Description
Odd-mannered, obsessive, withdrawn, Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak.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, as they accuse, she'd be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remained of her world, save for stories told around the cook fire. Aster lives in the low-deck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, the 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, who they consider to be less than human. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer and sewing the seeds of civil war, Aster learns there may be a way off the ship if she's willing to fight for it.… (more)
Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Brooklyn, New York, USA : Akashic Books, [2017]
Media reviews
I want to say about this book, its only imperfection is that it ended. But that might give the wrong impression: that it is a happy book, a book that makes a body feel good. It is not a happy book. I love it like I love food, I love it for what it did to me, I love it for having made me feel
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stronger and more sure in a nightmare world, but it is not a happy book. It is an antidote to poison. It is inoculation against pervasive, enduring disease. Like a vaccine, it is briefly painful, leaves a lingering soreness, but armors you from the inside out. Show Less
"Solomon packs so many conflicts—chiefly concerning race, gender, and faith, but also patriarchy, education, mental illness, abortion, and more—into a relatively brief space that the story momentarily strains here and there to contain everything. The overall achievement, however, is stunning."
User reviews
LibraryThing member rivkat
Brutal and terrific. Aster is a lowdecks genius on a generation ship that has slavery based on deck status (which is basically but not completely tied to race). Her role as the Surgeon’s apprentice gives her more freedom, but also exposes her to the righteous sadism of the ship’s leader. Her
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best friend Giselle is a rebel, but also suffers from what might be manic depression (it’s hard to tell when harms come so fast and furious), harms herself, and destroys anything she can reach. Aster investigates the mystery of her mother, who killed herself shortly after giving birth, and begins to think that she can change the course of the ship, both literally and figuratively. That’s only the scantest of summaries though—it’s a book about how trauma and discrimination shape people, mostly for worse; it’s a book about how societies work when the governing ideology is that rape and beatings are things to which some people are entitled and others are entitled to carry out; it’s a book about the scraps of hope that survive, and that don’t justify or erase the horrors or even transcend them, but that exist nonetheless. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member beserene
This science fiction novel takes place in a far human future, aboard a generation ship that has already been traveling for several hundred years, and still human beings subjugate, abuse, and marginalize people of darker skin. Some have said that the circumstances of the novel echo the Antebellum
The ways in which cultures evolve, and their language evolves with them, get acknowledged early on in the novel; the decks of the great ship are culturally divided, divisions which have advanced over hundreds of years as linguistic differences have grown within the insular spaces of individual decks and wings, just as they have done in regions and countries. Solomon asks us to pay attention to those cultural markers, especially the significance of language, as we follow our protagonist through the mystery of her mother's earlier death and her own navigation through the rigid social boundaries on the ship itself. Aster, the focal character of the book, has her own way of speaking but also code-switches as she moves from deck to deck and culture to culture, out of necessity as well as identity. She is a fascinating character; in today's world, she might have been classified as somewhere on some spectrum, but in her world she is simply unique, for better or for worse.
Aster is a doctor and a scientist, but officially she is merely a field hand, because of her skin tone. The ways in which she chafes against the roles that others force on her resonates, as does her eventual rejection of those imposed limits, though that rebellion has unexpected consequences. Those who are looking for a straightforward space story, with clean lines and a victorious ending, may not enjoy this book. It isn't an easy read -- parts of it are frank and brutal, within a narrative that slides from one idea to another with little warning -- but it is a rewarding one, granting the determined reader much food for thought, much recognition, and its own sometimes ambiguous beauty. For those who like their science fiction fresh, thoughtful, and self-aware, this is an excellent book.
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South, which is true, but attentive readers will find much that echoes our current American conflicts as well. The ways in which cultures evolve, and their language evolves with them, get acknowledged early on in the novel; the decks of the great ship are culturally divided, divisions which have advanced over hundreds of years as linguistic differences have grown within the insular spaces of individual decks and wings, just as they have done in regions and countries. Solomon asks us to pay attention to those cultural markers, especially the significance of language, as we follow our protagonist through the mystery of her mother's earlier death and her own navigation through the rigid social boundaries on the ship itself. Aster, the focal character of the book, has her own way of speaking but also code-switches as she moves from deck to deck and culture to culture, out of necessity as well as identity. She is a fascinating character; in today's world, she might have been classified as somewhere on some spectrum, but in her world she is simply unique, for better or for worse.
