An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

--One of Esquire magazine's 50 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time

"Solomon debuts with a raw distillation of slavery, feudalism, prison, and religion that kicks like rotgut moonshine . . . Stunning." --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

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.

Rivers Solomon writes about living on the periphery, a place where people feel at ease. Solomon's debut novel An Unkindness of Ghosts was a finalist for a Lambda, a Hurston/Wright, an Otherwise (previously Tiptree), and a Locus award, in addition to being on the Stonewall Honor List and earning a Firecracker Award. The Deep, Solomon's second book, was the winner of the 2020 Lambda Award and was shortlisted for a Nebula, Locus, Hugo, Ignyte, Brooklyn Library Literary, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy award. It was adapted on the Hugo-nominated song by Daveed Diggs-fronted hip-hop trio clipping. Solomon's short fiction has been or will appear in Black Warrior Review, the New York Times Magazine, Guernica, Best American Short Tales, Tor.com, Best American Horror and Dark Fantasy, and other publications. Solomon was born on Turtle Island but now lives on an island in an archipelago off the western coast of the Eurasian continent, a survivor of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade.