An Unkindness of Ghosts

Paperback, 349 pages

English language

Published Aug. 8, 2017 by Akashic Books.

ISBN:
978-1-61775-588-0
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OCLC Number:
974676983

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4 stars (4 reviews)

"Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She's used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, she'd be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remains of her world. Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship's leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot--if she's willing to sow the seeds of civil war"--Page 4 of cover.

5 editions

Review of 'An unkindness of ghosts' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

The greatest strength here is the character writing. Different characters, starkly and distinctively portrayed. The characterization kept me reading to the end. Some weirdness with pacing/continuity, but this was the author's debut novel. I can't tell if it was an intentional tool to portray the neural atypical nature of several characters or just inexperience.

If you are widely read, you won't find anything new in this book. It is going to remind some people obviously of Snowpiercer. Warning. Snowpiercer spoiler:
This is Snowpiercer light, with everyone at the bottom of ship/back of train being people of color. Snowpiercer light, because they have many decks filled with varied crops on this generation ship. Horrid discrimination and abuse, with the lower/colored classes doing most of the manual labor (which for some reason this incredibly high tech generation ship does not automate), but lighter than Snowpiercer as the upper decks are not …

Subjects

  • Equality
  • Resistance to Government
  • Fiction
  • Racism
  • Interplanetary voyages
  • Slavery

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