Aster is a doctor and a scientist, but officially she is merely a field hand, because of her skin tone. The ways in which she chafes against the roles that others force on her resonates, as does her eventual rejection of those imposed limits, though that rebellion has unexpected consequences. Those who are looking for a straightforward space story, with clean lines and a victorious ending, may not enjoy this book. It isn't an easy read -- parts of it are frank and brutal, within a narrative that slides from one idea to another with little warning -- but it is a rewarding one, granting the determined reader much food for thought, much recognition, and its own sometimes ambiguous beauty. For those who like their science fiction fresh, thoughtful, and self-aware, this is an excellent book.
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LibraryThing member jennybeast
I think amazing is the right word for this. I can't say that I liked it -- reading it felt like embracing trauma -- the horrors of everyday life on the ship are legion, are unending, are maddening and revolting. It feels important to read though, important to acknowledge that these are realities in
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our history, and these are realities in our present day, and it's something, at least, to celebrate Aster - unique, neurodivergent, genderqueer, survivor, as the hero and the fulcrum of the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member David_David_Katzman
Somewhat like a mashup between Battlestar Galactica, The Handmaid's Tale, and Roots. The thematic premise of this story seems to be that even in the future (about 300 years) in a situation where humanity is traveling between stars, the current unjust class system will not only be reproduced but
The storyline finds, like in Galactica, a colony ship traveling from Earth to some distant unknown destination. But in Solomon’s version, the class system is systematized by decks. Each deck carries some several thousand individuals. The “lower” decks are people of color, and they are essentially prisoners working the crops that feed the upper decks, which are primarily Caucasian. Gender is more fluid and ambiguous in this world, but primarily women are at least represented in the story in these lower decks. We don’t meet any lower-class male characters. Like Handmaid’s Tale, the ruling class enforces religious doctrine that must be followed, curfews and other checks. Guards have free reign to abuse any lower class residents and rape women. The ship has regressed to a system of slavery to benefit the upper class. Most of the history of Earth has been forgotten and the ship has developed its own cultural systems.
The storyline follows one female character, from the lower deck, who is apparently a medical genius of sorts and a few of her “friends:” another lowerdeck female who is a bit insane and an upper-class surgeon who recognizes her brilliance.
So far, so good, the story has a valuable and meaningful premise. Unfortunately, I found much of the mechanics of the storytelling to be a bit…mechanical? And somewhat frustrating and monotonous to read. Solomon’s linguistic skills, the actual writing itself, was solid enough. Somewhere between the characterization decisions she made and the development of relationships and interactions between the characters, combined with some awkward storytelling choices, left me feeling a bit cold and bored with the story.
For example, the main character is rather robotic in her personality. She takes everything very literally. One might think she was portrayed as having some profile such as Asperger Syndrome. As such, her decisions were almost always very frustrating and obtuse. Most of her interactions with other characters didn’t develop into deeper connections. And this was exacerbated by the storytelling technique where characters seemed to have fairly short and unsatisfying conversations. They always seemed to be leaving each other with unfinished communications, either running away before the conversation could be completed due to anger or being cutoff by some event that occurs or one individual leaving due to some urgent demand. In the end, this left me feeling disconnected from the characters. And it also felt like herky-jerky storytelling…the key plot points that characters communicate to each other get unnecessarily distributed throughout the story making it feel much longer than it needed to be. Some degree of frustration of the reader can be thematically appropriate and necessary. But as a pattern over the whole book, it made it feel too long and dare-I-say it, boring. I kept wanting to just get to the heart of the matter, and Solomon continually postponed it. It didn’t help matters that the main character’s childhood friend has been driven rather insane, making the story’s second most important character also hard to relate to or connect with. The third main character is the upper-class surgeon. While he had an interesting backstory, he never quite jelled for me. As written, he felt too mechanical.
Oh, and I wish the publisher had googled “An Unkindness of…” because this phrase is in the title of at least two other novels, making this less original than it seems.
