An Unkindness of Ghosts

Author Rivers Solomon
Narrator Cherise Boothe
Publisher Blackstone Publishing
Run Time 11 hours and 54 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Fiction: general and literary, Science fiction: apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic, Science fiction: space opera.

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What to expect

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.

Critics Review

“Immediately immersive and sophisticated…This is a phenomenal piece of work.”
Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“The more I read the bigger I felt, falling down a rabbit-hole of sky and wanting only to go deeper and farther with every page.“
NPR
“What the audiobook does that the printed word can’t is layer in accents on top of these grammatical distinctions in identity, which Cherise Booth does using mainly Caribbean variants. This gives an already emotionally challenging book even more depth, but trust that it is worth it.”
Paste magazine (audio review)
“Narrator Cherise Boothe has her hands full with this story…With each section having its own patois and the rulers their own stiff language, Boothe must juggle a dozen different accents and dialects, and she does so with ease.”
AudioFile
“It’s structurally and thematically daring and manages to include a little bit of hope while leveling a devastating critique at racism and fascism.”
Los Angeles Times
“Think the class system on the decks of the Titanic meets Battlestar Galactica…The main character, Aster, is amazing and complex.”
BookRiot
“[A] highly imaginative sci-fi novel.”
BuzzFeed
“Highly recommended for anyone interested in the ever-growing field of SF which is invested in engaging with race, gender, and sexuality as an integral part of any vision of the future.”
IndiePicks Magazine
“A raw distillation of slavery, feudalism, prison, and religion that kicks like rotgut moonshine…This is worldbuilding by poetry…Stunning.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Suffused with the past, the present, and the future of human experiences in its events, An Unkindness of Ghosts launches the career of a brilliantly gifted and important new writer in science fiction.”
Foreword Reviews (starred reviews)
“Harrowing and beautiful, this is sf at its best: showing the possible future but warning of the danger of bringing old prejudices and cruelties to that new world…Fully rounded characters bring nuance and genuine pathos to this amazing debut.”
Library Journal (starred review)
“Infused with the spirit of Octavia Butler and loaded with meaning for the present day…Solomon’s impassioned, speculative, literary book is sorely needed on library shelves.”
Booklist
“An entertaining novel that does not neglect the vitality of its story while probing society’s assumptions.”
Kirkus Reviews
“A heady science fiction novel that speaks directly to some of the most pressing political and social concerns of the modern day. And yet for all that, it remains deeply humane…This is a book you’ll want to read now so you can tell your friends you read it first.”
Victor LaValle, author of The Changeling
“Imaginative in the vein of Colson Whitehead, Samuel R. Delany, and Octavia E. Butler, this novel explores the struggles of slum dwellers aboard a spacecraft sadly reminiscent of our own world. With outstanding world-building and an unforgettable protagonist, this is a notable debut by an author whose work I look forward to reading for years to come.”
Tananarive Due, author of Ghost Summer

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