Four elements bear unique powers when woven but become something even greater when woven together in R.B. Lemberg's The Four Profound Weaves.

The reputation of the master weaver Benseret has left many people fearing her and unwilling to say her name, though they appreciate her immensely powerful abilities. Her niece, Uiziya, had learned three of the four weaves from her aunt and has long sought to learn the fourth, the weave of death. Setting out to find her to learn the final weave, Uiziya meets up with a nameless man who spent a majority of their life as a Khana woman, trading and obscuring their magical abilities, before transforming into who they felt they really were. As the pair journey and search out Benseret, their travels, experiences, and pasts highlight for them what they might have to sacrifice in order to gain what they're seeking and whether they're willing to do so.

This novel presents some fascinating concepts and explores important topics of gender identities and acceptance, expected and accepted roles within communities, and the integral and connecting power that stories wield, not to mention the impressive diversity of representation within the characters of this world. I personally found the writing difficult to work through, as if it were resisting me making progress through the story as it initially meandered from place to place; being new to the Birdverse, and despite some good world-building and establishment of how magic functions within this society, it felt as if there were aspects to it that a reader is expected to already know that are important to attaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of the world and story. With the narrative focused on the alternating perspectives of Uiziya and the nameless man their characters are fairly well realized; however, there were characters that weren't very deeply developed, such as Benseret and the Collector, which left me quite curious about their lives and motivations instead of those of the main two characters.

Overall, I'd give it a 3 out of 5 stars.

What a fantastic novel!! I had so much fun reading this novel, and absolutely loved the characters. The book itself was well-written which made the world and characters so rich. 4 stars!

This excellent novella is best read as a follow-up to the author's Nebula-finalist novelette, "Grandmother-nai-Leylit’s Cloth of Winds" <http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/grandmother-nai-leylits-cloth-of-winds/>, but can be enjoyed separately if you are a reader with the patience to read between the lines. It is a beautiful desert-set fantasy featuring older characters and a compelling magic system that explores cultural differences in response to gender diversity. Cultures in this secondary world appear to be broadly accepting of queer and poly relationships, but while some welcome nonbinary and trans identities, others don't. This novella is character-driven and rewarding to read.

**ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

First, let me say that I liked the simplicity of the cover. This was an amazing story and very clever. The world building was great and imaginative yet with a cultural aspect. I really liked the character development and exploration of being newly transgendered regardless of age, and trying to figure out where one fits in according to societal standards. I liked the inclusion of bigender as well and how it was done in a way to be thoughtful and allow the reader the space to reflect on their own beliefs. I put it at 4 stars because there were times where the pacing was slow for me and I felt like I was pushing myself through it. Overall, the story was done very well.

Absolutely gorgeous novella from, apparently, an established literary world and associated series (prior knowledge of the world or the series is in no way needed). Set in a dual-god magical world with similarities to areas of the middle east (perhaps the author's former home in Israel?) the Four Profound Waves explores themes of gender identity, belonging, love, control, freedom, longing, choice, and art. I'll be looking for more by this author in the future for sure!

"This book speaks of change, of wanderlust, of hope; and of death.

We follow our two MCs- Uiziya, who has learned the first three of the four profound weaves, now ventures out into the desert, in search of her exiled aunt Benesret, in search of knowledge. To learn the fourth weave.
The nameless man who struggles with his identity. The identity that his society rejects. He seeks to acquire his name.

I enjoyed the book. That's all for my opinion. This whole review is 100% my opinion. [Other readers may disagree, apparently different people have different preferences] I will be following my template of the neutral, the disappointment, and then what I loved, to end it on a positive note.

This section of the review is dedicated to the aspects of the book that I do not care for. But I do know that some readers do; and they seek out these elements in their books. Some might consider this a spoiler, so watch out I guess.
- This book has a vague magic system, though it is consistent; The concepts of these magic and their ability is a bit difficult to grasp at least for me.
- It does not feature a present- romantic subplot. There are plenty who complain about romance in their Fantasy book. Good new for them.
- It contains the Man Vs. Society trope. Which is obvious that it would be included.