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will be exacerbated. We won’t have some flatline merit-based, deprivation free world. Solomon has created the anti-Star Trek.The storyline finds, like in Galactica, a colony ship traveling from Earth to some distant unknown destination. But in Solomon’s version, the class system is systematized by decks. Each deck carries some several thousand individuals. The “lower” decks are people of color, and they are essentially prisoners working the crops that feed the upper decks, which are primarily Caucasian. Gender is more fluid and ambiguous in this world, but primarily women are at least represented in the story in these lower decks. We don’t meet any lower-class male characters. Like Handmaid’s Tale, the ruling class enforces religious doctrine that must be followed, curfews and other checks. Guards have free reign to abuse any lower class residents and rape women. The ship has regressed to a system of slavery to benefit the upper class. Most of the history of Earth has been forgotten and the ship has developed its own cultural systems.
The storyline follows one female character, from the lower deck, who is apparently a medical genius of sorts and a few of her “friends:” another lowerdeck female who is a bit insane and an upper-class surgeon who recognizes her brilliance.
So far, so good, the story has a valuable and meaningful premise. Unfortunately, I found much of the mechanics of the storytelling to be a bit…mechanical? And somewhat frustrating and monotonous to read. Solomon’s linguistic skills, the actual writing itself, was solid enough. Somewhere between the characterization decisions she made and the development of relationships and interactions between the characters, combined with some awkward storytelling choices, left me feeling a bit cold and bored with the story.
For example, the main character is rather robotic in her personality. She takes everything very literally. One might think she was portrayed as having some profile such as Asperger Syndrome. As such, her decisions were almost always very frustrating and obtuse. Most of her interactions with other characters didn’t develop into deeper connections. And this was exacerbated by the storytelling technique where characters seemed to have fairly short and unsatisfying conversations. They always seemed to be leaving each other with unfinished communications, either running away before the conversation could be completed due to anger or being cutoff by some event that occurs or one individual leaving due to some urgent demand. In the end, this left me feeling disconnected from the characters. And it also felt like herky-jerky storytelling…the key plot points that characters communicate to each other get unnecessarily distributed throughout the story making it feel much longer than it needed to be. Some degree of frustration of the reader can be thematically appropriate and necessary. But as a pattern over the whole book, it made it feel too long and dare-I-say it, boring. I kept wanting to just get to the heart of the matter, and Solomon continually postponed it. It didn’t help matters that the main character’s childhood friend has been driven rather insane, making the story’s second most important character also hard to relate to or connect with. The third main character is the upper-class surgeon. While he had an interesting backstory, he never quite jelled for me. As written, he felt too mechanical.
Oh, and I wish the publisher had googled “An Unkindness of…” because this phrase is in the title of at least two other novels, making this less original than it seems.
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LibraryThing member kcshankd
Librarything early reviewer copy. Five stars.
This is a fantastic debut novel. Several hundred years in the past a starship left Earth fleeing an unnamed disaster. The Matilda is hurtling through space towards an unknown destination. All of humanities foibles were also loaded and unleashed with
From this setting a self-described neuroatypical autodidact haunts the ship's libraries and her own complicated familial history while seeking to exist on her own terms.
Like all great science fiction, this novel works as both a great story and chilling description of the world we inhabit. This novel will make you ache as you race to finish it, fearing the ending you expect.
This is a fantastic debut novel. Several hundred years in the past a starship left Earth fleeing an unnamed disaster. The Matilda is hurtling through space towards an unknown destination. All of humanities foibles were also loaded and unleashed with
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sadly predictable results - a caste system of labor, brutal overloads, sexual and racial violence. From this setting a self-described neuroatypical autodidact haunts the ship's libraries and her own complicated familial history while seeking to exist on her own terms.
Like all great science fiction, this novel works as both a great story and chilling description of the world we inhabit. This novel will make you ache as you race to finish it, fearing the ending you expect.
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LibraryThing member being_b
An amazing debut. I loved being in Aster's head-- I'd say this is the first autistic protagonist I've read where the point of view felt real. I loved her matter-of-factness about the people around her, their quirks and foibles and smells and body hair. I loved her complex relationship with Giselle.
I also deeply appreciated how the violence in the book, including sexual violence, is never sensationalized or gratuitous-- in fact, we often don't see the violent acts themselves, as Solomon focuses more on how Aster and the others cope with it in the moment and afterward. Other writers looking for how to approach violence honestly, without exploitation or sensationalism, should take note of how Solomon does it.
Just loved it.
