—Trans Narrative
“R.B. Lemberg writes with a luminous pen, spraying light all around their words and ideas. They create a universe where carpets and cloaks bear history and the future. A perilous chase, with assassins and gods in pursuit, reveals the fluidity of life by following the threads—both bright and dark—that weave together to create a complex and mystical journey toward friendship, family, and love.”
—Jewelle Gomez, author, The Gilda Stories
“R. B. Lemberg’s The Four Profound Weaves tells the journey of a pair of aged and appealing wanderers searching for magic, art, identity, and peace. Thought-challenging points-of-view weave together stark violence, intricate powers, and the musings of long and complicated lives. The Four Profound Weaves contains imagery that glows on the page.”
—Patricia McKillip, author of the Riddle-Master Trilogy and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
“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.”
—Kate Elliott, author of the Court of Fives trilogy
“R. B. Lemberg’s The Four Profound Weaves takes the reader on a deeply resonant journey of transformation and strength. Lemberg’s lyrical skill, combined with unforgettable characters and the magic of the Birdverse makes a stunning fabric over which this story plays beautifully.”
—Fran Wilde, author of The Bone Universe and The Gemworld series
“This story, very poetically, holds a mirror to society. It discusses the nuances of the trans experience and made me assess things I hadn’t previously known or understood. It has had a profound impact on me. . . . The fifth profound weave is the way Lemberg takes feelings about gender, love and family, aging, and death and weaves them together into this captivating story.”
—A Bookish Reader