This section is dedicated to the aspects of the book that I personally didn't like, or which I think could have been done a bit better.
- The Ending. I had been dreading this since halfway through it. It is [in my humble opinion] a bit too prolonged. There was an attempt at reaching a certain depth which the book could have reached and even exceeded but alas! The purple prose strikes again.
- The World building. Don't get me wrong it's great. Like actually, genuinely great! However I [along with some others] am new to the Birdverse. And I'm sure there will be other readers who will be introduced to it, through this book. I felt that in only some places [not all], we are sort of expected to already know about some stuff. If not, then we will immediately see an action after the explanation of a concept. [Again, not in all of them, but only a few]. I wish these information would be more evenly spread out through out the book.
- *Mild spoilers* I would love to see a bit more character depth to Benesret, and The Collector. [He likes to preserve, but why?]. I would put it in the place where we are already expected to know. I'm sure this is explained in other books[e.g. The author has another book exploring Aviya's POV}, but it could be better if they had some significance in this book too, because as I said earlier, many readers are introduced to the Birdverse via this book.
To conclude my last two points, I'd say that this book is too short for it to achieve what I expected it to be.
- There is no sense of urgency, I mean yes there is, but I just could not feel it. The Characters went from one place to another and I went along with them.

This Section is dedicated to the aspects I loved.
- The Hook. OMG The Hook is just so good! I was invested in the book within the first 10 pages. It has a solid beginning. I really can't pinpoint to what hooked me, but it was really good.
- The Formatting of the book is a work of Art. So amazing. *Mild spoilers? Idk how formatting can be spoiler but I'm scared of angry readers, who decided to read long enough.* The book is divided into 4 parts. Each relating to a profound weave. The plot, the description, EVERYTHING fit into the theme of a certain part. I really don't have coherent words to describe it, I'll be here gushing all day about it, so moving on...
-The Representation. The MCs, are Trans, that's a given. Uziya is a darkskinned plus-sized woman, who actually has come to terms with her body and feels comfortable in it. Those who say that representation doesn't matter, have probably been represented enough times for it to not matter. I do not fall into any of the demographics, but I can still appreciate it. So I won't be talking about the "accuracy" of the representation. Leaving it to those who know what it's like.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a book with the aspects which I mentioned in the neutral territory, then you might want to check it out. Take the rest with a grain of salt, because it's just my preference. [it might be different from you!]. Happy reading. :D "


Link; https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3199028797

To the publisher: I think I saw, " A task of Razu", which I think is meant to be "tusk". You probably should check that.

In short, this is an amazing little book.

It stays in your mind like a bell, echoing long after the last page. It's a worthy addition to R.B. Lemberg's 'Birdverse' mythos, and a certain win for Tachyon Publications.

In The Four Profound Weaves, a transgendered man called the unnamed man and a transgendered woman named Uiziya take a journey together to find Uiziya’s aunt, who left them both behind many years ago with unfulfilled promises. The journey, however, is not without its dangers, and despite their advanced ages, both of the main characters still struggle with self-acceptance. While this is certainly a novel that seeks to address gender diversity, it also proves to be an interesting fantasy set in a complex magical world.

My biggest reluctance with The Four Profound Weaves is certainly the world development. There is some quite interesting magic in this world: deepnames appear to be spells that some can weave, with the shortest of the deepnames being the most powerful, and weaving uses deepnames to create magical cloth of many different purposes, including physical transformation of sex to match the individual’s gender. I definitely appreciated the magic system once I understood it, but I did not entirely understand how their magic works until about 3/4 of the way through the novel and that was a bit of a detractor for me. I admittedly had not realized that this was part of a group of novels set in the same world, so I may have understood the magic better if I had read some of the others, but I still think it is worthwhile to clarify the magic system early in a novel even if it is not the first of its kind.

The plot of The Four Profound Weaves seemed to wander for a good deal of the novel without the purpose becoming particularly clear. However, I enjoyed that aspect – it felt more organic to discover the plot as the characters did, and there was still enough conflict in the moment to hold my interest. Readers that prefer a strongly formed plot might find this to be a detractor, but I think most readers of fantasy would still stay interested. About halfway through the novel, the plot does solidify into something more structured with a clear end goal, so even readers that do not like the way that it wanders at the beginning will eventually find the structure they want.