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I loved, loved, loved the depth of characterization Solomon gave to all the people in Aster's world. I loved that Solomon's black female characters were so many things women (particularly women of color) are told they shouldn't be: trans, genderqueer, angry, unmaternal, bipolar, lesbian, mathematicians, bisexual, asexual, disabled, autistic, vengeful, brilliant, hairy...I also deeply appreciated how the violence in the book, including sexual violence, is never sensationalized or gratuitous-- in fact, we often don't see the violent acts themselves, as Solomon focuses more on how Aster and the others cope with it in the moment and afterward. Other writers looking for how to approach violence honestly, without exploitation or sensationalism, should take note of how Solomon does it.
Just loved it.
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LibraryThing member greeniezona
I first heard about this book on tumblr, and put it on my library hold list during the great hold spree of 2017. What little I'd heard about it was interesting, and in the interest of reading more small presses, it moved to the top of my insurmountable library check-outs stack. (Seriously, this
I was hooked very early on. While I had some concerns about just how the ship had fallen into outright slavery so easily?/quickly? Aster was a magnificent protagonist. She's prickly and odd, and the few close relationships she has are COMPLICATED, but she's incredibly appealing, nonetheless. Partly it's her extreme medical knowhow -- blending folkloric home remedies with bootleg drug synthesis and her own secret herbarium/greenhouse/lab. And partly it is her prickliness in the face of a criminally unjust system -- her strategies for self-preservation make full use of all she has at her disposal, yet it isn't self-centered. As a healer she is constantly looking out for others as well.
What also stood out to me was the book's reverence for books and stories. Aster is often thinking of the myths her "auntie" told her growing up, and how they help her make sense of the world, and there is such a strong feeling of love in the scene in the library, the way books and notebooks and the act of reading are appreciated -- it warmed me whenever it came up.
This book was so ambitious in all the themes/issues it addressed, I couldn't possibly mention them all, but I particularly appreciated its take on gender and sex diversity, slavery and caste systems, the corruption of power, neuro-diversity, and science. Some of the world-building here is just phenomenal -- such as the baby "sun" and the rotating field decks.
I do have a few small criticisms, but they are SO MILD that I will only mention the one -- the main villain in this novel is so SPECTACULARLY evil. I wish he'd been given a tiny shred of humanity or at least a hint of origin of what made him that way.
Easily one of my favorite books read in 2017.
I'm seriously mad it's not on the shelf at my local bookstore.
Go read this now.
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hole list was so overly ambitious at least 3/4 of the books had to go back to the library unread.)I was hooked very early on. While I had some concerns about just how the ship had fallen into outright slavery so easily?/quickly? Aster was a magnificent protagonist. She's prickly and odd, and the few close relationships she has are COMPLICATED, but she's incredibly appealing, nonetheless. Partly it's her extreme medical knowhow -- blending folkloric home remedies with bootleg drug synthesis and her own secret herbarium/greenhouse/lab. And partly it is her prickliness in the face of a criminally unjust system -- her strategies for self-preservation make full use of all she has at her disposal, yet it isn't self-centered. As a healer she is constantly looking out for others as well.
What also stood out to me was the book's reverence for books and stories. Aster is often thinking of the myths her "auntie" told her growing up, and how they help her make sense of the world, and there is such a strong feeling of love in the scene in the library, the way books and notebooks and the act of reading are appreciated -- it warmed me whenever it came up.
This book was so ambitious in all the themes/issues it addressed, I couldn't possibly mention them all, but I particularly appreciated its take on gender and sex diversity, slavery and caste systems, the corruption of power, neuro-diversity, and science. Some of the world-building here is just phenomenal -- such as the baby "sun" and the rotating field decks.
I do have a few small criticisms, but they are SO MILD that I will only mention the one -- the main villain in this novel is so SPECTACULARLY evil. I wish he'd been given a tiny shred of humanity or at least a hint of origin of what made him that way.
Easily one of my favorite books read in 2017.
I'm seriously mad it's not on the shelf at my local bookstore.
Go read this now.
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LibraryThing member atreic
The starship Matilda is journeying through space. The comfortable life of the citizens of her upper decks is built on the labour of many slaves in the lower decks.
The strength of the book lies in its unusual and strongly drawn characters. Aster is a lower deck slave, but also a... well, one of the
Much of the book's story is Aster's search for information about her mother, tangled up with the quest for information about where the ship is going and how they can ever find home. I found the resolution of this surprising, and hadn't seen the twist coming!
