Birdverse is a universe of interwoven short fiction, poetry, and a novella by R. B. Lemberg that is unapologetically queer and neurodivergent with multifaceted and complex cultures. Since 2016, this has been one of my favorite series in short fiction and just this year Lemberg published a novella set in the universe that takes from all previous work to tell the story of hope and trans elders. I will recommend Birdverse until I am blue in the face from gay shrieking, but today I’m going to break down why I love this series.
My introduction to Birdverse was with “Grandmother-nai-Leylit’s Cloth of Winds” when my friends devoured all of R. B. Lemberg’s published Birdverse stories because they featured trans and gay characters. We were so hungry after the completion of the Imperial Radch series that anything trans that came our way was met with much squeeing and excitement. “Grandmother-nai-Leyit’s Cloth of Winds” tells the story of a girl who is grappling with the transition of a family member and her sibling’s neurodivergency and gender identity. It is tender, bittersweet, and hopeful while being completely immersive in the world of Birdverse where different cultural groups have wildly different gender roles and expectations in regard to trans people. This is the short story that the Birdverse novella, Four Profound Weaves, is a direct continuation of.
Birdverse features representation for everyone. When I think of Birdverse, I think of trans representation first and formost since that’s what closest and dearest to my heart but it’s chocked full of three dimensional queer characters. R. B. Lemberg is a queer writer which shines through the narrative in the way the characters feel authentic and at time rawly real. In “The Book Of How To Live” we see an asexual girl and polyamorous sapphics. In the “Geometries of Belonging”, we have a gay relationship and a nonbinary autistic character. In “The Desert Glassmaker and the Jeweler of Berevyar” we have a soft romance between two women. Birdverse has a wide range of queer stories ranging from happy and fluffy to angsty and complicated. No matter what you are in the mood for, there is something that will hit the spot.
Birdverse is inherently neurodivergent. Autism, depression, anxiety, and other neurodivergence are a running theme throughout the stories. In Birdverse, neurodivergent people flourish when given the proper support and understanding. In “Grandmother-nai-Leyit’s Cloth of Winds” and “Geometries of Belonging”, there are autistic characters who are fully fleshed out but also depicted with frankness about how society is not stacked in their favor. In both stories, the autistic characters at the end find happy endings and ways to exist as their truest selves without conforming to societal expectations. Furthermore, in “Grandmother-nai-Leyit’s Cloth of Winds” the autistic character becomes a valued member in a different culture from their own because of their neurodivergence. The positivity, tenderness, care put into the depiction of neurodivergence is one of my favorite things about Birdverse. There are very few works that I can compare to Birdverse in caliber of representation of neurodivergence.
Another thing I absolutely love about Birdverse is that there is an emphasis and attention to crats and domestic arts that is presented as just as important as technology. In Four Profound Weaves, one of the main characters is an artesian who weaves rugs and textiles. Her weaving is integral to the plot and her magic. In “The Desert Glassmaker and the Jeweler of Berevyar”, we have two artesians who communicate with each other and speak about their creations. There is value to craftwork instead of it being dismissed as something silly and restricting. The depth of worldbuilding around the different cultures shines through with the descriptions of their crafts and artwork. As someone who is interested in cultural crafts and arts, this aspect of Birdverse really captured my attention. It is very rare for me to encounter a speculative fiction story that puts so much attention to detail and care into these things. Furthermore it feels incredibly validating to read stories where trans and queer people are textile artists and crafters because sometimes I feel so alienated by my interests in textile arts because of the way it is traditionally perceived as a woman’s craft or artform. I enjoy sewing, I enjoy cross-stitch, I enjoy making things with my hands. It’s not a gendered activity to me. Seeing people like me in fiction making textiles with joy and seeing their works as important, makes it feel less weird and strange.
I strongly urge everyone to read Birdverse, it is truly one of the hidden gems in today’s science fiction. I only scratched the surface of why these stories are great. Birdverse is shaped by R. B. Lemberg’s queerness, neurodivergence, and Jewishness creating a rich tapestry of immersive narratives full of hope and comfort for the othered and marginalized. Don’t know where to start? Start with “Grandmother-nai-Leyit’s Cloth of Winds”. You can find the entire bibliography of Birdverse at R. B. Lemberg’s website with many of the stories free to read.
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