Undoubtedly my favorite part of the novel is all the work that was put into the development of Uiziya and the nameless man. Through memory we have the opportunity to see both characters in many different stages of their lives, and the personal journeys that they both have taken is both inspiring and sympathetic. Uiziya has had an easier time with her own gender identification due to her culture’s open-minded perspective on gender fluidity, but the nameless man has struggled much more because his culture divides the sexes and does not acknowledge his transition, even after his physical sex is changed. I think this contrast makes an excellent point about how culture plays a role in everyone’s journey, and how painful it can be when your own family and friends refuse to accept you as you are. Of course the nameless man’s struggles alone would have been sympathetic, but comparing his life to Uiziya’s life highlights the importance of emotional support from loved ones.

In all, I will give The Four Profound Weaves a 7 out of 10. I think there is a lot of gender and cultural diversity in this novel that makes it worth the read if only for that, but the interesting magic system and the complex character development will add a lot for readers that do not read for diversity alone.

So this is an odd book. It's not like anything I've read before. At first I was a little confused and thought I wouldn't like it. But I really did, it was so emotional and the way the story was told was original and magical. I particularly loved "the nameless man". I would like to read it again in the future.

Title: The Four Profound Weaves: A Birdverse Book
Author: R.B. Lemberg
Genre: Fantasy, LGBTQ+
Rating: 5/5

If you care about someone strongly enough, if you listen hard to their stories, perhaps one day you will find yourself in that place.

I’ve struggled to find the right way to review this. After listening to those whose story is being told here I think I’ve found the right words.

First and foremost I would like to thank Edelweiss+ and NetGalley for a copy of the eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Writing

The writing style is stunning, it reminds me of folk tales like How the Leopard Got His Spots. It’s very poetic, which I know isn’t for everyone, but I feel like R.B. Lemberg manages to tread that careful balance without falling into trite cliche’s. It took me a long time to read because, although it was just over 100 pages long, a lot of storytelling was packed into its pages.

Plot

I haven’t explored the Birdverse before, but it forms a beautiful backdrop for this story of change. The story follows two elder changers, one from a community where gender roles are strictly reinforced and defined biologically, and the other from a nomadic community where gender is more fluid. As a changer, a man that has gone through the transformation, A Nameless Man struggles to find his place among his people. He travels as nen-sasaïr with his friend, Uiziya, also a changer. They start on a journey to find Uiziya’s aunt. In search of a name, and to learn the final of the four profound weaves: bone.

Overall

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, made me feel even more compassionate towards transgender individuals. These are the kinds of stories the world needs more of. This is a story of self-discovery, of friendship, of community, of the power of compassion. I’ve really struggled to find the words to express my deep admiration for this work. Truly, this book should be added to the school curriculum. It’s a beautiful, complex story, and it really takes you on an emotional journey.

Do not be afraid to be heard -- yes, even in your death -- for if your voice is heard, it is no longer possible to pretend that you do not exist.

Not to be dramatic, but my final thought is this: the fifth profound weave the way Lemberg takes feelings about gender, love and family, aging, and death and weaves them together into this captivating story.

This book is such a good book ! It is truly one of my favorite books of all times !
I love that it tackles queer characters without making it the sole central point of the book but without making it an anecdotic part either.
I love that it was about friendship, identity, self-love and self-care too. The nameless man sets off without warning his grandchildren, a bit selfishly and I love that ! Yes, we can put our mental health before other things ! It's a wonderful tale on finding oneself.
I love that the main characters are old, how refreshing !
I love the wonderful imagery, completely unfamiliar for me (probably inspired by middle eastern tales), so refreshing too, and beautiful !
I love the magic system, wich I never saw anything like anywhere else. It is so interesting and well done, like every aspect of the book.
I love the story, so perfect in every aspect.
It's finally time we have a beautiful queer fantasy like this. It's very clean and wonderfully written (the repetitions were not bothering, on the contrary it added a mystical feeling wich I appreciated). The praises at the beginning talk about a "luminous writing", I did not understand it but now I do, it is truly the right term. I cannot explain it but I can defenitely see the light in the prose.