The strength of the book lies in its unusual and strongly drawn characters. Aster is a lower deck slave, but also a... well, one of the
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great interests of the book is it is very show-don't-tell with the characters. Aster is extremely skilled at medicine and languages. She was a very late developer in her speech. She has her own literal view and idiosyncratic language. She doesn't like eye contact. Theo is the powerful nephew of the ship's tyrant, religious and effeminate, kind, conflict avoidant and skilled. And Giselle... Giselle is Aster's childhood friend, deeply broken by the sufferings she has been through in her life. It is hard not to judge her harshly for the things she does, and yet hard not to be sympathetic towards her and strongly root for her, despite her being superficially very unlikable. Much of the book's story is Aster's search for information about her mother, tangled up with the quest for information about where the ship is going and how they can ever find home. I found the resolution of this surprising, and hadn't seen the twist coming!
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LibraryThing member LizzieD
Rivers Solomon has written an intriguing, violent, thoughtful, unique piece of science fiction in An Unkindness of Ghosts. Does it all hang together in the end? Maybe not. Is it entirely worth reading and thinking about? Absolutely!
Matilda is a thousand years into a space voyage with a world of
Aster is a field hand and also a brilliant developer and synthesizer of medicines. Her brilliant mother is dead, a suicide, and the book begins with Aster's attempts to learn what her mother knew and how she died. She is aided or sometimes hindered by her mad friend Giselle, her aunt Melusine, and the Surgeon General of the whole ship, Theo.
I confess that after a hundred pages or so, I stopped trying to follow explanations of how things worked and sometimes of how Aster thought, and just hung on for the ride. Many thanks to Early Reviewers for the opportunity to read this one now. I'll be waiting for whatever Rivers Solomon chooses to publish next.
Matilda is a thousand years into a space voyage with a world of
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inhabitants in search of a new planetary home. Its original theocracy has been corrupted by the sovereign rulers into a tightly stratified social system with the powerful living in luxury on the upper decks and the sustaining slaves in the cold and filth of the lower decks and the fields.Aster is a field hand and also a brilliant developer and synthesizer of medicines. Her brilliant mother is dead, a suicide, and the book begins with Aster's attempts to learn what her mother knew and how she died. She is aided or sometimes hindered by her mad friend Giselle, her aunt Melusine, and the Surgeon General of the whole ship, Theo.
I confess that after a hundred pages or so, I stopped trying to follow explanations of how things worked and sometimes of how Aster thought, and just hung on for the ride. Many thanks to Early Reviewers for the opportunity to read this one now. I'll be waiting for whatever Rivers Solomon chooses to publish next.
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LibraryThing member Gretchening
Incredible, relevant, harrowing and fascinating, this is the story of a young woman in the low class of a brutally stratified generation ship. Her search for clues to her mother's death lead her to discover some difficult truths about the ship's voyage. Aster's voice is so solid, her experiences
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read as tangible, every surface and texture feel real both physically and emotionally. Readers of dystopias that explore race, gender, disability, sexuality, and class will not want to miss this one. It will sit on my shelf by my Butler, Jemisin, Le Guin, Okorafor, Leckie. One of the most human explorations of the possibilities of our repressive future and the hope for hard-won rebellion I have ever read. Show Less
LibraryThing member xiaomarlo
Really good, especially for a debut novel. If you are looking for representation in your SF, look no further: queer, mentally ill, disabled, autism spectrum, gender-nonconforming, and tons of characters of colour are all on the page. It's a fight-against-the-system story, too. There are times when
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it feels a bit heavy-handed, and there's a some squicky body horror type stuff, which I don't deal well with, but this is definitely still well worth the read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Felliot
A great story builds a world that the reader wants to inhabit. A great science fiction story builds an entire universe. That is exactly what Rivers Solomon has done here. The universe that Aster lives in is bound by the space she and all other humans live on as it travels through space to an
This is not an easy book to read for the very reason why it is a book that everyone should read. Aster is a freak and an outsider. She is also a child looking for her mother and a woman wise beyond her years. She may be a 'monster', but she is very, very human. Through Aster's eye we see the worst that humanity can impose upon itself and we feel the hope and love that can redeem us all. This is a book that you will want to read many times and will be talked about for years to come.
