2021 Nebula Award Finalist
2021 Ignyte Award Finalist
2021 Locus Recommended Reading List
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
Ms. Magazine Reads for the Rest of Us
Lambda Literary Most Anticipated LGBTQ Books
2020 Washington Post Gift Guide
2020 UK Independent Gift Guide
2020 New York Public Library Favorite Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender Non-conforming Titles

“The Four Profound Weaves contains imagery that glows on the page.”
—Patricia A. McKillip, author of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

[STARRED REVIEW] “DEBUT. Uiziya e Lali has waited 40 years for her aunt to teach her the last of the Four Profound Weaves: of wind, sand, song, and bone. But her aunt, Benesret, is a master weaver to assassins, and Surun’ weavers have exiled her. In the city of Iyar, the Khana women are traders, traveling in caravans; the Khana men are scholars, living much of their lives cloistered. A nameless man arrives, trying to find his place in a body that finally fits him after decades living as woman, wife, and mother, looking for Benesret to firm up his place in the world. As he and Uiziya search for Benesret, looking for answers to their individual questions, they must come together to deal with the Collector, the evil Iyar ruler who hoards power and death. VERDICT Nebula-nominated Lemberg’s first novella, set in their deeply queer “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.”
—Library Journal

“The Four Profound Weaves is a balm and a call to arms. R. B. Lemberg reassures us that there’s still time to find yourself, no matter how old you are; and they stir our  revolutionary urges to defeat murderous dictators. But this novella is also a finely-drawn, realistic character study of people who love their communities but never quite feel at home in them. And the magical system is a sheer delight. Thoughtful and deeply moving, The Four Profound Weaves is the anti-authoritarian, queer-mystical fairy tale we need right now.”
—Annalee Newitz, author of Autonomous and The Future of Another Timeline

[STARRED REVIEW] “Lemberg’s outstanding debut novel 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

“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

[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

“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.”
—Ms. Magazine

“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

“The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg [is] a haunting literary fantasy about the fluidity of gender.”
—Washington Post

“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

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

“R.B. Lemberg’s debut is on shelves now, and perfect for those looking to escape into a fantasy world.”
—We Are Bookish

“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

“The Four Profound Weaves is a very emotional and beautiful tale. The plot though imaginative and well executed was very much secondary to some very sensitive and poignant character development . . .  The world of the Birdverse is intricate and spellbinding, the descriptions dazzle and the setting sings.”
—Bookends & Bagends

“The Four Profound Weaves: A Bird Verse Book is a tragically beautiful and melancholic tale about a nameless man who struggles to become himself after many years of living as a woman . . . It’s a truly unique story with powerful characters and a writing style that’s whimsically dark and fairytale-like.”
—Asiana Circus

“Just go read anything you can find by R. B. Lemberg. It will be worth the quest. The sheer beauty and power of their writing shows equally well in their prose and poetry . . . [The Four Profound Weaves is] both sweet and fierce, devastating and gentle in its truths.
—M. Crane Hana, author of The Purist

“Nobody in fantasy is doing what R. B. Lemberg is doing. Their work is generous, insightful, and focused on people—older, damaged, queer—whose stories most writers would keep in the background. This is a book about people walking into traps to find themselves, about fumbling out of stagnation and into adventure. Let this be your introduction to R. B.’s world of song carpets, deepnames, and deserts full of roving lovers.”
—Isaac R. Fellman, author of The Breath of the Sun

“Lemberg weaves a gripping tale of community, identity, betrayal, and hope. From the sweeping expanse of the desert to the confined splendor of a sinister palace, every page contains wonder. I flew through the story, breathless, needing to see what would come next, and I was rewarded with every twist in the narrative. The Birdverse is lush and gorgeous, even when painful, and The Four Profound Weaves takes the reader on a wild ride through some of the deepest and richest pockets of it.”
—Julia Rios, Hugo Award-winning editor

“Over the years, R. B. Lemberg, in their prose and poetry alike, has built a world of serpents, deserts, stars, and bones, where transformation is omnipresent and restlessness rewarded. The Four Profound Weaves is a jewel-bright tile in their ongoing mosaic.”
—C. S. E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Bone Swans, Stories

“Reading the first pages of The Four Profound Weaves feels like being invited into the home of a beautiful stranger . . . This was a story I didn’t know I desperately needed.”
—Nino Cipri, author of Dzanc Prize-winning Homesick

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

“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.”
—Jason Sanford, author of Sublimation Angels

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

“A brilliantly profound and poignant quest, through haunting desert and intricate city and terrifying dungeon, that’s truly about people and change.”
—Scott H. Andrews, seven-time World Fantasy Award Finalist editor of Beneath Ceaseless Skies magazine