WOW. I was so enthralled by this book I sacrificed three nights of sleep and then slept through two classes for it and am now on a quest to explore more of the Birdverse. If, like me, this is your first exposure to that realm, you are thrown right into this magical world in The Four Profound Weaves, but you learn as you go. It's delicious like that. I have put off this review for three days now because I wanted to write something more intelligent about this than I think I'm probably capable of at this point, but I can't. Mostly I just want everyone who likes this particular genre to read this. I don't want to compare R. B. Lemberg to anyone else because they stand on their own, but I do believe that anyone who enjoys writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia Butler will love this. That being said, I also want anyone who wants (or needs) a deeper understanding of queer, trans, and non-binary identity to read it. And also anyone who's ever loved someone whose true nature came out while they were with them. They should read this, too. And also people who would like to see more queer, trans and non-binary characters and people like themselves in books. Read this. The Birdverse is an enchanting place and I am now completely under its spell.

The Four Profound Weaves : A Birdverse Book by R.B. Lemberg, published by Tachyon Publications , is a story, unique and outstanding, a story like no other.
The story of two aged wanderers searching for magic,art and peace.
The author crafted a wonderful tale, a strange world I could get lost in, a world full of magic and art.
The story kept me in suspense from start til the end, is excellent written, beautifully thought out and beautifully told,
5 Stars.

The first half of the book was not interesting enough to influnce me into completing the novel. It is nicely written, but not overly engaging.

What a beautiful book.
What a unique book.
What a deeply queer book.
This book was many unexpected things - its prose, its characters, its shape. But all of them work perfectly together, creating a lyrical novella that is equal parts haunting and hopeful. It is a story and it is a poem; it is an adventure and it is a song. THE FOUR PROFOUND WEAVES is somehow all of these things and more.
It takes a little while to get into, but before you know it you're in over your head. This is a story about identity, a story about hope, and a story about revenge - and death. It is a story centered around two trans elders, both of whom have put off so much of their lives for too long.
Together, they have few fucks left to give and I have to admit I adored them. More stories with elderly protagonists, please, because they are as fierce as they are kind.
This was my introduction to the Birdverse, and certainly not the last I will read in it. If anything else in the Birdverse is quite as touching, hopeful, and true as this novella, then I think we're all lucky.

The Four Profound Weaves is the first Birdverse work I have read and I truly enjoyed it. It took me a few pages to get used to some of the terminology being used, but once I got into it I couldn't put it down. I love being able to see things from a different perspective, which is it part why I love reading so much, and this book certainly fulfilled that for me. It is a story of change, realization, hope, death, and awakening. I love the quota attention to detail, I do wish there was a little more description of the different lands/environments throughout, but truly it's not necessary for the understanding or enjoyment of the book. Highly recommended! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Astoundingly gorgeous. The characters were rich and complex, and the world a beautiful and terrible fairytale. I want to read everything Birdverse now.

The Four Profound Weaves: A Bird Verse Book will probably be a book like you haven't read before. It's a short but moving and beguiling read about love, death, and hope. The unique story, its powerful characters and its whimsically dark and fairytale-like writing style make this book a kind of heavy but thoroughly entertaining read.

*I received The Four Profound Weaves: A Bird Verse Book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I enjoyed the first half of this book, but for some reason I just could not get past that. It is slow moving and just didn't captivate me the way that I wanted it too. I will absolutely be trying to revisit it in the future because I Adore the idea but for now it's a DNF.

This lyrical, poignant novella is an absolutely stunning work of art. Lemberg takes deep feelings about gender, love and family, aging, and death and weaves them together into a captivating tale of two friends’ journey across the desert in search of answers, and so much more. I got to hear Lemberg read the poem in which this novella has its origins earlier this month, but I would still call this my first proper sojourn into the Birdverse, and what a thrilling introduction it was. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

Review cross-posted on GoodReads.