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unknown Promised Land. Aster's Matlida is a combination of today's urban centers and the antebellium South, where how you live depends very much on where you live. This is not an easy book to read for the very reason why it is a book that everyone should read. Aster is a freak and an outsider. She is also a child looking for her mother and a woman wise beyond her years. She may be a 'monster', but she is very, very human. Through Aster's eye we see the worst that humanity can impose upon itself and we feel the hope and love that can redeem us all. This is a book that you will want to read many times and will be talked about for years to come.
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LibraryThing member sparemethecensor
Recommended for readers of Octavia Butler. This novel is simultaneously science fiction in the future and historical fiction of the slave-holding American South. While there are some elements of this book that drag -- probably related to the fact that this is a first novel with some associated
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pacing issues; nothing that makes this unreadable -- it's a very engaging read that makes you consider how history and religion bear on society well into the future. Show Less
LibraryThing member bragan
On the generation ship Matilda, on a centuries-long journey that seems to be going nowhere, the dark-skinned inhabitants of the lower decks are oppressed and impoverished, forced to labor for the rich, light-skinned upper-deckers. (Any resemblance to actual history here is surely not remotely
It's hard for me to know quite how to review this one, because it sort of feels to me like a really good novel and kind of a meh one smooshed inextricably into each other. On the good side, the social commentary is decent, there are a few nicely imaginative world-building touches, and there are quite a few moments where I found the story or the writing or the characters really compelling.
The less satisfying aspects, though, are harder to articulate. Mostly, lots and lots of the details just failed to feel convincing to me, in a way that kept me from ever feeling fully immersed in this world. And the plot... Well, the plot, which involves the main character searching for secrets left behind by her mother, sort of stutters and splutters along, skipping over much of what seems to be the actual plot part of the plot. And I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the end, but I think I was hoping for something a bit, well, more.
It was an interesting reading experience, and it does some things I think are very much worth doing. I just wish I liked it more unreservedly than I did.
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coincidental.)It's hard for me to know quite how to review this one, because it sort of feels to me like a really good novel and kind of a meh one smooshed inextricably into each other. On the good side, the social commentary is decent, there are a few nicely imaginative world-building touches, and there are quite a few moments where I found the story or the writing or the characters really compelling.
The less satisfying aspects, though, are harder to articulate. Mostly, lots and lots of the details just failed to feel convincing to me, in a way that kept me from ever feeling fully immersed in this world. And the plot... Well, the plot, which involves the main character searching for secrets left behind by her mother, sort of stutters and splutters along, skipping over much of what seems to be the actual plot part of the plot. And I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the end, but I think I was hoping for something a bit, well, more.
It was an interesting reading experience, and it does some things I think are very much worth doing. I just wish I liked it more unreservedly than I did.
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LibraryThing member mzonderm
I love a good generation-ship story. The sociological (and technological) possibilities are endless when a self-contained group of people is left on their own for hundred or thousands of years. There is so much room for an author to use their imagination on the fate of human society. But there are
Unfortunately, this book seems to have a lot of that. Vestigial organs include:
• gender identity - Solomon creates a structure where children on one deck are all referred to as girls (until they did something to indicate that they weren't actually a girl) and on another deck all children are referred to gender neutrally. This is a perfectly legitimate thing to do, except that it doesn't seem to matter in terms of the plot, or anything else in the book. It just sits there, like the proverbial gun that is introduced in Act One, but fails to go off by Act Three.
• religion - Solomon seems to be trying to set up the system on the ship as being driven by a very strict theocracy, except aside from mentioning that leaders of the ship are supposed to given their power and authority by their god, religion doesn't actually seem to play much of a part of the story. Except one character engages in some ritual self-flagellation. There was that.
• neuroatypicality - Our main character, Aster, is an interesting person, who displays symptoms of something along the lines of Asperger's Syndrome. Whether that's the diagnosis Solomon intended Aster to have is neither nor there, because the question is why Aster is portrayed in this at all. The only plot point for which her symptoms seem relevant is to create tension when she can't understand the motivations of the Surgeon, and to therefore create wholly unnecessary and artificial tension between them.