“Lyrical and unflinching.”
—Rivers Solomon, PEN America

“If the plot is the warp of a story, then the weft of this novella is Lemberg’s exquisitely crafted, luminescent prose. I delight in reading Lemberg’s work just for the sheer beauty of the words and the gorgeous melody of the prose, and The Four Profound Weaves showcases their mastery in every paragraph.”
—Maria Haskins, author of Odin’s Eye

“Lusciously detailed world-building and gorgeous language shine in this short novel from Lemberg’s ‘Birdverse.’”
—Deborah J. Ross, author of Collaborators

“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.”
—Strange Horizons

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

“5/5 stars. R. B. Lemberg’s first foray into long-form fiction has left me breathless. The Four Profound Weaves is a love ballad sung straight into the hearts of those who most need to hear it.”
—Black Forest Basilisks

“5/5 stars. The prose is absolutely exquisite . . . It’s probably safe to say this will be one of the highlights of 2020 for me and I most highly recommend it.”
—To Other Worlds

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

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

“5/5 stars. This will certainly be touted as a queer nonbinary transformational story (and it is that), but it’s so much more. The author writes eloquently for all of us who are outsiders, who don’t fit easily into the molds imposed by society culture and our own expectations.”
—Nonstop Reader

“Weaving magic, queer characters, and a story about belonging, The Four [Profound] Weaves is a fabulous novella. It’s a story about searching for a feeling of belonging, realizing that perhaps we also need to find it within ourselves. A radical act of self-acceptance.”
—Utopia State of Mind

“The Four Profound Weaves is modern speculative fiction at its best, exploring important issues through compelling characters, fantastic settings, and exciting stories.”
—The Fantasy Hive

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

“Emotional depth and richness permeate The Four Profound Weaves, which takes an unflinching look at the ways in which we hurt and limit ourselves and others, and at the lasting consequences of these hurts. At the same time, it is a work that promotes hope and healing, and it is one of those rare books that can be accurately termed deeply wise.”
—The Temz Review

“It amazes me how the author takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of the emotional, physical and intellectual journey of the two protagonists. The magic, spells, musings, dark powers and magical carpets . . . everything felt so real and authentic. A must read.”
—The Clipped Nightingale

“Lemberg bends their mind (and heart too, one senses) into that gap between and emerges with the wings of the redwing hawk. This tale seems to have been torn from their soul. The Four Profound Weaves is an unexpected gift.”
—Dante’s Wardrobe

“The framing Lemberg establishes throughout infuses the book with brilliant, resistant hope.”
—Jo Writes Fantasy

“It’s a gorgeously written exploration of identity with a heady dose of magic to go with it. I am keen to read more stories set in the Birdverse and other stories by Lemberg as well.”
—Tsana’s Reads and Reviews

“Powerful, magical, lyrical, and beautifully original, The Four Profound Weaves is one of those books where you linger over each paragraph, admiring the flow of words almost as much as the flow of ideas.”
—Beauty in Ruins

“The Four Profound Weaves is beautiful and profound.”
—It’s a Jumble

“Refreshing at a time when my heart needed to be refreshed. Highly recommended.”
—Novel Gazing Redux

“5/5 stars. Lemberg’s prose is gorgeous and lush. I found myself devouring it whole . . . This is a book I did not know I needed.”
—Book Blogging with a Purpose

“Birdverse is beautifully rendered fantasy full of magic and adventure, but also achingly real in its depictions of intolerance, corruption, kindness, and family . . . A phenomenal read!”
—Quick Sip Reviews

“[The Four Profound Weaves] was very emotionally intense and was just so stunningly beautiful. I recommend this to everyone.”
—Witchy Book Dragon

“It was just a beautiful novella that I hope everyone picks up.”
—The Storygraph

“I can wholeheartedly recommend this novella and this series as one that’s well worth spending time in, packing fascinating, complex worldbuilding and a thoughtful engagement with queer identities”
—Nerds of a Feather

“5/5 stars. The ending and the themes throughout the book are pretty perfect.”
—MI Book Reviews

“I highly recommend this inventive, queer Middle-Eastern fairytale that offers a unique take on magic and has an excellent world-building.”
—The Artsy Reader

“This was definitely something I needed right now. I love Lemberg’s writing, I love Birdverse, and with everything going on, this was the perfect piece to come back to.”
—The Book Deviant

“This book is one of a kind. The writing is fascinating, atmospheric, drenched in culture and personality. It feels completely immersive.”
—Lost In A Good Book

“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.”
—Middle Shelf

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