To say that all of this detracted from the story as a whole is an understatement. If only the plot were strong enough to bear the weight of all that, but it's not. I could never quite figure out what was supposed to be driving the plot. Was it the plight of the people on the ship altogether, or specifically Aster's search for answers about her mother? Or was the latter supposed to inform the former in the task of pushing the story forward? I don't know, and by the time the book wrapped up, I didn't much care.
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rules. To me, the most fundamental rule of world-building of any kind is that all the pieces have to hang together. An author can't just throw in an arbitrary bit of the world just for the heck of it; it has to matter to the plot. Otherwise it just hangs there like a vestigial organ.Unfortunately, this book seems to have a lot of that. Vestigial organs include:
• gender identity - Solomon creates a structure where children on one deck are all referred to as girls (until they did something to indicate that they weren't actually a girl) and on another deck all children are referred to gender neutrally. This is a perfectly legitimate thing to do, except that it doesn't seem to matter in terms of the plot, or anything else in the book. It just sits there, like the proverbial gun that is introduced in Act One, but fails to go off by Act Three.
• religion - Solomon seems to be trying to set up the system on the ship as being driven by a very strict theocracy, except aside from mentioning that leaders of the ship are supposed to given their power and authority by their god, religion doesn't actually seem to play much of a part of the story. Except one character engages in some ritual self-flagellation. There was that.
• neuroatypicality - Our main character, Aster, is an interesting person, who displays symptoms of something along the lines of Asperger's Syndrome. Whether that's the diagnosis Solomon intended Aster to have is neither nor there, because the question is why Aster is portrayed in this at all. The only plot point for which her symptoms seem relevant is to create tension when she can't understand the motivations of the Surgeon, and to therefore create wholly unnecessary and artificial tension between them.
To say that all of this detracted from the story as a whole is an understatement. If only the plot were strong enough to bear the weight of all that, but it's not. I could never quite figure out what was supposed to be driving the plot. Was it the plight of the people on the ship altogether, or specifically Aster's search for answers about her mother? Or was the latter supposed to inform the former in the task of pushing the story forward? I don't know, and by the time the book wrapped up, I didn't much care.
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LibraryThing member juniperSun
What an intriguing setting Solomon has created--a self-sustaining space ship big enough to be a world. Not quite post-apocalyptic, since the action takes place off Earth, but with a hint of cellular memory of that world. Aster, in our time, would be labelled autistic, but in this time and place she
It is disturbing. I'm glad I read it, but I'm not sure how to classify this.
Don't pin your expectations on the jacket description. I don't feel this was "organized like the antebellum South" more than any other dictatorship. The "leaders imposed harsh" indignities and religious cant but were morally indifferent about the lives of the field hands. I kept waiting for hints of the "civil war" Aster was supposedly seeding, but that happened incidental to playing out her own sense of inevitability and responsibility for those who were harmed due to her actions.
I was reading this aloud to my son, but there was more and more violence and graphic crudities which I had to try to edit out. Not recommended for younger children. I feel like the violence was gratuitous--not on the part of the story, but on the part of the characters themselves and the story just related the events.
It definitely felt like Solomon was casting out her own ghosts in this writing. This is a book to tear open your guts, not to sugarcoat the ways lives are destructed.
Review based on a free reader's advance copy.
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is just another field hand with the intelligence and focused attention to learn medicine, math and science. The first half of the book carried me along before I was interrupted, but then (perhaps due to a lack of time to read large portions) I became more aware of what didn't mesh. A lack of time clues to explain how Aster could be active following scenes in which she was severely injured. A chapter, when she is in the middle of frantically trying to accomplish something, spent remembering some of her history. Aster, the consummate loner, mentioning people that are unimportant to the storyline. Reciting the names of different living spaces she passes thru, the earth-referenced names being little more than a display of the author's creativity in naming.It is disturbing. I'm glad I read it, but I'm not sure how to classify this.
Don't pin your expectations on the jacket description. I don't feel this was "organized like the antebellum South" more than any other dictatorship. The "leaders imposed harsh" indignities and religious cant but were morally indifferent about the lives of the field hands. I kept waiting for hints of the "civil war" Aster was supposedly seeding, but that happened incidental to playing out her own sense of inevitability and responsibility for those who were harmed due to her actions.
I was reading this aloud to my son, but there was more and more violence and graphic crudities which I had to try to edit out. Not recommended for younger children. I feel like the violence was gratuitous--not on the part of the story, but on the part of the characters themselves and the story just related the events.
It definitely felt like Solomon was casting out her own ghosts in this writing. This is a book to tear open your guts, not to sugarcoat the ways lives are destructed.
Review based on a free reader's advance copy.
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LibraryThing member KatyBee
This is a very good debut novel about a generational space ship and its inhabitants.
LibraryThing member KingRat
I loved the character of Aster so much, and I don't even know why. Both the plot and the characters are rich, making this close to the best take on a generation ship that I've ever read.
LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
The world building in this novel is great - the sense of the ship and the interactions between its inhabitants were all so real. I loved Aster and admired her and was heartbroken over all the ugliness in her world. This book isn't an easy one to read but it makes the reader think about what it
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means to be human and how divisions give us excuses to treat each other so cruelly. Show Less
LibraryThing member Noeshia
I'll admit this one was hard to finish and concentrate on at times, but that was all me and not the author's fault at all. I had a hard time visualizing the world-ship, but came to something similar to a mash-up of the silos in Dust and the world-ship in The Stars Are Legion. Very interesting take
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on a fascist future who we should fight. I was interested in how the gender and culture differences between decks came to be, though the story didn't provide quite as much detail as I wanted. Overall another good one from Solomon. Definitely picking up anything they publish in the future. Show Less
LibraryThing member renbedell
A ship carrying the last remnants of Earth through space, just hoping they find a habitable planet. The story follows a girl in a ship that has separated the floors by social structure. People on lower levels are treated poorly, which includes the main protagonist. The main protagonist is on a
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mission to find out what happened to her mother, She is a well written character, that has a lot of struggle with the supporting characters. It is a very good book. The only issue is at sometimes the book instills urgency, only for there to be none shown by the characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member lavaturtle
This book is intense. The worldbuilding is super-strong in relentlessly creating a society where some people have freedom and resources and rights, and others do not. As a generation-ship setting it works really well. I love the characters of Theo and Aster. The ending was satisfying without being
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too neat. And this is all the more impressive for being the author's first novel! Looking forward to more by them in the future. Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
This book is a hot mess, but within the mess there are interesting and novel fragments. It is basically obstinate will and inventiveness versus vicious oppression, but there are massive inconsistencies and improbabilities in this young woman and allies against the viscous regime plot. It needed
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some sever editing and with no sense of pacing it dragged in several sections. Show Less
LibraryThing member VadersMorwen
Too much going on.
Not my kind of book
Not my kind of book
LibraryThing member Tikimoof
I found this very unpleasant.
Solomon uses a style that reminded me a lot of when I read Beloved, though that was many years ago and I did my best to forget the experience at the time. It's very visceral, and it's a very personal choice for me to hate it, but I do.
I also despised most of the
As far as non-deliberate problems, I felt the worldbuilding was pretty weak. I also thought Aster's life, especially in the first 60% or so, was very schizophrenic and didn't fit together very well. I despised the other POVs at the beginning of every act.
I'm giving it two stars because I know a lot of the unpleasantness was intentional, but I can't say this was an enjoyable read.
Solomon uses a style that reminded me a lot of when I read Beloved, though that was many years ago and I did my best to forget the experience at the time. It's very visceral, and it's a very personal choice for me to hate it, but I do.
I also despised most of the
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characters. I accept hating the ruling class - that part is pretty common in fantasy, but when nobody is redeemable I get real tired, real quick. I found Giselle and Ainy pretty detestable, and Aster was intentionally hard to relate to due to her neurodivergency (might be using the wrong word there).As far as non-deliberate problems, I felt the worldbuilding was pretty weak. I also thought Aster's life, especially in the first 60% or so, was very schizophrenic and didn't fit together very well. I despised the other POVs at the beginning of every act.
I'm giving it two stars because I know a lot of the unpleasantness was intentional, but I can't say this was an enjoyable read.
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Subjects
Awards
Lambda Literary Award (Finalist — 2018)
Locus Award (Finalist — First Novel — 2018)
CLMP Firecracker Award (Winner — 2018)
Otherwise Award (Honor List — 2017)
Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (Nominee — Debut Fiction — 2018)
NPR: Books We Love (2017)
ALA Over the Rainbow Book List (Selection — Genre Fiction — 2019)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — 2017)
Language
Original publication date
2017
ISBN
1617755885 / 9781617755880